Report: Survey of School Libraries in Aotearoa New Zealand — 2023

Fifth report in the series

We've recently released the fifth report in a series of national surveys of school libraries in Aotearoa New Zealand that started in 2018.

The surveys are a collaboration between:

• National Library of New Zealand Services to Schools

• School Library Association of New Zealand Aotearoa (SLANZA)

• Library and Information Association of New Zealand Aotearoa (LIANZA).

What we've asked about

Across the series, we've included questions about:

• school library environments — including physical and digital access

• school library services supporting teaching and learning, reading and student wellbeing

• the school library workforce — including:

  • current employment arrangements and future work plans

  • skills and pay

  • qualifications, and professional memberships

  • leadership support

  • involvement in continuing professional development

• collection holdings, collection development budgets and sources of funding.

Survey design and implementation

The last 3 surveys have included questions to gauge the impact of current issues and opportunities on school libraries.

In 2021, we asked respondents about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their library.

The 2022 and 2023 surveys asked school library staff questions about:

• their employment, including pay grades, years of school library experience and the 2023 Librarians and Library Assistants' Pay Equity Claim (LPEC)

• co- and extra-curricular involvement in the school

• study plans and awareness of financial support for tertiary study.

What we found in 2023

Our sample size in 2023 was 308 schools, which is about 12% of New Zealand schools. Responses again showed variation in the decisions individual schools make about their library. The 2023 report aggregates data to provide a simplified view of the findings.

Library staff employment

• Library staff paid hours and weeks were similar to previous years for primary, secondary and intermediate schools.

• Composite schools show a large change in paid hours from 2022 as a result of reporting median rather than mean values this year.

• More library staff feel their pay is appropriate than in previous years. This is a significant positive change following the LPEC settlement.

• Library staff's perception of how well their skills match the role requirements has also changed. In 2023, fewer library staff said their skills are higher than what's needed. More said their skills are just right.

• Responses about career decisions suggest that school library staff job satisfaction has dropped below 2021 and 2022 levels.

Collection holdings and collection development funding

• Despite the ongoing popularity of graphic novels, comics and manga, these still make up a small proportion of library collections. These formats continue to show the strongest expected growth in library collections.

• The median collection development budget across all responding schools rose to $10.03 per student in 2023. Composite school median budgets rose significantly, with a smaller rise for secondary schools. Primary and intermediate schools' median budgets fell slightly from 2022 levels.

Read the report on our website

Read the full report: School libraries in Aotearoa New Zealand — 2023.

Find our ongoing series of national surveys: School Libraries in Aotearoa New Zealand — survey reports.