Intellectual freedom issues in school librarianship preparation research

 This study was conducted to examine the preparation of school librarians around intellectual freedom issues. The pilot study was conducted with school librarian students at three universities. A gap analysis was used by the researchers to measure the gap between prior knowledge about intellectual freedom that students believed they possessed upon entering a school library preparation program and the knowledge they believed they possessed when leaving the school library preparation program. A survey was administered that was divided into the three aspects of self-awareness, education, and willingness to take action. The educational gaps are focused on in this article with recommendations to continue to analyze the data in further publications. Additionally, the researchers provide suggestions for improving school librarians’ preparation in the area of intellectual freedom.

Dawkins, A., & Branyon, A. (2022). Prepared to defend? Results of a gap analysis to measure  school librarian students' prior knowledge and learning of intellectual freedom concepts. School Library Research, 46.  https://www.utpjournals.press/doi/abs/10.3138/jelis-2021-0046

AASL School Library Research studies

The 2014 volume of AASL’s peer-reviewed online journal, School Library Research, features studies on college readiness, information literacy during the high school to college transition, and educational stakeholders’ perceptions of school library programs.

• In “College Ready—What Can We Learn from First-Year College Assignments? An Examination of Assignments in Iowa Colleges and Universities,” Jean Donham examines the readiness of high school graduates to produce scholarly work that meets the expectations of college instructors.
• Jana Varlejs, Eileen Stec and Hannah Kwon examine school librarian and teacher working relationships in their article, “Factors Affecting Students’ Information Literacy as They Transition from High School to College.”
• To provide data for their article, “What Do Stakeholders Know about School Library Programs? Results of a Focus Group Evaluation,” the research team of Nancy Everhart and Marcia Mardis ran four focus groups throughout the state of Pennsylvania to identify what educational stakeholders expect from school library programs.

Articles can be found on the AASL website at www.ala.org/aasl/slr.