The impact of New York's school libraries on student achievement and motivation: Phase II-In-depth study

This article reports the results of the second phase of a three-phase study on the impact of the New York State's school libraries' services and resources on student achievement and motivation. A representative sample of more than 1,600 classroom teachers, students, and school library media specialists (SMLSs) from 47 schools throughout New York State participated in the second phase, the in-depth survey. The survey was divided into three sections: Likert-type multiple-choice item, Likert-type rating item, and critical incident item. Results reveal that (1) all groups perceive greater emphasis on skills for finding information than on skills for using or evaluating information; (2) elementary students perceive the SLMS as more autonomy supportive than middle or high school students; (3) students are largely unaware of librarian-teacher collaboration; (4) 69 percent of students visit their school library at least once a week, and most to do research; (5) students perceive "maintaining a neat and orderly collection" and "maintaining a quiet study environment" as the two most important services provided by the LMS; and (6) there is a lack of library services to students with disabilities. Additional findings are reported. 2010