Personalized learning is defined as "tailoring learning for each student's strengths, needs, and interests--including enabling student voice and choice in what, how, when and where they learn-- to provide flexibility and supports to ensure mastery of the highest standards possible". Personalized learning offers school librarians a way to…

One of the ways school librarians can become a leader in the school community is to design, organize, and present professional development opportunities for fellow educators. Running professional development is a chance for school librarians to become leaders in the school, as well as an opportunity to collaborate with fellow educators, advance…

The pedagogy of library and information science appears to be experiencing somewhat of an identity crisis. Many LIS graduate programs teach librarianship within both a theoretical, academic context, as well as a practical, work-based context. Core courses for the MLIS/MIS degree usually include statistics and research, as well as a course on…

It's the whispering and giggling that tips off the school librarian, and the growing circle of students gathering around a book or computer screen. The students have discovered something, and it's probably not just a funny cat video or a particularly fascinating diagram of a medieval castle. Maybe it's a book about: puberty, an art book with a few…

After 13 years as a middle school language arts teacher, the author earned a second Master's degree to become a licensed preK-12 school librarian. She made the transition to the position of K-8 school librarian, then eventually transitioned to the position of head librarian at the local high school. She found herself challenged to create,…

Using an evidence-based approach, including the authors' own cutting-edge research, this Special Report shares antiracist recommendations for practice that will help librarians in all settings identify and address explicit and implicit racial bias. Librarianship is still a predominantly white profession. It is essential that current practitioners…

Many of the descriptions of public libraries as sanctuaries provide myriad examples of ways in which they serve the underserved: language circles, English language learning and citizenship classes, and access to technology for the homeless, to name a few. In the school library, if librarians are providing sanctuary only to those who feel…

Libraries Without Borders (LWB) is striving to expand access to information and bridge the digital divide across the United States by transforming everyday, informal spaces into places of learning and engagement. Such transformations could be anything from creating pop-up libraries inside laundromats to setting up interactive learning spaces in…

The Internet and the advent of e-books have launched school libraries beyond brick and mortar, allowing patrons 24/7 access to the resources they seek. With these technological advancements, an often-iterated question arises as to the relevance of libraries and librarians now that access to information previously available through print,…

In developing a Virtual Reality (VR) project, the library creates a democratic home for a teaching and lab space for a visiting Fulbright scholar to build energy and community around this new immersive technology. Following three academic quarters of VR teaching, workshops, community outreach, and awareness building, interviews of volunteer…

Although teacher librarians play a role as literacy and literature educators in schools, little research attention is given to this role. In addition, the use of book discussion in school libraries to enhance reading engagement is not often closely considered as an educative practice. This paper draws on qualitative research findings from…

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's 2015 Youth Risk Behavior Survey, 34 percent of lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth have been bullied on school property (2017). The challenges are significant for LGBTQ youth with some stemming from local culture and community location. School librarians need to work hard to ensure that…

Libraries provide invaluable services and supports to members of their communities, including school communities. Those with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can receive particular benefits from their libraries, including supports in the areas of academics, social skills, communication, technology, literacy, leisure skills, and even employment…

This article reports on the quantitative data from a 2017 survey of secondary-school teachers and librarians in Aotearoa New Zealand. Findings suggest that librarians and library services are not seen by teachers or librarians to be centrally involved in the development of information literacy (IL) skills in students, and that teachers may lack…

The field of school librarianship has long called for stronger evidence related to school libraries and student achievement (Stefl-Mabry and Raddick 2017; Stefl-Mabry et al. 2016; Morris and Cahill 2017). This article outlines a systematic method for school librarians to document student learning and provide tangible confirmation of their…