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History of the Library

  • Ben Franklin

    He included library plans for his academy
  • Period: to

    New York - Governor DeWitt Clinton

    Passed a law to allow for the establishing and maintaining of school libraries
  • Massachusetts - Horace Man

    Schools could raise money for libraries
  • Michigan

    Set aside $15 in taxes plus fine money from those who broke "disturbing the peace" laws.
  • Connecticut joined the school library movement.

  • New York

    Set aside $55,000 a year to establish school libraries
  • Rhode Island joined the school library movement.

  • Period: to

    200,000+ books added to New York libraries

  • Matching money

    Schools could get $15 a year with matching monies for libraries.
  • Massachusetts law repealed and replaced by a law for public libraries.

  • Birth of modern American library movement.

  • Melvin Dewey created by American Library Association.

  • 1st issue of "Library Journal."

  • By 1879, 19 states had school libraries.

  • New York saw a decrease in libraries because of poor procedures and practices.

  • New York established School Libraries Division

  • Melvin Dewey and Andrew Draper drafted a law regarding school libraries in New York.

  • National Education Association (NEA) created a library section.

  • New York City schools hired the first librarian who was a graduate of a library school.

  • New York created a High School Library Section within the New York State Teacher's Association.

  • "Library Journal" reported on the sad state of school libraries.

  • New York made librarian salaries equal to teacher salaries.

  • A National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) report revealed the "inadequate condition of school libraries."

  • The "Certain report" suggested standards to salvage libraries.

    This was the "first yardstick to evaluate local libraries and created a framework from which other accrediting agencies...could develop other sets of standards."
  • North Central Association - Score Card for School Libraries

    Standards were focused on programs, not materials.
  • Elementary School Library Standards

    This provided standards as well as a list of basic books.
  • North Central Association required high schools to score their libraries.

  • Cooperative Study of Secondary School Standards formed

    One role was to evaluate secondary school libraries. A numerical scoring technique came out of this.
  • Shift from schools of education to library schools

    Occurred through the 1950s
  • Standards for School Library Programs

    National standards that influenced the development and expansion of state and local standards
  • Public School Library Statistics for 1958 - 1959

    Half of the schools had no library, and half of those had no qualified librarian.
  • 1960s - Greatest period of school library growth

  • Knapp School Libraries Project - 1963 - 1968

    Funded "ideal" school libraries
  • Elementary and Secondary Education Act

    Title II monies allocated to develop school libraries.
  • Evaluative Criteria for the Evaluation of Secondary Schools

    Used by accreditation associations and schools for self-evaluation.
  • Standards for School Media Programs

    "Stressed the necessity of fusing facilities and services to meet the challenges of education."
  • Media Programs: District and School

    Focused on centralizing media services in schools.
  • Report of the Task Force on the Role of the School Library Media Program in Networking

    national network of school media programs.
  • White House Conference on Library and Information Science

    Final report was "Information for the 80's"
  • 1980s saw budgetary cutbacks and censorship issues

  • Pico vs. Island Trees

    This legal decision gave strength to the fight for intellectual freedom.
  • Information Power: Guidelines for School LIbrary Programs

    Saw Library Media Specialists as a partner with teachers.
  • 1990s was a period of rapid technological growth

  • In the 2000s, Library Media Specialists are seen as instructional partners in curriculum development and have taken on more active roles in instructional leadership.

    Library Media Specialists are seen as Information Literacy Advocates.