This column focuses on reading engagement by first discussing the concept then suggesting ways that teacher-librarians can lead initiatives in their schools towards this goal. While the concepts: (1) reading engagement; (2) motivation to read; and (3) interest and voluntary reading are interconnected, it is important to understand their…

Describes a library media management staff development course to focus on best practices in time management for the school year. Highlights include goal setting and planning; access to information; leadership and advocacy; and customizing ready reference files for useful media management information. (LRW)

Numerous state impact studies show that school libraries improve student achievement and standardized test scores, yet that fact is insufficient to keep financially strapped districts from closing their libraries. Teacher-librarians must be proactive and gather data at the school-site level to demonstrate how valuable they are to students and…

The number of state virtual libraries is rapidly expanding. These virtual libraries might include collections of subscription databases; state weblinks and resources; digital collections of primary source documents; and a state union catalog or links to school, public, and academic library catalogs. Most of these virtual libraries include an…

The American Association of School Librarians (AASL)/Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC)/Young Adult Library Service Association (YALSA) Joint Task Force on School/Public Library Cooperative Activities has been collecting and disseminating information about cooperative activities around the country since the first meeting in January…

The library media center has long been a beloved and specialized learning environment for students, a place rich with opportunities to pursue specialized inquiries, interests, and ideas. In recent years, state and national standards for information literacy and technology have delineated a framework for what students are expected to know and be…

Short Pump's media center sits in the middle of the school because this library is the house that Lynn Henry Thorpe built, while principal during its 1990 planning year and 1991 opening. Thorpe believes passionately that libraries are central to successful learning. This article describes Thorpe's fervor for libraries and its history of innovation.

The need to address adolescent literacy, with a focus on English Language Learners, has created a growing realization that instructional practices need to change. Two recent studies conducted by the National Literacy Panel for Language Minority Children and Youth and the Carnegie Corporation of New York's Panel on Adolescent English Language…

With the advent of No Child Left Behind, Adequate Yearly Progress, and school budget cuts, school librarians have had to become more data driven than ever before. Thinking in terms of student learning and achievement has brought about an interest in evidence-based practice (EBP). In this article, the authors discuss three steps to understanding…

School library media center scheduling, particularly the fixed versus flexible scheduling controversy, continues to be debated in spite of decades of advocacy for flexible scheduling. According to van Deusen (1999), flexible scheduling is "a plan wherein classes meet for instruction in the library resource center when they have a specific need…

Information skills instruction is a fundamental and vital part of K-12 education in the 21st century. "The Handy 5", a proven effective model for planning, teaching, and assessing information skills instruction, was written to help library media specialists and teachers to collaborate more effectively in the teaching of information skills. This…

Encouraging literacy and academic success among English language learners (ELLs) is becoming an increasingly common challenge for educators. In the course of the authors work of training teachers or providing training for implementation of materials, they have found that the resources of the school library media center are invaluable for helping…

As a result of an Iowa state mandate for budgeting of school library media centers, the publication "Planning the School Library Media Center Budget" was updated in 1991. Since that time, the Uniform Financial Accounting's document has phased in a management information system which includes different numbers and dimensions from those…

Educators need to teach the lessons of the Holocaust in order to demonstrate the consequences of racism carried to its most frightful extreme. This paper highlights autobiographies, diaries, journals, and first person narratives in children's and young adult libraries that can be included in library programs. Textbooks used in American schools are…

This paper describes a study designed to determine the status of the vertical file in public high school libraries in one Illinois county. The purpose of the study was to examine how vertical files were maintained, promoted, and used in the libraries. The data were collected via telephone and on-site interviews. All 22 library media centers in…