LIS@ECU Portal
Edith Cowan University

The Australian School Libraries Research Project

Background

Rationale

Within the teacher librarianship profession, the lack of national data about school libraries has long been recognized as a factor that limits the effectiveness of advocacy. Lonsdale (2003 p.32) in the ACER Report commissioned by ASLA on the Impact of School Libraries on Student Achievement: a Review of the Research pinpointed the serious nature of this gap. She commented:

Perhaps a useful starting point for Australian library professionals would be to gain a more accurate picture nationally of the current state of school librarianship … Before embarking on a sustained and systematic program of research, or even a promotional campaign to highlight the positive contribution that school librarians can make to student learning, it would be useful to have an accurate snapshot of what is currently happening around the country in regard to school library staffing.

Clearly national data collection should be a priority on the research agenda.

Partnerships

The Policy Advisory Group is a joint committee of the Australian School Library Association (ASLA) and the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA). It was formed in 2002 and part of its brief was to gather statistical information about school libraries. The survey is a result of the work of this committee in partnership with Edith Cowan University .

Aim

The survey aims to build an accurate snapshot of all school libraries in Australia by gathering useable and ongoing data about collections, resource levels, budgets and personnel. This data will enable:

  • opportunities for evidence based advocacy for school libraries;
  • the partners to run a comparative study of resourcing in school libraries around the nation based on accurate data; and
  • the partners to investigate the roles of library personnel in schools.

In a second stage of the Project, the partners will use the data collected in this survey to link to national data from Department of Education Science and Training on students’ literacy learning outcomes. This second stage of the Project will add to the large body of established research which shows that well resourced and staffed school libraries have considerable impact on the development and maintenance of literacy outcomes for students.

Conclusion

The survey is an ambitious undertaking. The results will empower the profession and provide the evidence required for lobbying at both national and state levels. It will also provide the partners with evidence that can be added to the growing body of international research on the importance of school libraries in educational settings.