As a recipient of an ALA Libraries Transforming Communities: Focus on Small and Rural Communities grant, the author's school was fortunate to receive funds to purchase books for a special program. With a librarian partner the author ran "Book Bites" during lunchtime. The aim of this program was to provide a platform for students to…

Content expert Maegen Rose details her journey to becoming a school librarian, her struggles in working in an independent school, and how her identity as a Black educator affects her instruction and engagement with her students.

The author has always loved libraries. She has has always loved books and the experience of learning. Her idea of the best kind of library has changed over the years. Encouraging reading is just a part of what the 21st-century school library does. As a fledgling school librarian just starting to learn how to fly, the author wanted to create a nest…

After 13 years as a middle school language arts teacher, the author earned a second Master's degree to become a licensed preK-12 school librarian. She made the transition to the position of K-8 school librarian, then eventually transitioned to the position of head librarian at the local high school. She found herself challenged to create,…

Working with tweens and teens can be challenging. They can be hard to reach and sometimes frustratingly difficult to engage. As a secondary school librarian, the author has often been asked about the philosophy and practices she has implemented in her library to keep students engaged and help them remain active library users. One of the things…

Learning in makerspaces involves doing, playing, thinking, experimenting, creating, collaborating, mentoring, inquiring, problem-solving, producing, inventing, designing, building, and sharing (Loertscher, Preddy, and Derry 2013). Whatever the character of a makerspace, all makerspaces have the same goal: to actively engage students in open-ended…

Libraries are learning hubs that connect families to free resources, activities, and services to cultivate children's learning about topics that excite them. Despite recent technological developments which have revolutionized how we read and access information, libraries continue to evolve in order to serve their communities, especially families…

Ray Palin, librarian at Sunapee Middle High School in Sunapee, New Hampshire describes what it takes to make the school library a space for those looking for "peace and quiet." Palin begins this article by noting that much has been written about the advantages associated with the learning commons model of library design, however less has…

This article will explore the basic tenets of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) in relation to collaborative curriculum development and implementation; provide a case study examination of UDL principles in action; and suggest school library curricular activities that provide opportunities for multiple means of representation, action, and…

This article asks: What messages are school librarians sending to students of color if the only authors invited to visit schools are white? The author argues that bringing authors of color--image makers--to schools to speak to, and work with, students of color is a vital piece of culturally relevant library practice. School librarians must…

Heather Turner is school librarian at Solvay Middle School in Syracuse, New York. She states that "a school library is a space that continues to evolve with the needs of its users. It is unique among spaces in that it impacts the entire school." Creating a space for the needs of all students is a mighty undertaking, and the…

Current national and international research indicates the summer break can negatively affect students' reading achievement. To counter this effect, our primary school with a range of students worked in collaboration with our local public library to plan and implement a summer reading programme. The purpose of the programme was to increase…

Curation: to gather, organize, and present resources in a way that meets information needs and interests, makes sense for virtual as well as physical resources. A Northern New Jersey middle school library made the decision to curate its physical resources according to the needs of its users, and, in so doing, created a shelving system that is,…

A makerspace is a place where makers can envision a project, find an expert, and create something. Libraries have always held programming during which patrons were able to come in and create. The makerspace at the Lamar Middle School in Flower Mound, Texas, is available for students every day, so that they can daily create and play with innovative…

The African American male psyche is a complicated multi-layered mixture of outside media influences, stereotypes, peer pressure, how they see themselves, and how they think others see them. This article describes how school and public librarians can help raise the literacy efforts of young African American males. It cites the need for libraries to…