This monograph looks at the need for distance education technology as a result of demographic and socioeconomic changes and examines the role of the school library media program in facilitating the changes in education resulting from the utilization of distance education technology. The first section presents the mission of the school library media program as envisioned in guidelines for library media specialists published by two national professional organizations in 1988; discusses four challenges inherent in that mission; and gives examples of current responses to these challenges. Section 2 deals with changes in demographics that the educational system needs to address as the year 2000 is approached, and the third section provides a synopsis of the use of distance education technology and how it is being used to address the changing needs of students and staff. Section 4 reviews how school districts in northeastern Wisconsin are using distance education technology to enhance learning opportunities for students and the community and to expand opportunities for staff development, staff communication, and resource sharing. Sections 5 and 6 deal with the role of the library media specialist in integrating distance education programming into elementary and secondary education. A map of instructional television sites in Wisconsin and a Satellite Educational Resources Consortium fact sheet are appended. (93 references) (MES)