College Success: High School Librarians Make the Difference

Beilock, John

Smalley, T. N. (2004). College Success: High School Librarians Make the Difference. Journal of Academic Librarianship, 30(3), 193–198. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2004.02.008

Summary:

           Published in the Journal of Academic Libraries, April of 2004, Topsy N. Smalley wrote a professional article about a conceptual research study of community college students who outperformed others when taking a required Information Research class. What was discovered was that students who attended high schools with libraries and library media specialists (also known as school librarians or teacher librarians) performed better than students from high schools without libraries and library media specialists.

Evaluation:

            Smalley’s findings that there was a significant difference between students from high schools with libraries as opposed to those who came from schools without librarians, was apropos. Having solved how the students came to do well led to the suggestion that academic librarians must reach out to high schools and articulate the information literacy skills and strategies that students will need to succeed in postsecondary schools and work.