Yearbook of Bibliology and Press Studies

Summary

In the 2001-2002 school year the first three-year educational stage in the reformed school was completed. It was the right moment to undertake research aiming at checking whether any changes took place at that time in Kielce libraries in public primary and lower secondary schools; what these changes concerned, which is significant, and whether, in the librarians' opinion, it is necessary to introduce other modifications in the activities of school libraries. The research with its selected results presented in this article was carried out in the libraries of all public primary and lower secondary schools in Kielce (thirty-six schools altogether) during the first term of the 2002-2003 school year. It is worth mentioning that the research is a continuation of the earlier one that began in the 1999-2000 school year - the introduction the educational reform. That research aimed at defining the organisational and legal situation of school libraries and their preparation for performing new tasks. Particularly important were the issues concerning the introduction of the educational reform and the consequences of that process, directly visible in the libraries. It is necessary to remember that only an efficiently organised, well-equipped and effectively working school library guarantees proper realisation of the reform targets.
The results produced during the research suggest that the situation of Kielce libraries after three years of the reform has hardly changed in comparison to the starting point. However, one ought to remember that from the point of view of people whom the problem concerns - school library workers and users - the preparation of schools for performing the tasks connected with the educational reform, among others, is far from being perfect. It is largely influenced by basic problems in libraries in entire Poland, not only in Kielce, unsolved until today, although they have been discussed for a long time. These are mainly legal lacunas concerning a budget, employment norms as well as the lack of such standards as rooms, equipment and book resources.