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Unfortunately, too many people consider libraries as mere rooms full of books and computers, and librarians as mere functionaries in charge of the rooms and their contents. When district leaders look for savings in a budget, too often they see the most important teacher in a school as the most expendable. California schools have seen a marked decrease in the number of teacher librarians in recent years. New York City has about 50% more schools than it did in 2002, but more than half of the district's libraries have closed in the past decade. In California, New York, and anywhere else cutting libraries, it's a classic example of a penny-wise, pound-foolish approach to budgeting: there's no shortage of evidence that libraries and librarians - both, together - have a strongly positive impact on student learning.

Infographic showing research on the impact of school libraries on student achievment

Infographic showing research on the impact of school libraries on student achievment

Schools libraries are too often a "wasted resource" which should be brought into the mainstream of teaching, says a report. (BBC News) Full BBC article at http://twe.tc/oL "...while school libraries have a unique role in raising pupils' literacy levels, promoting reading for pleasure and improving their access to knowledge, in many schools the library is a wasted resource because it is poorly embedded in the infrastructure of the school and absent from school development plans. "

Great comic poster about what school librarians do, created by Jennifer LaGarde, and enhanced with Thinglink by Donna Baumbach.

Why schools need libraries and teacher-librarians