In November, newspapers throughout Indiana and across the nation reported that National Assessment of Educational Progress math scores were up slightly while the scores for eighth-grade reading showed a decline.   Only 31 percent of students scored as proficient in eighth-grade reading.  One step Indiana schools can take to increase reading scores is to provide access to current, appealing, high-interest, and useful books and other reading materials in school libraries.

     In 1995, the Middle Grades Reading Network’s Stakeholder group, consisting of teachers, school and public librarians, principals, parents, college reading professors, superintendents, and other key individuals drafted an action plan for the state of Indiana.  In that plan, Becoming a Community of Readers: A Blueprint for Indiana, (see http://mgrn.evansville.edu/blueprin.html) there were important actions that were recommended to improve student access to books and other print materials in school libraries.

      The Indiana General Assembly provided $4 million to K-8 schools for the 1997-2000 school years in the School Library Printed Materials Grant.  The grant was expanded to K-12 schools for the second funding cycle (1999-2000 and 2000-2001) and the funds increased to $6 million. 

Another $6 million was appropriated in 2001-2002 and 2002-2003.  School corporations received $3 million for 2001-2002.  However, no state funds have been provided since that time.

      School corporations had to match the state funds, so

$6 million resulted in $12 million for books.  But even this amount was inadequate.  The average book now costs over $20, so with about one million students, Indiana should be spending $40 million per year for school library books since schools need to purchase two books per student each year to keep their libraries current.  A book usually lasts 10 years.  Then it is of little use to students, so it should be discarded.  Computers last about 3 years and then need replacing.  (Computers, but not books, can be purchased from the Capital Projects Fund.)   Books last over three times as long as computers, so they are a good investment, especially for schools that hope to demonstrate an increase in overall reading scores.

      As a result of the School Library Printed Materials Grant funding, circulation dramatically increased.  Students, like adults, are attracted to new books, not old books.  But with the elimination of state funds, library book circulation declined.  This has a strong effect on reading scores, because students need to read to be good readers.  There is overwhelming evidence that school libraries make a difference in providing students with access to books.  And the better the school library, the better are results for students’ reading achievement. 

      The Indiana Administrative Code (511 IAC 6.1-5-6 Media Program) states that each school shall spend at least $8 per student per year from its 22200 account to maintain its media program.  The $8 figure was set in 1989 when the average cost of a book was about $9 compared to the present average cost of over $20.  However, even this small amount of $8 per student may not be spent exclusively on books, since salaries for library-related staff can also be drawn from the 22200 account.  Therefore, while satisfying their legislative requirements for support of school media programs, most Indiana public schools are not purchasing two new books per student per year for their libraries.

      Try this quick assessment of your school library book collection.  Select 10 books at random and check their copyright dates.  Then find out when the books were last checked out and how many of the ten books have copyright dates prior to 1995.  Proceed to find out how many of these books have been checked out by students in the past year.  This will reveal the percent of the collection that is useful to today’s students.  (Some schools have a computer program that provides copyright information for the entire collection.)  This quick assessment will help you gain an understanding of whether or not your students have access to current, appealing, high-interest, and useful books.