School Libraries Supporting Literacy and Wellbeing

by Margaret K. Merga

Overview

Student literacy is a perennial concern in and across nations, with measurement and accountability continually ramped up at both individual student and school levels. Debates about literacy and how it can best be improved are never far from media headlines. However, relatively little consideration is given to the role that school libraries and their staff play in building and maintaining student literacy, despite research linking school libraries and qualified staff to student literacy gains. With the number of students who struggle with basic literacy skills increasing in many nations, school libraries can play an important role in improving the academic, vocational and social outcomes for these young people, thereby increasing their opportunities. Fostering student wellbeing is also a key priority for schools given the challenges young people face in current times.

This book seeks to promote greater understanding of the links between reading, literacy and wellbeing that could help students cope with these challenges, and the role of the school library in leading this approach. It explores the current role of school library professionals and highlights how literacy and wellbeing education and support sit within this, paying specific attention to how school library professionals build reading engagement and promote student wellbeing through various approaches, such as fostering health literacy and creating nurturing environments.

Readers will be empowered to build a case for the importance of their role and library, and audit their current literacy and wellbeing offerings, and adjust or extend them where applicable based on best practice. The book also explores some of the many challenges facing school libraries and their professional staff that may need to be mitigated to ensure that they can reach their full potential for supporting student literacy and wellbeing.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781783305841
Publisher:	American Library Association
Publication date:	03/16/2022
Pages:	190
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Dr Margaret Kristin Merga is an honorary adjunct at the University of Newcastle, Australia and a senior researcher in literacy, library and research communication. She also works as an author and consultant at Merga Consulting, supporting schools and professional associations seeking to build school reading cultures and enhance school library advocacy.

Table of Contents

List of Tables xi

Acknowledgements xiii

Abbreviations xv

Introduction xvii

Why literacy? xviii

Reading + literacy + wellbeing xix

Why this book? xxi

References xxiii

1 What Do School Library Professionals Contribute to Student Learning and Support? A Focus on Australia and the UK 1

Teacher librarian and school librarian: What is the difference? 2

What teacher librarians do 4

What school librarians do 15

Things they are expected to do, be and have 22

Further thoughts 30

References 31

2 School Libraries and Reading Engagement for Literacy 33

Reading engagement and literacy 34

Reading for pleasure and literacy 36

Reading for pleasure and opportunity 39

Why the school library professional is a model that matters 41

Library professionals as literacy educators and supports of reading engagement 43

Australian and UK school library professionals as literacy educators 44

Australian and US school library professionals' divergence on reading for pleasure 46

Further thoughts 50

References 52

3 Librarians Supporting Struggling Literacy Learners Beyond the Early Years 57

The challenge of low literacy 59

Who are the struggling literacy learners? 61

Where libraries and library professionals fit in 64

Increasing visibility of school library professionals' role 67

How to implement and measure the efficacy of literacy-supportive interventions 69

Further thoughts 77

References 77

4 School Libraries and Reading Engagement for Student Wellbeing 83

School libraries fostering wellbeing through reading engagement 84

Reading, emotions and escape 86

Connecting with characters 88

Role models 90

Perspective-taking and personal development 91

Pleasure in being read to 92

Resourcing for inclusion 94

Further thoughts 95

References 97

5 School Libraries, Health Resourcing and Information Literacy 101

Health literacy and information literacy 102

Searching in the library 104

Checking information is correct from library manager perspectives 105

Checking information is correct from student perspectives 107

Resourcing for teachers and parents 108

Non-fiction books 110

Further thoughts 112

References 114

6 Librarians Creating Environments for Reading and Wellbeing 117

Insights from the Project on how students value the library environment 119

Students seeking sanctuary from weather conditions 120

Students with developing social skills, anxiety and introversion 121

Students seeking mentor and mentee relationships 121

Students seeking to reset 122

Students who love to read 123

Students who are creative 124

What library environments are Australian teacher librarians expected to foster? 126

Warm and welcoming 127

Flexible and supportive of learning 127

Vibrant and stimulating 128

Adaptive, safe and stimulating spaces 129

Further thoughts 129

References 131

7 Challenges to Visibility and Advocacy for School Libraries and Staff 135

Challenges of the professional role and burgeoning workload 136

Issues with training, morale and the greying workforce 137

Challenges of deprofessionalisation 138

Challenges of inconsistent nomenclature and shrinking staffing 140

Challenge of conducting research and dissemination of a credible research base 144

Challenges to the existence of a physical library 148

Further thoughts 151

References 151

Conclusions and Directions for Future Research 155

School libraries and COVID-19 155

Collaboration for learning 156

Wellbeing research that has broader generalisability and applicability 157

Workload realities 158

Establishing library and researcher partnerships 159

Capturing the evolving interests of young people: #Booktok on TikTok 159

Final thoughts 162

References 163

Appendix 1 Background and Methods of My Research Projects 167

2020 TikTok and young people 170

2020 School libraries promoting wellbeing in Australian primary and secondary schools 174

Semi-structured interview questions relevant to Chapter 4 175

Semi-structured interview questions relevant to Chapter 5 176

Semi-structured interview questions relevant to Chapter 6 178

2020 Library Workforce Project 179

References 189

Appendix 2 A Place to Get Away from It All: Five Ways School Libraries Support Student Wellbeing 191

1 They can be safe spaces 191

2 They provide resources for wellbeing 192

3 They help build digital health-literacy skills 192

4 They support reading for pleasure 193

5 They encourage healing through reading 193

References 194

Index 197

Editorial Reviews

”Merga (Univ. of Newcastle, Australia) provides fodder for school library practitioners and researchers alike in this detailed look at the ever-evolving role of school libraries ... Each section includes attainable objectives and action items for school library practitioners, and a full chapter addresses challenges related to school library visibility and advocacy. The book concludes with a robust section on recommendations for future research and a detailed appendix.”
— Choice

"With as many as one-in-five young people experiencing mental health problems globally, this book is an important resource to help support literacy development and holistic wellbeing of students.”
—TSL, School Library Association

From the Publisher

06/01/2022

Merga draws on her own research, as well as recent work on libraries, literacy, and student well-being in a variety of global contexts for this professional text. Although the author is positioned within the Australian education system, she integrates studies on school librarianship that support a broad readership for this work. Readers in a North American context may have to extrapolate from Merga's findings and the information presented here, but the core idea of this book, that school library professionals provide support for students' literacy and mental health, remains transferable across contexts. Each chapter can be read as a stand-alone and in any order, rather than reading the text straight through. The book is designed to serve as a multifaceted resource that school library professionals can turn to in specific circumstances to gather support for advocacy, budget negotiations, and program review or development. The appendices offer information about Merga's various research projects that led to the information in this book, as well as five core points distilled from the research, which can be presented to school or district administrators to make a case for funding and support. While a robust, contemporary resource, it is worth noting that the scope of the text focuses solely on student well-being without addressing the well-being of other members of the school community. In all, this text is a solid resource for school library professionals interested in cultivating spaces for student engagement and well-being, providing a strong foundation of global research that can be used to advocate for resources on the local level. VERDICT Purchase this resource to support library efforts to garner support for initiatives targeting student well-being.—Jen McConnel

School Library Journal