The full comparison
And it is not the same as a public, classroom or home library
Each kind of library does a different job, for different people, with different staff and funding. Here they are side by side.
| Category | School Library | Public Library | Classroom Library | Home Library |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mission | Empower students to be enthusiastic readers and learners, critical thinkers, skillful researchers, responsible digital citizens and ethical users and producers of information. | Provide the tools and free access to support lifelong learning and engagement for all ages. | Provide access to books and promote literacy within one class. | Provide access to books and promote literacy within one household. |
| Who it serves | Every enrolled student and staff member in the school. Some also serve students’ families. | Any member of the public, of all ages and stages of life. | Access restricted to one teacher’s class — roughly 15 to 25 students. | The members of one household. |
| When students reach it | During the school day, ideally before and after school too. No caregiver transportation needed. | Daytime, evenings and weekends. Usually needs a caregiver with time and transportation. | During school hours, at that teacher’s discretion. | After school, weekends and summers — if the household has one. |
| Who staffs it | A master’s-level Certified School Librarian: an educator trained in child and adolescent learning, instructional design, reading and literacy, with support staff. Provides continuity across a student’s time in that school. | A master’s-level librarian serving as the library’s information professional, with non-degreed support staff. | A degreed educator, with no School Librarian certification, usually for a single year. | Caregivers, with no library training. |
| How it is funded | General school budget — with no dedicated allocation in New Jersey. | A separate, mandatory municipal library tax in New Jersey, first enacted in 1884. | Individual teachers’ own money, grants and parent donations. | The family’s own money. |
| Primary services | Fostering a lifelong love of reading; information literacy and digital citizenship; lessons aligned to the curriculum; collaboration with teachers; makerspaces; a safe space with a social-emotional focus; read-alouds, book clubs and summer reading. | Free access to all: materials for enrichment, learning and entertainment for all ages; community programming, outreach and partnerships. | Access to materials supporting the curriculum for one small group; fostering a love of reading. | Materials for entertainment; fostering a love of reading; sometimes curriculum support. |
| What the collection is for | Collection professionally curated for each individual school: for the ages, reading abilities and interests of the enrolled students and for the curriculum. Skill building, next academic steps, college and career readiness. Print and digital, plus databases. | Extensive, covering all ages and reading levels across wide topics and formats, focused on unhindered access for enjoyment and information. | Collection is narrow and teacher dependent: one content area, specific ages and reading levels, often multiple copies of one title. | Curated on interest and what the family can afford; may target a specific age or interest. |
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Every figure on this page is sourced at schoolsneedlibrarians.com/sources.