The school library workforce in Australia

ALIA Library

Creator
Mitchell, Pru; Weldon, Paul
Description

ALIA 2016 National Conference, 29 August-2 September 2016 Adelaide: Engage, Create, Lead
 
This conference presentation (PowerPoint slides) accompanies the paper which engages with the issue, raised by Lonsdale in 2003, of a lack of data regarding national staffing trends in Australian school libraries. The authors review the literature available, including general census data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, library sector-specific information, and data from the education sector (including school libraries). Particular focus is given to the Staff in Australian Schools survey, as well as its limitations. 
 
The authors discuss three main findings from their research: 1) declining numbers of teachers in primary school libraries, 2) a growing inequity between numbers of staff in low-SES and high-SES school libraries, and 3) the prevalence of teachers with little or no tertiary qualifications in library studies working in school libraries. The authors also examine residual gaps in the data and provide the following recommendations: work to collect and share data across relevant sectors; partner with the library industry to commission and fund broader kinds of research; and connect research to national and local priorities such as those related to school students' performance. 

Publisher
Deakin, ACT: Australian Library and Information Association
Contributor
Australian Council for Educational Research
Date
2016
Type
Format
Language
en
Relation
https://read.alia.org.au/school-library-workforce-australia
Coverage
Australia