School libraries fostering children’s literacy and literature learning: mitigating the barriers

By Margaret K. Merga

Barriers to fostering children’s literacy and literature learning in school libraries

1. Limited time and competing demands

2. Crowded curriculum

3. Low teacher valuing

4. Low student engagement, skills and motivation

5. Issues with parental support

6. Limited space

7. Constrained budget

“Teacher librarians may be able to actively mitigate some of the barriers raised herein; however, others will require external support in order to be resolved. Firstly, for libraries to compete for time to support young people’s literacy and literature learning, library visitation needs to be valued amongst the competing demands in contemporary schools. Teacher librarians suggested that due to its poor visibility as a passive practice, there are challenges in maintaining understanding of the importance of reading, and the crowded curriculum is perceived to foster adverse attitudes toward learning, including shallow approaches to the acquisition of new knowledge…”

CLICK HERE: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/lit.12189