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students need Libraries to be successful academically
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ibraries are super important. They are a crucial and free tool for free inforeditor mation and ideas. It's also a getaway ig: ASTHXTICBXLLA option for students to get any work done or simply have a place to just hang out. You’d think that it would be a given for public schools to have a library or a media center for their students’ convenience. I was surprised to find that a majority of Miami-Dade public high schools do not have that advantage. Libraries/media centers are being removed or closed down or remodeled to be computer labs for testing. There is no point in having a beautiful media center full of useful things that can make students' lives easier when it comes to school and not use it. Turning it into a computer lab is kind of pointless when we already have three labs. But a good old library is always beneficial, especially for a high school. According to Phi Delta Kappan, the professional journal for educators, “Data from more than 34 statewide studies suggest that students tend to earn better standardized test scores in schools that have strong library programs.” This might actually end up benefiting the school by improving Varela’s academic grade. An effective school library or media center “welcomes people in. The library is a safe place, that values and includes students from different cultures and backgrounds. It brings people and information together and makes connections with other libraries and information sources to help users find what they need.” (The National Library) The library also is a good neutral place for students to chill and hang out during lunch or before
Isabella Vallejo
or after school as well as for their scholar needs such as printer and computer access. With technology growing at such a rapid pace, schools are embracing it and using it to its full advantage. Most of our textbooks are online. Teachers are requiring that we type up our essays in MLA format and turn them in either printed out or through websites such as Turnitin.com or Edmodo. What if I don’t have a computer at home? What if my printer is out of ink and I can’t afford the $80 new cartridge? In the past, here at Varela, the media center gave us access to both computers and student printers. “Although information technology is woven into almost every aspect of learning and life, not every learner and educator has equitable access to up-todate, appropriate technology and connectivity. An effective school library bridges digital and socioeconomic divides to affect information technology access and skill.” (Phi Delta Kappan) Go to the public library, our school says. You can use their computers for free. Public libraries have a schedule that does not coincide with students and their school or work schedule. If I finish working on my essay at home at 10 p.m., the public library closed at 8 p.m. I can’t go there to print out anything. And they don’t open until 9:30 a.m., more than two hours after school starts. In order to meet the demands of school and teachers, students should have access to a place in school where they can study, work online and print out materials. We already have the room. We already dedicated it as a media center for student use. We should be able to use it.
The library is a safe place, that values and includes students from different cultures and backgrounds
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