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.
His current primary affiliation is Research Consultant to the School of Information at San Jose State University. In that position, he is continuing the work he began as Principal Investigator of the 2020-23 IMLS-funded study, The School Librarian Investigation–Decline or Evolution? (SLIDE).
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?--continues at the School of Information at San Jose State University. SLIDE now stands for the School Librarian Investigation--Divergence & Evolution.
The SLIDE interactive data tools are still available and, by March 1, will provide access to 2023-24 data from the Common Core of Data of the National Center for Education Statistics. Given the upheaval in Washington, D.C., it is impossible to know if or when similar data will be available in the future. We will keep you posted on the SLIDE website's data tools page, and I will keep you posted here.
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 work continues under the aegis of the SJSU School of Information.
Research
in Progress
School Librarian Employment in the U.S., 2023-24 (LBTA annual status report)
California School Library Programs & State Test Scores
Links Between Implementation of California Model School Library Standards & Status of School Library Programs
How California School Library Programs Vary by Grade Level
Latest
Publications
With Mary Ann Harlan (2025). "California Teacher Librarians & the Differences They Make," Learning Hub: Vol. 1: Iss. 1, Article 8. Available at: 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. Available at: https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/learning-hub/vol1/iss1/3
With Debra E. Kachel and Caitlin Gerrity (2024, November). Employing School Librarians: What Decision-Makers Tell Us. Phi Delta Kappan. Available at: https://kappanonline.org/employing-school-librarians-what-decision-makers-tell-us/.
Latest
Presentations
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/.