Teacher’s Perception of Public Library Services

1. Teacher’s Perception of Public Library Services Group ID: JS-01 Lee Ping Verena (G0901687K) Tan Poh Lay (G1001107C) Ee Min Hoon (G1001087G)

2. Findings and Discussion Use and non-use of NLB services Perceptions of the usefulness of NLB services Teachers’ unmet needs

3. Use and Non-use of NLB Services • Objectives • Identify use frequency relation between school library services and NLB services • Identify reasons for use and non-use

4. Use Frequency • School Library Services • NLB Services

5. Teaching Experience vs. NLB Services Use Frequency • Most indicated that they only used NLB Services several times a year

6. Types of School Library Services • Respondents can chose more than one type of services • Out of the 50 who indicated Others, more than half cited “borrowing” (either for self or students) as a service that they used • Teachers do not use school library for curriculum planning and teaching (Mokhtar and Majid, 2005) • General aspect of curriculum such as students borrow books or using library space

7. NLB Services Non-use Reasons • No time was indicated as the most popular reason (29%) • Reason that school library services use frequency is higher than NLB services • More convenient • Time saving

8. Findings and Discussion Use and non-use of NLB services Perceptions of the usefulness of NLB services Teachers’ unmet needs

9. Perceptions of the Usefulness of NLB Services • Objectives • Whether NLB services helped students to develop reading interest, language and communicative skills • Whether NLB services helped students improve reading ability and academic performance • Which NLB services most useful • Which NLB services teachers actually experienced

10. Usefulness of NLB Services on Students • Guided by PISA (OECD, 2010) and Minnick (2001), usefulness defined as the impact of NLB services on students’ reading interest, reading ability, language development, communicative skills and academic performance

11. Usefulness of NLB Services on Students • 93% perceived positive impact of NLB services on students • 52% on reading interest, ability and language development, 32% on communicative skills and academic performance • Library’s role in reading advocacy

12. Teaching Experience vs. Perception of NLB’s impact on Students • More definite and positive as the number of years of experience increases

13. Perception of Individual NLB Services • Reading Promotion Tools • Majority found “KidsRead” very useful • * KidsRead – promotes and inculcates the love of reading among children from low-income families. Children participate in sessions led by volunteers, filled with activities like storytelling, craft, songs and games.

14. Perception of Individual NLB Services • Services to Schools • Majority found “Library membership” drive, “Molly” and “Mass borrowing” very useful

15. Experiences with NLB Services • Most experienced “Library visit” and “Mass borrowing” • Need to do more to expose teachers to all services due to low percentage rate reported

16. Satisfaction with NLB Services • 93% of the teachers were “satisfied” and “very satisfied” with NLB’s services

17. Findings and Discussion Use and non-use of NLB services Perceptions of the usefulness of NLB services Teachers’ unmet needs

18. Teachers’ unmet needs • 63 teachers (20% of all respondents) answered this open-ended question • 38% of these teachers would like NLB to provide more resources that will tie in with the school curriculum “A website where teacher can immediately find a list of resource related to MOE curriculum, instead of teachers going 'hunting for books' at NLB.” “Provide a list of books according to units and topics related to the curriculum so that it would be easier for teachers to obtain them”

19. Teachers’ unmet needs • Some would like to have more programmes and collection support in the Mother Tongue languages “More assistance, programmes and resources for mother tongue (malay) language” “Provide more useful teaching resources/references from overseas, especially for mother tongue language”

20. Teachers’ unmet needs • 21% of all respondents cited programmes and activities that are already part of NLB’s existing suite of services • 93% of all respondents would have experienced NLB services in their schools • Shows that there are teachers who are still in the dark on how NLB can complement their work in school • Likely that NLB services are arranged without involving greater pool of teachers on their needs

21. Recommendations Reading Promotion Tools Services to schools

22. Reading Promotion Tools

23. “KidsRead” • Teachers in the Learning Support Program (LSP)-English and English Language teachers from the lower primary levels (i.e. Primary 1 to 3). • Identify students who need help in reading and recommend these students for the program.

24. “H.O.T” newsletter • re-looked content • supplementary material for the teachers • marketing campaign -14% of the teachers surveyed are familiar with this newsletter.

25. “Read-and-Reap” • articles can be supplementary materials for teachers • librarians to share with the teachers on how they can incorporate “Read-and-Reap” into the curriculum and also how this programme will benefit the students.

26. “Quest” • visit schools to share more information with students and teachers. “Raise-a-Reader” • teachers need to be convinced of the benefits of this programme before they will promote it to parents • teachers participate in at least one such session so as to understand how it can help them and this will, in turn, enable them to provide support for the students.

27. “Junior Reading Ambassador” • JRAs to be given more exposure in schools, in terms of sharing on good reads, the benefits of reading and promoting library services, their role will be more distinct • Librarians to collaborate more with the teachers-in-charge “Bookcross” • collaborate with interested schools to start the culture of “Bookcrossing” amongst students.

28. Services to schools

29. “A.S.K.” Advisory Service • distribute pamphlets during assembly talks and community outreach programmes (especially those involving teachers) • Have a demonstration, if possible, on how users can access the service.

30. “Library Visits” • Tailor programme line-up for the visits to meet needs of teachers and students. “Showcase” • Photographs of various showcases done in the library can be taken and hosted on NLB ‘s website • more information available on the website-eg info on collaboration

31. “Drop-Everything-and-Read” • re-evaluate the type of books selected to cater to the needs of the teachers • Condust sharing sessions on how the D.E.A.R. programme can be incorporated into the curriculum

32. “Community Service” • NLB’s “Friends of the Library” website should be promoted more actively • Librarians to share on this service during library visits and assembly talks

33. “Library Membership “Drive • mainly targeted at Primary One children • most teachers would not have experienced this service before unless they were in-charged/are currently in-charge of the Primary One students.

34. “Assembly talks” • content to be in line with the objectives that schools/teachers want to achieve • tie-in with curriculum eg SEED programme-thematic approach; post-assembly activities

35. “Molly”-the mobile library • a schedule can be drawn up to ensure that it is able to visit each primary school at least once to allow the students and teachers to experience its service.

36. E-Resources • distribute pamphlets - step-by-step guide • do a demonstration, if possible. Maybe during info-literacy courses in schools.

37. Overall • convenience for teachers “A.S.K.” advisory service and E-resources • “Step-readers”; books which teach maths or science concepts Mass-borrowing sessions value-added service • existing school channels available for NLB to market its services are not effective lack of a collaborative culture and lack of involvement • alternative avenues Major events involving teachers