• Journal of the Korean Society for Library and Information Science
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.95-118
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• 2004

By amending the Japanese School Library Law in 1997, teacher librarians were legally designated for school libraries in Japan. The most important problem of implementing the amended law is how to assigning tasks between teacher librarians and school librarians. It is because that the teacher librarian has not been full time librarian, and school librarian has actually contributed for activation of school library as a professional while there were no teacher librarian. This paper investigates issues and problems related to the amendment of the law, conflicts caused by juxstaposition of teacher librarian and the possibilities of new school librarianship in Japan.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Library and Information Science
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.105-126
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• 2005

This paper investigates the Bunko, the center of Japanese children's reading movement, and its impact on the development of Japanese school library. Paper is consisted by two parts , one subject is the programs and the law made by government which is related to either the school library or children's reading, the other is Bunko movements initiated by citizen mostly mothers who wish to improve their children's reading environment. The Bunko movements started in 1960's and motivate the establishment of public libraries in 1970's, and it has triggered activating the school library after early 1990's. By analyzing the relationships of the two subjects it can be concluded that they are tightly connected each other by emphasizing the function of school library not as a teaching-learning center but as a reading facility. It makes difficult for the Japanese school library to establish the most important function of supporting curriculum.