The purpose of this case study was to discover the perceptions of the role and programs in school libraries that support academic achievement in the school community for educational professionals at National Blue Ribbon Schools in the United States. Perceptions regarding the role of school librarianship surrounding academic achievement were…

School librarians will play a crucial role in the support of the implementation of the English Language Arts Common Core State Standards (CCSS). More than ever, to ensure these standards are met, school librarians must work in tandem with classroom teachers. School librarians will be instrumental in providing opportunities for students to access…

The purpose of this article is to share findings from a qualitative study showing the positive influences the local public library and the school library had on the personal and academic lives of 18 low-income English language learners of Mexican descent while they were adjusting to the numerous demands of school in the US. For these students, the…

This essay addresses the effect of introducing a foreign language into the formal education of oral-traditional societies. Highlights include the nature of such societies, language in formal education, reading and language acquisition, developing a theory of high retention and recall, and overall implications for national development and…

This book provides a framework for expanding the school library's function to meet the needs of the linguistically and culturally diverse students, outlining specific strategies that librarians can use to advocate information literacy and information access equality. Six chapters focus on: (1) the emerging role of the proactive librarian and the…

This digest discusses ways that the school librarian in one high school fostered a positive environment in the school library for English-as-a-Second-Language students and broadened the role of the school library in effecting literacy experiences for these students. The digest addresses how one school librarian made the library a welcoming place…

Discusses ways in which library media specialists can help teachers who are using the whole language approach. Topics addressed include reading aloud to children; wordless picture books; decoding; writing; core literature selections; automaticity in reading; independent reading; re-reading; reading across the curriculum; literature as content; and…

This paper provides ideas implemented by one school librarian to improve and encourage the use of the school library by Limited-English-Proficiency (LEP) and English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) students at the school. First, a description is given of how the librarian fostered a positive and welcoming environment for introducing the students to the…

In recent decades, Quebec has been continuously examining its educational values, addressing in particular the effectiveness of traditional educational methods and curricula, role of institutional culture in academic success, and value placed on ethnic integration. Priority should be given to cognitive development and systematic evaluation but…

The disadvantaged reader, characterized by feelings of dependency and failure, can be helped by relevant, interesting, youth-oriented materials. (Author)

Examines the evolution of the Whole Language curriculum, its current theory and practices, and its effect on the school library media center. The similarity between Whole Language and the Montessori approach to literacy is discussed, and the role of the media specialist in a Whole Language library media center is described. (31 references) (LRW)

Proposes that librarians and teachers of English as a Second Language (ESL) form partnerships, and describes roles and suggested activities of librarians and teachers in such a partnership. ESL collection development is discussed, covering funding, selection, foreign language materials, nonprint materials, and the professional collection. (11…

Describes the universality of the student immigrant experience, the acculturation process, the librarians's role in regard to immigrant populations, and successful school and public library responses to the challenges posed by school-age immigrant children. Library programs and services dealing with second- and third-generation immigrants, guest…

Discussion of the use of technology in primary grades focuses on a pilot project in the Orchard Park (New York) elementary schools that used computers to teach a nonfiction unit for English language arts, focusing on the New York State learning standards. Describes the role of school library media specialists and benefits to students. (LRW)

This conference report contains 32 presented papers: "Talking Books for Children in Sweden in Libraries and Schools" (L. Bergman); "At-Risk Students: How Do School (Library) Systems Respond?" (G. R. Brown); "Providing School Library Services to Immigrant Populations" (K. W. Craver); "Bibliographic Aids for School…