Every day in school libraries nationwide, students' privacy rights are under attack, but many principals, teachers, parents, and community members do not know much about these rights. Even though school librarians are among the strongest proponents of privacy, the subject is rarely discussed, probably because state and federal laws can be…

Despite the funding challenges nearly all school libraries face, many media specialists are optimistic about the role of technology in the school library, according to "School Library Journal's" ("SLJ") 2011 Technology Survey. But in spite of the general optimism, others point to some significant obstacles: technological innovations are often…

At its heart, social media has less to do with technology or a particular application than forging connections with others. How one creates those connections is the question the author posed to some insightful social media users. From a publisher of multiplatform books and a passionate educator to an Internet pioneer and a children's book author,…

In this article, the author describes her new approach to collection development. To fulfill her dream of each kid walking out of the library with the book they asked for, she enlisted the help of her students. Once they realized that their suggestions were taken seriously, the more they were willing to take the time to tell her about the great…

In this article, the author discusses how to transform a down-on-its-luck library into an irresistible place for boys. She suggests to begin with vision, energy, and a lot of hard work. Based on the author's 30-plus years of experience working with students, she knows boys respond well to a scholarly environment. In fact, it is one of the ways…

For children's book lovers, the world was infinitely glorious on Monday, January 26, 2009, as the winners of the American Library Association's (ALA) awards were announced at the midwinter meeting in Denver. But two days later, a drunk driver slammed into a taxicab, killing two children's librarians as they were on their way to the Denver…

Homeschooling families are everywhere these days. They're on television, giving interviews after winning national spelling bees. They're in the paper, profiled after making Olympic trials. They're on the radio, talking about the growing popularity of homeschooling as an educational choice. And they're definitely in libraries. According to a 2003…

The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), announced its 2010 annual lists of Fabulous Films for Young Adults and Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults ages 12 to 18. This article presents the list of titles that were released in January 2010 during the ALA Midwinter Meeting in Boston,…

Toys don't belong in the library. That's probably what some people still think. But the author's library outside Philadelphia was having such a hard time attracting boys who had outgrown storytime that he and his colleagues decided to try something new. So his school started a Lego club. Since their June 2008 kickoff, they've been amazed by how…

The Notable Children's Videos, Recordings, and Great Interactive Software for Kids lists are compiled annually by committees of the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA). This article presents the lists for 2009 that were released in January during the ALA Midwinter Meeting in…

Librarians love books. They love the feel, the smell, and the look of the page. However, physical volumes have kept the author from reaching the ideas and stories that he wants. An impenetrable pile of pages in linear order, books are difficult to decode, search, and rearrange, and one of the worst information management systems he has…

Screencasts are videos that record the actions that take place on the computer screen, most often including a narrative audio track, in order to demonstrate various computer-related tasks, such as how to use a software program or navigate a certain Web site. All that is needed is a standard microphone and screen recording software, which can be…

The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), announced its 2009 annual lists of Fabulous Films for Young Adults and Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults ages 12 to 18. This article presents the titles that were released in January 2009 during the ALA Midwinter Meeting in Denver,…

The author describes how she was able to broadcast her whereabouts, her moods, and her desire to connect with friends for dinner to over 150 conference attendees simultaneously, using her mobile phone through a service called Twitter. Twitter enables social butterflies like the author to instantly publish brief messages to a network of contacts.…

Microsoft and Google have very different business models. Microsoft believes that if they build it, people will come--and buy their products. Google's approach is different: if they build it, people will integrate it into their lives. People use Microsoft's product on Microsoft's terms, but people use Google products on "their" terms. In this…