Funding your Library Media Center Why Properly funding

Funding your Library Media Center Why Properly funding your library media center is important

“School Library Program Health and Wellness Toolkit” My plan to advocate for funding your library media center properly is based on the five steps proposed in this toolkit listed below. 1. Identify stakeholders 2. Align cause to needs of stakeholders 3. Promote program 4. Evaluation and evidence for your Cause 5. Sharing your findings with stakeholders

The Stakeholders In order to push for proper funding the right individuals and groups need to be informed and brought together. One such group would be the legislators responsible for creating legislation for funding the library media center. Another group of individuals that should be addressed are the district board of education responsible for funding at a local level.

The Stakeholders Cont. The local community is also a major stakeholder that needs to be rallied because there is strength in numbers Lastly are the students who will be the ones who utilize the library media center and as a result will be the ones to gain the most from proper funding.

Aligning Goals to the Stakeholders It is important to make sure there is a reason for the stakeholders to be involved with addressing proper funding for the library media center One benefit from better funding is the ability to increase resources for students to further their education opportunities. A benefit for the stakeholders as a whole is the increased test scores that come from a better developed and funded library media center as shown from “the Colorado study. ”

Aligning Goals to the Stakeholders Cont. The higher test scores will go far to improve the communities and districts reputation and school funding as a whole. The success of better funding can also be used for legislators when running for reelection.

Promoting Library Media Center Funding Promotion of funding can be tuned to fit the various stake holders in a number of ways. One way funding can be promoted as stated earlier is for reelection campaigns, having successful legislation and education success looks good on everyone involved. For students better funding can be promoted in a way to show the various things they can be rewarded with as a result of what a well-funded library media center offers such as scholarships, resources, and more diverse selection of books for entertainment.

Evidence of Library Media Center Funding Success Finding proper research to support the cause of funding the library media center is important to show the stakeholders what can be achieved and support you reasoning for pushing for better funding. Research performed in Colorado known as “The Colorado Study” for example has shown several interesting things linking the importance of the library media center to the success of students.

Findings of the Colorado Study “Is there a relationship between expenditures for library media centers and test performance, particularly when social and economic differences across communities and schools are controlled? Yes. Students at schools with betterfunded library media centers tend to achieve higher average reading scores, whether their schools and communities are rich or poor and whether adults in their community are well or poorly educated. ” (Lance, k / www. ala. org, 1996 -2014).

Findings of the Colorado Study Cont. “Given a relationship between library media center expenditures and test performance, what intervening characteristics of library media programs help to explain this relationship? The size of the library media center's total staff and the size and variety of its collection are important characteristics of library media programs that intervene between library media center expenditures and test performance. Funding is important precisely because its specific purpose is to ensure both adequate levels of staffing in relation to the school's enrollment and a local collection that offers students a large number of materials in a variety of formats. ” (Lance, k / www. ala. org, 1996 -2014). “Does the performance of an instructional role by library media specialists help to predict test performance? Yes. Students whose library media specialists played such a role tended to achieve higher average test scores. ” (Lance, k / www. ala. org, 1996 -2014).

Sharing the Findings It is important to share all findings that result form proper funding of the library media center to keep the stakeholders up to date on what and why they are supporting such funding. It is also important to keep everyone up on progress to keep them invested in the cause.

Resources School Library Program Health and Wellness Toolkit. (n. d. ). . Retrieved June 6, 2014, from http: //www. ala. org/aasl/advocacy/tools/toolkits/health-wellness Lance, K. (n. d. ). The Impact of School Library Media Centers on Academic Achievement. . Retrieved June 6, 2014, from http: //www. ala. org/aaslpubsandjournals/slmrb/editorschoiceb/infop ower/slctlancehtml * ALA, "Pupil Success Firmly Linked to School Library Funding, " American Libraries 18, no. 8 (Sept. 1987): 632– 33; Mary Jo Lynch and Ann Carleson Weeks, "School Match Revisited, " American Libraries 19, no. 6 (June 1988): 459– 60. Keith Curry Lance, Lynda Wellborn, and Christien Hamilton-Pennell, The Impact of School Library Media Centers on Academic Achievement (Castle Rock, Colo. : Hi Willow Research and Publishing, 1993).