Principals' Perspectives of School Librarians

Summary

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Research has revealed that the principal's support of the school's library program is critical to its success. For this reason, it is imperative for librarians to understand the principal's perceptions and priorities. This project was designed to determine the criteria that principals in South Carolina, USA use in hiring a school librarian, the competencies principals consider important for a school librarian to possess, and principals' level of satisfaction with the work of their current school librarian. South Carolina's K-12 school principals were asked to participate in the project by submitting an online questionnaire which was completed by 189 respondents. Findings indicate that principals generally supported school librarian competencies as outlined in Information Power: Building Partnerships for Learning (the national standards for school library media programs in the USA at the time the survey was conducted). Just over 82% of principals were satisfied or very satisfied with their current school librarian.

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Principals' Perspectives of School Librarians

Introduction and Background

Most school librarians recognize that support of the principal is critical to the success of the school's library program (Hartzell, 2002a; Haycock, 1995, 1999; Oberg, 1995, 1997, 2006; Todd, 2007). As the school's instructional leader and manager, the principal shapes the school culture, sets expectations for the school's staff, and usually has the final word in budget decisions (Donham, 2008). According to Hartzell (2002a), these activities influence the size and quality of the library collection, the level of collaboration between teachers and the librarian, and the opportunities the librarian has for leadership responsibilities beyond the library media center. For these reasons, the principal's impact on the school's library program is difficult to overemphasize.

Research reveals that successful school librarians enjoy principal support (Baldwin, 1995; Farwell, 1998; Gehlken, 1994; Morris & Packard, 2007; Yetter, 1994). Studies also show that principals do not always appreciate or understand the role of school librarians, most notably their potential impact on curriculum (Cruzeiro, 1991; Hartzell, 2002b; Kolencik, 2001). Conversely, many school librarians believe that principals do not understand and appreciate their role, including their potential influence on teaching and learning (Campbell, 1991; Lewis, 1991).

A number of studies have examined principals' perceptions of school librarian roles or competencies. The results are not easy to synthesize, however, because the content, organization, and terminology used in questionnaires and interviews are not consistent across studies. Nonetheless, one consistent finding across studies indicates that principals consider activities related to materials provision and reference assistance to be more important than collaboration, planning with teachers, and curriculum development.

Alexander, Smith, and Carey (2003) studied Kentucky school principals' perceptions of school librarians and school library services ten years after the implementation of the state's education reform initiative. Roles and responsibilities of school librarians were organized into five categories: (1) information literacy, (2) collaboration/leadership/ technology, (3) learning and teaching, (4) information access and delivery, and (5) program administration. The researchers found that principals considered information access and information lit...

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