Research

Research and the School Librarian

Like the MBA and the MFA, the MLS/MLIS Masters of Library and Information Science for professional librarians is considered a terminal degree. And according to an article in Coursera, "Unlike a research-oriented terminal doctorate degree, terminal master's degrees typically prioritize real-world work." This "real-world work" is at its peak in the day-to-day service of a school librarian. However, this leaves the industry at a distinct disadvantage because more librarians, especially school librarians, need to complete industry research to support the profession and the impact of teaching and supporting learning in a school library.

Sources of Research for School Librarians

School Library Research (SLR) Volume 25 - https://www.ala.org/aasl/pubs/slr/vol25
School Library Research (SLR) Volume 24 - https://www.ala.org/aasl/pubs/slr/vol24
School Library Research (SLR) archive - https://www.ala.org/aasl/pubs/slr/archive
School Library Impact Studies [National] 1992-2013 https://www.lrs.org/data-tools/school-libraries/impact-studies/#National
School Library Impact Studies [by State] https://www.lrs.org/data-tools/school-libraries/impact-studies/#other-states

NEW Research

The School Librarian Equity Gap: Inequities Associated with Race and Ethnicity Compounded by Poverty, Locale, and Enrollment

Keith Curry Lance,

Debra E. Kachel &

Caitlin Gerrity

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0161956X.2023.2160112

Under Pressure: Survey Provides Insight into Librarians’ Job Satisfaction Marlaina Cockcroft Feb 21, 2023

https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/WebVault/SLJ/EDIT23/LJ-SLJ_Job-Satisfaction-Charts_2023.pdf

Information in need of updating

According to the last ALA fact sheet, of the 166,164 librarians in the U.S., over ninety-two thousand are school librarians, which is more than academic and public librarians combined. Unfortunately, this data is derived from other sources like National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) and needs to be updated.

Updated 2020-21: https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=42

https://www.ala.org/tools/libfactsheets/alalibraryfactsheet0