Not all volunteers respond the same way to the same stimuli. The purpose of this article is to suggest several ways to nurture volunteers in a library media center setting. Some might respond best to a printed word of appreciation or recognition in a district newsletter, while others would value a book or pin as a gift. Perks, like allowing…

Today's schools--and today's teachers--are looking for strategies that help them address challenges inherent in ensuring all students meet standards. A key is identifying and making maximum use of all possible resources available in the school. The media center is one of these, as is the media center specialist. Teachers can help ensure their…

Together administration and the library media center form a team that can make a difference in student learning and, in turn, in student achievement. The library media center can contribute to improve student learning, and there is an amazingly small cost that administration must pay for this powerful support. This article addresses…

In this article, the author describes how the tragedy of a fire at Shikellamy High School in Sunbury, Pennsylvania helped her, together with Ellen Boyer, Shikellamy High School Drama/Communication Arts teacher, light a fire under their students. They were able to launch the new Information Literacy curriculum with an 11 period introduction to the…

Steve and Tina Nabinger rely on one another not only as man and wife, but also in professional life... as practicing librarians in Upstate New York. They are librarians in love, who love to collaborate. Together they make up a dynamic duo spawning creative library lessons for their elementary and middle school students in Upstate New York. In this…

The over-riding goals of a quality school-library program are to "collaborate" with teachers, administrators, parents, and students; to "support" building and district initiatives; and to "integrate" the teaching of literature, information literacy, and technology skills into the subject-area curricula. Numerous studies since the 1990s, as well as…

School libraries serving children and teenagers today should be committed to collecting graphic novels to the extent that their budgets allow. However, the term "graphic novel" is enough to make some librarians--not to mention administrators and parents--pause. Graphic novels are simply book-length comics. They can be works of fiction or…

The World Wide Web has come a long way in a very short time. A little more than a decade ago, with the invention of Mosaic, the first browser to display images inline with text instead of displaying images in a separate window, and Netscape, the first graphical user interface (browser), people began to experience a rapid expansion of information.…

As a foundational element of schooling, learning to read and reading to learn is every bit as important in the 21st century as it has ever been. Whether interacting online, doing assignments, taking tests, or social networking, the ability to read and read well affects every part of one's existence and often predicts success throughout life. In…

A 21st-century conception of learning is much more than adopting new skills and integrating them into the curriculum or purchasing new technologies and placing them in classrooms--it is the fundamental shift from a teacher-centered learning environment to a student-centered one. Being an educator in a 21st-century learning environment is a…

As a school library media specialist in a public high school, the author seeks opportunities that will increase her knowledge base and skill level in order to positively influence the learning that takes place in her school. The author recently returned from such an opportunity when she participated in the Toyota International Teacher Program in…

Today's principals must have knowledge of content area standards and be involved in curriculum planning and pacing. They assign strong master teachers as mentors to new teachers. They are involved in what's happening in their classrooms and practice ongoing assessment of the classroom teaching, focusing on improving student learning. Today's…

An analysis of postings on the LM_NET discussion list was conducted to better understand school library media specialist (SLMS) perceptions of the potential effect of structural challenges on their role in teaching Web evaluation skills. Structural challenges are institutional in the form of government regulation and school culture, and are…

The cultivation of curiosity and interest in children for their own pleasure and for their place in the world around them is a significant factor in each student's well-being as well as the future of society. Many educators think that schools no longer provide a curriculum that develops curiosity, creativity, and personal interests in young…

Students' backpacks bulge not just with oversize textbooks, but with paperbacks, graphic novels, street lit, and electronics such as iPods and handheld video games. This book is about unpacking those texts to explore previously unexamined assumptions regarding their usefulness to classroom learning. With a strong theoretical grounding and many…