As part of the federally-funded grant project "SLIDE: The School Librarian Investigation--Decline or Evolution?" this study analyzed the status of school librarian employment for almost 13,000 U.S public school districts from 2018-19 and 2020-21. The purpose of the study was to learn how the COVID-19 pandemic, which radically disrupted…

During a six month contract with the Royal University of Bhutan, the author was required to develop the initial stages of a first library qualification to be offered in Bhutan. Questions raised by this project included: is a first qualification in librarianship needed in Bhutan? What are the potential student numbers in such a programme? What…

The purpose of this article is to highlight a critical approach for practice, youth participatory action research, that can be used to invite rural youth to collaborate with school administrators, educators, and community leaders to identify and examine challenges, while building upon the strengths of a school and community to address challenges.…

In 2010, the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) were adopted by most states in the US. The authors of these standards called for a shift from previous standards by recommending that young children experience a 50-50 balance between informational and literary reading. For this mixed-methods study, researchers examined the contents of 23 first-grade…

Although teacher librarians play a role as literacy and literature educators in schools, little research attention is given to this role. In addition, the use of book discussion in school libraries to enhance reading engagement is not often closely considered as an educative practice. This paper draws on qualitative research findings from…

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's 2015 Youth Risk Behavior Survey, 34 percent of lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth have been bullied on school property (2017). The challenges are significant for LGBTQ youth with some stemming from local culture and community location. School librarians need to work hard to ensure that…

Research continues to demonstrate that motivated readers read more, yet too often students are not exposed to genres that might motivate them to continue reading. Further, students might not be encouraged to read outside their preferred reading genre. When students are unmotivated to read, they often do not read or do not finish the books they…

Courts have held that minors have First Amendment rights and that those rights include the right to receive information. However, how does that apply in the school setting? The First Amendment prohibits governmental entities from unconstitutionally infringing rights of free speech. Students in public schools, therefore, do have rights under the…

The school district library supervisor plays a pivotal role in supporting, advising, and providing professional development to building-level librarians; advocating for the program; providing leadership; and representing school library programs to stakeholders in the school system and the larger community. To gain a better understanding of…

Principals in K-12 education face increasingly complex responsibilities and must maximize student learning within the boundaries of available funding and staffing. Effective library programs have been correlated to higher test scores and can be a resource for principals to meet improvement goals. The purpose of this Delphi study was to describe…

Libraries provide invaluable services and supports to members of their communities, including school communities. Those with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can receive particular benefits from their libraries, including supports in the areas of academics, social skills, communication, technology, literacy, leisure skills, and even employment…

The 29th Annual Pacific Islands Association of Libraries, Archives, and Museums (PIALA) Conference was held November 21 through November 26, 2019 and the primary venue was the Robert F. Kennedy (RFK) Memorial Library, University of Guam in Mangilao, U.S. Territory of Guam. This volume includes a listing of 2018-2019 PIALA Officers and Board…

A survey of all 50 states and District of Columbia was conducted in Fall 2020 to gain background information to inform an Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) grant project called SLIDE: The School Librarian Investigation--Decline or Evolution? As part of the grant, a school library leader, some in a state government/agency position or…

In Kentucky the school library is regarded as the hub of the school community and integral to teaching and learning. The power of the school library lies in the programming, resources, services, and instruction it provides educators and learners to support learning. Stakeholders come to appreciate Kentucky's school libraries because of their…

This article reports on the quantitative data from a 2017 survey of secondary-school teachers and librarians in Aotearoa New Zealand. Findings suggest that librarians and library services are not seen by teachers or librarians to be centrally involved in the development of information literacy (IL) skills in students, and that teachers may lack…