I found the OBSERVER story this week about Jenna and Eric Schwab confronting the Silver Creek School Board and administration regarding the district’s decision to change the manner in which it offers experience in the library very interesting.

Jenna Schwab stressed the importance of consistent access to a library for young people and expressed concern that her child a kindergarten student, who has been attending school since September did not even know the school had a library makes me wonder if the school has still not found a way to reconfigure how it will utilize its library.

Eric Schwab then pointed out the poor showing by Silver Creek students in grades 3 -8 in their English Language Arts scores, where they rank 543rd in the state with only Jamestown, Dunkirk, and Brocton in Chautauqua County ranking lower. He went on to say that “These numbers do not suggest that the library should have been removed for our youngest students.”

The school administration did not give a coherent explanation of the reason for the changes or how they are being carried out. One hopes that it will be made clear in time.

I know from my own experience how important school and public libraries are. Back when I was a small boy I contracted a case of scarlet fever that caused me to miss the last two months of first grade. When I started second grade I was behind most of my fellow students and no longer in the top reading group.

My second-grade teacher, who was neither the best nor brightest seemed to take my reading problems as a personal affront and one morning rather loudly and in front of the entire class placed me in the lowest reading group. Things like that register with a 7-year-old.

My reading skills got better slowly but my real salvation came in third grade when a friend of mine got a library card and told me about the public library. That sounded interesting so one day instead of walking home after school I went to the public library to find out how you could borrow books. After that I walked over to my father’s office and had him sign a form so that I could get a library card.

I still remember the title of that first book I took out. It was a young people’s edition of “Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo,” the story of the Doolittle Raid on Japan in World War II. It was a book in the Landmark series published by Random House that focused on history, biography and science. Over time I read just about every book the library had in the series, and this is probably the reason for my interest in history and as an adult building a history centered library of several hundred volumes.

The most important help the library offered was the librarian who took an interest in what I was reading and suggested books that I might find interesting and later when I began to select adult books she made sure that they were within my reading capabilities. Later when I began writing papers and reports for school she assisted me in locating the reference material that I needed.

According to the American Library Association, experience in the library has several benefits for children. The most obvious is books of course that provide a wide ranging amount of information spanning history, geography, and science as well as a wide variety of fiction books. Books allow children to find out about just about anything from sources that are more accurate and unbiased than what is often found on the internet. Further the library is the place where the young student can learn to use the dictionary, a thesaurus, encyclopedias and other references.

Children will also benefit from a place that is free of distractions like loud noise, talking or the presence of cell phones. Further, the library’s atmosphere will teach the importance of being considerate others in the library

Most libraries have computers available for card holders to use to work on presentations or do research for school papers and essays while also providing technical skills. Libraries like the one I used many years ago now provide a variety of experiences for young people that include crafts and storytelling sessions all with educational goals.

Finally, there is a correlation between strong, and well financed school libraries and an increase in test scores. This was confirmed by a study done in South Carolina that proved the association between well financed and well utilized school libraries and much better scores on achievement tests. Another survey of 850 schools nationwide confirmed students with access to strong library programs with well qualified staffs improved achievement test scores by 10 to 15 points.

My advice to Jenna and Eric Schwab is that if you think the Silver Creek School library program is not providing your children with an adequate library experience that you investigate what the Anderson-Lee Library can provide. The library has a website and is also on Facebook

Finally, continue being advocates for your children as they continue their education. Also don’t be afraid to continue asking questions of school authorities until they give you the real facts behind an issue. Those answers may not always be what you want to hear but the truth, whatever it is, always is better than not knowing.

Thomas Kirkpatrick Sr. is a Silver Creek resident. Send comments to editorial@observertoday.com.