School Libraries in Greece: The Teacher View

ABSTRACT

This paper aims to give an overview of teachers’ library use in northwestern Greece. A questionnaire was distributed and filled in by 221 teachers (117 of upper elementary education and 104 of secondary) and was reinforced by interviews with 35 teachers. Teachers of elementary and secondary education supported that a school library with a plethora of appealing books and other resources can contribute greatly to the promotion of a culture of reading in contemporary school. A significant difference was observed between high-school teachers and upper elementary teachers with respect to the function of their school library. Further, elementary school libraries in one prefecture of Greece (Kastoria), compared to another (Ioannina), were found to be more functional, indicating that teachers’ interest for enriching their school library, as well as their enthusiasm, effort, and commitment in the school library can help children make more use of it.

KEYWORDS:

• Public school libraries
• northwestern Greece
• teachers’ views
• reading culture

Acknowledgments

The author thanks Assistant Professor Mariana Spanaki for her constructive support and criticism and all the teachers who took part in the research, especially the retired teacher of Kastoria, Melika-Violeta Sandalidou-Michail, for the willingness to share her valuable experience as a school librarian for 10 years in a school library that played an important role in the promotion of reading habits in her region.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 All participants were kept anonymous. The name of the retired teacher is mentioned after her consent and her own wish.