FYI,

I’m passing this announcement along from ALA Connect:

“Keith Curry Lance and I just completed a major study on the status of school librarian employment from 2009 through 2019, as part of the three-year IMLS grant, SLIDE: The School Librarian Investigation-Decline or Evolution? We have discovered some significant equity issues, particularly in districts that 1) are majority Hispanic, 2) are predominantly non-white, 3) have higher levels of ELL students, and 4) have higher levels of student poverty, and 5) are located in small, rural communities.

Interactive data tools have also been created for your use at libslide.org/data-tools. You can create customized searches with charts and tables to compare and sort among states and school districts. 

 Profile  - compare library staffing data for a selected district compared with peer districts.

State Survey  - Provides state-specific information on librarian staffing mandates, number of universities preparing school librarians, etc.

Advanced Search - Examine employment of school librarians and others as well as district characteristics (enrollment, locale, & per pupil expenditures) and student demographics (race/ethnicity, poverty, and ELLs).

In the subsequent years of this project, interviews will be conducted with school district decision makers to learn what factors are impacting the provision of school librarians to their students.

The complete report, Perspectives on School Librarian Employment in the United States, 2009-2010 to 2018-2019 can be found at libslide.org/publications/perspectives.

The following related IMLS grant reports are already published at libslide.org/publications

State contexts for school librarian employment

Requirements for school librarian employment: A state-by-state summary”

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Debra Kachel
Instructor, School of Education, Library Media
Antioch University Seattle
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