Exploring and Amplifying School Library Services for Young Learners

The University of Kentucky, in collaboration with the University of Pittsburgh, is requesting $505,985 for Exploring and Amplifying School Library Services for Young Learners, an Applied Research project designed to explore school library services for children attending publicly funded prekindergarten (PreK) programs. This project is responsive to the Office of Library Services call for projects that “facilitate regular and family-friendly programming that is of social and educational bene?t to children and parents alike” as it aligns with the Agency Level Goal 1 Champion Lifelong Learning, Objective 1.1 Advance shared knowledge and learning opportunities for all, and the NLG-L Program Goal Objective 1.1: Serve the learning needs of the public through libraries and archives. Guided by the overarching research question, “How do school libraries support children in publicly funded PreK programs?” this three-year project will (1) identify how school libraries currently serve the learning needs of PreK children, (2) elucidate elements of school library services to PreK learners that are prioritized and valued by educational stakeholders, parents, and young children, (3) pinpoint school library program strategies that support children holistically and in speci?c domain areas including early literacy, information literacy and inquiry, and digital literacy, and (4) uncover challenges in providing library services to PreK learners. Completion of these tasks will allow us to develop materials to support school library services for PreK children and recommendations in relation to school library services for PreK children.