Explains certification in library media by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. Topics include candidate qualifications, including at least three years of experience; links between the media specialist, library media standards, accomplishments, and student achievement; assessments, including portfolio development; scheduling for…

Reading was, is, and always must come first in the early school years. Without a firm basis in reading, children are going to have a tough time in school and, later, in the world beyond the elementary school doors. Children need math and all the other wonderful things they are exposed to in school, but without some degree of success in reading,…

Encouraging literacy and academic success among English language learners (ELLs) is becoming an increasingly common challenge for educators. In the course of the authors work of training teachers or providing training for implementation of materials, they have found that the resources of the school library media center are invaluable for helping…

Library media specialists have been collaborating with classroom teachers for years and have long been advocates for tying the classroom curriculum to the library media center in real-world ways. Current reading research focuses on the many aspects of learning to read, including phonics and alphabet recognition, vocabulary building, fluency, and…

Language arts teachers and library media specialists bear the responsibility of teaching students how to properly feed their brains. In this article, the author describes how she teaches her students to make wise choices when selecting books. Furthermore, she presents the "Brain Food Pyramid" model that looks similar to the food pyramid but it…

Discussion of the mission and roles of library media programs and teacher-librarians focuses on promoting books and reading, through which students become effective users of ideas. Highlights include reading proficiency; reading advocacy options; motivation approaches, including the ARCS (Attention, Relevance, Confidence, Satisfaction) model;…

Discusses the use of electronic portfolios by school library media specialists for professional development as a resume, an evaluation instrument, or other types of credential documentation. Includes guidelines for building a successful portfolio, including appropriate software selection; audience considerations; and technology skill…

Provides information for school libraries interested in acquiring graphic novels. Discusses theft prevention; processing and cataloging; maintaining the collection; what to choose, with two Web sites for more information on graphic novels for libraries; collection development decisions; and Japanese comics called Manga. Includes an annotated list…

For young teen girls, reading has become hot again. With their appealing covers, witty heroines and humorous plots, teen chick lit books are bringing girls out of the malls and into local libraries and bookstores in search of the next must-have title. These fun books are about boys, friendship, family, fitting in, and growing up. What makes the…

Many state standards require teaching students about award-winning books, which can be a daunting task considering the number of Caldecott Medal winners. This author, a library media specialist at Mill Creek Elementary in Statesboro, Georgia, describes an efficient, creative, and energizing strategy she devised that enabled her to teach the…

In order to evaluate the information literacy skills of students using their high school media center, these authors developed an information literacy rubric to measure the understanding and competency of freshmen students' library skills. Using a format of surveys and instructional units, the study involved four main steps: (1) a "pre-test"…

Promoting reading through a library program does not have to mean a major offensive involving the latest in technology. Little, engaging activities--storytelling, book talking, book displays, puppetry, games, author visits, songs and chants, readers' theater, hands-on centers, and special event celebrations--can have the same effect. This author,…