This article profiles Rick J. Block, the recipient of the 2008 "LJ Teaching Award." Despite his "day job" and a heavy schedule of classroom teaching, Block finds time and intense energy to be the mentor, internship supervisor, and individual advisor to the students who fill every available seat in his classes at two LIS…

These days it seems like school librarians are under attack, if not already an endangered species. After eight years of the No Child Left Behind Act--which, paradoxically, chipped away at many library positions--recent state and local budget shortfalls have led to rounds and rounds of layoffs for school librarians. While things are tough in the…

Last fall, at the Pratt Institute School of Information and Library Science in New York, Barbara Genco, collection development director at the Brooklyn Public Library, taught a course on collection development principles, theory, and practice. "Library Journal" asked her to distill her curriculum down to 20 talking points that address…

Winter 2007 marked an episode of high anxiety in the library science profession, when the latest Newbery winner, "The Higher Power of Lucky," triggered discussion about words and their suitability for young readers. It seems that the entire world now knows that the word "scrotum" appears on the first page of the book. School…

Outlines New York State's plan for all libraries to provide electronic services to their users by the use of computer and telecommunications technology. Recommendations of the initiative's organizing committee focus on: services and funding; equity and ease of access; profession and education; partnerships; standards and protocols; collection…