Nobody doesn’t like a library.

This take-off on a famous tag-line advertising coffee cakes is truer for libraries than it is for dessert!

Even diabetics love libraries!

And in Dowagiac schools, all the library media centers are active, vibrant and essential to learning, exploring, investigating, adventuring and, of course, reading.

What makes a school library media center different than any other type of library is the centering on student learning that takes place by its design, materials, activities and its measurable effect on achievement.

Those of us who are naturally library fanatics make regular trips to any and every library we can find, even when on vacation!

It especially thrills us to be reinforced by numerous recent, highly regarded studies all across the country proving that those schools with strong library media programs, adequate and up-to-date collections and qualified teacher-librarians achieve with much higher standardized test scores than those schools without strong library media programs.

Even library users, who are not as fanatical as us, sit up and take notice when these studies are cited.

Getting down to the meat of it, people improve their reading skills by reading.

Believe it or not, lots of research money has been spent on proving that maxim.

It just makes sense to most that if we want students to improve their reading skills, we must make the reading materials they will read available to them in school.

Reading is the fulcrum of success in life. It is the ultimate lifelong learning skill. Some of us learn to love it. For those who struggle with reading, it is still an essential skill schools are charged to teach and teach well.

Those of us in this business of literacy know that we need to do more than just teach students how to use the library.

Because libraries are vital to informed communities, we are also here to help students develop 21st-century information and technology competencies.

Information-literate students become adults who are able to find, evaluate and use information effectively to solve problems and make decisions.

We are talking about future doctors, lawyers, teachers and presidents here.

It is a stunning and awe-inspiring role we accept when we teach information literacy.

Not only are we enamored by libraries, we are grateful they play such an important part in our schools. They provide books that students need. They foster learning, problem solving, inquiry and decision-making by providing competencies using technology.

School library media centers give students the opportunity to broaden perspectives and connect with other people. And really, there can be nothing wrong with that. In fact, it’s all good.

This week’s column is by Kathy Johnson, DUHS library media specialist.