Research throughout the past decade has indicated a connection between student achievement and the school library or media center being an active part of daily educational needs. Keith Curry Lance, a key figure in much of the research surrounding school libraries, mentions in a 2007 interview with Doug Achterman that this connection was once believed to depend on the strength of collaboration between libraries but now it is known to be the result of a strong library media specialist present in the school.

Library Media Specialists Support Learning

More than 60 studies across 19 US states and 1 Canadian Province have strongly indicated that a school library media center is a valuable educational asset when staffed by trained media specialists. The key appears to be not only that these specialists provide a diverse collection of print and electronic media appropriate for their school's students, but also that they are active collaborators for integrating these materials into the curriculum.