Establishing a library brand requires positive effects on publics. Five publics identify each library: students, teachers, administration, parents, and community. It takes effort to target each of those five publics with a consistent message about what a library offers that makes it unique. Librarians, scrambling to accomplish the necessities of…

To collaborate is to share--to collaborate at different levels is to share the responsibility for learning with more and more input. In this article, the author lists the academic areas enhanced by collaboration; the characteristics of collaboration behaviors between educators; and the six elements of successful collaboration. She briefly…

In this article, the author discusses her experiences mentoring new library media specialists for each of the past three years. She discusses the following topics: (1) What is a mentor?; (2) What exactly is the purpose of a mentor?; (3) Why mentor?; (4) What are the professional practices of a good mentor; (5) Building a professional toolbox; (6)…

This qualitative study examined the development of the partnership between the American Library Association (ALA) and the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE). The research focused on archival documents from the ALA Archives at the University of Illinois Archives. The archival research focused on documents during the…

Guided Inquiry is a means by which student enquiry can be facilitated in schools, while simultaneously being the vehicle for evidence-based practice. This paper illustrates this twin purpose in two contexts: An overview discussion of the 2008 NSW Association of Independent Schools' Project, led by Dr. Todd, and a 2010 Guided Inquiry at Loreto…

Inquiry does not replace information literacy; it encompasses it. It encourages librarians to consider instructional design beyond information search, retrieval, citation, and use. Inquiry-based learning invites school librarians to step into all aspects of instructional planning, from activating prior knowledge straight through to reflection.…

School librarians often see their collections and programs as vital elements of the reading program in schools. Certainly, school librarians know that library collections filled with rich and varied texts help create eager and adept readers. But what if collections were seen as a teaching resource for writing instruction? Often, today's writing…

The American Library Association's (ALA) "Library Bill of Rights" is important to school librarians because it provides the philosophical structure for intellectual freedom in school libraries and asserts the rights of minors. It states: "A person's right to use a library should not be denied or abridged because of origin, age,…

According to some predictions, half of the students who enter college in the 21st century will fail to earn a degree, and a contributing factor is their inability to find and use information. Academic librarians and college faculty frequently complain that freshmen students are unable to use university resources well. Numerous studies explore the…

Today school library media specialists operate in an environment of daily challenges and controversies. "No Child Left Behind" established mandates that all educators are scrambling to meet. No matter how people feel about the way the legislation is being carried out, it is difficult to argue against its purpose--that all educators must…

Learning in the library should present opportunities to enrich student learning activities to address concerns of interest and cognitive complexity, but these must be tasks that call for in-depth analysis--not merely gathering facts. Library learning experiences need to demand enough of students to keep them interested and also need to be…

"Empowering Learners: Guidelines for School Library Media Programs (American Association of School Librarians, 2009) continues to support the four original roles of the school librarian identified in "Information Power: Building Partnerships for Learning" (American Association of School Librarians/Association for Educational Communication and…

This paper presents a study on the effectiveness of an action research model from the perspectives of school educators as action researchers. The study design followed seven action researchers--inservice teachers and school library media specialists--as they completed research projects in their schools. Data came from three different sources:…

Annie McQueen, librarian at David Starr Jordan Middle School in the Palo Alto Unified School District in California, is used to figuring out creative ways of getting what her media center needs, even though her budget is minuscule. McQueen gets additional support from the funds generated by the couple of book fairs she hosts each year. Plus, she…

Many library media specialists are deciding to return to the workplace after retiring from full-time employment. This article focuses on general information about the trend of retirees acquiring retirement jobs, how and why retired library media specialists return to work, their perceptions of challenges facing library media programs, and advice…