Why School Libraries Matter

A school library helps each school meet its mission of each student learning and achieving academic success. A school library helps teachers teach and students learn; it promotes information literacy and digital citizenship; it fosters in students a love of and enthusiasm for reading and encourages students to become life-long learners.

But in too many Pennsylvania schools this school library is not the reality for students. Years of neglect have weakened many school libraries and diminished opportunities for students to learn. The neglect comes, in part, from misconceptions about the roles school libraries and school librarians play in student learning, especially in the 21st-century.