On August 14, 2018, Rob Carter of Wicked Local Concord (The Concord Journal online) published an interview with Concord-Carlisle High School librarian and researcher Robin Cicchetti about her collaboration with then-Rutgers University professor Carol Gordon, The Massachusetts School Library Study: Equity and Access for Students in the Commonwealth.

In discussing the evidence concerning the impact of school librarians on literacy, Cicchetti cited the October 2012 study I co-authored with Bill Schwarz of the RSL Research Group titled How Pennsylvania School Libraries Pay Off: Investments in Student Achievement and Academic Standards. This research was part of the Pennsylvania School Library Project directed by Debra E. Kachel, then affiliated with Mansfield University in Pennsylvania, now affiliated with Antioch University Seattle.

The quote from the article:

“The school library directly impacts literacy scores,” Cicchetti said, citing a study done in Pennsylvania by researcher Keith Curry Lance.

According to Lance, “Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) reading scores increase with increases in the following characteristics of school library programs: staffing, information technology and integration of information literacy into the curriculum.”