Libraries and Student Success: It Takes a Village
Libraries and Student Success
Jim Neal, president of American Libraries Magazine and university librarian, firmly states, "We all want students who know how to look for information, evaluate sources, organize research results, present ideas and conclusions, and document their work. These are lifelong skills. They strengthen communities and promote civic engagement. They enrich lives. They transform learning." I couldn't agree more. Besides a library, where else will students acquire these skills? Where will they learn about intellectual freedom, fair and equal access to information, the importance of privacy, and other aspects of the Library Bill of Rights?
Diminishing school and library budgets make it difficult to ensure students are equipped with the research, technological, and communication skills they need throughout their education and into their lives and careers. Libraries should be on the top of budget priorities, and not seen as an optional aside that will be paid for only if the PTA and the librarians raise the money through Scholastic book fairs to ensure there is staff to help students become information literate, and to buy much needed books to update their collections. Student success is directly tied to libraries and librarians. I want the leaders of tomorrow to have the education they need now. Hopefully, the knuckleheads doing the library budget cuts will soon see it that way, too.
by PJ Wiebe
April 21, 2018
It Takes a Village
For the life of me, I don't understand where people get the idea that libraries are no longer relevant in the 21st century. From Pre-K and early literacy through PhD programs developing new ideas to change and improve the world, students rely on access to the resources of libraries, both academic and public, to be successful.
Jim Neal, president of American Libraries Magazine and university librarian, firmly states, "We all want students who know how to look for information, evaluate sources, organize research results, present ideas and conclusions, and document their work. These are lifelong skills. They strengthen communities and promote civic engagement. They enrich lives. They transform learning." I couldn't agree more. Besides a library, where else will students acquire these skills? Where will they learn about intellectual freedom, fair and equal access to information, the importance of privacy, and other aspects of the Library Bill of Rights? Diminishing school and library budgets make it difficult to ensure students are equipped with the research, technological, and communication skills they need throughout their education and into their lives and careers. Libraries should be on the top of budget priorities, and not seen as an optional aside that will be paid for only if the PTA and the librarians raise the money through Scholastic book fairs to ensure there is staff to help students become information literate, and to buy much needed books to update their collections. Student success is directly tied to libraries and librarians. I want the leaders of tomorrow to have the education they need now. Hopefully, the knuckleheads doing the library budget cuts will soon see it that way, too. 
by PJ Wiebe
April 21, 2018
- Works Cited
"Libraries in the Internet Age." Common Craft. April 1, 2015. https://youtu.be/L9MDKPC9yeM
(Accessed April 21, 2018)
"Library Bill of Rights", American Library Association, June 30, 2006.http://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/librarybill (Accessed April 21, 2018)Document ID: 669fd6a3-8939-3e54-7577-996a0a3f8952Neal, Jim. "Fight for School Libraries: Student Success Depends on Them."
American Libraries, vol. 49, no. 3/4, Mar/Apr2018, p. 4. EBSCOhost,
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