Information Services in Triangle Area Charter Schools.

Charter schools are defined by North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (DPI) as "a public school operated by a group of parents, teachers, and/or community members as a semi-autonomous school of choice within a school district, operating under a 'charter' with the State Board of Education." Since most charter schools do not have the space, funds, or experienced staff to start a library, the logical choice for charter schools to make is to form a partnership with the public library. This study was conducted with charter schools in four counties, in which surveys were sent to four public libraries (50% return) and 10 charter schools (70% return). Five schools reported offering an information skills curriculum and six reported that they possess a collection of books apart from what students use in the classroom. Six schools reported that their students use a public library; two schools have a formal agreement with the library. Four schools reported that their students use the public library during school hours. Only two schools reported that the library had developed programming for them. Schools had varying reasons for difficulties in using academic library resources. Both public libraries reported that a charter school had contacted them about library services available to students; collection development plans were not affected by the schools. Several possible solutions for charter school/library relationships are suggested. (AEF)