Library-school collaboration. A case study of teacher thematic interests in loan requests

Abstract

Partnerships between public libraries and schools foster reading literacy. In view of this fact, many libraries implement actions for this purpose. This paper analyses the implementation of the initiative called "Library-School Programme" of the Civican library, an entity dependent on the Caja Navarra Foundation and part of the Network of Public Libraries of Navarre (Spain). This case study scrutinised the 804 book loan requests made by pre-school, primary, and secondary school teachers under the program between 2007 and 2021. It aims at discovering the educational stages with the highest demand, the most reoccurring reasons for the requests, and the evolution of the service. Research - of a descriptive statistical nature - shows greater participation in Pre-school and Primary Education, as well as a progressive reduction in the number of loans for these stages, with the opposite trend in Secondary Education. The findings of this study suggest directions for public libraries, schools, and administration to improve their collaboration strategies.