The school library workforce in Australia

Authors

• Pru Mitchell, Australian Council for Educational ResearchFollow
• Paul R. Weldon, Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER)Follow

Publication Date

8-30-2016

Subjects

Educational equity (Finance), Equal education, Knowledge base for teaching, Librarian role, Socioeconomic status, Librarians, Libraries, Library personnel, Library role, Misassignment of teachers, Primary school teachers, Qualifications, School libraries, Secondary school teachers, Staff utilisation, Teacher librarians, Primary secondary education, Surveys

Abstract

A literature review by Lonsdale in 2003 observed that ‘a lack of systematically aggregated national data makes it difficult to gain an accurate picture of national trends in Australia in relation to the staffing of school libraries’ and noted ‘an apparent decline in the numbers of qualified teacher librarians employed in school libraries in public schools in Australia.’ This absence of data was also acknowledged in the 2011 report from the Inquiry of the House of Representatives Education and Employment Committee, which recommended a thorough workforce gap analysis of teacher librarians across Australian schools. New analysis of the Staff in Australia’s Schools surveys from 2007, 2010 and 2013, points to a decline in primary school teachers in library settings, fewer teachers working in libraries in low SES schools compared to high SES schools; and over one-third of primary teachers and one-quarter of secondary teachers working in school libraries having no tertiary education in the area. Further data are provided and the findings are discussed.

Recommended Citation

Mitchell, P., & Weldon, P. (2016, Aug 30). The school library workforce in Australia. ALIA 2016 National Conference, 29 August-2 September 2016, Adelaide: Engage, Create, Lead.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.

Place of Publication

Canberrra

Publisher

Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA)