Presents strategies that students can use to evaluate information and recommends ways to integrate them into the curriculum. Highlights include evaluation as a critical thinking skill; current research about the evaluation process of sophisticated information users; and recommendations for school library media practice based on theoretical and…

Explores student motivations for reading and how school library media specialists can facilitate long-term reading motivation. Discusses extrinsic and intrinsic motivations; media center-sponsored book celebrations; library instruction; curricular integration; and self-expression. A sidebar relates the experiences of an elementary school…

Discussion of collaboration between classroom teachers and school library media specialists focuses on programs at an elementary school in the Katy Independent School District (Texas). Topics include knowing the faculty; knowing the curriculum; providing needed materials and services; cooperation with public librarians; and recognition of shared…

Discusses the alignment of resources, including textbooks, instructional materials, and school library media center resources, to the curriculum based on experiences in North Carolina. Explains resource alignment and considers assessing the library collection, discarding materials, identifying gaps in curriculum support, writing a collection…

Describes the school library media program in New Trier Township High School (Illinois) that uses collaboration to respond to the needs of students, staff, school, and the community. Highlights include collaboration to meet curricular needs; staff development for teachers and support staff; supporting school values; and community programs. (LRW)

Considers the roles of teachers and school librarians in comparison to J. K. Rowling's muggles and wizards in the Harry Potter books. Presents a technology assessment tool that asks teachers what skills they would like the library to provide to support curriculum, including reference, technology, literacy, and collaborative learning, and provides…

Discussion of the responsibility of school library media specialists for collection development and management focuses on the need to include materials on women's studies. Highlights include justifying collection expenditures; collection development guidelines; identifying relevant materials by genre; and the media specialists' curricular role.…

Describes strategies used by one school library media specialist to meet challenges of the standards-based reform movement, which often leads to less collaboration between classroom teachers and media specialists due to time constraints. Topics include working with the curriculum coordinator; providing resources that meet curriculum needs,…

Discusses the process of weeding, updating, and building a school library media collection that supports the state curriculum. Explains resource alignment, a process for using the shelf list as a tool to analyze and align media center resources to state curricula, and describes a five-year plan and its usefulness for additional funding. (LRW)

Presents six conversations between school library media specialists and teachers that are based on true stories involving collaboration. Discusses pressures to relinquish individuality in lesson plans; planning; curriculum development; and child development classes and preschool programs. (LRW)

Describes an integrated curriculum project for fourth graders in a Hawaiian elementary school with a highly transient population. The project, ALOHA (Active Learners on Hawaiian Adventures) was developed to motivate students in learning about Hawaii's culture and ecosystems. Cooperation between the library media specialist, technology coordinator,…

Explains curriculum mapping, a computerized method for use in educators' decision-making in elementary and secondary education. Topics include the role of media specialists with information literacy, collection development, and curriculum support; identifying gaps in skills and assessment; aligning assessments with standards; and timeliness.…

Provides two examples of district-wide assessments from South Brunswick (NJ) schools in which library media specialists and teachers collaborate to make complex learning visible. Describes a sixth grade assessment that addresses library media skills and integrating research skills into the curriculum; and a freshman project that requires an…

Discusses the role of the school library media specialist in standards-based learning. Topics include standards-based assessment; information literacy standards; collaboration with classroom teachers; benchmarks and indicators for student performance; leadership in a standards-based climate; and the use of technology to support curriculum and…