Project Reports
Schools without librarians: First school-level data on the post-COVID era (2024, February). In mid-2023, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) released 2020-21 data on school-level staffing, the first such data since 2015-16. The data, which come from the periodic National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS), will next be updated for the 2026-27 school year. The annual librarian staffing data from NCES’s Common Core of Data (CCD) project is available only at district level.
Voices of decision-makers: How district & school leaders decide about school librarian employment (2023, August). Follow the title link to a separate page providing detailed access to this report’s major sections as well as a single PDF of the full report.
Decision-makers about school librarian employment: a literature review (2023, August). This literature review by Boston Latin School Head Librarian and Simmons University doctoral student Deeth Ellis is an expanded version of the one incorporated into the Voices report.
The COVID-19 pandemic & inequities in access to school librarians: a SLIDE special report (2022, August). This report analyzes changes in the status of school librarian employment between 2018-19 (the last full school year before the pandemic began) and 2020-21 (the latest data available since the pandemic’s onset).
Perspectives on school librarian employment in the United States, 2009-10 to 2018-19 (2021, July 19). Follow the title link to a separate page providing detailed access to this report’s major sections as well as a single PDF of the full report.
Contexts of school librarian employment (2021, January 26).
This report summarizes responses to nine questions asked of school library leaders in all 50 states and the District of Columbia (D.C.) to determine state support of school library programs. Questions address standards and guidelines, certification and staffing requirements, and direct funding and provision of statewide e-resources.
Appendix to Contexts of school librarian employment (2021, January 26). Updated 2/22/21.
This document is the Survey Monkey report of individual state responses to the State Intermediary Survey. These are the data on which the Contexts report is based.
Requirements for school librarian employment: A state-by-state summary (2021, January 27).
This report summarizes legal requirements for school librarian staffing in the 50 states and D.C.
Project Infographics
Visit this page for infographics spotlighting notable findings of the SLIDE project.
Published Articles
Debra E. Kachel (2023, Oct.). How district and school leaders decide about school librarian employment. IASL Newsletter.
Keith Curry Lance, Debra E. Kachel & Caitlin Gerrity (2023, Feb.). The school librarian equity gap: Inequities associated with race and ethnicity compounded by poverty, locale, and enrollment, Peabody Journal of Education.
Keith Curry Lance, Debra E. Kachel & Caitlin Gerrity (2023, Feb.). The latest findings from SLIDE: The School Librarian Investigation–Decline or Evolution? IASL Newsletter.
Debra E. Kachel & Keith Curry Lance (2022, Oct.). COVID impact on access to school librarians in the United States. IASL Newsletter. (Reprinted with permission of the International Association of School Librarianship.)
Debra E. Kachel & Keith Curry Lance (2022, March). What’s behind the SLIDE? Administrator interviews begin. School Library Connection.
Keith Curry Lance & Debra E. Kachel (2022, March). The School Librarian Investigation—Decline or Evolution? Voices from the front lines. School Library Connection.
Debra E. Kachel & Keith Curry Lance (2021, August). Investigating the status of school librarian employment. School Library Connection.
Debra E. Kachel & Keith Curry Lance (2021, August 2), What’s behind the SLIDE? findings from a study of school librarian employment, KQ Blog.
Also posted as Findings from the new school librarian employment study on American Libraries Direct, August 4, 2021.
Debra E. Kachel (2021). Data speaks: Addressing equity of access to school librarians for students. Teacher Librarian, 48(3), 49-52.
Debra E. Kachel & Keith Curry Lance (2021). The Status of state support of school library programs. Teacher Librarian, 48(5), 8-13.
Keith Curry Lance & Debra E. Kachel (2021). School librarian employment in the United States. In Bryans, J. B. (Ed.), Library and book trade almanac 2021. 66 th ed. Information Today.