A study of the relationship between library media supervisors' administrative practices and the availability and frequency of services in library media centers in public schools of Virginia

This study involved library media centers in public schools. The research investigated the relationship between library media supervisors' administrative practices and the availability and frequency of services.;From the population of 137 Virginia school divisions, 20 school divisions were selected for inclusion in the study. Data were collected from the library media supervisor and from six library media specialists in each of the 20 divisions in the sample, for a total of 140 individuals.;The library media specialists were surveyed with a questionnaire that included questions on the availability and frequency of library media services in the public schools. The library media supervisors were surveyed with a questionnaire that included questions on supervisors' administrative practices as well as obtained information on professional data, and personal data.;The research addressed the following research questions: (1) What are the library media services provided by Virginia public school library media centers and how often are they provided? (2) What are the administrative practices of library media supervisors in Virginia public schools? (3) Is there a relationship between the library media supervisors' administrative practices and the availability of services in library media centers? (4) Is there a relationship between the library media supervisors' administrative practices and the frequency of services in library media centers? (5) What are the library media specialists' perceptions of the frequency of visits by the library media supervisor in their school division and of the value of the assistance provided by the library media supervisor?;The results of the research are reported below: (1) The most frequently provided services were individual guidance in reading and instruction in use of print and nonprint materials. (2) the administrative practices most frequently provided as reported by supervisors were visiting library media centers, supporting library media programs and using microcomputers in library management and circulation of materials. (3) No statistically significant relationship between library media supervisors' administrative practices and availability and frequency of services was found. (4) The library media specialists revealed that some support was provided by library media supervisors even though it is not as much as they feel is adequate. (Abstract shortened with permission of author.).