librarians showed a lack of understanding of their own place in the educational program, and expressed greater concern with more time for clerical and technical duties. This introduction is rather a long preamble to the quantitative standards for personnel in our 1960 standards. It helps me, however, to make a point about quantitative standards for personnel. If I were a school administrator beginning to develop a school library program, the first personnel standard I would try to implement is the paid clerical assistant-we do have heavy clerical duties in school libraries, or in central agencies; they should be performed by a clerk, and a librarian must be free from these duties to perform educational library services. At the same time, I would work with my librarian to define her true functions in the school, and to assist her to put them into practice. I would also take a look at her supervisory duties in the library, and see if these cannot be shared with other school personnel. The time spent in supervision could better be spent in guiding students to books of meaning and value, in conferring with the teachers on materials for units of study, or on selecting professional materials. In implementing the standards for professional personnel, it is advisable to relate the increase of personnel to the development of the library program. This suggestion is equally true for all aspects of the quantitative standards to begin with program, and add staff and materials, as the need grows, and use is developed. Along with this progress toward superior school library service, administrators need to continually interpret to school boards and communities the significance of school libraries for the education of children and young people. It has been my experience that communities will give support to school library service, when they understand its meaning for their children. In reading and studying "Standards for School Library Programs," I suggest you read the whole pamphlet first, except pages 24 and 25, and then go back and look at those pages where the quantitative standards are summarized. (This is page skipping recommended by a librarian.) I hope this idea will not encourage you to read only pages 24 and 25. At any event, the quantitative standards have very little meaning except as they relate to the philosophy described. They have been met and exceeded in some schools, and they are good standards, not excessive, for good school library programs. On For professional personnel, they recommend 1 librarian for every 300 students, for the first 900 students. After that figure, 1 librarian for every 400 students. They recommend additional personnel when school librarians have complete, or partial responsibility for audiovisual programs and materials. page 51 "Standards for School Library Prorgams" you will find this statement: "The recommended standards provide for only an extremely small amount of time for the librarian to work with individual students during the schooldayapproximately 6 minutes a week for each student in schools having 300-900 students and approximately 5 minutes a week for each student in larger schools, if the school librarian did nothing else but this guidance and teaching of individual students. The recommendation is sometimes advanced that students should use the school library at least three times a week. If a student came to the library three times a week during the schoolday, and if each library staff member worked with no more than 40 students a class period (a maximum load) then the total amount of time available for each student would approximate 12 or 2 minutes a period, and would be much less when the periods included library instruction, book talks, storytelling, or other activities designed for the group as a whole. Again, this figure is based on the premise that the librarian would be nothing else but working with students, a situation that is actually extremely rare." The clerical ratio recommended is 1 clerk for each 600 students. For size of collections, the standards recommend 6,000-10,000 books for schools having 200-299 students, and in schools of 1,000 or more students, 10 books per student. At this point, I would like to call attention again to chapter 12, "Library Resources and Services in Schools Having Fewer Than 200 Students." In the chapter you will find the following statement (p. 103). "In view of the fact that schools with 200 students need at least 6,000 books in their school libraries, smaller schools, where circumstances permit, can use collections of proportionate size." On pages 24 and 25, you will also find quantitative figures for periodicals, professional, supplementary, and audiovisual materials. The recommendations for periodicals have concerned some school librarians to whom I have talked. They are as follows: Schools with grades K-6: 25 titles. Schools with grades K-8: 50 titles. Senior high school: 120 titles. Periodicals in the high school are significant for a number of reasons: 1. They comprise a major share of reading material for our less able students. 2. They satisfy a very wide range of interests. 3. They are invaluable for information on current events and points of view on controversial issues. 4. Files of periodicals are essential for research. 5. Some of the more sophisticated periodicals-journals in the social and pure sciences, the literary magazines, the little magazines of poetry and short stories are important for gifted students. The quantitative standards also recommend "an extensive collection of pamphlets covering a wide range of subjects." Pamphlet materials often have special appeal for high school students; their brevity, graphic presentation and sometimes simple and direct language help them to grasp a subject more readily. Furthermore, they are often free, usually inexpensive, facts which will have special appeal for planners of school budgets. Recommendations for the annual budgets for printed materials are in schools having 200 to 249 students, at least $1,000 to $1,500, and in schools having 250 or more students, at least $4 to $6 per pupil. The minimum of $4 means that "approximately only one book per student can be added to the school library each year. The current cost of books (allowing for discounts) averages $3 per book for the elementary school library, $3.50 for the junior high school library, and $4 for the senior high school library. Production costs of books have been rising steadily during the last decade, and there is every indication that these costs will continue to mount." These figures do not include, encyclopedias, periodicals, audiovisual materials, rebinding and supplies; these latter materials, of great importance to school library programs, are treated separately both in the quantitative summary on pages 24 and 25, and in the text. Specifications for library quarters and equipment for schools having 200 or more students are included in the appendix of Standards for School Library Programs. They include specifications for the following areas: reading room, listening and viewing space, conference room, classroom, stacks, workroom and offices, teachers' space or room, magazine room, and informal reading area. The specifications are detailed, and for new schools, and the remodeling of older school buildings, they will be of great value. I am not attempting to repeat these specifications here, but to relate them to a few fundamental concepts of the relationship of quarters to programs. An official of a State department of education attending the meeting of the Study Commission of the Chief State School Officers in Georgia last December made a statement that in his State a lot of money was wasted on beautiful new school library quarters in which nothing much was happening. Again, therefore, we must emphasis programs (you will be tired of this word) and apply functional library design specifications to these programs. Furthermore, a school's program and size may modify or change some specifications for library quarters. For example, if you are going to expand your modern language program, you may wish to provide for listening areas for tapes and recordings in the library. You should also keep in mind that such program expansion may occur at a later date. As a school librarian, I like very much a library classroom-for the teaching functions of the library. Some librarians are not as enthusiastic about library classrooms as I am. In older school buildings, where immediate expansion of space may not be possible, the library quarters should be made as attractive, decorative, and functional as possible. Dark brown furniture, dull paint, and grim portraits of our forefathers on the walls are not conducive to the delights of quiet reading, or browsing, or to the peaceful and relaxed atmosphere which can have such a good effect on student behavior. Limited space should not be used as a reason for limiting a school library program: Often existing space can be reutilized to better 88630-62- -14 advantage. Furthermore, administrative flexibility in library attendance can permit greater utilization by classes. If a teacher would like to bring a class to the library one period, it usually does not create too great a hardship on students for voluntary use, if the number permitted from study halls that period is announced beforehand. If you would like to go forward with an audiovisual library program, and have limited funds, sometimes school custodians are good cabinetmakers and can provide storage for audiovisual materials at minimum cost. In a high school where I was librarian for 10 years, we had recordings, films, and filmstrips-stored in homemade cabinets out in the hall outside the library, and we had a good program. These measures were temporary-the high school library in the film you will see today grew out of the program in that school; while we made the plans for the new school library, and its equipment, we served our teachers and pupils. In planning new school buildings, it is well to recall that modern trends in education, indicate that libraries will become even more significant in the total school program. Individualized instruction, both in the elementary and secondary school, point to a need for larger quarters for more use by pupils of library facilities. Some of our newer school libraries are already equipped with carrels for student study. Our library quarters in new schools should reflect our plans for the future. May I suggest again that in implementing either National or State quantitative standards for school libraries, in staff, materials, quarters, and funds, that your approach be gradual in terms of library programs and in relation to community understanding. The process of formulating State standards is a highly constructive and educational experience, and provides a steppingstone and a sense of direction toward national recommendations. I hope that you and all New Hampshire educators will have a great deal of interest and success in improving school library services for your children, in the fine tradition of education in New England. THE SCHOOL LIBRARY SERVES THE PROGRAM OF INSTRUCTION 1 I am very impressed by the great strides you have made in school library development. A Guide for Montana School Libraries and Standards for Accreditation including school libraries in both elementary and secondary standards, are major achievements. During my previous visits to Montana, I visited schools, both large and small, and although I do not know your State well, I am familiar with some of your needs in school library service. However, in this talk I am not dealing with immediate problems but long-range objectives in school library service. The use of school libraries is a method of education by which all teachers in schools employ school library materials in basic (not peripheral) classroom procedures, and by which all elementary and secondary pupils for all subjects of the curriculum use library materials to achieve the purposes of education in terms of their specific and individual capacities and needs. This philosophic concept is supported by the Council of Chief State School Officers in the council's recently published policy statement, Responsibilities of State Departments of Education for School Library Services. In the foreword of the publication is this statement: "The principles, responsibilities, and guidelines set forth in this statement are based on the generally accepted premise that improvement of instruction is a major function of the State department of education; that school library services are a part of instruction and are thought of as applying to all schools for which the State department of education has responsibility." The policy statement further supports this philosophy in this statement: "School library service cuts across grade levels and permeates the entire curriculum. Educational research has demonstrated that, within both elementary and secondary grades, intelligence, achievement, and interests of pupils vary to a great extent, so that curriculum methods and materials must be flexible and varied to accommodate widely divergent pupil requirements. For example, in the third grade the reading level of pupils may vary as much as seven grades, 1 For publication in the "Proceedings, 14th Annual School Administrators' Conference," State Department of Public Instruction, Helena, Mont., Mar. 27, 1962. Mary Helen Mahar, School and Children's Library Specialist, Library Services Branch, Office of Education, U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Washington 25, D.C. and similar ranges may exist in other school grades. For providing books and materials suited to these individual differences, the centralized school library is both educationally and economically sound. School library materials may be used interchangeably by teachers and pupils of all grades and subjects, and pupils' ability to use increasingly mature and complex materials is not impeded by the limitations of stationary classroom and departmental collections. In schools with centralized libraries classroom collections can be established with materials from the central library and can be readily refreshed and changed with new materials as the need arises." To illustrate how the school library can serve instruction, here are examples of programs in four schools: In one high school, one quarter of the senior year is given over to a source theme in the social studies. Every student in the senior class is asked to select a topic related to national or international problems. Guidance is given to pupils by the teachers and the librarians on the selection of subjects in relation to pupils' ability to handle the complexity of the material. Then the teachers spend 2 or 3 days in the classrooms teaching note taking, bibliography form, and outlining. For the next 3 or 4 days, the classes spend their full class period in the library receiving instruction on the use of the library. The librarians introduce reference tools having information on their particular subjects, and teach specific subject headings by which pupils may locate materials in the card catalog and other indexes. For the next 2 weeks and sometimes longer, depending upon the needs of the students, the pupils work entirely in the library. They do not report to their classrooms. During this time they are given guidance by the librarians and by the teachers in the selection, location, and use of materials, but they are also encouraged to find information independently. Clerks fill requests for periodicals, and charge out materials. This program is a major enterprise for the school library since usually 300 or 400 seniors are involved. It requires an entire semester, and, at the same time, the school library continues its regular program of service. Pupils who go on to college from this school, and about 85 percent of them do, have come back to the school and reported to the teachers and librarians that the source theme was the experience in high school most valuable for their college work. In another high school, in its advanced placement program, English is being taught in the 11th and 12th grades by the seminar method. In compiling the reading lists for the seminar, teachers and librarians of this high school consulted English professors in neighboring colleges. The librarians purchase the titles in good paperbound editions and exhibit them in the school library. Students select from this exhibit titles for use in the seminar. Some of the boys and girls who were in this program and went on to college made a reading list during the summer vacation and presented it to the high school librarians and teachers as a suggestion for additional titles. The principal of that school told me that the high school students in the seminar were discussing these adult books at home and were confounding their parents with their erudition. As a result, the parents requested copies of the list so that they would be able to read the books and discuss them with their sons and daughters. In this school, the library functioning in the curriculum encouraged reading in the community. In still another high school, an advanced elective science course dealing with space exploration is taught entirely with advanced technical books and other materials selected specifically for this course by the science teacher and the librarian. Students borrow these materials from the library and discussions in the classrooms are based on them. Students in this course have acquired scientific knowledge far beyond the usual high school science curriculum. In an elementary school, the principal, the librarian, and the teachers of the third and fourth grades decided to develop a program of individualized reading instruction. The librarian ordered large quantities of books which were made available by the hundreds in the third- and fourth-grade classrooms, so that the pupils would have a very wide and rich choice of library books for independent reading. The teachers in those grades, instead of conducting group or class reading lessons, conferred with individual pupils on the books they had selected, discussing the story and the words which they did not recognize. The kinds of books usually saved until the end of the lesson were the lesson and, as a result, these third- and fourth-grade pupils developed favorable attitudes toward reading, and improved in reading competence as well. These are examples of aspects of school library programs in separate areas-social studies, English, science, and reading in the elementary school. What conditions obtained in these schools? In what ways were they different? First of all, principals, teachers, and librarians planned the programs cooperatively. Second, the school library provided rich resources of printed and audiovisual materials. Third, the librarians spent their time in serving teachers and pupils, and clerks performed the clerical work. Fourth, the school library quarters were large enough to accommodate classes and individual users at the same time. Fifth, there was a great spirit of cooperation and interest in the program among principals, teachers, and librarians. Pupils responded with enthusiasm, and with a sense of responsibility toward their work. They were made to feel that thye could achieve to the best of their ability. They did not have time on their hands; they were not bored; they were not antisocial. They were engaged as individuals in a common endeavor, and new avenues of learning for each pupil were opened up day after day. Basic to this kind of school library program is the development of working relationships concerning school libraries among principals, teachers, curriculum supervisors, and librarians. I know that these relationships exist in many schools in Montana and are contributing to a high level of educational opportunity. However, it is probably true that in many schools cooperation concerning the library has not been developed. Typically, the principal thinks that the school library is the sole responsibility of the librarian. The librarian does not have the authority or sometimes the skill to develop a library program with every teacher. If the school librarian attempts such a program, she must have a great deal of confidence in herself, and a great deal of insight concerning the teachers and their methods. She also has to have some authority to initiate faculty meetings and conferences. School librarians often do not have this status. Some teachers use the library and others do not. Some teachers do not know how to use the library; others would use the library if there were more materials on their subjects. Teachers sometimes take a look at school library collections and see that there is not enough material on their subject even to provide for one class. They are reluctant to complain about this situation. They might use the library more if the librarian were not so burdened supervising pupils or with clerical work. The board of education doesn't appropriate any more funds for personnel and materials because things generally seem to be going along all right. There is an organized collection of books, and other printed materials. The school library is of some educational value to some students, and a resource for a few teachers, but there is no real library program. Why? Because professional relationships concerning the school library have not yet been established. The principal should be the catalyst in the development of these professional relationships. He is the person who can coordinate the whole library program, and help his teachers and librarians see the curriculum and the library as a whole. He creates the climate for faculty cooperation and he provides the time for meetings of librarians and teachers on the selection and use of materials, not just once at the beginning of the year, but repeatedly throughout the year. The principal discusses the library program with the whole faculty and together they select areas of the curriculum with which to demonstrate full use of school library materials. As professional relationships concerning the school library develop, the library becomes an integral part of instruction, not only a pupil experience. The principal and teachers recognize that the school library is not another school subject to be rigidly scheduled for classes certain periods each week. They interpret library instruction as a functional part of curriculum, and agree with the librarian that the library should be accessible to teachers with classes, and to individual pupils, when they need to use it. The principal with vision sees the librarian, not only as a trained technician in the organization of materials or as a supervisor of pupil study, but as an educator, equipped to communicate knowledge and enthusiasm for school library materials in the education of all youth. Some schools do not have librarians but in working toward the addition of the school librarian to the staff, a clear understanding of his function will be of value. He interprets the library as a resource for professional materials for teachers, as well as a center for pupils, |