Public libraries were indispensable resources for newcomers during the height of European immigration to the United States. They were havens for the poor and jobless during the Great Depression and bridges between rural and urban communities during times of major demographic change. An increase in the Spanish-speaking population has inspired…

In this article, the author discusses the new "AASL Standards for the 21st Century Learner"--a map for student learning. The new standards focus on the learner. They outline the content and process that students need to learn now and will need in the future, a process taught through the school library program by a school library teacher. The…

It is evident that many schools across the country are sweeping aside the fun and invigorating parts of education in order to prepare students for standardized tests. More and more classroom teachers are finding that they have less time to assign creative, hands-on projects and tasks to their students. On the elementary level, for example,…

Distinguishes between Knowledge and Information, emphasizes the importance of the distinction and the dangers of failing to recognize it, and argues for defining libraries as "Fortresses of Knowledge." (JD)

The current ARL report summarizes a multi-year effort that captures evidence in the form of narrative profiles as it delivers the message of the value and contributions of research libraries during transformative times. When ARL library directors were interviewed in 2005 and asked to describe a research library in the 21st century, there was…

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…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of The Bridging Worlds Conference which was held in October 2008 in Singapore. Design/methodology/approach: One of the main topics the National Library Board of Singapore, the organising party, wished to address was the roles cultural institutions, such as libraries, may play in…

Each night, around 20,000 people--both adults and children--make the streets of Dhaka (the capital city of Bangladesh) their home. Living amongst the noise, rubbish, and traffic, thousands of families walk down the streets of Dhaka, looking for a safe place to rest for just a few hours each night. Trapped in a vicious cycle of poverty, the…

Since the earliest days of the profession, school libraries have been establishing standards and guidelines to guide and shape school library programs. For the most part, the standards have shaped what programs are and what they do. Rarely has a set of standards focused on the content and process of what school libraries teach students. The…

When Jim Chadwell, the former principal of Northwest High School in Texas, renovated his media center four years ago, he had two things in mind: Starbucks and Barnes & Noble. According to Media Specialist Naomi Bates, Chadwell wanted a place where students could read, do research, and work on classroom assignments, but also socialize. That is…

Over the past decade and a half, free access to computers and the Internet in U.S. public libraries evolved from a rare commodity into a core service. Now, people from all walks of life rely on this service every day to look for jobs, find health care, and read the latest news. As the nation struggled through a historic recession, nearly one-third…

Some of the author's most valuable experiences as a library media specialist (LMS) were not in a school library. Rather, they were on the streets of Chicago, in community gardens, and on the rooftops of buildings in Humboldt Park, where she was hired by the University of Illinois Community Informatics Initiative as a graduate assistant and LMS in…

Libraries are making diverse contributions to the development of many types of digital repositories, particularly those housing locally created digital content, including new digital objects or digitized versions of locally held works. In some instances, libraries are managing a repository and its related services entirely on their own, but often…

By and large, there's more active learning going on in libraries these days than in most other places in this society. (Author)

At their core, XML feeds are content-delivery vehicles. This fact has not always been highlighted in library conversations surrounding RSS and ATOM. The authors have looked to extend the conversation by offering a proof of concept application using RSS as a means to deliver all types of library data: PDFs, docs, images, video--to people where and…