The United States National Library Power School Program: Research Evaluation and Implications for Professional Development and Library Education.

The Library Power program is a school improvement initiative of the DeWitt-Wallace Reader's Digest Fund that began in 1988, designed to promote the full integration of the school library media program into the school curriculum in public elementary and junior high/middle schools. With a total investment exceeding $45 million, Library Power is the largest nongovernmental funding for school library media programs in over 30 years. It operated in approximately 700 schools and served more than one million students. Library Power sought to create a national vision of public elementary and middle school library media programs through the instructional leadership of the library media specialist and through partnerships within the district and with the community. This study summarizes selected findings of a national evaluation of Library Power and discusses implications for preservice and continuing education of teachers, principals, and library media specialists, as well as the likelihood of institutionalization of Library Power practices. The evaluation found that the Library Power initiative advanced the notion of a student-centered library media program in a learning community. It showed that, given the right conditions, school library media programs can promote positive opportunities for excellence in teaching and learning. (Author/MES)