New Jersey Study of School Libraries

NJASL believes that every student in every school in New Jersey deserves to be served by a resource-rich school library program that is staffed by a State certified full-time School Library Media Specialist in order to enhance learning and fully prepare students to excel in college and the workplace. 

The New Jersey Study of School Libraries: One Common Goal - Student Learning

Although numerous studies of school libraries in other states have proven that well-funded, well-staffed school library programs have a positive impact on student achievement, a 2008 meeting with Lucille Davy, then NJ Education Commissioner, prompted NJASL to commission a New Jersey study to clearly answer the following questions:

A team of researchers from the Center for International Scholarship in School Libraries (CISSL) at Rutgers University undertook an intensive two-phase study of the place of school libraries in the New Jersey educational program. The lead researcher in the study, Dr. Ross Todd, reported “the findings show that New Jersey school libraries and school librarians contribute in rich and diverse ways to the intellectual life of a school, and to the development of students who can function in a complex and increasingly digital information environment.”