The Impact of the Prince Edward Island School Library Policy on the Development of School Library Programs Across Prince Edward Island

Authors

  • Ray Doiron
  • Judy Davies

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.29173/iasl8202

Abstract

In Canada's smallest province, Prince Edward Island (PEI), the PEI School Library Policy and its supporting documents have guided the development of school library programs since 1989. With a great number of educational changes as a back-drop, this study explored the impact that policy has had on school library programs in PEI. The researchers designed a comprehensive Survey of School Library Resource Centres that probed five key areas: facilities, resources, personnel, programs and services in the 66 schools across PEI. Following the completion of the Survey, 48 principals and teacher-librarians were interviewed for an hour each. 64 of the 66 schools took part and the Survey data and the interview data were analyzed using exploratory data analysis that resulted in dozens of visual and numerical summaries. Data was reported under each of the five major areas probed and 25 Actions were recommended.

The study yielded specific detail on the status of school library facilities and resources, and provided a comprehensive look at staffing procedures and problems. The educational concepts of resource-based learning, cooperative planning and information skills that are embedded in the Policy have been well-accepted across the system. New documentation is needed to update learning outcomes and to provide direction for integrating new technologies and the concept of information literacy. Future directions for professional development for teacher-librarians, principals and classroom teachers were outlined and specific needs were identified in the areas of staffing, rebuilding school library collections and connecting technology initiatives and resource-based learning.

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Published

2021-03-27