Long Range Plan 2003 - 2007 : School Libraries 

As the regional library systems have become increasingly multi-type, more school libraries have come within the purview of the Board of Library Commissioners. Moreover, the advent of LSTA brought changes in the federal grant program that allow school libraries to participate in the direct grant program. Membership in a regional library system is an eligibility requirement for the Massachusetts grant program; the number of school libraries now holding regional membership is 971.

Another grant requirement is the preparation of a long-range plan. In 1999, the Board of Library Commissioners funded the development of the School Library Media Center Long-Range Planning Guide to assist school library media specialists in their planning efforts. The regional library systems then assumed the job of providing training and support in this process. To date, 54 plans have been received, and the numbers increase steadily. These plans cover 191 school libraries. As a result, 26 grants were awarded in the first two years to public, private and charter school libraries throughout the state.

Some national initiatives important to school libraries have begun to take shape in 2002. Laura Bush has proposed a major project that will recruit new talent into the field of librarianship, and President George W. Bush has signed into law the sweeping "No Child Left Behind Act" of 2002. Together these initiatives will bring new funding to school libraries, which have suffered a financial drought for the past 25 years. Most of these monies will be funneled through the Department of Education to school districts throughout the state. A comprehensive statewide study of school libraries was conducted in 1999 by Simmons College Graduate School of Library and Information Science. Survey results were related to MCAS (Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System) scores to determine the impact of school libraries on student achievement. The outcomes confirmed that at each grade level, schools with library programs have higher MCAS scores, and that students at each level score higher when there is a higher per pupil book count.

Massachusetts has approximately 1800 public schools, of which 1476 have library media centers (reported in 1998 by the National Center for Education Statistics in School Library Media Centers - 1993-94). According to statistics reported in the Simmons study (based on USDOE rankings for 1998-99), Massachusetts ranks 49th out of 50 states in terms of providing its public schools with library media centers and 38th in providing public school students with certified library media specialists. The state ranks only 41st in teachers who agree that library materials are adequate to support objectives. Circulation statistics per pupil are at the lowest possible ranking. There is no state aid for school library funding in Massachusetts, categorical or otherwise.

Educational reform initiatives and the rapid advance of technology have had their impact on school libraries as well. They struggle to keep their collections current with changing Curriculum Frameworks, work toward automating the library and participate in network activity, and seek training to achieve the necessary levels of staff expertise in an increasingly complex technological environment.