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The School Librarian’s Role in Writing Instruction: Research, Perceptions, and Practice

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Published/Copyright: November 30, 2017
Libri
From the journal Libri Volume 67 Issue 4

Abstract

The degree to which librarians are actively involved in developing the writing skills of students has primarily been studied in academic libraries (Bronshteyn and Baladad 2006, “Librarians as Writing Instructors: Using Paraphrasing Exercises to Teach Beginning Information Literacy Students.” The Journal of Academic Librarianship 32 (5):533–536; King 2012, “Essentials of Basic Writing Pedagogy for Librarians.” Community & Junior College Libraries 18:55–66. Accessed March 20, 2016. doi:10.1080/02783915.2012.700211; Smith 2001, “Keeping Track: Librarians, Composition Instructors, and Student Writers Use the Research Journal.” Research Strategies 18:21–28) and has rarely been researched in terms of K-12 settings either in the United States or internationally. This paper examines the ways in which school library programs and school librarians contribute to the writing skills of K-12 students in South Carolina in the United States. A selective analysis of the findings is presented from Phase II of the South Carolina Association of School Librarian’s (SCASL) 2014 School Library Impact Study, conducted by Keith Curry Lance and the RSL Research Group. The extent to which school librarians perceive their role in the teaching of writing in K-12 schools is examined, along with the perceptions of administrators and teachers. The results indicated that school librarians are less likely than other educators to assess their teaching of writing as excellent. Rather, administrators and teachers valued school librarians’ contributions to the teaching of writing standards more than librarians did. In addition, the paper presents a review of the literature pertaining to the school librarian’s contributions to the teaching of writing skills and offers suggestions for applying the findings of this research to practice.

Keywords: school librarian; writing; South Carolina Association of School Librarians; Impact study

Acknowledgements

“As the authors of the South Carolina study, Bill Schwarz, Marcia J. Rodney, and I thank our colleagues Karen Gavigan and April Dawkins for writing this article, and appreciate their using some of our report’s language verbatim to ensure it is represented accurately.” Keith Curry Lance

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Received: 2017-5-10
Accepted: 2017-8-31
Published Online: 2017-11-30
Published in Print: 2017-12-20

© 2017 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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  1. Frontmatter
  3. How Do Public Libraries Assist Small Businesses in Rural Communities? An Exploratory Qualitative Study in Tennessee
  4. How is the Role of Academic Library Workers Perceived by both Faculty Members and Library Workers?
  5. An Exploratory Study of Four Urban Community Libraries in Nampula City, Mozambique: Do They Satisfy Community Informational Needs?
  6. The School Librarian’s Role in Writing Instruction: Research, Perceptions, and Practice
  7. Service Quality Satisfaction: A Comparative Cross-Sectional Study of Public and Private University Librarians in Pakistan
https://doi.org/10.1515/libri-2017-0034
Keywords for this article
school librarian; writing; South Carolina Association of School Librarians; Impact study

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  3. How Do Public Libraries Assist Small Businesses in Rural Communities? An Exploratory Qualitative Study in Tennessee
  4. How is the Role of Academic Library Workers Perceived by both Faculty Members and Library Workers?
  5. An Exploratory Study of Four Urban Community Libraries in Nampula City, Mozambique: Do They Satisfy Community Informational Needs?
  6. The School Librarian’s Role in Writing Instruction: Research, Perceptions, and Practice
  7. Service Quality Satisfaction: A Comparative Cross-Sectional Study of Public and Private University Librarians in Pakistan
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