Openly licensed educational resources (OER) are an untapped opportunity for free, quality resources to expand a school library collection. As with any library asset, they must be evaluated to ensure that they are in fact free and openly licensed. The Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) has created an OER repository and has learned…

Social, professional, and learning networks have altered the way humans deal with the volume of information that bombards them daily. Traditionally, the library has served as a center of information in our schools. Because the availability and access to information has changed, many institutions, in both business and education, have chosen to…

The Internet and the advent of e-books have launched school libraries beyond brick and mortar, allowing patrons 24/7 access to the resources they seek. With these technological advancements, an often-iterated question arises as to the relevance of libraries and librarians now that access to information previously available through print,…

How does an association prioritize the needs of its members as it introduces new professional standards? What strategies ensure a smooth transition from one set of standards to another? How can a school librarian use new standards to spark and maintain continuous professional growth? One way to ease the transition and prioritize the needs of…

Elementary school libraries are not often thought of as suitable spaces for learning commons because most elementary school libraries operate on a fixed schedule, allowing only one class at a time to use the space. Elementary school libraries are too often the drop-off location for a specific class during the classroom teacher's planning period.…

School libraries have been in existence since at least the eighth century. However, it wasn't until the twentieth century that the school library was seen primarily as "a source of enrichment for the curriculum, and a means of developing reading and study habits in the pupils" (Clyde 1981, 263). While the formats available and tools for…

A makerspace is a physical place in the library where informal, collaborative learning can happen through hands-on creation, using any combination of technology, industrial arts, and fine arts that is not readily available for home use. The underlying goal of a makerspace is to encourage innovation and creativity through the use of technology-to…

The exponential influx of digital content and mobile devices into schools begs for school librarians to engage in discussions and decision making about the selection, classification, management, and distribution of content ranging from e-books to open educational resources. As information professionals, school librarians should channel their inner…

Multicultural and ethnic literature is essential to people of all backgrounds and ages. It enables individuals from minority cultures to "learn, know, celebrate, and promote their own cultures," and it enables people from mainstream cultures to better understand diverse people. Almost one-third of Americans (30.6 percent) were people of color in…

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…

Discusses the Library of Congress's American Memory Historical Collections, primary sources, available at http://memory.loc.gov. Describes the American Memory Fellowship Program, a year-long professional development opportunity with two purposes: to have teachers, librarians and others create original teaching materials that draw upon American…

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 how school nurses and school library media specialists can work together to help adolescents cope with chronic illnesses. Topics include educating other students; Web sites devoted to illness and youth; keeping material on the shelves up-to-date; and affective aspects that can be addresses in literature. (LRW)

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.…

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)