New Interactive Map of School Librarian Requirements and Outcomes by State

The EveryLibrary Institute is excited to provide public access to the San Jose State University iSchool’s interactive map to help researchers and job searchers understand the requirements to become a school librarian in each state. The project also includes data from the SLIDE Project regarding school library/librarian ratios by state and as well as national reading scores for further opportunities to understand relationships between required school librarians, school libraries, etc. and academic achievement. 

“We hope this data will prove useful to a wide range of stakeholders. We are committed to providing high quality information and data to all that we serve and we believe this map will do just that on a state and national level,” says Anthony S. Chow, PhD Director and Professor, School of Information San José State University.

ACCESS THE INTERACTIVE MAP

We are confident that this visualization will become a resource for prospective and current students, LIS programs, and decision makers to identify their own state's requirements. Legislators will also have the opportunity to compare across state lines. This platform provides a central repository for visualized state requirements, to contextualize how any one state compares to others, and to provide some preliminary data on any correlations/relationships between having a certified school librarian and a relatively low school library/librarian, student per capita ratio, and student achievement.

The SJSU iSchool has a saying, "Information is Everything." Having an accurate and robust GIS map of all state school library requirements is one way in which we are trying to contribute to this statement for school libraries. We want to provide real-time and hopefully useful information to all states in collaboration with EveryLibrary. 

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We want to especially acknowledge SJSU iSchool Director Anthony Chow for his vision, leadership, and allocation of resources to fund this GIS map which builds on the excellent work of EveryLibrary. Also this project would not have been possible without the hard work of Dr. Chow's advocacy interns - Katrina Williams, Julie Twiss, Carlos Bugarin, Rosa Pena, and Linda Dami. Also special thanks to our GIS consultant Jessica Welborn for all of her excellent work on developing this map. The excellent work of the SLIDE team led by Keith Curry-Lance and Debra Kachel also have been pivotal in expanding the value of this GIS map.