School Libraries and Student Achievement

"A study funded by the Ontario Library Association offers the first Canadian finding that shows a positive correlation between student achievement and library resources and staff. Released April 6, School Libraries and Student Achievement in Ontario includes assessment data from more than 50,000 students and over 800 of the province’s publicly funded elementary schools.

Among the findings were:

• Grade 3 and 6 students in schools with teacher-librarians are more likely to report that they enjoy reading.
• Schools with trained library staff are more likely to have a higher proportion of grade 6 students who meet Ontario standards on reading test scores.
• Schools without trained library staff tend to have lower achievement on the grade 3 and 6 reading tests."

From American Libraries Online.