As the sun rises over the horizon each day, we rarely get the opportunity to consider how the new day contributes to the month that forms part of a season that culminates in the year. A year's progress guides and shapes the development of all growing things. Though not necessarily in a tidy twelve-month cycle, while developing the new standards…

The class visit to check out books has long been a staple of school library programs nationwide. This flexible or scheduled time allows students to take advantage of the library collection and enjoy reading based on their own interests. The library provides the perfect environment for students to self-select books based on their interests, an…

If you stopped by and visited the author's school library in Eminence, Kentucky, it would be difficult to predict everything you might see and experience. You might see first-grade students browsing and finding books to check out, a ninth-grade student using a compound miter saw to prepare parts for a project in an engineering class, a fifth-grade…

By providing a wide selection of high-quality materials that will grab the attention of individual readers, school libraries can play an integral part in initiating and supporting student agency and a student-centered approach to learning. Such materials should not only address and expand upon what kids are learning in the classroom, but also…

As an educator who recognizes the critical role of librarians and the too few conversations among literacy researchers and librarians, in this article the author presents a unifying conception of literacy, a conception to buttress collaborative efforts to support all students. The first section uses the experiences of David (pseudonym), a…

Over the years, the authors have asked their readers and colleagues to join them in creative and flexible thinking exercises to help reinvent or re-energize the work that needs to be done in school libraries. Their work to conceptualize a school library responsive to client needs and global changes erupted from this exercise nearly six years ago.…

The author reveals in this article that her action research journey in the land of evidence-based practice was not her own idea. She writes that she was lured by the profession's finest scholars who advocated for reflective dispositions for practitioners to improve their practice and demonstrate the school librarian's critical role in teaching and…

School librarians, professional library literature, and scholarly library literature tout the benefits of schools staffed with certified school librarians. However, recent reductions in library funding and elimination of school library positions suggest stakeholders do not connect the school library program to positive student learning outcomes.…

Fixed scheduling is well-researched in the school library literature. We know from this research that information skills taught in isolation from curriculum content are not as relevant to students as skills taught in the context of what they already know (McGregor 2006). Constructivism is an approach to learning that posits individuals construct…

Over the last century, school library standards have gone through a number of iterations, and expectations for student learning have evolved. While the school library of today looks and functions differently from the school library of the early 1900s, the vision surprisingly is still very similar. The goal of today's school library is to provide…

School libraries have been in existence since at least the eighth century. However, it wasn't until the twentieth century that the school library was seen primarily as "a source of enrichment for the curriculum, and a means of developing reading and study habits in the pupils" (Clyde 1981, 263). While the formats available and tools for…

The school library profession has begun to develop a reputation for tech-savviness. Several school librarians are nationally recognized technology leaders and present at conferences where instructional technology is at the forefront. Unfortunately, while school librarians have done a wonderful job of marketing their technological expertise in the…

To understand and share the feelings of students one must see the world through their lens. Empathic design includes aspects of empathy and offers a means for a practical application of the concept by encouraging organizations to put themselves into the shoes or situation of their users so as to better understand users' needs. Program evaluation…

School librarians throughout the country struggle to determine how to enact meaningful change that will strengthen their programs. They seek ways to increase collaboration with classroom teachers, to prepare their collections to meet the needs of the new Common Core State Standards, and to offer highly effective programs that prepare students to…

The exponential influx of digital content and mobile devices into schools begs for school librarians to engage in discussions and decision making about the selection, classification, management, and distribution of content ranging from e-books to open educational resources. As information professionals, school librarians should channel their inner…