To gain a fresh perspective as a librarian, go back into the classroom for a year. In reality, this is not possible or even desirable for librarians. Library jobs are hard to come by, and no school would hold someone's position while they ventured off into the classroom. However, a year ago, the author found herself in exactly this situation. In…

Twenty doctoral students from the School of Library and Information Sciences at the University of North Texas met in the summer of 2005 to complete a seminar and online course on "Online Information Services." The class offered the perfect research settings with 10 practicing school librarians and 10 practitioners from other areas of the library…

The announcement of the mandate for Constitution and Citizenship Day shortly before September, 2005, probably led to groans of dismay. Not another "must-do" for teachers and schools already stressed by federal and state requirements for standardized tests, increasingly rigid curricula, and scrutiny from the public and officials. But the…

Today's schools place a great emphasis on encouraging community service. At Raytown South Middle School, Library Helpers and community service go hand in hand. As of the beginning of April, 34 sixth, seventh, and eighth grade Library Helpers have come to the library media center 427 times and given 185 hours of community service. They have shelved…

Engaging students and teachers in middle school media center programs is often challenging. By the time students enter middle school, they often feel that they are "too old" for media center activities. The challenge for media specialists is to find meaningful ways to make lifelong readers out of kids who would rather do anything but read. A good…

As a former elementary library media specialist now in a new middle school library media center, it was frustrating for the author to not have enough time to assist students and discouraging to see the apathy that so many of the students displayed toward books and reading. Middle schoolers are busy with social activities, sports, and schoolwork.…