[092] ‘MTSU On the Record’ shows how librarians can help improve reading skills

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — The next “MTSU On the Record” radio program will examine how school librarians can be partners with teachers to improve students’ literacy levels.

Host Gina Logue’s interview with Karen Nourse Reed, an assistant professor with the James E. Walker Library, will air from 9:30 to 10 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 18, and from 6 to 6:30 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 23, on WMOT-FM Roots Radio 89.5 and www.wmot.org.

Reed and Eric Oslund, an assistant professor of elementary and special education, created and administered a professional development series to study its impact on school librarians’ knowledge and perceptions.

They found that the librarians learned a great deal about methods and strategies for improving students’ literacy and were largely amenable to accepting enhanced roles in literacy instruction.

However, Reed and Oslund also discovered that most school librarian preparation programs in Tennessee do not enable pre-service school librarians to teach strategies for reading comprehension. Reed believes school administrators must take the lead.

“It’s at the discretion of the principal whether the school librarian will receive that training,” Reed said. “That’s very upsetting because school librarians … want to work at a higher level with their colleagues, and they need the tools to be able to do it.

“They’re paid like classroom teachers. They go through the same licensure as classroom teachers. But it often depends on how their principal perceives their role at the school as to whether they’re fully included at the level of a classroom teacher.”

Reed and Oslund’s research was published in Volume 21 of School Library Research, the peer-reviewed journal of the American Association of School Librarians.

To hear previous “MTSU On the Record” programs, go to http://bit.ly/mtsu-otr.

For more information about the radio program, contact Logue at 615-898-5081 or WMOT-FM at 615-898-2800.