It makes sense for schools to increase their digital collection and virtual presence, but we don’t believe that schools benefit by dramatically downsizing the library’s space. School libraries will continue to need teaching spaces that support the increasing Makerspace activities. Librarians remain the best trained to teach information and research skills. The library is, at its core, a classroom that promotes independent learning, but even the most independent learners benefit from expert guidance as they seek new resources. The actual space needed will remain substantial. Depending on the age of the students and the school’s existing print collection, the arrangement of the space may change substantially to allow more class teaching areas with Wi-Fi and useful digital applications. Or it may stay about the same to house existing collections of perhaps picture books for the very young, academic books that may never be digitized but that support specific courses on a campus, and/or continuing strong print collections because the community prefers some materials in that format.

Does the SLMS have a formal means of communicating the goals and services of the program to the students, staff, administration, and community?

When students find a book that gets them excited, they are more likely to pick up another book.