Minnesota

= Minnesota = = =





Check It Out! Key Findings

 * 1) Staffing and spending in school library media centers make a difference in student reading scores.
 * 2) 93% of Minnesota Five Star Schools in Reading and Math have a media specialist at least some hours per week.
 * 3) Minnesota School Library Media Program spending for books has decreased significantly since 2002.
 * 4) Minnesota School Library Media Programs have collections that are not current and are seriously out-of-date in several subject areas.
 * 5) Both professional and support staffing levels are lower in schools where 50% or more students receive free or reduced-price lunch than in schools where 15% or less of the students receive free or reduced-price lunch.

Check It Out! Recommendations

 * 1) Increase spending from state and local sources to **update all school library media center collections** to the standard of current, which in the //Minnesota Standards for Effective School Library Media Programs 2000// is defined as a collection with an average copyright of 10 years old or newer.
 * 2) All Minnesota schools must **provide a high quality, professionally-staffed library media program** with up-to-date materials, access to the Internet and other electronic resources, and funding to maintain the program so all Minnesota students have access to the information they need and the training to use it.
 * 3) The Minnesota Department of Education must demonstrate its commitment to school library programs and recognize their **impact on student literacy and achievement**.
 * 4) The State of Minnesota should **adopt quantitative and qualitative standards** for school library media programs to insure that all students have high quality school library media programs.
 * 5) The Minnesota State Legislature and the Minnesota Department of Education must continue to **fund** the Electronic Library for Minnesota (ELM).
 * 6) Library media specialists and their supporters must **develop education programs** for various audiences to help increase their understanding of what media programs do, what the research says, and what districts and schools need to improve their own programs.
 * 7) The Minnesota Department of Education should **continue data collection and analysis** on school library media programs to provide measurement of program development.

Metronet. (2004, October). Check it out! The results of the 2004 school library media program census. Retrieved on February 6, 2010 from http://www.metrolibraries.net/pro/census.html