Limiting Access to School Libraries for Children of Poverty: A Road Block to Student Achievement

Abstract

The access to quality print and electronic library resources is often an illusion for students of poverty who rely on their school library for research and technology (Pribesh, Gavigan, & Dickinson, 2011). This lack of access is just one issue in regards to libraries in schools with a high population of low socioeconomic students.  There is also the issue of a lack of qualified staff.  This paper examines the factors that lead to a lack of access to print and electronic materials and quality staff for students of poverty in their school libraries.