Comparing Campus Libraries to Classroom Libraries

by Dorcas Hand
Administrators at all levels need to understand why librarians matter, and why school libraries should be staffed by certified school librarians and funded adequately to keep a current, well-rounded collection of interest to all students on the campus without regard to age, reading level or intellectual ability. Teachers and clerks need to be trained to run a library. It is a time-consuming process to bring a non-librarian to a very basic level of service.

Campus Libraries

Fully Staffed and Funded (Certified Librarian)

• Certified librarians work with classroom teachers to provide rotating classroom collections in support of current projects, reading levels and/or enthusiasms, or other teacher requests.
• Teach students to look beyond what they have in their classroom and/or home for stronger resources.
• Offer a broad, well rounded and current collection for all campus levels and abilities selected by a knowledgeable expert.
• Organize resources for easy access by all users.
• Provide knowledgeable professional access to resources from other libraries (other schools in the district, local public library system, local university libraries) - even for students not college bound.
• Make strong readers’ advisory services available to all students and teachers .

Understaffed Campus Library Space –
​Non-Professional Staff
Understaffed Libraries are a common reason for teachers or districts to begin in some desperation their own classroom libraries. But with limited resources (money, space, time), these small collections often overlap and are only shareable to other classes accidentally. Non-professional staff have

•  No training in readers advisory or collection development.
• Minimal awareness of organizational methods.
• No ability to add appropriate new materials.
• Lack of any training or certification means no awareness of curriculum or of normal student developmental levels, much less appropriate books to recommend.
• No authority to supervise students without a teacher or administrator present.
• A need for frequent campus administrative supervision and guidance to offer even basic potential benefits of library access.

Understaffed Campus Library Space-
​Certified Teacher 

• Certified Reading/Language Arts Teachers may be able to provide skilled readers advisory but do not necessarily have broader collection development skills to support all disciplines.
• Certified Technologists are likely to be largely unaware of readers advisory content or skills; they will be more focused on tech tools but possibly not the strong search skills and critical thinking skills students need to learn.
  
• Certified science, social studies, etc teachers less aware of classic novels and/or picture books for general readers advisory.
• All these will need campus administrative guidance for success.

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Hand, Dorcas et al. A Visual Guideline to Staffing Choices in School Libraries. 2019.
 
 
 
See below for more reference articles about School Libraries with Certified School Librarians.

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Classroom Libraries

Any Classroom Library
is a limiting expectation: students come to expect everything provided for them rather than learning the opportunity to search a wider collection in the campus or public library. The scope of a classroom library is limited to recreational reading, support for an academic subject, or targeted reading support depending on the specific classroom goals.
 
District Mandated

• Funding generally supports a specific program like Scholastic Guided Reading.
• Puts the same books in every classroom at a given level across the district.
• No oversight that books are used appropriately OR too much focus on loss-avoidance so the books not used at all.
• Generally organized by reading level.
• Example: https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/articles/teaching-content/five-major-functions-classroom-library/

Teacher Originated

• Teacher collects personal favorites for the age-group, usually with limited personal funds.
• Or selects a variety to support specific classroom curriculum and age/grade.
• The classroom collection is usually focused on current teaching assignment; and often left with the grade if assignment changes by level or discipline (science, Social studies, …); may or may not be used by the new teacher in that room.
• Not always organized in any way. Sometimes sorted in bins by series or level.
• No catalog list for sharing across the campus when needed, or even for students to find a specific title.
• Example: Scholastic Classroom Book Orders with free books for the teacher based on sales [Only viable where students have money to order]
• Wolpert-Gawron, Heather. "The Importance of a Classroom Library." Edutopia, George Lucas Educational Foundation, 16 Apr. 2009. 

ARTICLES about School Libraries with Certified School Librarians

• Falkenberg, Nanette, et al., compilers. Report on the Baltimore Library Project: Years 1-3. Baltimore MD, Jan. 2017. HJWeinberg Foundation.
• Short Analysis: Kachel, Debra E., and Keith Curry Lance. "Latest Study: A full-time school librarian makes a critical difference in boosting student achievement." School Library Journal, 11 Mar. 2013 (based on preliminary results). ​