Describes the three roles of the school library media specialist delineated in new guidelines for school library media programs developed cooperatively by the American Association of School Librarians and the Association for Educational Communications and Technology: (1) information specialist; (2) teacher; and (3) instructional consultant. (MES)

A study of 296 American Library Association members found that although library media specialists (LMS) support the instructional consultant role as stated in the guidelines of Information Power, they lagged in its practice; and LMSs who used flexible scheduling practiced the instructional consultant role more than LMSs who used fixed scheduling.…

This discussion of the responsibility of school media specialists is based on the concepts that the mission of the library media center is one of leadership and support and that, to be effective leaders, media specialists must recognize and support basic beliefs about the goals and objectives of the profession. (CLB)

Describes the needs assessment, planning, implementation, and outcomes of a staff development program for the Nassau (New York) School Library System, which included three components: (1) area clusters for support and shared expertise; (2) training of cluster leaders; and (3) four full-day staff development sessions. (12 references) (MES)

Discusses the concept of the school library media specialist as a teacher and the notion that the school library media center supports curriculum. Textbooks and curriculum, purpose of the school library, and self-concept of library users are highlighted. An 18-item bibliography is included. (EJS)

Argues that current technologies offer unique possibilities for instructional improvement and identifies probable obstacles to exploitation of these opportunities for all students, including female, handicapped, inner-city and rural, minority, disadvantaged, and average learners. A 2-tiered model is presented for the media specialist addressing…

Discusses the role of the school librarian in East African countries and the information needs of a school community. The extent to which the role of a school librarian in East Africa is realized in the areas of financial support, library programs and policies, and staffing is discussed. (11 references) (MES)

Reports findings of a 1988 study on intellectual freedom in media centers in Wisconsin. General status information and factors influencing challenge outcomes are discussed. Data on materials selection policy, media specialist characteristics, complaints, and roles of those involved in challenges are presented. The appendix describes the…

Suggests activities for use by school library media specialists who wish to foster the development of thinking skills by elementary students. Areas covered include analysis and evaluation in choosing books, differentiation between fact and fiction, understanding story structure, contests, categories, analogies, self-generated questions,…

This discussion of the political implications of implementing programs that develop students' critical thinking skills uses the proposals developed by Mancall, Aaron, and Walker as a model. Highlights include marketing the model, extending it to include library instruction in literature, implementing it in teaching reference and research skills,…

Argues that the school library media specialist's instructional consultation role can optimize the impact of information skills, and proposes that the choice of the information skills be dictated by (1) the cognitive requirements of the lesson; (2) the teacher's instructional design decisions; and (3) the learning characteristics of the students.…

Employs the narrative of a school media specialist's experiences in developing an active instructional role for the school library as a vehicle to summarize research findings on the attitudes of administrators, teachers, and media specialists toward the role of media specialists in instructional development. A 16-item reference list is included.…

Discusses the need for media specialists to be able to translate broad issues into specific questions that can be answered at the building level in order to improve school media programs. A series of specific questions for each challenge posed in "Information Power: Guidelines for School Library Media Programs" is presented. (five references)…

Focuses on the planning process described in "Information Power," recently published guidelines for school library media programs. Topics addressed include: (1) the rationale for program planning; (2) benefits and risks of planning; and (3) the steps in planning a curriculum-integrated program. An instrument for assessing preliminary conditions…

Overview of the new guidelines for school library media programs developed cooperatively by the American Association of School Librarians and the Association for Educational Communications and Technology reviews issues such as information studies curriculum, planning, media specialist roles, personnel, and information resources. (MES)