Developing 21st Century School Media Resource Libraries for Singapore

An Assessment and Proposal from a Library and Information Science Education Taskforce

Abstract

In light of global calls for emphasizing innovative thinking and creative problem solving in elementary and secondary schools and a more collaborative role for school media resource libraries to support the new focus, a taskforce of four faculty members from the Division of Information Studies of Nanyang Technological University undertook to assess the status of a selected group of thirteen media resource libraries in Singapore. Data obtained from questionnaires and focus groups indicate that for Singapore's School Media Resource Libraries to play a significant role in supporting the new educational focus some important changes are needed. Recommendations from the taskforce include a change in status of the School Media Resource Library and its supervisor, additional training and education for these supervisors, improved access and connectivity for inter-school cooperation, and more collaborative collection management policies.