DOCUMENT RESUME CS 012 640 ED 400 528 Libraries & Reading: Indispensable Partners. TITLE Middle Grades Reading Network, Evansville, IN. INSTITUTION -Lilly Endowment, Inc., Indianapolis, Ind. SPONS AGENCY PUB DATE [961 NOTE 30p. Viewpoints (Opinion/Position Papers, Essays, etc.) PUB TYPE Evaluative/Feasibility (142) Reports (120) MF01/PCO2 Plus Postage. EDRS PRICE Adolescents;. Elementary Secondary Education; Futures DESCRIPTORS (of Society); *Library Collection Development; *Library Collections; *Library Role; Library Standards; Middle Schools; *Reading; Reading Improvement *Indiana IDENTIFIERS ABSTRACT Attention to school libraries must be at the heart of literacy. Excellent school any comprehensive plan for improving youth libraries are essential if young people are to have access to the reading resources to help them gain the level of literacy achievement vital to meeting the challenge of the twenty-first century. Sections of the booklet discuss facing the challenge of the twenty-first century; the role of school libraries; the "sad state" of school libraries in Indiana; how much should be spent on books for middle grades school libraries; how long it will take to rebuild school library book collections; what needs to be done now to make a commitment to school libraries; and school libraries and young Hoosiers. Contains eight references and the Reading Bill of Rights for Indiana's Young Adolescents. Appendixes present a library books inventory form, a chart indicating library inventory by copyright date, a library endowment plan, and a form for a library media center monthly report. (RS) ******************************************************************* Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made * from the original document. *********************************************************************** Libraries INDISPENSABLE PARTNERS U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and Improvement PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL CENTER (ERIC) HAS BEEN GRANTED BY This document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating it. Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality. Points of view or opinions stated in this document do not necessarily represent TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES official OERI position or policy. INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) w - l/ : - BEST COPY AVAILABLE j Advisory Board University of Illinois Richard C. Anderson W. K. Kellogg Foundation Leati Meyer Austin Richmond Community Schools Eileen Baker Morehead State University Cathy Barlow Indiana Department of Education Linda Cornwell University of Pittsburgh Tony Eichelberger William Penn Charter School John T. McGovern University of Pennsylvania Norman Newberg San Francisco Unified School District Kenneth R. Romines Technical Educational Research Center Judith Davidson Wasser Education Development Center Judith Zorfass Network Staff Director Jack W. Humphrey Administrative Assistant Sue Hennessy Administrative Assistant Julie Johnson Consultant Carolyn Scavone Middle Grades Reading Network University of Evansville 1800 Lincoln Avenue Evansville, Indiana 47722 Telephone (812) 479-2624 Fax (812) 474-4032 E-Mail [email protected] Funded by Lilly Endowment Inc. L raries eading INDISPENSABLE PARTNERS Current, Interesting, and Attractive School Library Book Collections Are Essential for Healthy Middle Grades Reading Programs 4 BEST COPY AVAILABLE Indiana: Indiana's young adolescentsat the crossroads of their lives between childhood Facing the Challenge of and adulthood and at the crossroads be- the Twenty-First Century tween two eras, a nationalized industrial/agri- cultural economy and a global transnational economyface particularly great challenges. NAFTA, GATT, global trade, information Their future lies in a world that is only now highway, and research parksthese are coming into focus, and their past lies in a terms we hear frequently today in the news. They point to the emerging era of com- merce and economic development of the If they are lucky, during these twenty-first century. This is an era that will years young adolescents will read be vastly different from the industrial and broadly and deeply . . . . agricultural world of the earlier part of the twentieth century, when factory jobs were plentiful and farming was a family affair. world that is quickly fading from focus. Even in the last decade of the twentieth They, and their parents, are caught in century, these conditions are no longer the middle, often unsure of how best to present. Indiana, like many other places, is proceed. feeling the change. These middle years are critical in many The beckoning economic era is global, It is a time when young people ways. It requires a rather than national, in scope. make important life decisions that will open highly skilled workforce, with individuals pos- It is also an impor- or close future doors. sessing the flexibility to train and retrain tant period in the development of reading many times over the course of their lives. skills that will help them in transition to fu- Gathering and processing information are ture opportunities. If they are lucky, during vital skills in this world, as computers and these years young adolescents will read their accompanying electronic formsE-mail, broadly and deeply, learning to use reading CD-ROM, and databanksbecome essential as a tool for gathering information, making tools for negotiating the world. This is a decisions, and exploring new areas of work world requiring very literate workers. Not all of the changes of this new era are restricted to business; civic life, too, is affected. To participate fully in a modern democracy, citizens need broad literacy and communication skills. Politics today are more global; at the same time, they are more local. Televised town hall meetings, E-mail, and other forms of media put us in closer touch with politicians and issues. On the other hand, because of the complex manner in which politics, economics, and culture are now intertwined, local events may have un- expected ramifications on what were once considered foreign issues. Again, a literate AO` Ji10.§ citizenry will be essential if informed demo- cratic decisions are to be reached. 5 ages. Research shows that students who do a lot of reading "on their own" become better readers because inde- pendent reading: enhances their reading compre- hension; provides them with a wide range of co, background knowledge; accounts for one-third or more of their vocabulary growth; and promotes reading as a lifelong activity. (p. 1) In addition to increased comprehension and vocabulary, there is also strong evi- dence that independent reading improves writing style, spelling, and grammatical de- knowledge. We hope they will also come to velopment (Krashen, 1993). see reading as pleasurable, exciting, and Surprisingly, although television is often It is during these years that meaningful. blamed for the lack of interest in reading lifelong reading habits are formedor not among young people today, Krashen re- formed, as the case may be. ports that "the culprit seems to be the How will Indiana face the challenge of absence of good books" (Krashen, 1993, the twenty-first century? Whatever paths p. 83). Access to books is essential if the state pursues, it is clear that high lev- young people are to engage in indepen- els of literacy will be essential for future dent reading, as well as in the reading Hoosiers. This literacy achievement cannot necessary for their school studies. be attained without the foundation for lit- Access to books is a broad, encom- eracy provided by excellent school libraries. passing concept. It means that young people must have reading materials avail- Reading Is Critical: able to them in number and variety. Books, The Role of School magazines, and other materials should be Libraries up-to-date and appealing in their format and in the way they are displayed. Young people need encouragement to select ma- Developing strong, competent, indepen- terials that are challenging and about topics dent readers is really a very simple thing if with which they may be unfamiliar as well you remember one adage: the more you as those that are at comfortable reading read, the better you read. The Center for levels and about familiar topics. the Study of Reading at the University of There is overwhelming evidence that Illinois finds that: school libraries make a difference in provid- ing young people with access to books. Independent silent reading is one of And the better the school library, the better the most important activities for the the results for young people's reading reading development of students of all 2 6 The Sad State of achievement. School libraries which have School Libraries in larger, quality collections; which are avail- able to students more hours; which provide Indiana comfortable and relaxing reading environ- ments; and which are staffed with qualified In 1994 the Indiana Media Journal pub- school librarians produce students with lished a study of school library media pro- higher reading achievement (Krashen, 1993). grams that was conducted by the Associa- "The closest correlation to high scores on tion for Indiana Media Educators (AIME). college entrance exams is not per-pupil ex- Their findings should sound an alarm. This penditure for instruction, teachers' salaries, report states that in Indiana, the per pupil or textbooks. Instead, by a wide margin, it investment in the library media center is "5 is the local tax dollars spent per pupil on to 8 years behind the national average" library media centers" (New Jersey School (Callison & Knuth, 1994, p. 109). The Indi- Board Association Newsletter quoting ana State Reading Association concurs. It William Bainbridge, School Match President, reports that Indiana's school libraries are March 21, 1995). underfunded, only purchasing a quarter of Excellent school libraries are essential if the books they need to keep their collec- we are to ensure that all young people tions current ("Indiana State Reading Asso- have access to the reading resources that ciation Resolution to Increase Funding for will help them to gain the level of literacy Books," 1994). AIME recommends that achievement vital to meeting the challenge school libraries purchase two books per of the twenty-first century. While we wish pupil per year if collections are to be ad- that they would also find books and en- equately sustained, and three books per couragementfor independent reading in pupil per year if collections are to grow to their classrooms, in after-school programs, meet independent reading and curricular and at home, we cannot be sure that these other sites will do the job. The one needs. Junior high school collections in Indiana place charged with this mission is the rank twenty-seventh nationally. The AIME school library, and this is where we should study found that there was "no growth in focus our attention. Attention to school li- braries must be at the heart of any com- junior high school book collections and even a decline in the book collections in senior prehensive plan for improving youth literacy. Adliaik I Ii '/ 7 Poor school library collections not only deny young adolescents knowledge of the world, they also deny them critical informa- tion needed to make career choices. The Indiana Workforce Legislation mandates that all students in grades 1 through 12 receive career awareness instruction, but our school libraries are not adequate for the task. The many out-of-date volumes on the shelves of middle school libraries can be counted on to present restricted career options for women (secretary, nurse, or teacher) and may fail to provide depictions of a multi- cultural work force. Many of the occupations that young people should be considering today were not even in existence in 1970. There are several reasons why school libraries in Indiana are not being funded at high schools" (Callison & Knuth, 1994, the necessary level. One is that while p. 134). While we engage in rhetoric about school library budgets increased little be- school reform, our middle grades library tween 1980 and 1990, the cost of books collections decline, even though we have doubled. Out of these same budgets, clear evidence that the size of a school school libraries must now also eke out the library's staff and collection is the best cost of such large ticket items as comput- school predictor of academic achievement ers, CD-ROMs, and VCRs (Humphrey, 1990). (Lance, Welborn, & Hamilton-Pennell, 1992). Hoosiers have also failed to value School library collections are not only school libraries. Although Indiana has only failing to grow, they are also aging. This 2 percent of the nation's population, it has is a serious problem for nonfiction book 18 of the 20 largest high school gymnasi- collections. In Indiana's junior high ums in the country (Hoose, 1986). Not schools, 58 percent of the nonfiction titles only gyms but also computer resources re- are over 15 years old, and of those, 30 ceive more support than school libraries. percent have copyright dates that are 25 In 1994 one Indiana school corporation, years or more old. Copyright dates of with less than 1 percent of the state's 1970 or earlier would disqualify most books students, announced it would spend $24 for classroom use. For middle school stu- million to improve computer resources in its dents studying contemporary social or sci- schools. In 1994 the entire state of Indi- ence issues, this is a serious problem. In ana spent only $7 million on library books such dated texts, they will find no refer- for the 1,907 schools (964,352 students) in ences to eye, heart, or lung transplants, the state. The primary reason that gyms pocket calculators, or the end of apartheid and computers receive funding, when in South Africa, not to mention the fall of school libraries do not, is the Capital the Soviet Union. In fact, Nixon, our Presi- Projects Fund. This critical source of dent in 1970, will not have visited China school revenue cannot be spent on books. yet (Callison & Knuth, 1994). 4 Part of the reason that school libraries With Hoosier school library book collec- are overlooked in district plans is that they tions in such dilapidated condition, the are "invisible." Although the improvement special efforts of teachers and librarians to of school libraries is critical to any systemic promote student reading often go for reform effort, libraries have never driven a naught. For instance, the Indiana State reform effort. Focused as we have been Department of Education annually distrib- on improving school management, achieve- utes a list of ten excellent Read-Aloud titles ment, curriculum, specific disciplinary ap- appropriate for use with middle grades stu- proaches, and the like, we have not clearly dents. Unfortunately, Indiana schools serving young adolescents possess, on the average, To build excellent school libraries, only 3.4 of these titles. Few schools pos- we must purchase at least two sess over half of the recommended titles. The Young Hoosier Book Award Program books per pupil per year. presents a similar problem. For this award, students read 20 nominated titles and vote stated the link to the school library. As a for their favorites. However, the average result, we have not studied the quality and number of Young Hoosier Book Award titles functioning of school libraries as we have available in middle grades school libraries other issues. At school and district levels, is again low at 13.3. This is upsetting administrators are often not aware of the news, because the Read-Aloud titles and library's needs, nor do they have a plan to the Young Hoosier Book Award titles repre- address them. sent the best new trade books of the year. An exciting contrast to this dismal pic- In other words, no matter how hard dedi- ture is that offered by Maconaquah School cated teachers and librarians promote good Corporation just north of Kokomo. There, reading choices, if the materials are not after studying school library conditions, they there, young people cannot read them. l I, 1.1 1. :1,1_1, Raro cAllOtS 5 9 learned, to their surprise, that "in this cor- will have current book collections in ten years. poration of 2,000 students, only 19.4 percent In addition to the collections, good school of the library books are current and only libraries must be staffed by professional slightly above one-fourth book per student school librarians familiar with the books per year is being purchased" (Holland, 1995, young people like and trained in ways of p. 1). As a result, the school board created introducing young adolescents to reading a library update plan, voting to spend material. Masters of information systems, $450,000 to implement it. While $450,000 school librarians must also be knowledgeable may initially seem like a high price tag to in assisting young people to learn how to many districts, it may actually be little com- use the resources of the library. Also im- pared to social costs if young people do not portant are the clerical staff who assist have access to better school libraries. The school librarians in the multitude of duties Maconaquah example foreshadows the work required to keep a school library functioning that lies ahead for schools, districts, and smoothly so that it can serve young people. communities. (See appendixes for inventory School libraries should be the heart of forms, plans, and usage report developed a school's life. They provide support for by the Maconaquah School Corporation to every area of the curriculum. They are increase acquisition and circulation of books.) a resource to students and faculty alike. If we are to prepare Indiana's young School librarians should be in close contact people with the literacy skills they need to with their colleagues at the local public pursue their future optimistically, we need library, connecting these two resources to school libraries that have excellent fiction better help young people. and nonfiction collections. There is no sub- Improving Indiana's school libraries re- stitute for books. Without access to books, quires knowledge and commitment. Schools reading achievement suffers. Starving school need to study their library services and libraries is, in the long run, only robbing design plans for the future. Adequate Peter to pay Paul. To build excellent school monetary support for the plan needs to be libraries, we must purchase at least two allocated, whether that comes from district, books per pupil per year. At this rate, we state, federal, or private funds. 6 10