Fulfilling requests for media content in support of classroom and faculty research activities is demanding for academic libraries. Libraries strive to meet requests for media while working with challenges such as intellectual property license contracts, advances in digital communication technologies and copyright issues. This article provides an…

If you are ready to add a Manga collection to your school library, Rudes offers everything you need to know to get started. Understanding Manga, how this genre connects to reading and literacy, as well as programming, and titles by age group are offered to get you started.

The Diverse BookFinder (DBF) and its Collection Analysis Tool (CAT) were co-founded by Dr. Krista Aronson at Bates College, with support from an Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) grant. It was recognized in 2021 by the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) as one of the Best Digital Tools for Teaching and Learning. Through…

As a music reference librarian at the Library of Congress, Cait Miller gets obscure songs questions that pose greater issues for music librarians because music libraries are generally searchable by format, genre, instrumentation, composer, and/or title but not often by lyrical quotation. New crowdsourcing transcription programs, however, give hope…

This group of school librarians from across the country answer questions from "how do you approach collection development," to "share a story of a book you added to your collection that had a meaningful impact on a student," as well as preparing for challenges and the importance of EDI in collection development.

After many years working as a public school educator and school librarian, it is evident to the author that the relationships librarians cultivate with school library stakeholders--students, teachers, staff members, administrators, families, and community members--are the most critical ingredient to creating and maintaining vibrant modern-day…

Krutka reflects and shares her journey to reevaluate her work as a school librarian, through personal professional development, and the action plans created. Krutka offers examples of monthly library themes, updating the collection, reconsidering library signage, and professional development.

Mindfulness has been a hot topic recently as many educators were forced to work from home over the past year and a half. Supporting students using mindfulness is a great way to model self-care behaviors, while being a listening ear and a shoulder to lean on. School librarians have a duty to ensure students find a safe haven in the school library.…

Based at De Montfort University, Decolonising DMU is a strategic initiative working to create an anti-racist institution where all can achieve. Growing from DMU's Freedom to Achieve project Decolonising DMU extends anti-racist work across the structure and composition of the institution, moving away from a sole focus on the curriculum. The Library…

Academic libraries are expanding their collections to meet the technological and leisure needs of their students, but support for accessibility and curriculum can often be overlooked. At the University of North Texas Libraries, the Access Services Department utilized an internal grant to address the accessibility and curriculum gaps in its…

When the author began his career as a school librarian, he took time to live with the collection and the school library the way it was inherited, with systems that were already in place. And during that first year, he observed. That period of observation and living with things as they were allowed him to start innovating and problem-solving from…

Altobelli and Lambert reflect on recent attacks on the LBGTQ+ community and the tendency to assume representing this community in a school library collection isn't necessary. They ask readers to consider, what about learners whose identities a school librarian may or may not know. They offer both LGBTQ+ term definitions as well as collection and…

Beginning with a discussion of how collections diversity has been conceptualized and assessed within the literature, we then analyze four areas in which professional practices and modes of thinking create barriers to collecting materials from historically marginalized voices. Specifically, we discuss how metadata practices can obscure these…

This article describes the partnership between Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) and the Nashville Public Library (NPL) called Limitless Libraries. Through this resource-sharing partnership, learners can access the NPL collection, connecting them to books and other materials outside the walls of their schools. This breaks down barriers to…

For more than 30 years, Peter Senge's theory of learning organizations has influenced the study of leadership and organizations. Researchers have studied various components of his framework: team cognition and mental models, team learning, shared vision, systems thinking, and personal mastery. But few articles have explored what it looks like in…