[CASL-L] Discussion: Please help refute Wurman's claims about the future of school libraries

[IRENE KWIDZINSKI]

FYI


----- Forwarded Message ----
From: "info at storytrail.com" <info at storytrail.com>
To: aaslforum at ala.org
Sent: Fri, December 16, 2011 10:02:35 AM
Subject: [aaslforum] RE: Fwd: Please help refute Wurman's claims about the 
future of school libraries

Thank you for bringing this to our attention, Sara.

My posting is below. And yours?

Best,
Judi


Judi Moreillon, M.L.S., Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, School of Library and Information Studies
Texas Woman's University, Denton, TX

Author: 
Collaborative Strategies for Teaching Reading Comprehension: Maximizing Your 
Impact, Coteaching Reading Comprehension Strategies in Secondary School 
Libraries: Maximizing Your Impact (2012), Sing Down the Rain, and Read to 
Me/Vamos a leer

http://storytrail.com
info at storytrail.com


The professional work of school librarians - at every instructional level - 
impacts the academic achievement of every student and the success of every 
teacher in the school. The fact that California schools have many majority 
minority schools heights the need for vibrant school library programs that 
provide students with a rich array of literacy materials that may not be 
available in their homes. In order for those materials to make it into the hands 
and minds of students and into classroom teachers' curriculum, there must be a 
knowledgeable professional school librarian on staff. If Mr. Ze’ev Wurman wants 
to know what is and isn't happening in California school libraries, I suggest he 
read Doug Achterman's research "Haves, Halves, and Have-Nots: School Libraries 
and Student Achievement in California." It is available online at:  
http://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc9800/m1/1/ He will learn that 
school librarians are a critical piece of 21st-century education for all K-12 
students!

-------- Original Message --------
>Subject: [aaslforum] Fwd: Please help refute Wurman's claims about the
>future of school libraries
>From: Sara Kelly Johns <skjohns at gmail.com>
>Date: Fri, December 16, 2011 6:44 am
>To: aaslforum at ala.org, yalsa-bk at ala.org
>
>Please go to this article and respond with the research and the evidence to make 
>it obvious that school librarians matter...This needs to be an overwhelming 
>response. 
>
>
>Thanks, Sara
>
>
>
>Calling out the troops!!! Please read Ze’ev Wurman’s reply to my comment below. 
>I know many of you have done research to refute his reply. This could be an 
>important moment for School Librarians to step out of the shadows and take on 
>the kind of establishment views this man espouses. Pass this around. Include 
>public librarians, because the national conversation about cutting library 
>services is related to the conversation about cutting school librarians. Let’s 
>hear you!
>Melissa
>
>This is the sequence of comments - Please respond to Wurman
>
>In reponse to this article:
>http://californiawatch.org/dailyreport/fewer-schools-keeping-librarians-staff-13857
>
>
>Particularly this paragraph:
>“You have to make choices sometimes, and the importance of librarians is a bit 
>less than it used to be,” said Ze’ev Wurman, a Silicon Valley executive who 
>participated in the development of California education standards and served as 
>a policy adviser for the U.S. Department of Education. “In the elementary grades 
>especially, librarians are essentially teachers' aides, doing a variety of 
>things that have little to do with books or literacy, per se.”
>
>Melissa Heckler, NY school librarian replied:
>
>Melissa.Heckler at CHUFSD.Org
>Message
>Mr. Wurman,
>How sad that you should be allowed, without any library background or 
>experience, to pass judgment on our work as school librarians. I teach six 
>classes a day. My library curriculum includes (a partial list) research skills, 
>elements of fiction and nonfiction, library skills and is closely aligned with 
>Common Core State Standards as well as College and Career Readiness Standards. 
>In fact, the 28 state study by Keith Curry Lance found that the single most 
>important factor in student achievment when all other variables are considered, 
>is having a fully qualified School Library Media Specialist with an up to date 
>library collection. I hold two Masters degrees and am not any teacher's "aide". 
>Teachers, administrators, students and parents come to me as a resource. 
>Librarians are one of the cornerstones of democracy (free and open access to 
>information)and ensure, more than any institution, that all students have equal 
>access to information. Please take the time to do your reseach before passing 
>such harsh, rash, and inaccurate judgment.
>Sincerely,
>Melissa Heckler
>Librarian, Croton-Harmon Schools, Croton, New York
>
>
>And Wurman responded:
>
>Dear Melissa,
>I hope you understand the difference between passing judgment on an overall 
>characteristics of a group versus individual characteristics. While I don't 
>doubt your (or anyone else's) qualifications, it has little bearings on what the 
>majority of elementary librarians actually spend their time.
>Keith Curry Lance's research is interesting, but not very robust. For example, 
>while he tried to disentangle general measures of wealth from library/librarian 
>activity, he did not consider generalized indicators of effective school 
>operation. It is reasonable to assume that generally effective school operation 
>-- that may be independent of wealth -- positively affects both the availability 
>of library services and academic achievement. Further, his sampling selection is 
>not necessary the best -- this can reflect, to a degree, the nature of his 
>research sponsors. To illustrate this, he finds positive correlation between 
>checking out of library materials and academic achievement (as well as between 
>spending on libraries and academic achievement). Yet nationwide study (mentioned 
>in that article) did not find increased checkout of library material despite 
>multiple-fold increase in spending on libraries and increase in availability of 
>library materials.
>In other words, being a practitioner may provide one with unique bottom-up 
>insight into the daily practice but does not necessarily translate into an 
>increased understanding of the broader picture.
>Finally, please note that I do not doubt the importance of school libraries. Yet 
>when one must make a budget cutting decisions one is often forced to choose 
>between the important and the very important. In my judgement professional 
>librarian services at the elementary level fall into the former, while 
>availability of qualified teachers into the latter. I'd rather not be forced to 
>make such choices, and I can certainly understand your unhappiness with my 
>position, yet you should not assume it is necessarily based on ignorance or ill 
>will.
>Regards,
>Ze'ev Wurman
>
>
>
>--
>Ze'ev Wurman
>zeev at MonolithIC3D.com
>www.MonolithIC3D.com
>*To respond to an individual, please copy & paste the desired email address in 
>the To field.*
>**You are subscribed the SLMS-Board listserv as part of your membership in the 
>New York Library Association (NYLA) SLMS Board.**
>
>
>
>-- 
>Sara Kelly Johns, School Librarian
>Lake Placid Middle/High School Library
>Instructor, Mansfield University School Library & Information Technology 
Program
>AASL Division Councilor. ALA Council
>AASL Legislative Committee
>67 Canaras Ave.
>Saranac Lake, NY 12983
>johns at northnet.org
>skjohns at gmail.com
>
>
>
>
>
>"All knowledge is spendable currency, depending on the market"--Maya Angelou, I 
>Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
> 
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