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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. As of 2026, the SLIDE project is being supported by the EveryLibrary Institute.
Keith's latest c.v. includes his contact information and his affiliations, appointments, presentations, publications, interviews, and honors through September 2026.
These details of his four decades in library research are summarized in an extended professional biography.
SLIDE: The School Librarian Investigation--Divergence & Evolution Updates
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 and is now based at EveryLibrary Institute. In its post-IMLS incarnation, SLIDE stands for the School Librarian Investigation--Divergence & Evolution.
The SLIDE interactive data tools are still available and--at this writing--provide access to 2024-25 data from the Common Core of Data of the National Center for Education Statistics.
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
Research
in Progress
in Progress
National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Reading Scores and School Librarian Staffing: Patterns and Trends (2026-27).
Latest
Latest
Publications
Publications
With Caitlin Gerrity (November 2026). School Librarians Still Matter: Leading the Way in Digital Literacy and AI, Phi Delta Kappan, forthcoming.
School Librarian Employment in the U.S., 2024-25 (2026 Library & Book Trade Almanac status report on school librarianship).
With Debra E. Kachel and Caitlin Gerrity (November 2024). Employing School Librarians: What Decision-Makers Tell Us, Phi Delta Kappan, pp. 42-46. https://kappanonline.org/employing-school-librarians-what-decision-makers-tell-us/.
Latest
Latest
Presentations
Presentations
SLIDE Update, Treasure Mountain Canada 2027 (forthcoming).
Status of School Librarian Data, School Library Journal virtual roundtable, October 2026 (forthcoming).
The Librarian Effect: How School Libraries Drive Literacy and Equity, Library Exchange podcast, June 15, 2026. https://www.libraryexchangepodcast.com/e/the-librarian-effect-how-school-libraries-drive-literacy-and-equity/.
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