ERIC ED368356: School Library Snapshots: A Brief Survey of Illinois School Library Collections in Three Areas of Science.

15 Pages·1993·0.4 MB·English

by  ERIC

DOCUMENT RESUME
ED 368 356
IR 054 872
TITLE
School Library Snapshots: A Brief
Survey of Illinois
School Library Collections in
Three Areas of
Science.
INSTITUTION
Illinois School Library Media
Association,
Fairfield.
PUB DATE
[93]
NOTE
15p.
PUB TYPE
Reports
Research/Technical (143)
EDRS PRICE
MF01/PC01 Plus Postage.
DESCRIPTORS
Communication (Thought Transfer);
Elementary
Secondary Education; Federal Aid;
Financial Support;
Learning Resources Centers; Library
Associations;
Library Collection Development;
*Library Collections;
Library Services; Library Surveys;
Needs Assessment;
*School Libraries; Science
Education; *Sciences;
State Aid; State Surveys; Tables
(Data)
IDENTIFIERS
Illinois; Library Funding
ABSTRACT
To study the strengths and
weaknesses of Illinois
school library collections in
science and to quantify the
need for
increased funding for collection
development, a survey
was completed
by over 400 members of the Illinois
School Library Media Association.
Topics of interest
were astronomy, space, the solar
system, general
biology, ecology, human
anatomy, physiology, and hygiene.
The
findings present a series of
snapshots that indicate that the
majority of school libraries in
Illinois have inadequate book
collections in these vital
areas of science education. Not only
are
there too few books
on the shelves, there are many that
are seriously
outdated and sometimes inaccurate.
The most obvious
reason is lack of
money. Only 50% of respondents received
any federal funds in 1991-92,
indicating that block grants
are not being spent on libraries.
Many
respondents considered the
survey useful in analyzing local
collections, because 64% did
not know whether or not their
libraries
met state goals. Since the
survey only included members of the
state
school library association, it
is assumed that
many other school
libraries are in
worse shape. Recommendations
are made for
improvement centering
on better communication and coordination
and
working for increased funding.
Nine tables and three figures
present
study findings. (SLD)
***********************************************************************
Reproductions supplied by EDRS
are the best that can be made
from the original document.
******-**e(************************************************k*************
Snapshots
School Library
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIOM
A Brief Survey of
Otioce o4 EducatooN Resmach and tramoymnera
EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION
CENTER (ERIC)
Illinois School Library Collections
0 Thus doCurrtnt An boon (mxoduoad Se
rechved from d pefsod of cal:Amason
o(oginateng tt.
in Three Areas of Science
0 AlinOr cher**, Arra been made to maprove
reprOduction Qualrty
Poods ol vow, or oIonsstatSdinth8dOCg.
mer do not (womanly repaNNInt offoemi
OERI taosa.on Or PoMY
assumptions. We knew that budgets for school
Quite honestly, this project began with some
the costs of books and other materials have
library resources have been tight for years while
whenever the subject of science col-
continued to escalate. We also have heard horror stories
'Some day man may walk on
lections came up for discussion. "I still have books that say,
ends with the vacuum tube" "If I
the moon." "I have a book on modern inventions that
be a book left on the shelves."
really weeded our science collection, there wouldn't
time to determine just how bad. Eventu-
We knew the situation was bad. We decided it was
ally, we set three goals for our survey:
the need for increased funding for school li-
1) To produce statistics which would quantify
brary collections.
tool which would demonstrate the
2) To offer local libraries r ;ollection assessment
strengths and weaknesses of their collections.
had resources capable of supporting the
3) To determine whether Illinois school libraries
State's goals for science education.
general information about each library, along with
A questionnaire was designed to gather
three specific fields of science:
detailed counts of the numbers and ages of books in
1) Astronomy, Space, and the Solar System;
2) General Biology and Ecology; and
3) Human Anatomy, Physiology, and Hygiene.
subjects which are taught across the K-
These fields were selected because they encompass
in which many new developments have occurred
12 curriculum ar c! because they are area:,
over the past 25 years.
complete and easy to tabulate.
A Scantron form was utilized to make the survey easy to
cv
Illinois School Library Media Associa-
Over 800 questionnaires were sent to members of the
tion (ISLMA), and an impressive 409 were returned.
\\,
T
-PERMISSION FO REPRODUCE
kr,
MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED
Carol J
2
TO THE EDUCATIONAL RES
tNFORMATION CENTER (ERICV
Since all respondents were members of the state's professional organization,
the responses
are not necessarily typical of all schools in Illinois. They do not reflect the
many elementary
schools where there is no professional staff,
or those schools in situations where one media
specialist is responsible for several libraries. Being ISLMA members, respondents
had an
interest in professional issues and by self-selection
were concerned about collection devel-
opment. It may be assumed that these responses reflect better than the average school li-
brary collections in Illinois.
Who Responded?
Grade Level: Of the 409 re-
Table 1: Responses by Grade Level
sponses, 40% came from el-
ementary schools and 15%
Public Schools
Private Schools
Total
from junior high schools,
Elementary (K-5, K-6, K-8)
153
162 (40%)
9
meaning that these lower
Junior High (6-7,6-8,6-9)
59
61 (15%)
2
grades were somewhat under-
High School (9-12,10-12)
123
134 (33%)
11
represented. A total of 134 re-
Other
47
52 (12%)
5
sponses from high schools
382 (93%)
Total
27 (7%)
409 (100%)
constituted 33% of the survey
group. The remaining 12% were categorized as "other" and included a wide variety of grade
combinations from K-12 to preschoolgrade 3. Private and parochial schools
were repre-
sented by 7% of the responses. (See Table 1.)
School Size: Respondents
Table 2: Responses by Student Population
reported a wide range of
<350
351-750
751-1,000
1,001-1,500
>1,500
Total
school sizes based on student
Elementary
97
55
population. The largest cat-
4
5
162
(39%)
1
Junior High
30
20
egory (46%) had populations
0
(15%)
11
0
61
from 351 to 750 students. High School
36
19
45
23
(33%)
134
11
Other
25% were smaller and 29%
26
4
18
(13%)
52
3
1
were larger. (See Table 2.)
Total
(25%)
(46%)
(10%)
189
103
(8%)
47
39
(11%)
409
(100%)
31
Geographic Location:
Responses came from all areas of the state. Respondents
were
asked to identify their regional library system and 87% did so, using
names of systems in ex-
istence before recent mergers and consolidations. Those in the northern
part of the state
represented 52% of the total responses, with 35% coming from the southern
systems and
13% not indicating system location. Unfortunately, the City of Chicago
was greatly under-
represented, with only five responses. (See Tables 3a-3b.)
A Look at Total Collections
Collections tended to be larger than the survey designers anticipated, with 45% having
more than 10,000 book volumes and 30% having over 50 currcnt periodical titles. Neverthe-
less, there were seven schools (including one high school) in this select
group with less than
1,000 books and 45 schools with fewer than 10 periodical titles. (See Figures lalb.)
School Library Snapshots
Table 3a: Responses by System (Northern)
Table 3b: Responses by System (Southern)
Bur Oak Library System
(3%)
14
Corn Belt Library System
9 (2%)
Chicago Library System
(1%)
Great River Library System
5
3 (1%)
Du Page Library System
46
(11%)
Illinois Valley Library System
18 (4%)
Northern Illinois Library System
24
(6%)
Kaskaskia Library System
8 (2%)
North Suburban Library System
56
(14%)
Lewis & Clark Library System
3 (1%)
Starved Rock Library System
(2%)
7
Lincoln Trail Libraries System
19 (5%)
Suburban Library System
(15%)
61
River Bend Library System
23 (6%)
Total
(52%)
213
Rolling Prairie Library System
30 (7%)
Shawnee Library System
21 (5%)
Western Illinois Library System
10 (2°"...)
in the audiovisual department, we also
Total
144 (35%)
found larger numbers than anticipated.
No System Given: 52 (13%)
Films and videos constituted the strongest
section of AV resources, with 55%
having over 50 titles and only 15 li-
Figure 1a: Collections (Book Volumes)
braries reporting none. This is espe-
50%
cially surprising since instructions
41%
were given to not include shared col-
lections such as film co-ops. On the
0
24%
21%
other hand, many comments indi-
12%
cated that these AV collections were
2%
old and in poor condition. (See Fig-
0%
<1,000
1000-5.000
5 001-10,000
10.001-15,000
>15.000
ure lc.)
Book Volumes Owned
Newer items such as CD-ROMs and
Figure 1b: Collections (Periodical Titles)
laser disks were less common, al-
4011'
though we were pleasantly surprised
32%
to find that 222 libraries (54%) have
27%
at least one CD-ROM, and 30 librar-
0
20%
16%
0
ies have 10 titles or more. Fewer li-
14%
11%
braries have laser disks, but 30%
have at least one title and 31 schools
0%
10 25
<10
51 100
26-50
>100
(7%) have 10 titles or more. (See Fig-
Periodkal Tides Owned
ldle.)
ures
Figure 1c: Collections (glm and Video Titles)
60%
SS%
Expenditures for
Library Resources
c
40.1
0
0
Of particular interest was the amount
20%
IS%
of money spent for library resources,
10%
5%
not including equipment. It was a
I
411.-.
0%
11 25
26 SO
10
>SO
1
pleasant surprise to find that 75%
Film and Video Titles Owned
School Library Snapshots
3
Figure ld: Collections (CD-ROM Titles)
spent over $2,000 in 1991-92. That amount
is less impressive, however, when calculated
60%
as dollars per student. While 158 schools
47%
44%
(39%) spent over $10 per student, nearly
c
40%
20% (79 schools) spent less than $3 per stu-
dent, and nine schools (including three high
20%
schools) spent less than $1 per student. (See
Table 4.)
7%
0%
>10
1-10
None
Illinois figures look even more pathetic
CD-ROM Titles Owned
when compared to a recent School Library
Journal report' which indicates an average
resource budget (including equipment) of
Figure le: Collections (Laser Discs)
$14,171 for the same year and an average
80%
expenditure of $8.38 per student for books
71%
alone. Since a few high expenditures can
60%
S
make these averages misleading, the SLI re-
port also indicates a median figure, but
0
40%
0
again, the Illinois statistics fall short of a na-
22%
20%
tional median budget of $9,609 ($5.88 per
7%
student) for books.
.01=0.
0%
>10
1-10
None
Given that the average price of a children's
Laser Discs Owned
hardcover book was $16.64 in 1992 and the
average price of an adult book was $45.85,2
can't buy one book per student
it's clear that nearly two-thirds of Illinois school libraries
even if all their resource
money is spent on books!
Table 4: Expenditures Per Student
Since many schools also are
54-7
>510
I
51-3
58-10
using their limited funds for
<VI
...
more expensive computer
54
44
Elementary
36
25
I
3
software, CD-ROMs, laser
Junior High
0
15
18
13
13
disks, and audiovisual
64
30
High School
28
9
3
materials, the actual book
22
8
Other
4 12
3
purchases are even more
155 (38%)
96
(18%)
74
(25%)
(17%)
Total
70
(2%)
limited.
9
Sources of Funds
To give yet another perspective on school library funding, we asked respondents to check
all the categories of funds received for library resources in 1991-1992. Logically, the cat-
received some
egory checked most often was "District Budget," with 94% indicating they
source.
funds from
School Library Snapshots
4
Other sources of funds (in order of frequency) were State Grants, Donations, Federal
Grants, and Other (Endowments, Fees, Private School Tuition, etc.). While the 6% who did
not receive any District
Table 5: Sources of Funds
Funds could be those 27
private and parochial
Other
District Budget
PTA/Donations Federal Grants
State Grants
schools, there is no logical
Elementary
68
150
116
38
75
explanation for the fact
Junior High
58
39 39
33
15
that only 58% reported re-
High School
122 37
77 26
91
ceiving State funds. The
Other
48
14
29 22
31
year 1991-92 was the sec-
Total
378 (94%)
223 (55%)
200 (50%)
234 (58%) (23%)
93
ond time that the small
Since many checked several categories, total equals more than 100%.
but significant state per
capita grants were made available to schools. (See Table 5.)
Comments from respondents added a human dimension to these numbers. "Our annual
budget is $1,500 for 1,450 students" "Our budget doesn't look bad but we can't buy books
because we are responsible for buying computer software" "Our library is funded only by
PTA donations" "We had a zero budget again this year
we haven't bought books in
years!"
Astronomy, Space, and the Solar System
Respondents were asked to count book titles in the Dewey categories of 520-523 and 629
by date of publication. Although some books on automobiles may have been included, the
majority dealt with space (including space travel and the solar system). Over 88% reported
that this subject is covered in their school's curriculum. Only 8% said it was not covered and
4% said they did not know.
Given the high percentage of
Table 6: Astronomy, Space, and the Solar System
schools which include this
topic in the curriculum, it is
Table 6a: Number of Titles in Subject Area
shocking to find that almost
half (46%) have fewer than 20
51-75
21-30
0-20
31-50
>75
books in the field. On the
Elementary
70 69
17
2
5
other side of the coin, 40% re-
junior High
4
21
2 2
31
port having 75 books or more
High School
10
64
2 6
51
on the topic, but 76 of this
Other
0
4
group of 162 schools report
21
21 3
that more than 75 of their
Total
(4%)
(40%)
186 (46%)
(1%)
(9%)
16
6
35 162
titles were published before
1970. In other words, even the largest collections are out of date. (See Tables 6a-6b.)
Old titles are not necessarily bad titles, as several of our respondents reminded us. There
are certainly aspects of astronomy which haven't changed since 1970. On the other hand,
students using these dated collections won't learn about the first Skylab experiments
School Library Snapshots
5
py
OMAR!
6
(1973), the Columbia flight
Table 6b: Number of Titles Published Before 1970
which first put a man in orbit
0-10
21-50
11-20
51-75
>75
(1981), Sally Ride becoming
the first woman in space
16
17
Elen.entary
38
61
31
(1983), or the Challenger di-
Junior High
14
9
9
11
1.9
saster (1986).
44
High School
22 39
14 15
Looking at newer titles, 43%
Other
13 15
7
9
3
of the total reported having
Total
76
(18%)
(17%) 139 (34%)
(12%) (18%)
73
67
51
only five or fewer titles pub-
lished since 1990 and only
Table 6c: Number of Titles Published 1990-1993
23% have as many as 20 new
titles. Since respondents were
6-10
16-20
0-5
11-15
>20
asked to include reference re-
40
29
Elementary
17
17
59
sources in their counts, it's
clear that most students have
Junior High
29
6
7
15
5
very few opportunities to read
High School
10
64
6
51
2
about current developments
Other
4
6
23
12
2
in a subject of continuing fas-
93 (23%)
Total
175 (43%)
36 (9%)
(17%)
(8%)
69
31
cination to young people.
(See Table 6c.)
General Biology and Ecology
A similar pattern emerged when we looked at responses regarding collections in the Dewey
categories of 333, 363, 574, and 591. The subjects of General Biology and Ecology were cov-
ered in 91% of the schools, but once again, nearly half (47%) had only a small number of
titles covering the subject, and
those who had more reported a
Table 7: General Biology and Ecology
high percentage dated before
1970. (See Tables 7a-7c.)
Table 7a: Number of Titles in Subject Area
Once again, this is a subject
76-100
41-75
0-25
26-40 >100
with many significant develop-
67
Elementary
72 6
13
ments since those older books
3
were published. Among them
Junior High
0
4
19
33
3
are the Three Mile Island Ex-
High School
55
60
4
6 6
plosion (1979), the Exxon
Other
4
19
2
21
1
Valdez Oil Spill (1989), and
Total
160 (40%)
186 (46%)
(6%)
(5%)
(3%)
19 23
10
the Chernobyl Fire (1986).
Comments from respondents illustrate the real problems of trying to teach with such out-
dated resources. One person noted a book on landscaping which recommends using asbes-
tos stepping stones in the garden! Another reported having a book which recommends using
DDT for pest control!
School Library Snapshots
6
Human Anatomy, Physiology, and Hygiene
Our third topic covered the Dewey categories of 611-613, and was included in the curricu-
-
lum of 96% of the schools. While these subjects were taught most often, this also was the
field where the largest per-
centage (48%) reported very
Table 7b: Number of Titles Published Before 1970
small collections. (See Table
0-20 41-75 76-100
>100
21-40
8a.)
42
Elementary
42
10
15
51
Fortunately, the number of
Junior High
14
10
6
9
21
extremely old titles (pub-
High School
44
20
33
17
18
lished before 1970) also was
smaller, with only 9% having
Other
4
14
16
9 4
50 or more such relics in their
94
(24%)
Total
(10%)
(17%)
85
110 (28%)
(21%)
69
41
collections. On the other
hand, 66% had fewer than six
Table 7c: Number of Titles Published 1990-1993
new titles (published 1990
1993) in this field. One dra-
26-40 41-60
11-25
0-10
>60
matic example illustrates the
47
Elementary
76
9 7
21
real danger of such inadequate
Junior High
0 4
19
33
3
collections: a respondent re-
ported having a title which ex-
High School
24
45 37
10
17
tols the benefits of smoking as
Other
17 6
9
14
1
a means of healthy relaxation!
Total
44
(11%)
171 (43%) (14%)
(7%)
98
57
(25%)
29
(See Tables 8b-8c.)
A Closer Look at Collections with the Fewest Titles
When we pulled the responses of the libraries with the smallest collections in these three
fields, we found 186 schools with minimal collections in Astronomy, 186 in Biology, and 192
in Anatomy. Of these three groups, 173 had minironl collections in all three areas.
We compared these 173
Table 8: Human Anatomy, Physiology, and Hygiene
schools with the group as a
whole and found they were
surprisingly similar. They
Table 8a: Number of Titles in Subject Area
were slightly more likely to be
31-50
16-30
0-15
>75
51-75
junior highs or high schools,
slightly more likely to have a
Elementary
24
24
72
18
23
student population of 351
Junior High
10
6
2 9
31
750, and a little more likely to
37
High School
66
4
9 16
be in the southern part of the
Other
4
9
7
23
2
state. They were slightly more
74 (19%)
Total
26 (6%)
(14%)
192 (48%)
SO (13%)
likely to have over 50 periodi-
54
cal titles, but their total book
School Library Snapshots
7
collections were almost
Table 8b: Number of Titles Published Before 1970
identical to those of the group
21-50
11-20
0-10
51-75
>75
as a whole. In other words, in-
adequate science collections
60
9
35
Elementary 54
2
appear at all grade levels, in
20 24
0
Junior High
15
1
schools of all sizes throughout
43
6
14
High School
38
31
the state. (See Figures 2a-2e.)
Other
22
3
9
11
1
The one area where these 173
140 (35%)
Total
(27%) (28%)
(6%) (3%)
113
25
109
11
schools differed significantly
was in their expenditures per
Table 8c: Number of Titles Published 1990-1993
student. A total of 52% of
these schools spent less than
>20
0-5
11-15
6-10 16-20
$8 per student, compared to
Elementary
24
113
7 6
9
44% of all respondents. It
Junior High
46
2
should come as no surprise
9
3
1
that inadequate funding
High School
17
24 10
73
8
equates with inadequate col-
IOther
32
2 2
9
1
lections. (See Figure 2f.)
26 (7%)
Total
24 (6%)
264 (66%)
(5%)
66
(16%)
18
Use of the Collection
Another angle in our series of snapshots was taken from the point of view of collection use.
We asked, "Do science classes use your library?" The majority (55%) responded "occasion-
ally," while 24% said "often" and 21%
said "rarely" or "never."
Figure 2a: Total Respondents Compared to Those with the
Fewest Books in Named Categories,* by Grade Level
Looking at collection use from another
4 hv
perspective, we asked "Do students se-
40%
34%
lect science books and magazines when
34%
32%
they have 'free choice' of reading mat-
ter?" In this case, the number responding
J
13%
"often" increased to 32%, with another
17%
13%
13%
13%
42% checking "occasionally."
From these figures, it looks as if both
AMP
science classes and individual students
Other
High School
Junior High
f lernentary
are using their school libraries at least
Grade Level
"occasionally" in about 75% of the
0 foul
f ewest
°Named canon, am those hoed w, I able% 6
schools, and there is a distinct tendency
for individual students to be more frequent users than classes.
This section of the questionnaire drew comments which put a different light on the matter
of collection use. Many indicated that science teachers don't give library assignments or will
accept research only if based on current periodicals. Several complained that science depart-
ments have their own resources, separated from the central library. Others pointed out that
School Library Snapshots
8
Figure 2b: Total Respondents/Fewest Books
Figure 2c: Total Respondents/Fewest Books in
in Named Categories, by School Size
Named Categories, by System Membership
55.
60%
51%
52%
46%
IIu
iiiii
43%
42%
3' 4
C
---.
35%
5%
21%
I
18%
---
I
15Ya
11% 12%
13%
0%
am.
0%
<350
351-750
751-1,000
1,000-1,500
>1,500
Northern
Southern
No System Given
School Size
System Membership
0 Total
Fewest
0 Total
111
Fewest
Figure 2d: Total Respondents/Fewest Books in
Figure 2e: Total Respondents/Fewest Books in
Named Categories, by Total Book Collection
Named Categories, by Periodical Titles Owned
55%
40%
3.0%
4
32%
41.0%
27%
C
37%
26%
21%
o
20%
24.0%
26.0%
16%
0
21.0%
20.0%
14%
13%
13%
taw
I
.
11%
I
12.0%
11.0%
2.0% OS%
ima
0%
(1%
10-25
5 -100
<10
26-50
c1,000
100
1,000-5,000
5,001-10.000 10,001-15.000
>15.0(X)
Periodical Titles Owned
Total Book Collection
0 Total
Fewest
111
Total
Fewest
:
11/
_
science books are so expensive, they don't
Figure 2f: Total Respondents/Fewest Books in
buy them. This seems to be a chicken-
Named Categories, by Expenditures Per Student
and-egg situation. If the science collection
42%
30%
is small and outdated, it's no wonder that
32%
science teachers don't give library assign-
20%
25%
ments. On the other hand, librarians with
22%
11%
extremely limited funds can hardly be
17%
16%
blamed for purchasing in the fields that re-
ceive the most use.
2%
1%
0%
4-7
$1-3
<$1
$8-10
>$10
Goals
Expenditum Per Student
0 Total
Fewest
Perhaps the most startling statistics of this
study appeared when we looked at library collections from the perspective of the State
Goals. We askcd, "Do you personally feel that your library's science collection
supports the
four Illinois Education Goals for Biological and Physical Science?" A total of 60 respondents
(15%) said "yes" and 87 (22%) said "no," but a significant majority (56%) said they had
never seen the goals! (See Table 9.)
School Library Snapshots
9
1 0