Hello -
My State is offering a merger of sorts between public and school libraries. I'm looking for research or anecdotal evidence about the good, the bad, and the unexpected in this sort of arrangement.
For background, a couple of districts in our State have librarians in all schools and adequate budgets - but the vast majority have small or non-existent budgets and a good number of libraries are unstaffed or not staffed by a certified School Librarian.
Here's the specifics of the arrangement:
- School collections are re-cataloged and added into the State Public Library System catalog.
- Students are given a "school-based" public library card that they can use to request books from the public library. These cards are not valid in person at the public library.
- Public libraries will drop off requested books at district headquarters, districts will distribute to building librarians
- School Lbrarians are responsible for making sure the title is "age-appropriate" and delivering it to students
- School Librarians are responsible for collecting books when due and preparing them to ship back to public libraries
- School librarians will pull, process, and ship requests to other libraries (any library in the state)
- Individual books will still "belong" to either a school or the State - except for an undetermined number of books in a "floating collection. These books will stay wherever they are returned by the patron until requested from another library.
Thanks in advance for your insights,
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Jen Delgado
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