Transitioning to college: Impact of high school librarians

Community & Junior College Libraries

In today's highly competitive global economy, City University of New York (CUNY) graduates need strong critical thinking skills. More New York City students than ever before are applying to college and enrolling into CUNY schools. This is especially the case with high schools throughout the Bronx, a good portion of these schools are feeder schools for Bronx Community College (BCC). Unfortunately, many of the students who matriculate into BCC come unprepared for college level work, where information literacy skills are essential. A strong body of published scholarly literature discusses the importance of information literacy instruction at the high school level, as it relates to college readiness. In an ideal secondary education system, students receive instruction on how to think critically, how to evaluate information, and how to avoid plagiarism; these are essential skills that are necessary for college academic success. As the library liaison for the BCC First Year Seminar program, I encounter many students who are in need of academic remediation because they lack research skills. In addition to the lack of information literacy skills, we discovered that a substantial number of students who matriculate into BCC come unprepared for the critical thinking required for college level STEM courses.

This mixed-methods study was based on the evident need for communication of information literacy skill expectations between the K–12 school systems and higher education. Both incoming university freshmen and high school seniors were assessed with the use of TRAILS (Tool for Real-Time Assessment of Information Literacy Skills). Qualitative analysis of individual interviews with school and academic librarians as well as focus groups was coded for themes related to communication, curriculum planning, and administrative support

portal: Libraries and the Academy, 2018

This study investigated the relationship between use of online library resources and student success at a small, teaching-focused, baccalaureate college. Researchers also measured whether library users were representative of the student population. Use of online library resources was a significant predictor of semester grade point average (GPA), one-term retention, and academic standing when controlling for high school GPA, gender, status as a first-generation college student, and Pell recipient status. Library users were representative of the campus in terms of gender, ethnicity, and first-generation status. There were significant differences in the number of users of library resources by age, Pell recipient status, enrollment status, major, academic level, and semester GPA.

2014

The current landscape of the School Librarianship educational programs and curricula of master's degrees in the USA has been explored. The master's programs are currently offered in the following four venues: (1) programs that are American Library Association (ALA) accredited but not American Association of School Librarians (AASL) recognized, i.e., ALA Only; (2) AASL recognized but not ALA accredited, i.e., AASL Only; (3) both ALA accredited and AASL recognized, i.e., Both; and (4) neither recognized nor accredited, i.e., Neither. The objectives of this study are to examine the characteristics of the School Librarianship programs and to investigate and compare the topical coverage of School Librarianship curricula across four different venues. For this study, a total of 1,150 course titles and descriptions of 84 School Librarianship master's degree programs were collected. In the analysis, both manual classification and automated machine classification using Latent Semantic Analysis have been applied to discover the characteristics and the topical coverage of School Librarianship curricula. Some major findings of this study are as follows: First, the similarity of four School Librarianship curricula from four venues in terms of program features is uncovered as: AASL Only-Neither-Both-ALA Only. Second, the most popular topic/class in the coverage of library science courses is the "Services to User populations." Third, in terms of the topical coverage of non-library science courses, the AASL Only encompasses the broadest coverage, which is followed by, in decreasing order of coverage: AASL Only, Neither, and Both. The empirical results provide crucial comparative data for School Librarianship programs contemplating future or current changes in response to changing technological and vocational demands.

College & Research Libraries, 2016

This study connects library user surveys, a common library assessment technique, to institutional data to demonstrate the value an academic library brings to student learning and student outcomes. Using regression techniques, the study identifies multiple significant correlations, both positive and negative, between student use of the library and student learning and outcomes as measured by retention, graduation, and grade point average (GPA). The library factors associated with student outcomes change over the course of the four-year undergraduate experience. Methods used in this study could be a model for other institutions seeking a means for assessing the library’s relationship to student learning and outcomes.

Evidence Based Library and Information Practice, 2015

Objectives – This study seeks to identify areas where relationships exist between a student’s library usage and student outcomes at Bellarmine University, a private master’s level institution. The study has two primary aims. The first is to see if an operationally oriented user survey can be used to provide evidence of the library’s support for institutionally important student outcomes. The second is to develop a regression model that provides a big picture with multiple variables to determine if library factors are still significant in student outcomes when controlling for significant demographic factors. Methods – The library regularly conducts student user surveys, and this study examines the results of the first three surveys, from 2007, 2008 and 2010. These surveys include individually identifiable data on why students come to the library and how often they use it in person and online. Researchers aggregated student responses into class-based cohorts and used regression analys...

College & Research Libraries, 2016

Engaging in ongoing assessment is key to libraries demonstrating their value to their institutions. This study is an initial step in a STEM library’s long-term goal of measuring the library’s connection to, and impact on, student academic success markers such as retention and persistence. Initial results showed that any library usage was always accompanied by a slightly higher achievement in GPA for the user. Results will serve as benchmarks for further study.

2011

Academic libraries devote considerable human resources in delivering library instruction programs. This study attempts to determine if these instructional efforts have any measurable effect on student performance in terms of overall grades. Library workshop attendance and graduation GPA of over 8,000 students was analyzed at Hong Kong Baptist University. It was found that, if more than one or two library workshops were offered to students within the course of their program, there was a higher tendency of workshop attendance having a positive impact on final GPA. The results indicate that library instruction has a direct correlation with student performance, but only if a certain minimum amount of instruction is provided.

2020

Although many studies explore the effect of library instruction on information literacy test scores, there are far fewer studies exploring the relationship between high school Grade Point Average (GPA) and scores on information literacy pre- and post-tests of first year college students. This research study compares the scores of three cohorts of Franklin Pierce University students--honors students, Center Scholars (students with a cumulative high school GPA of below 2.5) and Average GPA students --on an information literacy pre-test administered in the first two weeks of the fall, and a similar post-test administered after students have attended a library instruction session. The results of this study show a relationship between high school GPA and pre-test scores and reveal an even stronger relationship between high school GPA and scores on the post-test, with honors students attaining the highest scores and Center Scholars the lowest. This article proposes explanations for these ...