To determine whether children in public schools are performing poorly because they have never acquired effective study skills, an investigation was undertaken of the library study skills of 467 randomly selected students representing grades 5, 8, and 11 in the Escambia County (Florida) Public Schools. Scores from the Gullette-Hatfield Test of Library Study Skills (1975) were separated into three groups by gender, grade level, and the socioeconomic status of students. A three-way analysis of variance revealed significant differences for all three variables. These measures were also correlated with scores from the Florida State Student Assessment Tests, Parts I and II, and the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Tests, first edition. Results were significant enough to reflect predictive utility relative to the anticipated performance of other students in the population sampled. On the Gullette-Hatfield Test, females outperformed males, children of a higher socioeconomic status outperformed students of a lower socioeconomic status, and effective readers scored higher than poor readers. Proficiency measures of library study skills may serve as a predictor in screening children likely to need special assistance in the mastery of functional skills in reading and verbal communication. A 17-item bibliography is provided. (JL)