Find resources here to promote your school library and develop your core competencies as a school librarian.
These are some extracts of research and commentary about the value of school libraries and librarians that will be useful for advocating for your library in this campaign. These sorts of statements are handy to have at your fingertips to convince people with well researched facts.
THE LITERACY LANDSCAPE IN AOTEAROA NZ
By Stuart McNaughton (Office of the Prime Minister) 7 August 2020
Herald Aug 17 2020
SOFTLINK 2019 (AUS/NZ)
NATIONAL LIBRARY/ LIANZA/SLANZA SURVEY 2019 (NZ)
NATIONAL LITERACY TRUST 2018 (UK)
Literacy vital to keep people out of jail
THE HERALD 26 Jan 2016 Mike Williams
Research shows at least half of New Zealand's roughly nine thousand prisoners are functionally illiterate. Other studies suggest illiteracy among prison inmates is much higher than the commonly accepted 50%.
Neil Gaiman quote
"The prison industry needs to plan its future growth - how many cells are they going to need? How many prisoners are there going to be, 15 years from now? They found they could predict it very easily, using a pretty simple algorithm, based on asking what percentage of 10 and 11-year-olds couldn't read".
2016 SCHOLASTIC SCHOOL LIBRARIES WORK RESEARCH (US)
2015 WASHINGTON STUDY (US)
COLORADO STUDY 2012 (US)
THE LITERACY LANDSCAPE IN AOTEAROA NZ
By Stuart McNaughton (Office of the Prime Minister) 7 August 2020
Herald Aug 17 2020
- In New Zealand literacy levels in 15 year olds has been dropping. More than half of our 15-year-olds (52 %) now agree that "I read only if I have to" - up from 38 % in 2009. Even worse, 28 per cent agree that "For me, reading is a waste of time" - up from 18 per cent in 2009.
- The report by the Ministry of Education's chief education science adviser Professor Stuart McNaughton has been sparked by declines in Kiwi kids' reading performance in international surveys at the ages of both 9 (Year 5) and 15 (Year 11) over the past 20 years.
- Kiwi 15-year-olds remain above the international average, which was originally set at 500, but their average reading scores have fallen in every year since the surveys began from 529 in the year 2000 to 506 in 2018.
- Years 4-8: Another screening assessment is proposed at Year 4, where the focus traditionally changes from "learning to read" to "reading to learn". McNaughton recommends a "richer diet" to extend children's vocabulary, and organised help for parents to keep children reading over the summer holidays. McNaughton says we also need more books and other reading materials that are relevant to the children's lives.
- By Year 8, 27 per cent of boys and 23 per cent of girls disagree that "the things we read in class are about people like me and my family/whānau". He gives a real-life example of a boy who didn't read much at home but often went fishing with his dad. "If a teacher knows that background knowledge, that the child does have some vocab - he knows words like 'sinker', 'bait', and 'tide', then a very effective Year 1 teacher will take that language and build upon it," he said.
SOFTLINK 2019 (AUS/NZ)
- In 2019, 61% of respondents indicated that they do not believe their library is adequately resourced.
- 56% of respondents indicated that their library budget has not changed from the previous year, 19% indicated it had increased and 25% indicated it had decreased.
- 27% indicated a decrease in staffing numbers in school libraries
NATIONAL LIBRARY/ LIANZA/SLANZA SURVEY 2019 (NZ)
- 22% of schools had library budget cuts
- 50% of primary schools relied on fundraising and parents to fund the library collection.
NATIONAL LITERACY TRUST 2018 (UK)
- Our literacy engagement variable (a composite of all of our reading and writing variables with a maximum score of 52) was also linked with library use. The data show that around 73% of the children and young people who use the school library have higher literacy engagement scores than the average child who doesn’t use the school library.
- We also used our new mental wellbeing index (which combines life satisfaction, coping skills and self-belief variables into a scale from 1 to 10) to explore the impact of school libraries on mental wellbeing. The findings show that children and young people who use the school library have, on average, higher mental wellbeing scores. Those who don’t use the school library are nearly twice as likely to have low mental wellbeing than they are to have high mental wellbeing.
- This report also shows that school library users are more likely to have higher overall literacy engagement. Indeed, we also found that reading and writing enjoyment, daily reading and writing, seeing oneself as a good reader and writer, and positive attitudes towards reading and writing are all positively linked to school library use. These findings are consistent with previous research and further highlight the importance of school libraries.
Literacy vital to keep people out of jail
THE HERALD 26 Jan 2016 Mike Williams
Research shows at least half of New Zealand's roughly nine thousand prisoners are functionally illiterate. Other studies suggest illiteracy among prison inmates is much higher than the commonly accepted 50%.
Neil Gaiman quote
"The prison industry needs to plan its future growth - how many cells are they going to need? How many prisoners are there going to be, 15 years from now? They found they could predict it very easily, using a pretty simple algorithm, based on asking what percentage of 10 and 11-year-olds couldn't read".
2016 SCHOLASTIC SCHOOL LIBRARIES WORK RESEARCH (US)
- 75% of students surveyed had no idea how to locate articles and resources they need for research
- 60% don’t verify the accuracy or reliability of information that they find
- 70% of librarians in a school provide information literacy information
- 67% of children find their books to read for fun in school libraries
- Children from lower income families (<35 k) are more likely than children from higher income families to read books for fun in school and far less likely to be able to access books outside of school.
2015 WASHINGTON STUDY (US)
- The one key factor distinguishing high performing high poverty schools from low performing high poverty school was a quality library program (pg. 25 2015 Washington state)
- Graduation rates and test scores in reading and math were significantly higher in schools with high quality libraries
- Nationwide research suggests that reading, writing and graduation rates improve where schools have a high-quality library staffed by a school librarian.
COLORADO STUDY 2012 (US)
- Schools with effective librarians had significantly higher reading scores.
- 34 States completed studies and they all suggest that students gained higher in standardized tests scores in schools that had a strong library program.
Thank you Softlink, for creating this great video.
What makes a great school librarian? What should a school librarian aim to achieve within a school library? How do you measure how successful a school librarian is? Use the links below to find out what school librarians are doing here in New Zealand and around the world.
What makes a great school librarian? What should a school librarian aim to achieve within a school library? How do you measure how successful a school librarian is? Use the links below to find out what school librarians are doing here in New Zealand and around the world.
LIANZA - Library and Information Association of New Zealand Aotearoa - Te Rau Herenga o Aotearoa
LIANZA have a robust system based around Bodies of Knowledge (BOK) to ensure librarians throughout New Zealand have a broad knowledge and skill set.
https://lianza.org.nz/professional-development/professional-registration/bodies-of-knowledge-bok/
https://lianza.org.nz/professional-development/professional-registration/bodies-of-knowledge-bok/
ALA - AmericaN Library Association
The American Library Association has a wealth of knowledge on their website based around a school librarian's competencies. They have aligned their school library competencies around PSELs (Professional Standards for Educational Leaders).
https://libguides.ala.org/school-library-expert/competencies-dispositions
http://www.ala.org/tools/atoz/library-competencies
https://libguides.ala.org/school-library-expert/competencies-dispositions
http://www.ala.org/tools/atoz/library-competencies
National Library of New Zealand - Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa
The National Library of New Zealand have put together a great resource which looks at the core skills required for a school librarian.
https://natlib.govt.nz/schools/school-libraries/leading-and-managing/managing-your-school-library-staff/job-descriptions
https://natlib.govt.nz/schools/school-libraries/leading-and-managing/managing-your-school-library-staff/job-descriptions
These are to help you if you want to write letters to support the campaign. Feel free to copy and adapt them to your own circumstances.
Newsletter
Our school library is supporting a nationwide campaign to support School Libraries.
They believe every child should be able to access a school library and enjoy the lifelong love of reading that a school library promotes. The campaign is entitled “School Libraries Transform”
They are asking for whanau, caregivers, and friends to support them.
You can visit the website to find out more
http://www.schoollibrariestransform.org.nz/
They believe every child should be able to access a school library and enjoy the lifelong love of reading that a school library promotes. The campaign is entitled “School Libraries Transform”
They are asking for whanau, caregivers, and friends to support them.
You can visit the website to find out more
http://www.schoollibrariestransform.org.nz/
parents
Our school library is supporting a nationwide campaign to ensure every child in New Zealand has access to a well-resourced library that has a specialist librarian in that space to create a lifelong love of reading. There are many children in schools in Aotearoa that do not have that right and SLANZA (School Library Association of New Zealand Aotearoa) who is leading this campaign wants that to change.
There are three components to their campaign.
Every child has access to a school library, that library has a specialist librarian and that this is ring fenced funded by the Ministry of Education.
They have heard of many stories of libraries in hallway cupboards, libraries where the space has been taken by a classroom, budgets that are frozen and while they understand the difficult situation Board of Trustees are in, they feel these stories need to change.
The campaign is entitled “School Libraries Transform” which highlights to us all the impact a school library has on students learning, academic outcomes and their hauora and wellbeing.
They need support for this campaign, and have invited us all to visit their website to find out what practical things we can do as whanau, friends and supporters.
http://www.schoollibrariestransform.org.nz/
There are three components to their campaign.
Every child has access to a school library, that library has a specialist librarian and that this is ring fenced funded by the Ministry of Education.
They have heard of many stories of libraries in hallway cupboards, libraries where the space has been taken by a classroom, budgets that are frozen and while they understand the difficult situation Board of Trustees are in, they feel these stories need to change.
The campaign is entitled “School Libraries Transform” which highlights to us all the impact a school library has on students learning, academic outcomes and their hauora and wellbeing.
They need support for this campaign, and have invited us all to visit their website to find out what practical things we can do as whanau, friends and supporters.
http://www.schoollibrariestransform.org.nz/
board of trustees
In support of school libraries:
September 2020
The School Library Association of New Zealand Aotearoa (SLANZA) is launching a nationwide campaign called “School Libraries Transform”.
This campaign is designed to highlight the issues facing School Libraries in Aotearoa. They are deeply concerned with the welfare of school libraries and have collated many stories across the nation regarding the situations many of our libraries are facing.
The campaign has three components. They are lobbying for every student to have access to a school library space, one that is large enough to comfortably host a class. For smaller rural schools this could mean creating a collaborative space with other close schools.
They are asking for a dedicated librarian to manage that space; they want that librarian to have defined hours specified for the library so they can focus on delivering meaningful programmes. This will give opportunity to create a well-resourced library for the staff and students.
Lastly, they are lobbying for funding for these requests to come from ring fenced Government funds, not the Operations Grant.
International research is very clear that schools that have well resourced libraries managed by a dedicated librarian have higher literacy rates and higher external examination results. SLANZA is concerned about studies completed in Aotearoa which show the decline in literacy. Dr Stuart McNaught, who is the Chief Science advisor to the Prime Minister wrote a report this year (The Literacy landscape in Aotearoa New Zealand 2020). It declared that 52% of our 15 year olds will only read if they have to and 28% think reading is a waste of time.
We as School Librarians know we can make a difference to that statistic if we have well-funded, well resourced, and well-staffed school libraries.
I am thankful SLANZA is running this campaign and wish to add my support to it.
Please feel free to look at their website which has information for Boards and Principals.
http://www.schoollibrariestransform.org.nz/
#schoollibrariestransfom
September 2020
The School Library Association of New Zealand Aotearoa (SLANZA) is launching a nationwide campaign called “School Libraries Transform”.
This campaign is designed to highlight the issues facing School Libraries in Aotearoa. They are deeply concerned with the welfare of school libraries and have collated many stories across the nation regarding the situations many of our libraries are facing.
The campaign has three components. They are lobbying for every student to have access to a school library space, one that is large enough to comfortably host a class. For smaller rural schools this could mean creating a collaborative space with other close schools.
They are asking for a dedicated librarian to manage that space; they want that librarian to have defined hours specified for the library so they can focus on delivering meaningful programmes. This will give opportunity to create a well-resourced library for the staff and students.
Lastly, they are lobbying for funding for these requests to come from ring fenced Government funds, not the Operations Grant.
International research is very clear that schools that have well resourced libraries managed by a dedicated librarian have higher literacy rates and higher external examination results. SLANZA is concerned about studies completed in Aotearoa which show the decline in literacy. Dr Stuart McNaught, who is the Chief Science advisor to the Prime Minister wrote a report this year (The Literacy landscape in Aotearoa New Zealand 2020). It declared that 52% of our 15 year olds will only read if they have to and 28% think reading is a waste of time.
We as School Librarians know we can make a difference to that statistic if we have well-funded, well resourced, and well-staffed school libraries.
I am thankful SLANZA is running this campaign and wish to add my support to it.
Please feel free to look at their website which has information for Boards and Principals.
http://www.schoollibrariestransform.org.nz/
#schoollibrariestransfom
Member of parliament
I am writing in support of a national campaign to support School Libraries. This campaign is run by the School Library Association of New Zealand Aotearoa (SLANZA) and is called “School Libraries Transform”.
In Dr Stuart McNaughton’s recent report (The Literacy Landscape in Aotearoa) it states that "52% of 15 year olds only read if they have to and 28% think reading is a waste of time.” School libraries were never mentioned once in 64 pages of report, this is very perplexing.
Our school libraries are suffering. It is deeply disturbing to see them be the recipients of budget cuts, of relocation to hallway cupboards, and of library staff being asked to perform multiple tasks that distract from their role as school librarians.
How can we possibly get kids to love books when school libraries are so strapped for cash they are buying old books at op shops. We have low decile High Schools where literacy levels are very low funding their libraries only $1000.00 a year to operate. We have librarians who are being shunted out of classrooms into containers, or mouldy prefabs, even cupboards in corridors. School librarians are scared to ask for professional development and if they do ,many of them are required to pay for it themselves. Budgets are being slashed for school libraries all over New Zealand. Many of them call themselves an “endangered species”.
Some librarians have no budget at all. Very many of our schools have NO library space at all. According to Ministry of Education figures, out of the 2,500 schools in New Zealand, in 2018 there were less than 850 staff paid as school librarians. Even if there was only one per school, which there isn't in many colleges, this would mean only 36% of schools have a paid school librarian.
The Washington State School Library Impact Study of 2015 proved that schools with effective libraries had significantly higher reading scores. A major conclusion in this research was the “one key factor distinguishing high performing high poverty schools from low performing high poverty schools was a quality library programme”
The British author Neil Gaiman wrote: "The prison industry needs to plan its future growth - how many cells are they going to need? How many prisoners are there going to be, 15 years from now? They found they could predict it very easily, using a pretty simple algorithm, based on asking what percentage of 10 and 11-year-olds couldn't read". In Aotearoa 60% of prison inmates have literacy levels below NCEA Level 1, and an astounding two thirds of our inmates can’t do every day literacy tasks.
What if every school had a vibrant library, full of books students wanted to read, that were current and "hot of the press"? What if our students had places to come to that were caring, welcoming and met the needs of that student in terms of supporting their research, their well-being and their reading? What if every school had a dedicated library space, with ring fenced funding that ensured a librarian was in that space to guide readers, support literacy and enthuse the school community to read?
Kids don't read because the school library spaces they have access to (if they are lucky enough to have a space) are underfunded, under staffed, at the whim of Boards who need the money and space for other things and are therefore far below the standard of what we know is effective. School Boards have the power to disestablish school libraries, this is wrong.
If we want these headlines to change and these reports to alter their trajectory how about we fund properly the best place that provides equitable, fair access to books for our tamariki - school libraries.
We need politicians like you to step up, we need government to mandate that every student in Aotearoa has access to a school library, with a specialist librarian, with ring fenced funding from the Ministry of Education and not the Operations Grant.
What will you do for us in your political sphere to support this campaign? If elected to government what can we expect from your party to support school libraries?
School Libraries Transform and we need you to step up and make it happen.
How to Contact an MP
In Dr Stuart McNaughton’s recent report (The Literacy Landscape in Aotearoa) it states that "52% of 15 year olds only read if they have to and 28% think reading is a waste of time.” School libraries were never mentioned once in 64 pages of report, this is very perplexing.
Our school libraries are suffering. It is deeply disturbing to see them be the recipients of budget cuts, of relocation to hallway cupboards, and of library staff being asked to perform multiple tasks that distract from their role as school librarians.
How can we possibly get kids to love books when school libraries are so strapped for cash they are buying old books at op shops. We have low decile High Schools where literacy levels are very low funding their libraries only $1000.00 a year to operate. We have librarians who are being shunted out of classrooms into containers, or mouldy prefabs, even cupboards in corridors. School librarians are scared to ask for professional development and if they do ,many of them are required to pay for it themselves. Budgets are being slashed for school libraries all over New Zealand. Many of them call themselves an “endangered species”.
Some librarians have no budget at all. Very many of our schools have NO library space at all. According to Ministry of Education figures, out of the 2,500 schools in New Zealand, in 2018 there were less than 850 staff paid as school librarians. Even if there was only one per school, which there isn't in many colleges, this would mean only 36% of schools have a paid school librarian.
The Washington State School Library Impact Study of 2015 proved that schools with effective libraries had significantly higher reading scores. A major conclusion in this research was the “one key factor distinguishing high performing high poverty schools from low performing high poverty schools was a quality library programme”
The British author Neil Gaiman wrote: "The prison industry needs to plan its future growth - how many cells are they going to need? How many prisoners are there going to be, 15 years from now? They found they could predict it very easily, using a pretty simple algorithm, based on asking what percentage of 10 and 11-year-olds couldn't read". In Aotearoa 60% of prison inmates have literacy levels below NCEA Level 1, and an astounding two thirds of our inmates can’t do every day literacy tasks.
What if every school had a vibrant library, full of books students wanted to read, that were current and "hot of the press"? What if our students had places to come to that were caring, welcoming and met the needs of that student in terms of supporting their research, their well-being and their reading? What if every school had a dedicated library space, with ring fenced funding that ensured a librarian was in that space to guide readers, support literacy and enthuse the school community to read?
Kids don't read because the school library spaces they have access to (if they are lucky enough to have a space) are underfunded, under staffed, at the whim of Boards who need the money and space for other things and are therefore far below the standard of what we know is effective. School Boards have the power to disestablish school libraries, this is wrong.
If we want these headlines to change and these reports to alter their trajectory how about we fund properly the best place that provides equitable, fair access to books for our tamariki - school libraries.
We need politicians like you to step up, we need government to mandate that every student in Aotearoa has access to a school library, with a specialist librarian, with ring fenced funding from the Ministry of Education and not the Operations Grant.
What will you do for us in your political sphere to support this campaign? If elected to government what can we expect from your party to support school libraries?
School Libraries Transform and we need you to step up and make it happen.
How to Contact an MP
