Study Shows Rise in Test Scores Tied to School Library Resources

By Kathleen Kennedy Manzo

Students in schools with appropriate and sufficient library collections and qualified library personnel tend to perform better on standardized tests, especially in reading, according to studies of school library programs in Alaska, Colorado, and Pennsylvania.

Making the school library an integral learning center and encouraging teachers and librarians to collaborate on lesson plans and classroom assignments could help raise student achievement, the report suggests.

"The bottom line across the three states is that once again, we've shown a positive and statistically significant correlation between the size of the school library and library media staff and test scores," said Keith Curry Lance, the director of the Library Service Center of the Colorado State Library, which conducted the studies...