Libraries and Student Success

 By Karen Cosmano

Libraries are known to help with student success. For elementary school aged children, the school librarian often collaborates with teachers to expand and deepen learning activities. Library time for read-alouds allows children to have repeated and diverse experiences with different topics. Library classroom activities can be set up to reinforce learning and promote stronger information recall (Betts). The California Department of education has conducted research that shows a strong relationship between student engagement in library programs and increased achievement, especially at the high school level (https://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/cr/lb/caschoollibraries.asp). There is a plethora of college and university research that concludes with similar findings.  

A question we might ask is how does social media intersect with school libraries and promote student success? There is plenty of anecdotal evidence that suggests a positive correlation. In a Publishers Weekly article from December 2022, Patricia J. Murphy reports on her discussion with four teachers and librarians about how they use social media. They each used a variety of social media platforms to highlight different library services, new books, encourage conversations, or to portray the library as a fun, educational, inspiring place to be. 

Here are some examples. One librarian used TikTok to create a video of Weird Al Yankovich playing an accordion. It was a wacky way to connect the library staff to teen patrons. Another used social media to find book trailers and showed them to students to create excitement about reading. She also allowed students to send tweets to book authors and often authors tweeted back, connecting real people to writing. Another started posting about “silly holidays like National Donut Day” and when students responded she started posting about cultural holidays, too. This opened discussions of how students celebrated holidays and brought an awareness of diversity in the school.

No matter what fun way these librarians/teachers used social media, they all had basically the same goal: to communicate with their school community and promote excitement about reading, learning, and exploring. With younger students, it was more about using social media during library time. With older students, it was about marketing the library with the hopes of fostering in-person engagement. Brandi Grant said, “It’s my desire for students to come into the library because there’s something in here that’s special—whether it be me, a program, or a book. Above all, I want them to feel a connection and have a relationship with the library and with me” (Murphy).

Here are some other articles that discuss social media usage in school libraries: 

From Schools Catalogue Information Service, Issue 120, Term 1 2022, “Why do I use Instagram to promote by school library?” by Helen Farch. https://www.scisdata.com/connections/issue-120/why-do-i-use-instagram-to-promote-my-school-library/.

From the South Dakota State Library, Mar. 2024, “The School Library Guide to Social Media.” https://library.sd.gov/LIB/SLC/doc/Guide-SDSL-SchLib-SocialMedia.pdf.

Although connections and relationships can’t be measured, the results of them can be. Libraries, without a doubt, contribute to student success, and social media can be a creative way to enrich learning.


Works cited:

Betts, Carrie A. “Library Activities, Curricular Connection, and Collaborative Environments LEAD TO SUCCESS FOR STUDENTS.” Knowledge Quest, vol. 52, no. 1, Sept. 2023, pp. 20–26. https://login.ezproxy.palomar.edu/login?auth=shibboleth&url=https://search-ebscohost-com.ezproxy.palomar.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=174171830&site=ehost-live&scope=site.

“California’s School Libraries Make a Difference.” California Department of Education, 21 July 2023, https://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/cr/lb/caschoollibraries.asp.

Murphy, Patricia J. “Social Media Mavens: How Teachers and Librarians Are Harnessing Online Plaftorms.” Publishers Weekly, 12 Dec. 2022, https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-industry-news/article/91107-social-media-mavens-how-teachers-and-librarians-are-harnessing-online-platforms.html.

Image:

Altmann, Gerd. Pixabay, https://pixabay.com/photos/students-board-drawing-to-learn-4190327/.