When she was was first hired as the Scott County High School (KY) librarian, Megan Musick had many lofty goals. However after one week, she was overwhelmed with phone calls, e-mails, and people dropping in. She felt like she was just putting out small fires and never accomplishing anything. Her brain was frazzled because she was going from one…

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…

A few months ago, the largest school district in Texas announced plans to close twenty-eight elementary and middle school libraries, claiming it was part of an effort to combat low test scores and discipline problems. Unfortunately, this troubling trend seems to be spreading. According to the author, multiple studies have shown that effective…

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.

As one of the most culturally diverse schools in New York City, the Metropolitan Expeditionary Learning School (MELS) serves about 850 students in grades 6 through 12. MELS is "A School for a Sustainable City" and a New York City Outward Bound School. MELS uses the Expeditionary Learning education model, which focuses on student…

The high-quality instruction offered in the school library and in collaboration with classroom teachers helps students understand and practice the content standards. School librarians should begin by collaborating within their school building and then thoughtfully expand those connections to neighboring schools, community organizations, and state…

Suzanne Sannwald is the school librarian at West Hills High School in the Grossmont Union High School District, in San Diego's East County region. While working for a couple of years in a corporate setting prior to her current position, Sannwald learned about everything from organizational development and leadership to marketing and customer…

Kelly Klober, the school librarian for Danville's (Arkansas) sole elementary school, provides school library services for the school's three hundred and twenty-five students. With the help and support of the learners, faculty and staff, and the community-at-large, together they have transformed the school library from a place that houses books…

Social, professional, and learning networks have altered the way humans deal with the volume of information that bombards them daily. Traditionally, the library has served as a center of information in our schools. Because the availability and access to information has changed, many institutions, in both business and education, have chosen to…

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…

A growing body of research focuses on the impact of video games and coding on learning. The research often elevates learning the technical skills associated with video games and coding or the importance of problem solving and computational thinking, which are, of course, necessary and relevant. However, the literature less often explores how young…

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…

The joint-use library is a place where people of all ages, interests, and income levels can find items of interest at no personal cost. The mission of A. H. Meadows Public and High School Library in Midlothian, Texas, is to offer what other public libraries provide: educational and entertainment resources to a community. Yet, the staff also wants…