FINAL CHAPTER FEARED FOR SCHOOL LIBRARIES
From The Advertiser (24 August 2026)
Darcy Fitzgerald – Shashi Baltutis
Some school libraries are being phased out as educators sound the alarm for the countless students who are losing access to the essential service.
At major public schools, children are forced to rely on council-run mobile libraries, while others have seen their school library become a shared space for overflow classrooms or computer labs.
In the absence of comprehensive national data, advocates have shared anecdotal evidence of some “school libraries” consisting of bookshelves in a hallway.
A number of public schools, such as Henley High School, which has more than 300 students, now rely on local council mobile library services.
The school’s library was scrapped 10 years ago “to repurpose its space into classrooms … after the school determined the majority of its books were nonfiction and that information could be sourced digitally,” according to a South Australian Education Department spokeswoman.
The rapid drive to digitalise education has come at the expense of good, old-fashioned school libraries despite a backlash from parents calling for more screen-free spaces.
The Students Need School Libraries (SNSL) campaign is in its 10th year of advocating for well-resourced libraries in every Australian school as a federal requirement.
SNSL co-ordinator and teacher-librarian Hajnalka Molloy said the decline was due to a range of factors, with poor funding and lack of a school library mandate key challenges.
“Because there’s no mandate, it is left up to site-based decisions,” she said.
“And principals have to make difficult decisions with tight budgets. The library is a dynamic space where students come and play board games, Lego, and generally make and create.
“Libraries have always been a safe space for all students. For some students, particularly those who find schoolyard overwhelming it is a safe, it is a warm and welcoming space.”
Ms Molloy said decision makers were also often unaware of the importance of well-resourced libraries and qualified staff in schools.
She and other advocacy groups such as the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) hope the government will do the same.
“The provision of school library services across the country is inconsistent and declining,” ALIA chief executive Cathie Warburton said.
“There is no national data and no requirement for schools to have a library or to report on whether they have a school library with qualified staff.”
The SNSL campaign is also pushing for a national audit to reveal the true state of the school libraries crisis.
But not all libraries are in decline. The library remains “the heart” of Goodwood Primary School, providing a place where students relax and reflect.
“We don’t have a lot of space so it can get quite loud and the library acts as a haven,” acting principal Anthea Bartlett said.
“It does support wellbeing, being a quieter space to relax and reflect.”
Ms Bartlett said the decline of school libraries was “a shame and a missed opportunity”.
