Soft or self-censorship is when librarians' modify their book choices, not based on a selection policy, but on the climate. To avoid getting in trouble, they choose books that will not be controversial. The result may be that their self-censorship is a greater threat to school libraries than the actual book challenges. In this article, Robbie…

As many states move forward with adoption or adaptation of the College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies State Standards, Common Core State Standards, and/or Next Generation Science Standards, students are expected to be fluent with data: to collect and analyze it, create figures and tables, integrate quantitative…

Learning analytics has been defined as the measurement, collection, analysis, and reporting of data about learners and their contexts, for purposes of understanding and optimizing learning and the environments in which it occurs. The potential use of data and learning analytics in educational contexts has caught the attention of educators and…

A seminal dialogue on evidence based practice (EBP) at the International Association of School Librarianship in 2001 encouraged a worldwide paradigm shift in school librarianship from rhetorical and advocacy defenses to evidential documentation. Ross Todd described EBP as evidence for practice, evidence in practice, and evidence of practice (Todd…

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…

Why is it important to prove that school libraries add value to the school program? The National Center for Education Statistics reports that 20 percent of U.S. public schools lack a full or part-time certified librarian (NCES 2013). In California the ratio of certified school librarians to students is 1:7,374 (California Department of Education…

This article describes a process one librarian discovered and implemented as she observed the changing role of the librarian and the library. Frustration was growing due to the gradual erosion of school libraries as they struggled to remain, with electronic books, video streaming, and databases supplanting many of the physical resources in the…

Discusses action research and its implications for library media centers; measurement and study; and steps in the action research process: clarify research need and define research problem, plan research to provide relevant data, collect and organize, analyze and interpret, report to relevant audiences, and integrate the results into library media…