Excerpts from testimony before the U.S. Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources regarding the proposed Technology for Education Act highlights the need for strong school library media collections and programs in addition to the latest technology. Highlights include funding, expenditures, media centers and student achievement, librarians'…

Examines statistics for school library media centers that have installed both an automated circulation system and an online public access catalog and compares them with other library media centers at other levels of automation. Highlights include staffing, including salaries and experience; expenditures for technology and for print materials; and…

Presents findings from the "School Library Journal" survey of school library expenditures for FY 1997-98. Data include: budget allocation; salaries; library collection; technology; staff and certification; access to basic electronic resources; library policy; planning and communication between library media specialists and teachers; and…

Presents full text of the Educational Priorities Panel Report, researched and written by Robin Willner (May 1985), which examined mandates, services, materials, staff, and use of New York City (NYC) public school libraries. Comments by key people formerly or currently involved in administration of NYC's public school libraries are included. (EJS)

Examines possible barriers to adequate reference services to children and young adults. Topics discussed include the effects of budget pressures and shifting priorities in public and academic libraries; equity in access to information; reference policies; communication between children and adult services staff and administration; multiple service…

Describes the weeding process for children's magazines in a public library. Highlights include circulation statistics; cost effectiveness; online availability; shelving magazines by subject to try and increase their use; and a chart that lists reasons to keep and reasons to cancel subscriptions when weeding a periodical collection. (LRW)

Presents results of the latest biennial survey of school library funding. Highlights include funding sources; expenditures; currency of collections; technology; library staff and training; programs and services; media specialists' experience and salaries; instructional planning with teachers; and district level leadership. (LRW)

Looks at 141 high-performing library media centers, providing statistics on grade levels and regions served, services offered, collection size and local expenditures, expenditures from all sources, librarian/teacher instructional planning by grade and service level, principal communication and service level, program services and communication, and…

Discusses new developments in online library catalogs, including Web-based catalogs; interconnectivity within the library; interconnectivity between libraries; graphical user interfaces; pricing models; and a checklist of questions to ask when purchasing a new online catalog. (LRW)

Presents a regional comparison of school library programs, collections, and services. Highlights include education and training of media specialists; planning; funding sources and priorities; collection size; local expenditures; resources, including access to the Internet, videos, and CD-ROMs; computers and technology; and responsibility for Web…

Describes programs developed by the Chicago School District to renovate and revitalize its school libraries. Topics include funding, other educational reforms in the district, updating library collections, updating librarians' skills, increasing budgets through grants, flexible scheduling, corporate support, relations with the Chicago Public…

Presents results of a survey of school library media centers in 1995 and 1996 that was conducted to examine technology use. Highlights include growth in Internet access, increased CD-ROM use, local area networks, distance education, funding sources, staffing, expenditures for technology, library collections, and librarian/teacher and…

Second survey report (first was published October 1983) presents information on expenditures in library media centers for resources and audiovisual equipment, condition of collections and patterns in collection development, staffing and educational background of head library media specialist, and patterns of use of microcomputers by students and…

A survey of high-tech (n=289) and non-high-tech (n=219) school library media centers revealed that most high-tech schools (38%) are in the South and that most (35%) are high schools. Analyzes patterns in funding, types of technology, automated management, expenditures and collections, staffing and salaries, participation in staff development…

The sixth in a series of "School Library Journal" reports on trends in school library expenditures for program development shows that commitment to the teaching and motivating of reading is in conflict with fascination with technology and that access to books is being seriously curtailed by the deteriorating state of school library collections.…