Quotes

“. . .
school libraries and teacher-

librarians contribute to achievement,
literacy and culture.”
Ken Haycock, Ed.D.

The Crisis in Canada’s Schools, June 2003
“‘Could you help me?’ said the grade twelve
student to the teacher-librarian. ‘I need to
write an essay for a scholarship on the labour
movement in Canada.’ In less than five
minutes the student had the material he needed
on the table in front of him. ‘Gee, this is great,’
he said. ‘I spent three hours on the internet
and I couldn’t find anything.’ Yes, it takes a
teacher-librarian!”
Charlotte Raine, Teacher-Librarian
Saskatchewan
“. . . there is a good body of research to
indicate that good teacher-librarians can make
a great difference in the life of a school and
help to improve student achievement . . . .
Within a library programme, for example,
there are many important instructional
responsibilities (e.g. information) that are best
delivered by a certified teacher librarian.”
Government of Ontario. The Road Ahead: The
First Report of the Education Improvement
Commission. August 1997.
“Teacher-librarians have nurtured and
watered school libraries. Not as many
are doing the watering and nurturing now
and like plants, our libraries are slowly
dying.”
Robert Munsch, Author

“ . . . with staff funding cuts and site-based
decision making, the reality is that teacher-
librarian time is the first thing on the chopping
block.”
Patty Ambrosio, Teacher-Librarian

Medicine Hat, Alberta
“ In 1990 in Nova Scotia, one-third of
school principals allocated less than
$1,000 a year to library materials, with
many boards reporting $6 per student.”
Nova Scotia Department of Education

“In 1998, Alberta had 1,668 schools and
252 teacher-librarians assigned half-time
or more. In 2000, there were only 106
assigned half-time or more—one teacher-
librarian per 3,000 students.”
Dianne Oberg, University of Alberta

“In one school district in Alberta, there
were 14 teacher-librarians (FTE) in 1992
and 8.5 in 2002. More than half of the
schools have no teacher-librarian”
Alberta Learning Resources Council

“In 1990, there were 103 teacher-
librarians in Nova Scotia; in 2002, there
were 9 (and these could be working in
district offices or teacher’s centres and
not necessarily in schools).”
Nova Scotia Department of Education

“Ontario provides funding for one
teacher-librarian for every 769
elementary students and 909 secondary
students. Only 2% of elementary schools
have sufficient enrolment to generate
funding for a full-time teacher librarian.”
Ontario Library Association

“. . . only 10% of Ontario elementary
schools have a full-time teacher-librarian,
compared with 42% twenty-five years
ago.”
Ken Haycock, Ed.D.

“Many schools would rather spend their
money on technology that will be obsolete in a
couple of years than to buy books that will last
much longer. I am not against the use of
technology, in fact we are usually the people
who teach it to our students, but I am against
school libraries being put on the back burner
when it comes to adequate funding.”
Patricia Emberley, LRT

Avalon East School District
“In Manitoba, the level of provincial
funding for school libraries (staff,
operating, collections) for 2003-2004 is
the same as it was in 1993-1994.”
Manitoba Department of Education

“. . . in the school board for which I work, I
am the only Teacher Librarian for 4 High
Schools. The 26 elementary schools have no
librarians. The libraries have been decimated
by cuts to staff and budgets. Any books that
were in these libraries have disappeared. It is
a crying shame.”
Jane Rodrigues, Teacher-Librarian

Sudbury
“Next year, my assignment will be 75%
as a Learning Resource Teacher and 25%
as an English Language Arts Teacher. I
love my work with students in the
classroom but I wonder who’s minding
the shop while I’m away?.”
Beth Hearn, Learning Resource Teacher

Newfoundland
“A friend of mine in a local junior high has
had her library hours cut to 2 a day. She is
now teaching LA and Social for 4 hours. . . .
the principal assigned a second teacher in the
school to 2 hours in the library . . . Do you
understand that logic?”
Pat Ropchan, Teacher-Librarian

Alberta
“As I accessed the research in the area of principal
support for the school information literacy program,
I noted that there are a number of researchers
examining the importance of the principal’s support.
Ironically, as the research in this area is increasing,
a number of school boards have decided that they
can cut funding to the school information literacy
program by cutting teacher-librarian positions
completely or replacing qualified teacher-librarians
with clerical assistants.”
Richard Mulholland, M.Ed.

University of Alberta
“In my role as storyteller I visit many
schools across Alberta and, over the
years, have become increasingly alarmed
at the rapid rate at which teacher-
librarians in the education system are
becoming an endangered species.”
Merle Harris, Storyteller

Alberta
“Many schools paper over the problem
by keeping the teacher-librarian part time
but assign so much prep time that [there
is] little time to be a teacher-librarian.
The job goes from leadership to
babysitting.”
BC School Trustees Association

Education Leader, April 24, 2003
“Teacher-librarians are being given one
or two hours a week to devote to the
needs of an entire school, making the job
frustrating and ineffective.”
Harriet Zaidman, Teacher-librarian, Manitoba

“. . . my principal called me . . . to break the
news that the allocation for teacher librarians
in this district would be cut in half! . . . She
made adjustments within the school, cutting
other areas that would ultimately lead to
greater workload for the administration, in
order to keep me full time in this position. I
am thrilled but I know that unless funding to
our board changes I am living on borrowed
time.”
Rhona Oldford, Teacher-librarian, Newfoundland
“Whenever times are tough and cuts have
to be made it seems as if the library is the
area that is affected the most.”
Sylvia J. Smith, Library Technician, Alberta

“Our school district administrators
continues(sic) to hire teachers [with no
formal training] to work in school
libraries despite an understanding, not a
policy, to the contrary.”
Geoff Orme
“In one year (1998-1999) in Ontario,
more schools reported losing teacher-
librarians (22%) than any other specialist
teacher.”
People for Education

“It seems unbelievable, with more and more
emphasis in education being placed on
information technology, and with the focus of
the Western Canadian Protocol on elementary
students being able to ‘speak, read, write, view
and represent ideas and information,’ that
qualified teacher-librarians are on the way to
becoming extinct in Alberta.”

Alberta
“Our school district has been forced to
make cuts due to a large budget deficit.
I know of some schools that have closed
their library and if they haven’t they have
instead laid off the teacher-librarian or
library technician.”

“. . . in British Columbia, local school board
funding levels now reveal dramatic
inconsistencies in annual budgets for library
resources, with the figures ranging from 80¢ to
$35 per student per year, the latter providing
for maintenance only, not growth.”
Ken Haycock, Ed.D.

“I have been in schools where the
collection was colour-coded, where the
‘librarian’ had no idea what boolean
logic was and yet was responsible for
helping students do research on the
internet.”

Alberta
“Some principals have said that other staff can
run the library . . . one principal even plans to
do the job herself. The library staff who, in
many cases, have spent years putting all their
creative energy into making their workplace a
source of pride for themselves and their school
now find themselves cast aside as an expense
that isn’t worth it anymore.”

“It’s always a daily challenge trying to fit in
my Prep coverage responsibilities with what I
know I should be doing as a Teacher-Librarian.
It’s very disheartening when I think of the
little value that is placed on my position by the
school board. Do they not read the research
which has shown how vital Teacher-Librarians
are to their school community?”
Beth DesRochers, Teacher Librarian

Penetanguishene, Ontario
“Every day I must close [the library] some part of the
day for a lunch break. . . . [On the days] when the
Grade 10 students . . . write [literacy] tests all
morning . . . they come upstairs . . . to use their
school Library for reading, studying research, playing
chess, doing homework, meeting for group projects.
But they come up just as I am closing the Library
door in order to get a well-deserved break. . . . Write
the ‘literacy’ tests – but close the door on literacy!”
Arieh Waldman, Teacher-Librarian

Toronto
“I know of one large elementary/junior high
library which was automated by someone
without any library qualifications. The entire
collection was accessible only by author or
title—there were no illustrators or subject
headings in any entries and every book in the
collection had 300 pages.”

Alberta
“The role of the school library in
developing literacy skills and information
technology skills is being slashed.”
Harriet Zaidman, Teacher-librarian, Manitoba

“My role as a Learning Resource Teacher
has gone from promoting books, reading,
and supporting resource-based teaching
and learning to Network Administrator/
technician and finally on to classroom
assignments.”

Newfoundland
“I work in a small school of under 300
children. The neighbourhood is very needy,
and some have no books in their homes. . . .
my principal decided, for next year, that
having the library open all day was a
luxury . . . It saddened me to see that the
principal really had no idea of how important
a library is to children, especially students
with low level skills.”
Michele Bower, Teacher-Librarian

Toronto
“I have also been in schools where the
library is used only for book exchange
and know there are some schools that
have opted to close down their libraries.”

Alberta
“In the current round of contract negotiations
with our school board, it was recommended by
the board that the Teacher-Librarians be taken
from the school libraries and ‘reassigned’ to a
classroom somewhere. . . . to avoid hiring any
new teachers.”
Beth DesRochers, Teacher Librarian

Penetanguishene, Ontario
“. . . the neglect of Canadian school
libraries comes precisely at a time when
many countries around the world are
aggressively investing or reinvesting in
these very facilities.”
Ken Haycock, Ed.D.

“What a school thinks about its library is
a measure of what it thinks about
education.”
Harold Howe
former U.S. Commissioner of Education
“The state of our school libraries can
only be described as desperate in almost
every province.”
Roch Carrier, National Librarian of Canada, 2002

“Library programs . . . promote the
development of information literacy skills
among all students by supporting and
coordinating the collaborative planning and
implementation of reading programs, inquiry
and research tasks, and independent study.”
The Ontario Curriculum Grades 9 to 12 – Program

Planning and Assessment
“Excellent teacher-librarians are essential
to ensure that all young people have
access to reading materials that will help
them become literate, and school libraries
must be the centre of any plan to improve
reading and literacy.”
J. H. Yoo, The Educational Impact of the School

Library. ERIC Document ED 417 736. 1998
“The School Library belongs to everyone as
an integral part of our schools, and is a
fundamental right of all children in Canada . . .
to this end we engage practicing teacher-
librarians in sharing their concerns, ideas, and
needs with each other, teachers, students,
parents, decision makers, and community.”
Forging Forward: A National Symposium on

Information Literacy and the School Library
Ottawa, Nov. 1997.
“The Guide to Education: ECS to Grade 12
specifies that students should have access to
effective library programs that are integrated
with their instructional programs . . . Decisions
about staffing, however, are left to school
authorities. In the absence of a teacher-
librarian, professional direction and
involvement will be provided by the principal
and teaching staff of the school.”
Dr. Lyle Oberg, Minister of Learning

Alberta
“Qualified teacher-librarians, technicians and
updated collections and technology should be
considered essential in all schools and not
‘choices as seen necessary to achieve the
outcomes in the Guide to Education.’ How
can anyone without library training provide
‘professional direction’ in the library?”

Alberta
“Effective school library programs can
also help promote the development of
information literacy skills among all
students by supporting and coordinating
the collaborative planning and
implementation of reading programs,
inquiry and research tasks, and
independent study.”
The Ontario Curriculum, Grades 9 to 12: Program
Planning and Assessment. 2000
“All students in our school should have access
to effective school library programs. All our
young must have the opportunity to develop
the information and media skills they require
to reach their fullest potential, to become
independent, lifelong learners, and to live as
active, responsible members of society.”
Canadian Library Association

“Position Statements.” www.cla.ca/about/school.htm
3 Jan. 2001
“I’ve been in school libraries where the only book on
our native peoples was published in the 1930s and
spoke of “Red Indians.” The book was on the shelf,
along with a great deal of dust and little else. . . . The
lack of warmth and vibrancy in that school, the clear
unimportance of books and the joy they can give, was
unnerving. I will admit that when I left that joyless
school, I sat in my car and, for the first and only time
after a school visit, wept for those children in grades
kindergarten through eight.”
Linda Granfield, Author

“I speak from a wide experience of
school libraries. The good ones all have
teacher-librarians. Students and teachers
benefit, the system benefits, the world
benefits.”
Richard Scrimger, Author, Ontario

“I have traveled this country from coast to
coast and done over 2600 presentations to
more than 400,000 students. I know which
schools work. I know which students are
engaged in learning and literacy. If a school is
a living, growing, evolving organism the very
heart of it is the resource centre. Make sure
that heart stays vital!”
Eric Walter, Author, Ontario

“The library is the heart of the school, and
without a librarian to maintain it, it falls
quickly, oh so quickly into chaos. I hate to
remember how I’ve seen teetering piles of
unshelved books waiting for some volunteer to
come in for a couple of hours and try to make
sense of it all.”
Nan Gregory, Author, British Columbia

“. . . many districts have eliminated teacher-
librarians or severely cut the library time. In
many cases there aren’t even any teacher-
librarians left to advocate for the programs that
have been lost. I don’t think it’s fair to the
children of our country.”
Randi Louise Hermans, Second Vice President

British Columbia Teacher-Librarians Association
“. . . there is a world of difference in the
learning environment where there is an
informed, enthusiastic and dedicated
professional librarian. . . . my bets are that
your effect will be measured in influence over
years in a longer term. And if the kids you’ve
turned on to reading, and guided through
school become parents who pass on a love of
books to their kids….that’s double success,
isn’t it? Let the Bean Counters take note.”
Werner Zimmermann, Author,
Lion’s Head, Ontario
“While most school districts write well-
meaning accountability contracts . . . and
while school councils across British
Columbia create earnest school growth
plans . . . schools and districts are also
quietly implementing budgets that chip
and hack and gouge away at school
libraries.”
Ken Haycock, Ed.D.
“Regrettably, even when professional librarians are in
evidence, they are sometimes “shared” by three or
more schools. I visit each of their schools and I see a
frazzled librarian who cannot possibly know the
needs of the hundreds of students in three schools in
three different neighbourhoods. She spends very little
time in each library, and can only guess at what to
buy. And there are those volunteers to find and train.
Okay, someone can argue those schools are fortunate
to have a professional librarian—but are they really?
I would never argue they are.”

“Parents are being forced to raise funds
for books that should be considered core
teaching tools. The results? Kids in
affluent areas end up with terrific
libraries, while kids in poor
neighbourhoods end up with library
collections—if you can call 30 books a
collection!—that are a disgrace.”
Kim Pittaway, Author

“Broad Side”, Chatelaine, October 2002
“. . . there are students throughout the
country in schools with library ‘card
catalogues,’ something students will not
encounter in the community at public
libraries or in colleges and universities.
Hardly a preparation for ‘real life.’”
Ken Haycock, Ed.D.

“Kids need school librarians to teach them
how to find the information they’re seeking,
how to read it critically once they have it and
how to fit it into the context of what they
already know. In other words, they need
libraries and librarians to help them learn to
think. But instead of spending money on
libraries, we’re slashing budgets and reducing
staff.”
“I have presented at schools across
Canada for fifteen years, and during that
time I have watched the quality of school
libraries and the number of professional
school librarians deteriorate.”

“It is still incredible to me that early
literacy initiatives ousted libraries in
schools.”
Barb Galeski, Teacher-Librarian, Alberta

“In a district committed to school-based
management, the City of Chicago has
nevertheless chosen to make school
libraries a priority, with centralized
services, support and direction. The
‘Chicago model’ has been replicated in
Philadelphia, where teacher-librarians
will become a district, rather than school,
direct cost.”
Ken Haycock, Ed.D.
“Will literacy increase by spending more
or less on books?”

“Will literacy increase by closing or
limiting the hours of resource
centres/libraries?”

“Will literacy increase by eliminating the
positions or time of teacher/librarians?”

“It is not because I create books, rather
because I love learning that I see the
position of professional librarian as the
hub of the learning wheel.”

“. . . no election goes by without at least one
politician uttering the line that ‘Children are our
future.’ If you were conspiracy-minded, you might
think that failing to provide the tools to ensure that
those future voters are literate critical thinkers is a
deliberate choice. But then you’d be giving
politicians credit for thinking further ahead than the
next election. The unfortunate truth is simpler.
Funding library books doesn’t translate into photo
opportunities. It’s not as sexy as spending thousands
on computers.”
“In a growing number of Canadian
schools, in fact, the libraries are shuttered
all or part of the time, with well-meaning
parents scrambling to fill the void.
Through neglect, too many school
libraries are now little more than storage
rooms.”
Ken Haycock, Ed.D.
“. . . while the federal government invests
in international education aid projects
through agencies such as the World Bank,
provincial support for Canadian school
libraries and teacher-librarians is in
serious decline.”
Ken Haycock, Ed.D.

“The Greater Essex County District School
Board will select and place $1 million worth
of books into elementary school libraries.
This ‘Open a Book . . . Open a Door’ project
places a high value on the importance of
reading and accessing materials within our
schools. Increasing literacy skills for our
students is of paramount importance.”
Mike Budd, Teacher-Consultant

Program Department
“Libraries that focus on learning
outcomes and that have the ability to
impact a student’s success will be vital in
the school.”
Michael Bloom
Conference Board of Canada 2002
“In a knowledge-based society, the
ability to handle information effectively
is essential to student success in school
and beyond.”
Ken Haycock, Ed.D.

“. . . international evidence . . . cannot be
easily dismissed: with the decline of
support for quality school libraries and
qualified teacher-librarians, student
achievement has similarly fallen off.”
Ken Haycock, Ed.D.

“Canada’s commitment to kids’ libraries?
Stamp it long overdue.”

“I never miss an opportunity to point out
the importance of full time librarians in
our schools. This is a key to education
and literacy.”
His Excellency John Ralston Saul

“The role played by teacher-librarians goes
beyond just keeping the library open. They
have an overview of the curriculum, and they
work with teachers to ensure that library
materials support curriculum and to choose
appropriate resources for use in the classroom.
they also teach children research skills, how to
write papers and how to use computers and the
Internet.”
People for Education

“I work in one of the largest Junior High
Schools in the city of St. John’s and I have
probably the largest physical space to house a
collection and facilities. Unfortunately, there
is a lot of empty space. Our print collection
has been depleted and weeded-out to a bare
bones collection of stale books, freebie
magazines and hard copy reference material
dated 1985.”
Newfoundland
“Professional librarians in every school.
That’s what our children need. And then,
let’s help those librarians get the book
budgets they need in order to complete
the wonderful task of matching each
child with the book that can change their
life.”
“If somebody was to say to you that the
best way to increase the physical fitness
level of students was to close down the
gym, sell off the playing field and
dismiss the physical education teacher
you might think they were crazy.”

“U.S. Congress last year approved US
$250 million of dedicated funding for
library books and technology to provide
current information and replace outdated
stereotypes and reference material.”
Ken Haycock, Ed.D.

“Reading, and the ability to use
information effectively, are the very
foundations of a well-educated
democracy, a healthy economy and a
robust national culture.”
Ken Haycock, Ed.D.

“The research clearly demonstrates that
school libraries and teacher libraries are a
key part of this equation. So why are
they being neglected in one of the richest
countries in the world?”
Ken Haycock, Ed.D.

“I was flabbergasted by the miserable state of
our school libraries. . . . I saw beautiful ones,
but I saw school libraries closed 50 per cent of
the time, I saw school libraries that served
10,000 students. I saw libraries with no new
books in the last 10 years. . . . In Canada, it’s
happening. It doesn’t make sense.”
Roch Carrier, National Librarian of Canada

The Globe and Mail, May 22, 2002
“. . . the research overwhelmingly
supports the case for revitalizing
Canada’s school libraries. The question
is, are the policy-makers prepared to
listen and then act?”
Ken Haycock, Ph.D., Haycock and Associates

“The management teams seem to be
either unaware of or ignoring the
research that shows the importance of the
contribution of the school information
literacy program to student achievement
as well as the importance of the principal
support.”
Richard Mulholland, M.Ed.

University of Alberta
“Many people believe that the coming of
the Electronic Age has occasioned the
call for the demise of the school
librarian.”
Rob Reilly, Ed. D., Computer Education Teacher,

Lanesborough, Massachusetts
“Turns out—big surprise—that there’s a
direct correlation between the quality of a
school’s library and the academic
performance of that school’s students.”

“48% of Canadian adults do not have the
literacy skills required for full participation
in the knowledge economy.”
(A Snapshot of Literacy Canada, National Literacy

Secretariat, 2003).
“Only 10% of 15-year olds were able to
show understanding of unfamiliar text
such that they could infer which
information was relevant to a task.”
(Programme for International Student Assessment

2000, OECD)
“By cutting school libraries and teacher-
librarians, we are detracting not only
from the richness of our children’s
experiences but also from their budding
sense of their own culture.”
Ken Haycock, Ed.D.

“With a library program . . . there are
many important instructional
responsibilities (e.g. research skills and
effective access to information) that are
best delivered by a certified teacher-
librarian.”
The Road Ahead: The First Report of the Education

Improvement Commission, Ontario. 1997
“With budget reductions and a decreasing
roster of teacher-librarians, fewer
Canadian materials find their way into
our elementary and secondary schools.”
Canada Council for the Arts. “English-Language

Canadian Literature in High Schools: A Research
Study Commissioned by the Canada Council for the
Arts.” Impact, Vol. 11 No. 2, p. 20, 2002.
“. . . too many administrators believe
simplistically that there will automatically
be access to every book in every networked
library, and that library automation systems
will easily be able to handle the electronic
and virtual libraries which are continually
evolving and growing.”

“[W]hy have school librarians . . . when
everything will be available online? Of course,
this reduces a complex argument to an
emotional hot-button. Such oversimplification
draws attention to the changing role of the
school librarian in an era in which the position
is less of a warehouse manager and more of a
reference consultant to teachers and students
while still retaining the instructional focus that
has always been a part of the position.”
Carol Simpson, Editor, Technology Connection

“The research has been done that shows
student achievement is higher in schools
that have libraries run by qualified
teacher-librarians. Why isn’t anyone
listening?”
Randi Louise Hermans, Second Vice President

British Columbia Teacher-Librarians Association
“It was in the library that I first imagined
I might become a writer, that someday,
someone might read my words. Too bad
lots of today’s kids won’t get the chance
I had.”

“PISA 2000 concludes that where student
use of resources, such as the school
library, computers and Internet, is
relatively high, mean reading scores tend
to be higher, even when other factors are
discounted.”
(Programme for International Student Assessment

2000, OECD)
“. . . as I travel to schools across Canada
I am usually met by a room called the
library, divided in two into the book and
computer camps. Where there is a full
time librarian there is a marked
difference in the room, in the atmosphere
and even the books.”

“With the advent of high technology and
sophisticated networks, many schools have
approached technology as if it were separate
and distinct from ‘the library’. But after the
networks are in and the equipment in place, it
soon becomes evident that materials and
information merely have new paths to take.”
David V. Loertscher
Reinventing Your School’s Library in the Age of Technology
“. . . there is substantial evidence that
teacher-librarians affect student
achievement regardless of the medium –
print, audio, video or electronic.”
Ken Haycock, Ed.D.

“The school librarian in the electronic age
expands the services available from the library
to include computer-based data and
sophisticated information-seeking strategies.”

“We had a computer lab in the Learning
Resource Centre so there was access to
Educational software as well as on-line
resources. . . . the lab was dismantled
and a new and improved model was set
up . . . on the next floor.”

Newfoundland
“. . . newer technologies need to be
integrated with older technologies (books,
videos) to create hybrid libraries focusing
on information and ideas, not on the
delivery channel.”
Ken Haycock, Ed.D.

“A positive difference can be made to
student achievement when school
libraries co-operate with public libraries.”
Michele Lonsdale, Impact of School Libraries on Student

Achievement: A Review of the Research: Report for the
Australian School Libraries Association
“The school library has, until recently,
played an important role in promoting a
national perspective.”
Ken Haycock, Ed.D.

“Studies show that qualified teacher-
librarians have systematically sought out
Canadian books and other media to
ensure that the Canadian experience
forms a significant part of each child’s
education.”
Ken Haycock, Ed.D.
“Canadian publishers can provide ample
evidence of teacher-librarians selecting
and promoting Canadian books for
Canadian children. They have noticed
reduced attention to Canadian books in
schools, commensurate with the
reduction in teacher-librarians.”
P. Cavill, Transition: Changes in the Public and

School Library Market, 1997.
“. . . no one should be taken aback to
discover that when children are
introduced to books and other learning
materials that tell them about their own
society and its values, they will begin to
soak up what the culture has to offer.”
Ken Haycock, Ed.D.

“The extent to which books are borrowed
from school libraries shows a strong
relationship with reading achievement
while borrowing from classroom libraries
does not.”

“More books, more resource centres
operated by caring, passionate
teacher/librarians will increase literacy.”

“The related point from an educational
equity perspective is that school libraries
expose children from low-income
neighbourhoods to reading materials they
may not otherwise have access to.”
Ken Haycock, Ed.D.

“Libraries . . . are about literacy!”
Chilliwack Teacher-Librarians’ Association

“One of the unfortunate myths of the
digital age is that libraries and print
resources are becoming obsolete in the
age of the Internet.”
Ken Haycock, Ed.D.

“Studies connecting teacher-librarians
and school libraries with achievement in
reading have been available for more
than 50 years.”
Ken Haycock, Ed.D.

“In Oregon, reading test scores rise with
the development of school library media
programs. The relationship is not
explained away by other school or
community conditions.”
Keith Curry Lance, M. J. Rodney &

C. Hamilton-Pennell, Good Schools Have Good
Librarians: Oregon School Librarians Collaborate
to Improve Academic Achievement. 2001
“In New Brunswick, according to the
government, student performance in
reading is rock bottom in the country;
support for N.B. school libraries is also
dead last in the country.”
Ken Haycock, Ed.D.

“A print-rich environment leads to more
reading and free voluntary reading is the
best predictor of comprehension,
vocabulary growth, spelling and
grammatical ability and writing style.”

“More flexible access to the school
library and free voluntary reading results
in increased interest in books, more
enjoyment of reading and improved
learning.”
Ken Haycock, Ed.D.

“Ninety percent of an author visit is
accomplished before I, or any other writer,
darken a door. The work is done, of course,
by a school librarian; not just by introducing
our books but through their daily efforts to
create a haven of purpose and pleasure, a
centre for the truest learning in school. They
are as irreplaceable as the books they share.”
Ted Staunton, Author, Ontario

“And in BC, reading proficiency and
student ability to access and use
information effectively are declining,
as is support for school libraries.”
Ken Haycock, Ed.D.

“The quality of the collection has an
impact on student learning.”

“No one should be shocked to learn that
if children have access to a wide range of
relevant books and library materials, they
will be more likely to use them, both for
learning and pleasure.”
Ken Haycock, Ed.D.

“The school library program is most
effective when it is an integral part of the
instructional program of the school and
when information and media literacy
skills are integrated in a developmental
and sequential way with subject specific
skills and content.”
Canadian Library Association

“A strong library program that is
adequately staffed, resourced, and funded
can lead to higher student achievement
regardless of the socio-economic or
educational levels of the adults in the
community.”

“[Students who score higher on] tests
tend to come from schools which have
more library resource staff and more
books, periodicals and videos, and where
the instructional role of the teacher-
librarian and involvement in cooperative
program planning and teaching is more
prominent.”
Keith Curry Lance, et al.
The Impact of School Library Media Centers on
Academic Achievement
“The concept of a vast store of materials
and information poised to serve teachers
and learners remains intact no matter
what it is named--the library, the library
media centre, the information portal, or
network central.”
David V. Loertscher
Reinventing Your School’s Library in the Age of Technology
“In Ontario, a disturbing percentage of
students do not reach government
standards on mandated literacy
assessments, yet support for school
libraries is still declining.”
Ken Haycock, Ed.D.

“What is Information Literacy?
Ability to solve information-based problems
•to acquire information,
•to critically evaluate information,
•to select information,
•to use information,
•to communicate information in ways which lead to
knowledge and wisdom.”
Information Studies: Kindergarten to Grade 12.
Toronto: OLA, 1999
“. . . recent research has demonstrated
significant and consistent correlations
between school libraries, subject learning
and information literacy, that is, the
ability to access, evaluate and make
effective use of information.”
Ken Haycock, Ed.D.

“Integrating information literacy into the
curriculum can improve students’
mastery of both content and information
seeking skills.”

“. . . our success [Canada’s] in the
information age depends on information
literacy, that is, how to manage
information, utilize technologies,
innovate, – and above all – think.”
Matthew Barrett, former Chair, Bank of Montreal

Globe and Mail, 30 November 1996.
“According to the National Literacy
Secretariat, 42% of Canadians aged 16 –
65 do not have the literacy skills required
for full participation in the knowledge
economy.”
Chilliwack Teacher-Librarians’ Association

“So we have a sixteen-year old who has
the technical skills to use the Internet but
doesn’t have the validation skills to
understand the structure of the
information he finds on the Internet . . .
the technical skill is trivial compared to
the critical thinking skills needed.”
Alan November, “Creating a New Culture of

Teaching and Learning” November 2000
“Not only do teacher-librarians teach
students vital information and research
skills, and ensure that collections are
developed to enrich and extend curricular
needs, but they also encourage children
to read for pure enjoyment.”

Alberta
“In research done in nine states and over
3300 schools since 1999, the positive
impact of the school library program is
consistent. [They] make a difference in
academic achievement.
Keith Curry Lance & David V.Loertscher, Powering

Achievement: School Library Media Programs Make a
Difference: The Evidence, 2nd edition, 2003.
“Test scores are higher when there is
higher usage of the school library.”

“Where most schools would leap at the
chance to improve test scores even one
per cent, a qualified library team and
resources can bring scores up by 3 to 15
percent regardless of economic or social
factors.”
Keith Curry Lance

Globe and Mail, May 22, 2002
“. . . no fewer than forty years of research –
conducted in different locations, at different
levels of schooling, in different
socieoeconomic areas, sponsored by different
agencies and conducted by different, credible
researchers – provides an abundance of
evidence about the positive impact of qualified
teacher-librarians and school libraries on
children and adolescents.”
Ken Haycock, Ed.D.
“Working in concert with classroom teachers
and curriculum experts, librarians form a
comprehensive team designed to enhance
student academic achievement and critical-
thinking skills necessary for success in
lifelong endeavors.”

“Collaborative relationships between
classroom teachers and school librarians
have a significant impact on learning,
particularly in relation to the planning of
instructional units, resource collection
development, and the provision of
professional development for teachers.”

“No one should be astonished to discover that
if students and teachers can take advantage of
the guidance provided by a qualified teacher-
librarian, young people will be more likely to
learn the sort of critical thinking skills that are
increasingly important in an information
saturated society.”
Ken Haycock, Ed.D.

“Libraries can make a positive difference
to students’ self-esteem, confidence,
independence and sense of responsibility
in regards to their own learning.”

“A good reading environment, including
comfort and quiet, as well as larger
library collections, affect reading,
literacy development and reading
scores.”
Ken Haycock, Ed.D.

“The school library can be a center for change
in the school. The librarian can provide the
needed leadership in regard to professional
technology development, as well as the vision
to develop the tools and management models
by which students and teachers can most
effectively use information technology.”

“A strong computer network connecting
the library’s resources to the classroom
and laboratories has an impact on student
achievement.”

“Evidence suggests that if the teacher and
teacher-librarian incorporate formal
planning into the research process,
students can receive additional
instruction, be more successful and
produce better products.”
K. P. Bland. “CD-ROM Utilization in the High-

School Student Research Process.” University of
Memphis. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. 1995.
“In Texas, library variables were more
important to explain the differences in
achievement than any other factors in the
school.”
E. G. Smith, Texas School Libraries: Standards,

Resources, Services, and Students’ Performance,
2001.
“Students learn more and produce better
research products following planned,
integrated information skills instruction
by the teacher and teacher-librarian
together.”
Ken Haycock, Ed.D. “What Works: Integrated Information

Skills Instruction [Research Column].” Teacher Librarian,
Vol. 25 No. 2, p. 39, 1997.
“. . . there is a significant increase in the
scores of students who are taught through
curriculum-integrated teaching methods
in the library over those who are not.”
J. E. M. Bingham, A Comparative Study of Curriculum

Integrated and Traditional School Library Media Programs:
Achievement Outcomes of Sixth-Grade Student Research
Papers. Kansas State University. Unpublished doctoral
dissertation. 1994
“The decline in Canada’s school libraries
is almost certainly linked to the erosion
of research skills among students at the
post-secondary level.”
Ken Haycock, Ed.D.

“I know that colleges and universities are
having to include special classes to teach
students how to use a library and how to
acquire research skills.”

Alberta
“. . . an investment in school libraries and
teacher-librarians provides the sort of
dividends that educators now seek from public
school funding: better student achievement,
improved literacy and reading skills, and
enhanced readiness to succeed in a post-
secondary environment.”
Ken Haycock, Ed.D.

“ . . . by the 1990s, university library staff
began to note the decline of skills
demonstrated by first-year college and
university students—this was the downstream
consequence of increasingly inadequate school
library programs. Universities across the
country are now hiring ‘information literacy
librarians.”
M. Gorman, “The Domino Effect, or Why Literacy Depends

on All Libraries.” School Library Journal, Vol. 41, No. 4, p.
27-9, 1995.
“ More reading is done where there is a
school library and a qualified teacher-
librarian.”
Ken Haycock, Ed.D.

“A library without a librarian is only
a pile of books.”
W. K. Morton
“Between 1994 and 2000, Saskatchewan
Education offered 311 summer training
courses for teachers. None were offered
for teacher-librarians between 1994 and
1999 and only two in 2000.”
Saskatchewan Education
“Teacher-librarians play three critical
roles in the learning community: teacher,
information specialist and administrator.
In each of these roles they empower
students and teachers to meet higher
standards of academic achievement.”
Ken Haycock, Ed.D.

“Overall, school library media programs
with a full-time teacher-librarian, support
staff and a strong computer network
resulted in higher student achievement in
statewide studies.”
C. Hamilton-Pennell, C. K. Lance, M. J. Rodney

& E. Hainer. “Dick and Jane Go to the Head of the
Class.” School Library Journal, vol. 46 no. 4, p. 44-
47. 2000.
“School libraries make a difference – do
we need to argue that point any longer?”
Judy Nicholson, President, SSLA

“Effective use of information is an
essential component of learning today –
do we need to argue that point any
longer?”

“We need to have school libraries open
and professionally staffed – do we we
need to argue that point any longer?”

“When teacher-librarians need to spend
so much of their energy and professional
abilities arguing the need for their role in
the instructional team – what’s left for
kids??”

“Library media programs should be
funded to have adequate professional and
support staff, information resources, and
information technology. Such conditions
are necessary if not sufficient alone to
generate higher levels of academic
achievement.”
Keith Curry Lance and David V. Loertscher
Powering Achievement: School Library Media
Programs
“ . . . We must all make the effort to ensure that our
schools have the resources to provide the print and
electronic sources, the technology, and the
professional library staff to give all of our children
the skills and the tools they need to navigate their
way in this knowledge society. For without this
investment in our children, how can Canada maintain
the distinction of being the best country in the world
in which to live?”
Roch Carrier, National Librarian of Canada

June 8, 2000

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