SCHOOL LIBRARIES WORLDWIDE

Volume 5, Number 1, January 1999

Theme: Learning from Our Past

Editorial
Learning from Our Past
Dianne Oberg

The Schole Lybrarie: Images from Our Past
Laurel A. Clyde
A review of the literature shows that not only is there no comprehensive published history of school libraries, but that school libraries are inadequately covered in the general histories of education and librarianship. Those writers who do discuss the history of school libraries tend to assume that they are a more recent phenomenon than they actually are; indeed, some assume they are a twentieth century development. This article discusses school libraries as they existed in four different times and places: in the educational foundations of medieval England; in the English grammar schools of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries; in the schools of nineteenth century Britain; and in the nineteenth century common schools of the United States. These four 'snapshots' of school libraries in the past show that school libraries have existed in schools since at least the eighth century. These early school libraries would have been very different from school libraries today, just as schools now are very different from their predecessors of earlier centuries.

A Golden Age and a Stone Age of School Libraries in Lithuania
Vita Mozuraite
This article describes two eras of school library work in Lithuania-the last two decades of Soviet times (1970-1990) and the first years of independence (1990-1997). Those two periods are very different but we can learn much from both of them. School libraries in the period of Soviet power could be described by the words communist ideology and censorship but in the minds of school librarians it seemed like a Golden Age. Since 1990, in some respects, a Stone Age came for school libraries-a time of poverty, of a lack of new books, and of a new kind of censorship.

Contending Voices: Intellectual Freedom in American Public School Libraries, 1827-1940
Rebecca P. Butler
This article describes the history of the development of the concept of intellectual freedom in American public school libraries from 1827 to 1940. From the beginnings of American public school library history, voices have been raised around the issue of intellectual freedom. However, most growth in support of the concept of intellectual freedom in American public school libraries occurred in the 1920s and 1930s. Because the terms, intellectual freedom and censorship, were seldom used in this time period, the early history of these concepts must be inferred from an examination of individual and governmental actions during this time. Selection policies and procedures, book lists and purchasing guides, articles by librarians and other interested parties, and early school library standards were the primary sources of historical evidence.

Of Special Interest

Primary School Libraries in Fiji: A Research Report
Melvyn D Rainey
A survey of primary school libraries in Fiji found that unsuitable facilities, lack of library training, and inadequate collections were making it very difficult for staff to provide adequate library services. The situation was worse in rural schools than in urban ones, and most respondents expressed the need for more material support and training.

Model School Libraries: Tools or Threats? Reflections on a Development Project in Sweden
Louise Limberg
The article analyses some experiences of a school library development project in the County of Orebro, Sweden. The analysis is based on an evaluation. Each one of the project schools was to create a model library of its own, tailored to the needs of and wishes of that particular school. The main conclusions indicated that school libraries may be purposeful tools for teaching and learning, but they may also be experienced as threats by teachers who prefer traditional teaching. The complex process of information seeking and use for learning purposes raised serious questions with implications for both librarians and teachers. Teaching teams as well as the principal's conceptions of library functions interacted closely with progress in pedagogical change and input of resources. Public and school libraries found common strategic interests in the development of model school libraries.

Shirabe-Gakushu: A Japanese Trial of Resource-Based Teaching in Large Classes
Mieko Nagakura
Shirabe-Gakushu, a Japanese version of information skills instruction through resource-based teaching, is introduced as an effective and economical teaching method to establish habits of free voluntary reading, independent study, and critical thinking among school children in large classes. The theory, planning methods, procedures, and actual practices are explained in detail. Also described in the paper is a successful case of Shirabe-Gakushu implemented as an as an experimental project at Sheishin Primary School in Sagaihara City, Japan.

Information Literacy Education in Disadvantaged Schools: A Case Study of Project Work at a Primary School in South Africa
Genevieve Hart
The paper reports on an ethnographic field study of project work in a Grade Seven class within a disadvantaged primary school on the Cape Flats, Cape Town, South Africa. The purpose was to explore the potential use of project work (encouraged by the new South African school curriculum with its emphasis on continuous formative assessment) for information literacy education. The study found, however, crucial gaps between official policy and classroom practice. Teachers' conceptions of teaching and learning were found to be the key to effective project work--and therefore to its value for information literacy prpgram.

Last Updated 17 March 2003 (LAC)