A study of the place and organization of an elementary school library

68 Pages·03.266 MB·English

by  Beringer, Marjorie L

A STUDY OP THE PLACE AND ORGANIZATION
OP AN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL LIBRARY
A Project
Presented to
the Faculty of the School of Education
The U niversity of Southern C alifornia
In P artial Fulfillm ent
of the Requirements for the Degree
Master of Science in Education
fcy
Marjorie L« Berlnger
August 1950
UMI Number: EP46190
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^ •
This project report, written under the direction
of the candidate’s adviser and approved by him,
has been presented to and accepted by the Faculty
of the School of Education in partial fulfillment of
the requirements for the degree of Master of
Science in Education.
Adviser
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/
TABLE OF CONTENTS
tors,
CHAPTER
I. THE NATURE OF THE PROBLEM................................................ 1
The problem . . * .................................................... . . 1
Statement of the problem .................................. 1
Authority for scope and development of
the problem ................... . . . . . . . . . . 2
The scope and delim itation of the problem . 6
D efinitions of terras u se d ..................... . . . . 8
Elementary school library . . . ...................... 8
Leisure reading . 8
School librarian ..................................... . 8
Teacher-librarlan .......................................... 8
The importance of the problem . . . . . . . . 9
The organization of the c h a p te r s ........................ 9
II. THE PROCEDURE............................................................................ 11
The emergence of the problem . . . . . . . . 11
The development of the bibliography . . . . . 12
R elia b ility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
V alidity ..................................... . . . 13
I l l , WHY SHOULD A LIBRARY BE IN AN ELEMENTARY
SCHOOL . . . . . . ......................................................... 14
Summary 21
CHAPTER PAGE
IV, WHO SHOULD BE IN CHARGE OF THE LIBRARY . . . . 22
Summary . . . . . . . . ................................................ 28
V. HOW SHOULD THE TIME OF THE LIBRARY BE
DISTRIBUTED............................................................................ 3©
Summary . * ........................................................................... 35
VI, WHAT SHOULD BE THE LOCATION, SIZE AND MINIMUM
ESSENTIALS OF AN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL LIBRARY? . 37
Summary ....................... 4-2
VII. CONCLUSIONS................................................................................. 46
V III. RECOMMENDATIONS.......................................................... 48
BIBLIOGRAPHY ...................................................................... 50
APPENDIX.................................................................................................... 54
iv
LIST OF TABLES
TABLE PAGE
I* Schools, Enrollment and Personnel of the
Elementary School Libraries in Long Beach,
C alifornia ....................... 27
II. Checklist o f Furniture . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
III. Equipment for Elementary S c h o o ls ............................ 44
CHAPTER I
THE NATURE OP THE PROBLEM
In the la st twenty years many lib ra ries have been
established in the public elementary schools* These school
lib ra ries have been used in a number of differen t ways.
Many schools in the country have good library service.
Most of the schools do not. There has been a difference
of opinion as to the place the school library should play
in the school and as to how it should be organized. Some
educators have not agreed that there should be a library
in every elementary school*
In an elementary school the principal is responsible
for the establishm ent and organization of extra fa c ilitie s .
Without the in itia tiv e and understanding of the principal
the satisfactory organization of the school library is
im possible. In order to organize a library effectiv ely
the principal needs to know the philosophy of the library,
the problems Involved, and d ifferen t ways of meeting these
problems.
I . THE PROBLEM
Statement of the problem. It was the purpose of th is
study to estab lish the place and organization of a library
In an elementary school. Specific questions covered in the
problem were:
1* Why should a library be in an elementary sehool?
2. Who should be In charge of the library?
3. low should the time of the library be distributed?
Jf, Whats hould be the location, size, and minimum
equipment in an elementary school library?
Authority for the development of the scope and the
Importance of the problem. The movement for organizing
lib ra ries in public schools has been progressing for over
twenty years. In 1929 William F. Huff made a study of the
provisions made for lib ra ries in public elementary schools
of Southern C alifornia. 3- Huff found a wide variety of
practices in the organization, set-up, and use of the
library. One library in Beverly H ills had a newly con­
structed building with a ll the la te st architectural features,
w hile some schools used rooms in the basement for the
library. Most of the schools at that time used a teacher
as a librarian. The Long Beach school system had been
very active in maintaining and organizing lib raries within
the sehool. Full-tim e librarians were hired to give in­
struction in the use of the library, and classes for
1 William F. Huff, "A Study of the Provisions Made
for Libraries in the Public Elementary Schools of Southern
California.® Unpublished M aster's T hesis, The University
of Southern C alifornia, Los Angeles, I929.
exceptional children were held in the library. Several
theses have cited the outstanding features of the Long
Beach system. William Huff2 in h is survey of Southern
C alifornia school lib raries found the Long Beach lib rar­
ie s w ell-organized in relation to other lib ra ries at
that tim e. Other studies were made by Louise Butler^
and Frances Patterson^ in th eir theses in 1939*
Frances Patterson in her study on the functions
of the school library states that the follow ing are the
ch ief objectives of the school library:
1. To enrich the school curriculum by providing
service for pupils and teachers.
2. To acquire and organize library m aterials for
school service.
3. To give instruction in the independent use of
the library and of the books as to o ls.
A. To share with a ll the departments of the school
resp on sib ility for fru itfu l social training.
2 Huff, lo c. o lt.
3 Louise B utler, “E ffective School Library Service
in the Progressive Elementary School.* Unpublished Master'
Thesis, The U niversity of Southern C alifornia, Los Angeles,
1939*
** Frances Patterson, “A Survey of the Functions and
Adm inistration of the Elementary School Library.* Unpub­
lish ed M aster's T hesis, The U niversity of Southern C alifor­
nia, Los Angeles, 1939.
5* To foster information reading as a lif e habit.
6. To provide for worthy use of leisu re time by
encouraging reading for pleasure and developing the
library h a b it.5
With these important objectives in mind, many
school lib raries have been established, but there s t i l l
are many schools which do not have lib ra ries.
In 1941-42 a survey of education in the United
States was made by the United States O ffice of Education.^
It was found that only 16.3 per cent of the 63*41? elemen­
tary schools had lib ra ries. I t was also found that 40*3
per cent of the 7 , 787>376 pupils were in schools with
centralized lib ra ries. Another survey was made in 1947-48.
I t was found that large c itie s which accounted for 2,259 of
the schools or 43.3 per cent had central lib ra ries. The
percentage of lib raries In the schools had increased, but
over 50 per cent remained without library fa c ilitie s .
In regard to th is lag in organizing lib ra ries, Patter­
son sta tes, "The trend of thought seems to be that the school
cannot take it s proper place in the educational program u n til
* P* 50
^ P. E. Henne, "Elementary School Library," Elementary
School Journal» 50j3o4> March 1950.