It’s About Equity: What’s in the Information Literacy Backpacks of First Years

Joyce Valenza’s lengthy career has been a journey to understand the impact of school libraries on learning. Her conversations with K-12 and academic librarians at state and national conferences coalesced into what is a personally existential question: Is there evidence “of students’ acquired knowledge and dispositions as they enter the university? Did school librarians’ information literacy instruction prepare students for the rigors of academic research?”

Valenza shared the research need with colleagues and concluded that they might investigate this gap at the state level. The project developed into a multi-institutional collaboration among LIS faculty and high school and academic librarians, with the support of the New Jersey Association of School Librarians, which spread the word of the study to its membership and assembled a team of academic librarians representing six New Jersey institutions of higher education.

The research team employed the researched-based conceptual understandings presented by the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Framework for Information Literacy to guide its methodology. The team conducted surveys among high school librarians, investigating their instructional practices, resources, and the services they provide to students. This information created a baseline understanding of the state of information literacy education in New Jersey high schools with credentialed school librarians who model American Association of School Librarians’ (AASL) definition of effective practice..

The team followed “alumni non-novices”—those from selected high school programs—who had benefited from high school information literacy experiences into their first year of college, along with a broader population of first-year students across six New Jersey campuses. This comprehensive approach provided transformative insights into how high school information literacy experiences impact students’ first entry into higher education academic inquiry and shed light on the importance of equitable access to information literacy instruction in K-12 education.

Valenza emphasized the importance of the findings: “When asked to rate their preparation for college research, not a single student from the ‘alumni non-novices’ group responded that they felt unprepared. The general non-novice population felt significantly more prepared than those in the novice group, suggesting that prior experience with a high school librarian matters and points to a K-12 equity issue…In the face of site-based management decisions and district cost-saving efforts, far too few of our K-12 school leaders recognize what may be lost should they eliminate a school library position.”

The team’s findings, initially published as “First years’ information literacy backpacks: What’s already packed or not packed?” were awarded the 2023 New Jersey Library Association College & University Section Research Award, as well as the 2023 American Association of School Librarians Research Grant Award. Meanwhile, the study continues and the project’s LibGuide reflects its growth.

The project was aided by SC&I’s Grants for Individual Faculty Research (GIFR).