This article explores the process the Oklahoma State Department of Education went through to adopt the AASL Standards and the professional development opportunities the department and the Oklahoma School Librarians developed to teach their fellow school librarians about the National School Library Standards.

For a librarian with an innovator's mindset, inquiry can be a collaborative strategy for continual growth. When a librarian innovates with their community, radical, human-centered change is possible. According to the author, school librarians see the needs in the communities across grades, content areas, and demographics. The best advocacy is…

In the author's decade-long journey as a school library media specialist, they have witnessed an evolution in the role of education. In today's increasingly interconnected world, going beyond traditional literacy and nurturing informed, empathetic global citizens is becoming a fundamental aspect of our teaching and learning. The United Nations'…

When the author transitioned from being a public high school librarian to a librarian in a small, experiential learning-based independent high school, she learned that accepting the position meant accepting changing types of leadership, changing types of accountability, and changing expectations from a broader group of stakeholders. This paper…

In this article the author explores how a new library classification system might be designed using some aspects of the Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) and ideas from other systems to create something that works for school libraries in the year 2020. By examining what works well with the Dewey Decimal System, what features should be carried…

"Dewey or don't we?" is the question that hundreds, if not thousands, of school librarians across the country are currently asking themselves. Do they throw out what is old but trusted for new organizational systems, or do they continue using the Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) system and make changes and adjustments to the…

Describes changes brought about by a Library Power initiative at an inner city magnet school in Chattanooga (Tennessee). Highlights include: Library Power beliefs; collaborative planning between the library media specialist and teachers; the new role of the library media specialist as an information specialist, teacher, and instructional…

Library media specialists are critically positioned to make a significant contribution to instituting gender-fair practices within a school. This article discusses instructional materials, curriculum, and collection development; gender culture and the media center; sports, gender, and different ways of knowing; and science, gender, and different…

Addresses the Wallace-Reader's Digest Funds' experiences working with school libraries and the lessons learned from the Library Power initiative, including: how school libraries can support national education goals, particularly in meeting the challenges outlined in the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001; current threats to library reform; and how…

Examines an often-overlooked issues of gender equity--the importance of fathers in the development of their children. Highlights include: the lack of male presence in many children's lives; benefit of involvement for children and fathers; timeliness for supporting fathering; and a partnership between libraries, literature, and fathering. (AEF)

Explores current policies and practices with regard to defining, identifying, and educating gifted children with learning disabilities. Suggests that with support, understanding, and appropriate educational intervention, gifted students with learning disabilities can overcome their academic difficulties. (AEF)

The dichotomy between individualism and conformity, the myth that gifted children will make it on their own, and the fallacy of equating equal opportunity with equal potential, ability, and results has fostered a climate in which simplistic thinking, ambivalence, and neglect is prevalent. Awareness of this larger social context can allow for new…

Describes the development of library media centers, programs, and staff at the Medford School District (Oregon). Information from the standards and research used to define roles and responsibilities is summarized, and relevant Oregon state educational organizations are listed. Some of the results of the district's well-defined library programs and…

Discusses why school administrators have not heard about the difference libraries make in student achievement (e.g., stereotypes of libraries and librarians, lack of attention to library programs in teacher/administrator training, the absorbability and invisibility of library work) and how to make changes in order to draw benefits from school…

Discusses the need for library media specialists to develop a voice of authority. Discusses insights of the feminist perspective; gender differences and future characteristics of the next generation of librarians; combining strong voices of authority to lead the charge for equitable, fair access for all youth; and national investment in library…