Perceptions of Excellence Teachers of Different Disciplines About the Role of the School Library and Their Ways of Using It: Opportunities to Form Reading Communities in the School

Abstract

School libraries are a relevant resource to support the formation of reading communities and pedagogical practices. However, there is limited evidence in Chile on how teachers use it in their disciplines; therefore, there is consensus on the need to explore this aspect. For this reason, this study aimed to analyze the perceptions of eleven excellent teachers of elementary education of different disciplines, belonging to the region of La Araucanía (Chile), about the role of the school library and the ways of using it in their subjects. Our results show that there are different appreciations according to each subject, but, in specific, it is in Language (Spanish) where its use is most favored. At the same time, we detected three critical nodes at a transversal level that would represent a limiting factor for integrating the library into reading education processes, and thus, advancing toward a reading community.