Shut Case: Libraries, Learning, and Discipline

• In Event: AERA Graduate Student Research-in-Progress Session 5
  In Roundtable Session: Understanding the Impact of District- and State-Level Education Policies: Gender-Neutral Language Implementation, District Dissolution, Library Closures, and Post-COVID Priorities (Table 12)

Abstract

School libraries have recently found themselves involved in controversies surrounding book selection policies and relevance in an information rich world. In Texas, the superintendent of Houston ISD opted to shutter several of the district's libraries and replace them with disciplinary centers. The number of librarians in Texas schools has continued to decline. While some studies have looked at academic outcomes related to school libraries, this study proposes to analyze outcomes for students when school libraries stop. Using a comprehensive dataset from the University of Houston Education Research Center which includes state-wide data for all Texas public school students, this study applies a staggered difference-in-differences causal design to analyze the impact on academics and discipline when school library programs are stopped.

Author

• Teresa Lansford, University of Virginia