Why Invest in Libraries
WHY INVEST IN LIBRARIES
Stephen Krashen
Presentation at LAUSD Board of Education meeting, Febuary 11, 2014
To discuss libraries, several important results from educational research will be of use.
POVERTY COUNTS
The impact of poverty on educational achievement has been documented again and again. Poverty means, among other things, inadequate diet, lack of health care, and lack of access to books. Each of these has a powerful impact on achievement (Berliner, 2009; Krashen, 1997). The best teaching in the world has little effect when children are hungry, undernourished, ill, and have little or nothing to read.
Martin Luther King recognized this: "We are likely to find that the problems of housing and education, instead of preceding the elimination of poverty, will themselves be affected if poverty is first abolished" (King, 1967). Research done since 1967 has confirmed that Dr. King is right: (Baker, 2007; Zhao, 2009; Ananat, Gassman-Pines, Francis, and Gibson-Davis, 2011).
FREE VOLUNTARY READING IS THE MAJOR CAUSE OF LITERACY DEVELOPMENT
Free voluntary reading is reading because you want to, self-selected reading for pleasure. Awide range of studies have confirmed that free reading is the major factor in literacy development.
Sustained silent reading (SSR) studies: In SSR, a short period is set aside for self-selected reading, with
California's public libraries do poorly in national rankings. LA is 69th out of 77 cities.
California cities captured six of the bottom ten places in the public library category of the most recent "America's Most Literate Cities report" (2013). Los Angeles public libraries ranked 69thout of 77.The report analyzes data from 77 cities with populations of 250,000 and above. The bottom ten: 68. Anaheim, CA69. Los Angeles, CA70. Anchorage, AK71. Bakersfield, CA72. Sacramento, CA
FEB 08
No child left without basic resources
Published in the Washington Post, Feb. 7. 2014 Before we worry about no child left unconnected to the Internet [“Broadband in schools gets FCC push,” news, Feb. 3], how about no child left unfed, no child without adequate health care and no child without easy access to a good library? The rate of child poverty in the United States is 23 percent, the second-highest of all economically advanced co
FEB 07
The Star Method: A Brilliant, No-Cost, Idea
Letter Published in the School Library Journal, 2010. LaDuska Adriance's idea of students putting a star in the inside corner of library books they like might be one of the great ideas of the century: Simple, no-cost, with the potential of substantially increasing interest in reading by creating a community of readers, what Frank Smith calls a "literacy club." I hope others try the Star
