Description of the new Souhegan High School (New Hampshire), a member of the Coalition of Essential Schools, focuses on the library and information center. Highlights include learning principles of coalition schools; physical layout of the library; collection development, including print and nonprint materials; library technology; and implications…

Discusses the necessity for providing access to microcomputers in elementary education and recommends 48 software titles that would be appropriate for public or school libraries. Considerations for librarians establishing a microcomputer software collection are discussed, and suggestions for choosing preschool programs as well as programs in…

Discusses teenage pregnancy and sexuality and suggests ways in which librarians can help provide access to appropriate and needed information. Highlights include developing policies and procedures for dealing with sexual issues, collection development, organizing information and making it accessible, and a brief teen pregnancy bibliography. (LRW)

Discusses the incorporation of videos into library collections and school curricula and reviews suitable book-based videos adapted from traditional folk or fairy tales, modern short stories, and novels. Topics addressed include interpreting visual images, changes made from the original version, and style and setting. A list of distributors is…

Discusses graphic novels and visual literacy and notes the increases in the graphic novels budget at Downers Grove (Illinois) Public Library. Outlines seven steps to developing a graphics collection. Sidebars highlight popular titles, award-winners, and Web sites for librarians just learning about graphic novels. (AEF)

Urges librarians to weed their nonfiction collections, particularly in the areas of science and technology, geography, and political science, and argues that it is better to send students from the library empty handed than to supply them with obsolete books. Guidelines for evaluating and weeding the reference and circulating collections are…

Discussion of the provision and management of technology by school library media specialists focuses on CD-ROMs in high schools. Highlights include needs assessment planning; funding options; management strategies; long-range planning; and sidebars which include a bibliography of materials that discuss CD-ROM, recommended conferences, and CD-ROM…

Provides an annotated bibliography of print atlases for pre-K through 12, general atlases for under and over $50, Facts on File loose-leaf map collections, and CD-ROM atlases. Lists the top atlases' best bets of print and CD-ROM, provides guidelines for selection, and argues that although print atlases are superior, a good CD-ROM atlas is useful…

Excerpts from testimony before the U.S. Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources regarding the proposed Technology for Education Act highlights the need for strong school library media collections and programs in addition to the latest technology. Highlights include funding, expenditures, media centers and student achievement, librarians'…

Although the computerized reading management programs, Accelerated Reader and Electronic Bookshelf, increase library circulation and standardized test scores, they have drawbacks. Both programs devalue reading, diminish motivation, limit title choice, restrict materials selection and collection development, discourage independent selection of…

The sixth in a series of "School Library Journal" reports on trends in school library expenditures for program development shows that commitment to the teaching and motivating of reading is in conflict with fascination with technology and that access to books is being seriously curtailed by the deteriorating state of school library collections.…

Presents findings from the "School Library Journal" survey of school library expenditures for FY 1997-98. Data include: budget allocation; salaries; library collection; technology; staff and certification; access to basic electronic resources; library policy; planning and communication between library media specialists and teachers; and…

Summarizes a survey of developments during 1993 through 94 in public and private school library media programs in the United States. Highlights include: expenditures for all types of nonbook resources compared to books, reading motivation programs, staff development programs, and the use of Internet and e-mail. Seventeen tables display survey…