Academic libraries have reported long-term declines in circulation, reference transactions, reserves, and in-house library materials usage. Increasingly, libraries are perceived as being less critical to the academic enterprise. Are these trends irreversible? Perhaps public libraries and some innovative academic libraries can provide us with some…

Open Educational Resources (OERs) are online classroom content that can be reused, modified, and shared freely. The University of Maryland University College (UMUC) undertook a project to redesign its undergraduate curriculum using OERs in place of traditional textbooks. UMUC librarians have played a critical role in this project, helping to find…

As K-12 schools increase the presence of and access to technology, the role of school librarians is changing. Many librarians have not been prepared by their colleges and universities for the changes demanded by their jobs. In this article, we discuss the skills that 47 school librarians reported having learned on the job as opposed to in…

It has been only a few years since the state of Montana adopted revised standards for Information Literacy/Library Media. In the years since their adoption, the district's curriculum review team, made up of K-12 school librarians, defined the local curriculum directly from these standards. As Montana's school librarians reflect on their past…

Open access textbooks (OATs) and educational resources (OERs) are being lauded as a viable alternative to costly print textbooks. Some academic libraries are joining the OER movement by creating guides to open repositories. Others are promoting OATs and OERs, reviewing them, and even helping to create them. This article analyzes how academic…

By applying just-in-time philosophy to today's school libraries, librarians can fulfill the role of program administrator by continuing to provide the resources students and faculty deserve, exactly at their individual points of need. Just-in-time librarianship is a mindset that could prove unsettling for some school librarians. The main facets of…

This report explains the key role that school librarians and libraries should play in state- and district-wide efforts to transition to digital learning, or the effective use of technology to improve teaching and learning. The report calls for district and school leaders, policymakers, and boards of education to support, encourage, and fund the…

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…

Campus librarians play a central role in conversations revolving around copyright compliance. The sheer volume of information provided within library physical and virtual spaces affirms the role libraries play in current copyright debates. Regardless of the function of librarians on any particular campus, it is important to confront the myriad of…

This article features Buckhorn High School in New Market, Alabama, where teachers weave literacy instruction across all content areas--with great results. Literacy is shot through everything at this 1,350-student school. It has been an obsession for a decade, ever since school leaders tested their students and found that one-third of entering…

Having a child come into the library--whether on his/her very first visit or one of many visits--means that school librarians have the incredible privilege--and responsibility--to make that child feel welcome and to support his/her learning process in every way they possibly can. Whether a child is officially labeled as being "differently able"…

School librarians occupy a space rich in resources and numeracy. They are thus positioned to offer resources and standards that promote inquiry, drawing conclusions, real world connections, and aesthetic enjoyment. Part of their task with teachers is to create those connections with curriculum and students. School librarians' collections are aswim…

After two years of construction, American Samoa Community College opened its new library on September 2, 2003. The library is located on the east side of campus and is equipped with ten computer workstations, four online public access catalogs, three copying machines, and an elevator that is in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.…

Examines three major components of the role of the university library in China: (1) the university as a participant in the educational work of the university; (2) the library as a provider of information that enables researchers in the university to carry out investigations; and (3) the responsibility of the library to society as a whole. (25…

This paper discusses the library services that complement growing university and college off-campus programs and specifically centers on the years that fall between the start of such services and the final establishment of a physical satellite library. Suggestions, drawn partly from the literature and primarily from experiences at the University…