1.3 Evaluating library services

Effective school libraries must be responsive to educational and technological change and must also contribute to students learning and general school improvement. In order to achieve this, an ongoing process of evaluation must be carried out.

Evaluation is used to monitor the school's use of the library and to improve the effectiveness of information services so that student learning outcomes are improved.

The outcomes of the evaluation should be distributed widely and used effectively to make changes and improvements to the information services and to inform future action.

Some key questions that can guide the evaluation:

• Do the resources meet the individual learning needs of students of all ages and abilities?
• Are the library and its resources easily accessible to the students?
• Are there sufficient resources in the library to meet the needs of the curriculum?
• Are there sufficient resources in the library to also cater for personal and leisure interests?
• Are the resources relevant and of good quality?
• How much use do the students and staff make of the library?
• How does the library affect school improvement, including student achievement?

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