Assessment of the Role of School and Public Libraries in Support of Educational Reform. General Audience Report.

The purpose of this study was to find out how school and public libraries were performing as education providers and how well they were responding to the country's urgent demands for school improvement. This general audience report summarizes the results of the assessment of school and public libraries. It discusses staffing and patronage, the use of libraries by students and others, the amount and adequacy of materials and resources, programs and services offered by libraries, availability of technological equipment, access to the Internet, education reform, and cooperation between school and public libraries. The information presented comes from several study components. The assessment included two national surveys that were conducted in 1997; one was sent to public library outlets, and the other went to library media centers in both public and private schools. The text of this report provides a general overview of the findings from the surveys. Ten case studies involving both school and public libraries were conducted, and examples from some of them are highlighted in this report. (AEF)