Over the last few decades, school libraries have undergone a tremendous transformation. The technological age has ushered in a new type of library where online databases are king for research, students are issued their own laptops in one-to-one districts, and the integration of technology into the school environment has become a major initiative…

School and public librarians both strive to offer resources and services to their communities, often with limited budgets. School and public libraries offer different business hours, diverse resources, different online databases, unique facilities and makerspaces, and varying services. Both also collect materials and provide programming for many…

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 author has always loved libraries. She has has always loved books and the experience of learning. Her idea of the best kind of library has changed over the years. Encouraging reading is just a part of what the 21st-century school library does. As a fledgling school librarian just starting to learn how to fly, the author wanted to create a nest…

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…

Learning in makerspaces involves doing, playing, thinking, experimenting, creating, collaborating, mentoring, inquiring, problem-solving, producing, inventing, designing, building, and sharing (Loertscher, Preddy, and Derry 2013). Whatever the character of a makerspace, all makerspaces have the same goal: to actively engage students in open-ended…

Matthew Lighthart and Creedence Spreder, librarians, describe a partnership that proved successful for the school and library in their community of Pungo, nestled in Virginia Beach's vast but sparsely populated agricultural center. This community was facing a dual challenge: their only elementary school (Creeds) was in dire need of renovation and…

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…

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.…

Proud Readers Own What's Learned (PROWL) was developed out of the need to find an engaging, creative process for readers to express what they have read and, frankly, to let teachers see that the students actually read the books. In other more prescriptive reading programs students can go through the motions and actually pass tests without having…

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…

School librarians in the Mesquite Independent School District (ISD) have been operating solo on their campuses since the 1970s. Campus clerical assistance in the school libraries was a luxury that they couldn't afford. Since the district's vision was of a teaching librarian, a Library Processing Department was established in 1972. As years passed,…

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…