The American Library Association says that the arrangement of library facilities should motivate students to use the materials to learn. Believing that changing the library facility can bring about important changes in the program, this author shares how she became a "decorator" and changed the library media center in an elementary K-6 school. The…

America has always been a nation of immigrants, and many school libraries serve students whose first language is not English. In AASL's 2009 "School Libraries Count! Survey," 14% of the 5,824 respondents reported a student population with 25% or more English language learners. Yet 91% reported that less than 5% of their collections are…

In high school students get tied up in extracurricular activities and have little time for pleasure reading. It is true that with rigorous academic schedules they have little time for pleasure reading. Thus began a conversation with a sophomore English teacher at the author's high school. As they were discussing the plight of free reading he was…

The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation has partnered with Baltimore Education Research Consortium (BERC) to complete a series of reports examining the implementation and impact of the Baltimore Elementary and Middle School Library Project (Library Project). This report on the first year of the project examines the experiences of the…

The United States no longer has a workforce dependent on operating machinery and performing repetitive tasks. Educators are therefore challenged to change the way students learn and to provide a workforce that is innovative and that has the ability to design new jobs. To do this, students must learn to be problem solvers, to create products that…

Being committed to continuous improvement means having the will to engage in a journey. The journey's path may be long and unpredictable, but most believe the path is well worth navigating if improvement is the end result. Sometimes the most poignant and successful improvement endeavors begin when people examine themselves from within. When they…

Most school libraries have little funding for books, much less for redecorating. So what can a librarian do to give his or her library a makeover? This article presents a few cost-effective ways to renovate in just a few weeks. These tips include the use of colors, rearrangement of furnitures, signages, and more.

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…

Strategic planning is not only concerned with achieving specific goals for the long-term future, but also breaks these goals into short-term intervals and continually assesses the results. Strategic planning can have an impact on how librarians, especially public service librarians, operate in academic settings. If strategic goals and programs are…

A two-part questionnaire was mailed early in 1990 to all graduate schools of library and information science accredited by the American Library Association to solicit their views on the impact of the changing information environment on the content of introductory courses in the field. The first part focused on the administrative aspects of the…

This conference brought together Canadian library school deans and directors of Canadian academic and research libraries to discuss the education of librarians. Following introductory remarks by Anne Woodsworth, papers presented include: (1) "Curricular Needs," in which Margot B. McBurney summarizes survey results and recent activities…

Focusing primarily on library, information service, and archive school faculty, this paper discusses the significant implications of preparing the trainers in the information professions for performance commensurate with the demands of the field. Topics discussed include: (1) particular needs that must be met in preparing information…

To determine the current and future competencies required by librarians and information professionals, a project was undertaken to meet the following objectives: set forth an idealized framework to be used by the librarian and information professional community; determine a first set of competencies which are validated in the workplace to some…

This overview of the treatment of ethnic minorities in the curricula of library schools includes a brief review of research on sexism, racism, and library services for minority groups; a discussion of library school programs for minority students; and an examination of contemporary library school course content in which courses covering topics…

This issue describes up-to-date management training programs that have been developed for librarians by various institutions and organizations. It covers institutional approaches to management training, programs at library schools, regional and national programs, and professional associations' roles. The institutional approaches are discussed in…