Libraries Targets High-School and High-Schools Target Library Education

Stephen Abram says: "Sounds like a great opportunity for library board / school board partnerships. Libraries are less stigmatizing environments for adult learners catching up on high school and e-learning is more flexible for workers than going to a local high school night class."

Two news stories about schools and libraries, one in US and the other in India make headlines. These headlines are not necessarily to say that the jobs of librarians will tend to improve, or that the image of profession has changed from books to classrooms. It is for the coming times to show what are the true colors of these headlines.

• Career Online High School Pilot Program Begins March 3, 2014. "Los Angeles Public Library to Offer High School Diploma and Career Certificate Program in Partnership with Gale : This is a very important development for public libraries where they can offer high school accredited diplomas and credits to their patrons." Read more: Online Learning in Libraries Targets High-School Dropouts  / Literacy Council has lots to celebrate / Private Online School District Battles America's High School Dropout Crisis and Offers a Solution to Educational Trauma / Changing Lives & the Public Library: Career Online High School,  Library Journal / Career Online High School: Los Angeles Public Library / Career Online High School Get the Education and Career Skills You Need to Succeed

"The library hopes to grant high school diplomas to 150 adults in the first year at a cost to the library of $150,000, Szabo said. Many public libraries offer programs to prepare students and in some cases administer the General Educational Development test, which for decades was the brand name for the high school equivalency exam." cbsnews.com

• Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) introduces library and information science for grade XI and XII students, THE TIMES OF INDIA, Feb 13, 2014/ Now, learn all about libraries, The Hindu:

  "CBSE students may soon get to go to their school libraries not just during the designated hour, but also to understand the workings of classification, cataloguing, library-related technologies and library automation software, among other aspects."... According to a recent CBSE circular, the elective aims to develop basic understanding, theory and practical knowledge, and skill to pursue the subject for higher education and basic skills to work as a library semi-professional.   

  A. Amudavalli, professor and head, library and information sciences, University of Madras, says it is a viable and necessary career option. She says since it is an elective, it cannot be equivalent to a diploma, but it is a good move by the Board. “There is definitely more demand than there are people in this field,” she says. “Library science has changed drastically and, today, we work in a hybrid environment. Not only is there a demand for librarians, they are also well-paid,” she says, adding students of her department were placed well now.