Keith Curry Lance

Keith Curry Lance is a consultant who works with libraries and related organizations as a researcher, statistician, public speaker, proposal writer, and focus group interviewer. Since 1986, he has consulted both independently and with the RSL Research Group.

He was Principal Investigator of the 2020-23 IMLS-funded study, The School Librarian Investigation–Decline or Evolution? (SLIDE). He continued the work of that project during the 2024-25 academic year at the School of Information at San Jose State University.

Keith's latest c.v. includes his contact information and his affiliations, appointments, presentations, publications, interviews, and honors through February 2025.

These details of his four decades in library research are summarized in an extended professional biography.

SLIDE: The School Librarian Investigation--Divergence & Evolution Updates

The 2020-23 SLIDE project--the School Librarian Investigation: Decline or Evolution?--continued at the School of Information at San Jose State University during the 2024-25 academic year. In this incarnation, SLIDE stood for the School Librarian Investigation--Divergence & Evolution.

The SLIDE interactive data tools are still available and--at this writing--provide access to 2023-24 data from the Common Core of Data of the National Center for Education Statistics. Efforts are underway to raise funding to update those tools with 2024-25 data.
The News page of the SLIDE website will continue to post articles and other content that uses SLIDE data or takes the SLIDE study as its point of departure.
And new Publications and Presentations will be posted on the SLIDE website as circumstances permit.

Research

in Progress

School Librarians Still Matter: Embracing Digital Literacy and A.I. (manuscript submitted for publication, early 2026).
School Librarian Employment in the U.S., 2024-25 (2026 Library & Book Trade Almanac status report on school librarianship)

Latest

Publications

School Librarian Employment in the U.S., 2023-24 (2025 Library & Book Trade Almanac status report on school librarianship)
With Caitlin Gerrity (2025). Contributions of California Teacher Librarians to Student Achievement, Learning Hub: Vol. 1: Iss. 2, Article 3. https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/learning-hub/vol1/iss2/3
With Mary Ann Harlan (2025). "California Teacher Librarians & the Differences They Make," Learning Hub: Vol. 1: Iss. 1, Article 8. https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/learning-hub/vol1/iss1/8
With Caitlin Gerrity (2025). "Librarians in U.S. Public Schools Without Other Kinds of Specialist Educators: The Scale of Opportunities for Instructional Leadership," Learning Hub: Vol. 1: Iss. 1, Article 3. https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/learning-hub/vol1/iss1/3
With Debra E. Kachel and Caitlin Gerrity (November 2024). Employing School Librarians: What Decision-Makers Tell Us, Phi Delta Kappan, pp. 42-46. (Reprinted in Library and Book Trade Almanac 2025, 69th ed.). https://kappanonline.org/employing-school-librarians-what-decision-makers-tell-us/.

Latest

Presentations

Keith Curry Lance (2025, October 15). Update on the SLIDE project and the status of federal data on school librarian employment, pre-conference to the American Association of School Librarians National Conference.
Keith Curry Lance (2025, February 1). Voices of Decision-Makers: How District & School Leaders Decide About School Librarian Employment, Treasure Mountain Canada 8, Ontario Library Association Conference. PowerPoint slides available at: https://libslide.org/presentations/.
With Caitlin Gerrity and Debra E. Kachel (2024, October 26). Voices of Decision-Makers: How District & School Leaders Decide About School Librarian Employment, International Association of School Librarians Conference. PowerPoint slides available at: https://libslide.org/presentations/.

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