Page 224 - JOURNAL OF LIBRARY SCIENCE IN CHINA 2015 Vol. 41

Extended English abstracts of articles published in the Chinese Edition of Journal of Library Science in China 2015 Vol.41 223

Review of research on the process of service standards for American school
library

Huiming CHAI 1 ∗

The author made a comparative analysis of the nine national standards documents of school library
in the United States since the early 20th century to the present, systematically reviewed arteries
and veins of standardization development in the American school library service, and summed up
three main features in the standardization process of American school library services.
This paper analyzed the standardization process of school library services in the United States
primarily through determining the concept of standardization of library services; analysis of the
relationship between American Library Association (ALA) and the American School Librarians
Association (AASL), and the standardization of American school library service; comparative
analysis of nine national school library standards from the perspective of service standards
combining with American Basic Education Reform; summarizing the overall characteristics of the
standardization process of the American school library service.
The relevant references included the topics of history of the United States librarianship, the
development history of the American Library Association and the standardization process of
American libraries; there were also the reviews and commentaries on topics of American Library
standard literature, American Basic Education Reform and US Educational Informatization.
The findings of this research are as follows. The standardization of American school library
service was gradually developed with the process of specialization and professionalization of
American school library services, from the initial management need for the educational authorities
and later developed into the professional consciousness. The main features of the standardization
of American school library services include: 1) school library services needed to be adjusted
according to the educational reform, and always maintained the contribution to school education;
2) construction and service standards unified, quantitative evaluation and qualitative evaluation
should be combined; 3) the professional development of the librarians and the maturity process of
professional associations should complement each other.
The innovation and practical significance of the study lied in 1) the comparison and distinction
of the American school library standards in the construction and the service, and the introduction
on the framework evolvement of the service standards; 2) it clarified the functions of professional
associations in the standardization of school library service of the United States; 3) it nailed down
the tightness of school library services and basic education reform.
The study analyzed the service standardization of school library service combining the basic
education reform process in the United States; it can give the current domestic school library
service innovation one true frame of reference, and supply the reference for the standardization of

* Correspondence should be addressed to Huiming CHAI, Email: chaihuiming1982@126.com