SCHOOL LIBRARIES WORLDWIDE

Volume 14, Number 1, January 2008

[Members / subscribers only access]

Research from Around the World

Guest Editor Jennifer L. Branch

Check It Out: Diverse Images of the Library Experience in Children's Literature
Suzanne S. Monroe
This article provides an exploration of children's literature featuring contemporary and historical images of libraries as settings for empowering diversity and influencing reading attitudes and behaviors. The featured selections focus on personal, family, community, and international library experiences and events. The protagonists represented include individuals of racial, ethnic, and language diversity. Both women and men are featured as librarians and both girls and boys as library patrons. The featured selections, representing a variety of genres, provide empowering images and positive messages about the love of reading, specifically in the context of the library community.

Grade 4 Students' Development of Research Skills Through Inquiry-Based Learning Projects [public access document]
Sam Chu, Ken Chow, Shek-kam Tse, and Carol Collier Kuhlthau
Researchers like Harada, Yoshina, Donham, Bishop, Kuhlthau, and Oberg have pointed out the benefits for students to move from rote to inquiry learning. However, "the norm in many classrooms remains teaching practice that results in rote learning and regurgitated facts." In recent years, the Hong Kong government's Education Bureau has put inquiry-based learning as the first emphasis under the new General Studies curriculum for primary schools with the objective of "creating more learning space by removing obsolete content, allowing more time for inquiry-based learning." Many schools are now attempting to incorporate this mode of learning into their curriculum. This study reports on two phases of IBL projects undertaken by 141 grade 4 students, each phase lasting for two to three months. The projects were led by general studies teachers and heavily supported by Chinese-language teachers, the information technology teacher, and the school librarian. Through analyzing the
lesson plans, in-class exercises, homework assignments, written reports, presentations by students, and data collected through surveys and interviews, this article focuses specifically on the role
of the general studies teachers in guiding students through the inquiry process. It also analyzes the students' development of knowledge and research skills, as well as students' and parents'
perceptions of the projects.

The Effects of Free Choice on Students' Learning: A Study of Summer Reading
Ya-Ling Lu and Carol Gordon
This study examines the reading behaviors and attitudes of adolescents during the summer when they can exercise free choice. Does mandated reading during summer non-school months as it is currently practiced encourage students to read, or does it create barriers to reading? It takes place in a United States high school, grades 9-12. A stratified random sample of 288 students and 11 teachers ensured representation of students from each of three ability groupings. Data were collected through student surveys and teacher interviews. Findings show that students attributed varied types of cognitive, psychological, and social learning to their summer reading. Mixed responses from teachers point to the need for consensus about the purpose of a summer reading program.

School Libraries Serving Rural Communities in China: The Evergreen Model
Geoffrey Z. Liu
This article presents a case study of Evergreen school libraries in the northwestern region of China, with a focus on their innovative approaches to community services and strategies of reaching out to
local town residents and villagers. The data gathered for the case study included patron/school librarian interviews, observation of brainstorming by school librarians and principals, and analysis of
library use data gathered from project schools. In view of known issues identified from existing literature, this study attempts to identify factors that potentially contribute to a school library's success or failure in serving its local community.

Elementary Malay Vernacular Schools and School Libraries in Singapore under British Colonial Rule, 1819-1941
Lim Peng Han
Earlier research on school libraries in Singapore has stated that school libraries were established there recently. Lim (1970) wrote that school libraries in Singapore were largely a post-war innovation, and Ho (1998) wrote that published records related to the history of school libraries in Singapore were available only from the late 1960s to the early 1980s. This article presents historical information that shows that an official policy on school libraries was initiated in 1899. It also presents the historical record of the development of schools and school libraries under British colonial rule and related information about the Malay school book production.

Web Sites and Digital Services in Israeli School Libraries: How is a Digital Environment Changing How School Libraries Work?
Snunith Shoham and Zehava Shemer-Shalman
The Internet Age can lead to three possible scenarios for school libraries: status quo, change, or obsolescence. This study examines the ramifications of school library Web sites for the work done by
Israeli school libraries and the services they provide. It is based on an analysis of the Internet sites of 78 school libraries in Israel, in-depth interviews with nine librarians in Israel, questionnaires completed by 22 librarians in the United States and other countries, and a review of literature on the subject. The findings of the study suggest that school libraries in Israel are in the status quo phase; however, there is a slight move toward the change scenario in which the library will continue to exist but will offer a different mix of services.

Indexed in Bibliothek Forschung und Praxis, Children Literature Abstracts, Contents Pages in Education, Educational Resources Information Clearing house (ERIC), Library Literature, and Library and Information Science Abstracts (LISA).

Last Updated 12 June 2008 (KSB)