A school librarian may or may not have access to the same students on a daily basis as would a teacher. This could be a good thing or a bad thing. Often, students are drawn to those who are not their "teacher," and a bond is naturally formed. In other instances, students may not seek this bond. Either way, a school librarian can reach out to…

To thrive, a successful school library program needs active participation from all members of its community. As an instructional leader, the school librarian must be the one to raise the bar, not just informing other educators about resources and services, but empowering all adults to become engaged in the school library program. For example,…

School library media specialists have seen more fundamental changes in their jobs and in their roles within their schools than any other group of education professionals. The author started her first job as a school librarian when there were no desktop computers, and card catalogs were the order of the day. Over the course of the thirty-seven…

Which potato chip is healthiest: (1) regular; (2) baked; or (3) sour cream and onion? This problem requires critical and numerical skills in order to read and compare nutrition labels. The question has applications in mathematics and science classrooms but also in teachers' lounges and school cafeterias. It is a problem that addresses the five…

This paper presents selected key findings of the first phase of a multiphase research study commissioned by the New Jersey Association of School Librarians (NJASL) in 2009 and undertaken by the Center for International Scholarship in School Libraries (CISSL) at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. The overall research agenda seeks: (a) to…

Today's school librarians are taking the lead with legislative advocacy for education and their efforts are beginning to have an impact on legislation. Advocates for school library programs in the state of Washington made historic legislative in-roads in 2009 with the passage of Substitute House Bill 2261. Arguably, the most important factor in…

Reading advocacy is an essential aspect of school librarians' role. Using their knowledge of students, school librarians provide reader's advisory, matching books to individuals based on their interests, aptitudes, and abilities. They know that reading skills are an integral part of academic achievement and work to accelerate this important…

School libraries face a challenging future. Substantive claims are being made that they are no longer viable because of the access to vast quantities of information on the Internet and because they are costly infrastructures to maintain because of the increasing cost of print materials as well as the cost of personnel. Research show that students…

Differentiated instruction has been around for over fifteen years, and like many educational practices, the attention to it is cyclical. In this article, the author talks about how differentiated instruction is used to teach reading. The author also talks about the role of library media specialists in differentiated instruction in reading.

Libraries are critical learning spaces and may play a significant role in intercultural education initiatives, particularly in Sweden where the national curriculum ascribes central functions to libraries for learning activities. Unfortunately, the ways in which teachers and librarians may collaborate to leverage mutual resources is not fully…

Collaboration between special and general educators is not only essential; the 2004 Individuals With Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA, 2004) mandates this collaboration. Special educators must forge partnerships with general educators to create inclusive school environments for all students. Although collaboration between these…

The growth of libraries and of technical education in the middle of the 19th century led to the organization of Melvil Dewey's School of Library Economy in 1887. The School offered a technical course to replace the apprenticeships then in favor. Its curriculum persisted as the model for library education through 1920. A break with the early form…

Preferred characteristics in applicants for school library media specialist (SLMS) positions are studied in this article from three perspectives, that of the library school faculty, the library school student, and the school administrator. Surveys were sent to public high school administrators in the states of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho;…

Years as a school librarian have given the author many wonderful and rewarding collaborative experiences with teachers and students, but it has also made her aware of many barriers to the implementation of information literacy instruction. This is what motivated her to develop a survey measuring school community engagement. This article discusses…

Discusses the problem of differentiating librarianship from other information-related occupations. Several models used to define the concept of information are presented; and the relationships of information to knowledge, information science, library science, and the mission of the academic library are explored. (34 notes with references) (CLB)