The National School Library Standards require school librarians to make equity a value that permeates the entire school library community. Creating displays to celebrate diversity is not enough. We cannot allow ourselves to approach diversity as a "social good," in which isolated programs serve marginalized students without challenging…

It's easy to imagine no gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, or questioning (LGBTQ) students are at a given school, and, therefore, no need exists to court controversy and potential challenges by providing LGBTQ materials. LGBTQ students are everywhere, though, and they are at increased risk for a host of issues, including bullying, assault, and…

Students must understand the relevance of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) to their everyday lives to become employable in the rapidly changing, technologically driven economy. The intent of the Common Core State Standards is to prepare students to be college-, career-, and citizenship-ready. The school libraries of today…

The purpose of this article is to share findings from a qualitative study showing the positive influences the local public library and the school library had on the personal and academic lives of 18 low-income English language learners of Mexican descent while they were adjusting to the numerous demands of school in the US. For these students, the…

This study investigated how school and public librarians can become better disseminators of health information and improve health information literacy in small and rural communities in a selected research area. We used the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas as our study area, composed of the economically depressed Cameron, Hidalgo, Starr, and…

For Americans to engage in a global information society, it is critical that they have access to high-speed, high-bandwidth Internet, meaning broadband. Network connectivity opens up a wealth of possibilities to K-12 educators. While it has the potential to result in fundamental changes in teaching methods, it can definitely be used to enhance…

Includes nine papers that were presented at the White House Conference on School Libraries in 2002. Highlights include the importance of books and access to information in today's society; the role of school librarians; the importance of school libraries; how to change perceptions of school libraries; and how school libraries can improve student…

Discusses Internet access in public schools, home access to computers, and the role of libraries in promoting information access and information literacy. Includes useful Web sites that contain information and resources to help libraries implement "Information Power" and information literacy standards. (LRW)

Discusses the key role of the school library as an information commons that prepares tomorrow's citizens to recognize their rights and responsibilities in the information age. An action agenda for school librarians aimed at ensuring that young people will continue to have opportunities to participate in a digital age democracy is suggested. (MES)

Discusses abuse of the Internet as an information source for classroom assignments and emphasizes the need for librarians to teach students and staff to evaluate information sources. Considers content, source, access, and structure, and lists Web sites that have evaluation guidelines as well as examples of bad sites. (LRW)

Describes and critiques emerging issues about Internet access in schools and school libraries. Discusses software products for filtering and rating expressive content on the Internet, reader-response-theory implications for filtering and rating Internet content, ambiguities, and the role of school librarians and acceptable-use policies. (AEF)

Addresses five themes that represent school librarians' overriding challenges for the year 2002: gaining the respect of school administrators; making information literacy a higher priority; recruiting new librarians to meet the growing demand; dealing with fiscal uncertainty in a recession; and the challenge of accessing information in a filtered…

Rural communities in Papua New Guinea (PNG) have been having problems accessing much needed information, while traditional bodies of knowledge are slowly disappearing as the old generation passes on. This paper argues that the school library is a possible agent to spread information. In addition to providing information to school children and…

Considers options for school libraries addressing the dilemma of protecting both children and intellectual freedom when searching the Internet. Discusses censorware, filtering, monitoring, and blocking; reviews 11 filtering or monitoring software packages currently available; and concludes that adult supervision is still the most effective method…

Cites court decisions in several prominent school library censorship cases and discusses the role of the library media specialist in preparing students to meet challenges to their intellectual freedom. Several teaching/learning activities that are useful for involving students in censorship and intellectual freedom issues are described. (eight…