ADMINISTRATION OF SERVICES IN A SCHOOL LIBRARY
The school library is a vital instrument for quality education, therefore, its services should be well
planned, organized and administered. The librarian is the key that will open the door to a functional, serviceoriented library program that will enrich, support, vitalize and implement education program as it strives to meet
the needs of each student and teacher.
The teacher-librarian should be aware of their responsibilities in order that students will be able to
achieve the optimum of his potential as a learner, as a citizen and as a human being.
I.
What is a School Library?
A library is not just a room full of books, a static inanimate object. It is more a kin to a living
organism – full of life activities. It deals on one hand with all changing forms of recorded knowledge –
books, magazines, newspapers, maps, charts, pictures, and also films, filmstrips, tapes, microform,
teaching machines, radio, television, etc., on the other hand serves a whole range of patrons at varying
intellectual and emotional levels with changing and expanding needs.
II.
Functions and Purpose of the School Library.
The library is a service agency and an agent for change.
It helps students find the information, which they need, to carry out classroom assignments and
to satisfy their own personal interest.
Librarians should work with the teachers to enrich the program of instruction through
supplementary materials of every description; provide the necessary materials and organize them for
efficient use; teach students what the materials are and how they are used.
III.
Personnel and their tasks
A.
Composition
1 librarian to 500 students if possible (in the D. C. S., Manila the proportion is 1:1,000)
Student assistants from among the members of the Book Lover’s club help in maintaining
cleanliness, arrangement of materials and other jobs that could be assigned to them.
A Librarian’s Schedule of Daily Activities may be prepared, which will indicate the work
assignment of each member of the staff. This may be classified into Fixed Work Assignment and Shared
Work Assignment. This also will show the official time of each individual librarian.
B.
Qualities of s school librarian:
In order that the function of the library is executed and the purpose is realized there is a need for
a competent, effective librarian to administer the library.
The librarian should not be only educationally qualified but must also possess:
1. Qualities of leadership.
7. Mental alertness.
2. Initiative.
8. Creativity.
3. Ability in management.
9. Love for books.
4. Enthusiasm.
10. Tact.
5. Friendliness.
11. Love for children and adults.
6. Cooperative attitudes.
12. Have a wide variety of interests.
C.
Tasks.
1. Organize materials for library use.
a. Procurement of materials.
b. Processing materials.
c. Classifying materials.
d. Cataloging materials.
e. Organizing – non-book materials.
2. Give instruction in library use.
a. Orientation for new students and teachers.
(1). Location of the library.
(2). Services offered.
(3). Rules and regulations.
b. Arrangement and use of the library.
c. Classifications of books.
d. Card catalog and its use.
e. Bibliography of books and non-book materials.
f. Use of reference books and other materials.
g. AudioVisual if available.
3. Give reading guidance.
4.
5.
6.
7.
IV.
a. Book –talks.
b. Bulletin & books displays.
c. Reading lists.
d. Discussion groups.
e. Conference with teachers.
f. Conference with the individual students.
g. Assistance in the selection of reading materials.
h. Maintain a reader interest file for students.
i. Maintain reading records for individuals.
Prepare and make available a Library Handbook for Student’s Use.
Conduct library tours:
a. School libraries.
b. Public libraries.
Encourage observance of special events:
a. Book Week.
b. Book Fair.
Consult with other school libraries on:
a. Available books.
b. Cooperation between the school and the public library.
Materials/Equipment Facilities.
A.
Library Quarters.
1. Must be designed for service to users. Accommodation should be at least 10% of the school
population.
2. There should be provision for work area, for storing many tapes of materials and for library
services.
3. Location should be as central as possible in a relatively quite area.
4. Allowance for each reader should be 25sq. ft.
B.
Equipment and Furniture.
Practicably is the key word to acquisition of library equipment. If the library is small, only the
most necessary equipment should be acquired.
1. Tables and chairs are to be preferred to arm chairs and desks. Tables that will accommodate
4 to 6 students are better to avoid talking among students.
2. Shelves should be placed along the walls of the room, for students to have free access to the
materials of the library.
3. Charging desks must be big enough to be able to charge only books to be loaned out. The
open shelf system does not need charging of materials to be used in the library.
4. Card cataloging is very necessary, as it is the index to the contents of the library.
5. Filing cabinets for vertical and picture must be provided.
6. Dry or wet carrels for individual study and research may be produced.
7. Dictionary and atlas standards.
8. Newspaper rack and magazine stand.
9. Book truck.
10. Bulletin board for display and information.
11. Proper lighting and good ventilation.
12. Curtains may be installed to ward off the glare of the sun, so students will be comfortable
when they go to the library to read.
Materials for Service:
As has been mentioned earlier, the school library should provide for the educational,
informational, cultural and recreational needs of its users. Materials to be acquired should be able to
meet the above needs in order that students and teachers will find fulfillment in their desire to learn and
be well informed.
The following questions will serve as guides in requisitioning materials:
1. Is the material appropriate for the ages, abilities, and background of the students?
2. Is it accurate, up-to-date?
3. Does it give dependable information?
4. Will it catch and hold the interest of the users?
5. Is it well organized and well-balanced in content?
6. Is the cost justified?
SCHOOL LIBRARY MANAGEMENT
Introduction:
The school library is an indispensable unit of the school system. Long regarded as a vital support system
of instruction, the library provides materials that enrich the curriculum and enhance the teaching profession. The
school library is the most important intellectual resource for men’s quest for excellence and therefore it should be
properly and adequately equipped to meet the demands and needs of curriculum and the uses.
One of the most vital components in the school system, the school library has evolved from a mere
storehouse of books to a more complex one specially in these times when other types of library have been
undergoing changes in their functions and responsibilities.
Objectives of school libraries:
1. Acquire books and other library materials that will support and reinforce the curriculum to meet the
needs, abilities, and interest of the students;
2. Develop the students’ skills and resourcefulness in the use of books;
3. Guide students in their choice of books and other materials of learning to meet their personal and
curriculum needs;
4. Participate effectively in the school program as it strives to meet the needs of pupils, teachers,
parents and other community members;
5. Help children and young people to become skillful and discriminating users of libraries and of
printed, non-printed and audio visual materials; and,
6. Participate with teachers and administrators in the programs for the continuing professional and
cultural growth and development of the school population.
The School Library Program for Children and Young People:
The school library program contains many areas of instruction, service, and activities for children and
young people. In planning and developing the library program for children and young people, the librarian is
guided by the following principles:
1. The school library program reflects the philosophy of the school and enriches all parts of its
educational program;
2. For the individual students, the library program offers experiences and instruction that start with
kindergarten to provide for the students a cumulative growth in library skills and in the development
of reading., listening, and viewing abilities and tastes;
3. The true concept of library program means instruction, service, and activity throughout the school
rather than merely within the walls of the library;
4. The library is a laboratory for research and study where students learn to work alone and in groups
under the guidance of the librarians and teachers; and,
5. The library program forms one facet of an over-all guidance program in the school.
Reading and Guidance Program:
Reading guidance in school is the sum total of all activities by which the librarian attempts to encourage
all pupils to read freely and widely that they may experience the satisfaction on which comes along from reading
good books. Among these group activities of the reading program are:
a. Giving book talks;
b. Talking a group of new books to a classroom for presentation; or,
c. Telling a story.
Literature appreciate is usually given to kindergarten pupils.
Reading guidance in the school library embraces a variety of approaches. It includes books displays,
book reviews by students in school publications, book talks, storytelling, reading aloud and many other
techniques that are also effective
Guidance in Listening and Viewing.
The school library program shares the school’s responsibility for teaching students to become intelligent
users of recording, radio, films, filmstrips, television, including information technology hardware.
Appropriate means of communication for knowledge and understanding must be provided in the school
library program.
Reference Services and Research:
Students use the school library as a laboratory for reference and research in which they locate specific
information and expand their knowledge by using a wide variety of print and non-print materials.
Research or reference work form an important program that is concerned with teaching students to
analyze, evaluate and interpret.
The school library program may also include:
Instructions in the use of materials; personal and social guidance; and organization of student’s
participation such as volunteer students, a student library assistant who yields values and sense of belonging.
Student’s assistants have been a great help in school library especially to those, which have one-man librarian.
School Libraries in the Philippines
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
The pattern of development of school libraries in many countries shows that it was the university that the
first incorporated the library as one of its integral parts. He idea came down to the secondary school then to the
elementary school. But this type of development was not true in the case of the Philippines. Earlier, there were
school libraries like the University of Santo Tomas and others that were organized by the religious orders. The
American efforts in establishing public schools during the American period, were all directed to the objective of
teaching English thus to teach it required the presence of many books to be read, hence school libraries on the
elementary level were the first to be organized.
The first library that was organized to function as a coordinating agency and service the whole school
population was the Pampanga High School Library. The credit for the organization of this library goes to Mrs.
Lois Stewart Osborn, an American teacher in the said school library in the Philippines. Tayabas (now
Quezon) and Bulacan Provinces allowed suit and started their libraries while in 1913, Manila established the
Manila High School Library with a start of 4,000 volumes and the Philippine Normal, 2,000 volumes.
The first in-service training for school librarians given by the Bureau of Education was 1920.
The PLAI 1988 Minimum Standards for School Libraries.
Salient factors of the Standards are:
Library staff: Competent librarian and competent library staff is the key to good library services. The success of
the program will depend on the availability of qualified personnel. Without adequate staff, no library can carry
successfully with wide range of services to its clientele. Manila City Schools can boast of their librarians who
majority of them are license holders.
Specified shape of the school library: rectangular
Library fee: To carry out the activities of the library, library fees should be collected and appropriated solely for
library materials. The annual budget for the library is 5% of the institutional budget.
Collection:
Basic collection for an enrollment 200-999 students in the elementary school: 4,000 titles or 5 titles per student
Enrollment of 200-999students in the secondary school: 6,000 titles or 7 titles per student
Part of this collection is the Fiction Collection, which should have a ratio of at least 2 titles per student.
Physical area: For an enrollment of 500, the minimum required area of a school library is 72 sq. meters and
additional 1.2 sq. m. per student for 8% of an enrollment in excess of 500 students.
Reading area: Reading space allocation per reader is 25 sq. ft. while 10% of the school population should be
accommodated at one time.
The selection of books should be a cooperative endeavor shared by the librarian, school administrator
and the teachers. Factors to be considered among others in book selection include actual collection of the library;
exiting school library standard and curriculum and the needs and interest of pupils.
Providing the right reading material to inculcate good reading habits in the Filipino children is a serious
concern. Comic books have been observed the most popular reading medium of Filipinos including the young
people.
Adequacy of library collection during the year can be determined by the librarians by dividing the total
number of volumes acquired by the grand total number of volumes.
To get the number of books per student divide the number of volumes in the collection by the
number of enrolment.
Ideal Activities/ Programs in School Libraries:
Library Instructional Programs. Planning this entails coordination of the school librarians with the
school principal and teachers. Library skill is integrated in English and Filipino subjects.
School Library Bulletin. The school library bulletin which is the most common and simple means of
publicizing the resources and facilities of the school library and it intended to attract pupils and reluctant readers
should be located out the library near its entrance.
Storytelling. A school library activity which librarians find as an effective technique to attract children
to the library. This is an art performed for sharing, entertaining and teaching listeners.
Desiderata Information on School Libraries:
Library handbook – a common printed material in the library by which the library and its resources are
made known.
Staff Manual – a handbook that the head librarian together with the staff prepares. It is aimed at
providing the library staff a working knowledge of their functions and responsibilities.
Library Accession Record – a chronological and numerical record of books listed and given their
respective numbers as they arrive in the library.
Performance Appraisal – reports or determines the promotion, dismissal, or separation of a school
librarian from service.
Children’s Catalog – the most common bibliographic acquisition tool used by school librarians in
selecting books for boys and girls.
Annual Report – contains the highlights of accomplishment for the whole year.
CLAPI and PBBY – organizations which are committed to the development of children’s literature and
libraries in the Philippines.
PASL – an organization founded by Miss Pilar R. Perez, whose main objective is to encourage the
establishment of school libraries throughout the country.
Informal Instruction – a kind of teaching that takes place spontaneously when answering an individual
student request.
Concordia Sanchez – author of the book, Philippine School Libraries: Their Organization and
Management.
Caldecott Award – award given to the best-illustrated children’s book.
Newberry Award – award given by ALA to most distinguished children’s books. The award is named
after John Newberry, the “Father of Children’s Literature.
DECS ORDER No. 6, S of 1998 issued on January 22, 1998 by then Secretary Ricardo T. Gloria
entitled POLICIES AND PROGRAMS FOR LIBRARY DEVELOPMENT identified the school library as a
service-center, reading center, guidance center, material production center and most importantly it is a teaching
learning center. Each elementary and secondary school must have a functional library.
School libraries should procure basic print supplementary materials, in addition to adequate copies of
textbooks and teacher’s manuals, in accordance with the Guidelines on Supplementary Materials Intended for
Public Elementary and Secondary Schools.
In organization structure, the school librarian whether in public or private school library is directly
responsible to the School Principal.
There are five components of a functional library according to the DECS Order No. 6. These are 1)
physical facilities; 2) librarian; 3) materials/ collection; 4) library programs and services; and; 5) budget/ funds.
According to the same DECS Order, supplementary materials as defined are materials other than
textbooks and teachers’ manuals, which aid in the teaching and/ or learning of certain concepts and skills for
reinforcement, enrichment, and mastery. Supplementary materials are either print or non-print materials.
Print materials are textual materials which are either published or unpublished while non-print materials
are supplementary materials.