You can ensure that your school library is a place where teens feel seen, heard, and inspired. "Growing Teen Engagement" is your essential resource for transforming your secondary school library into a thriving, learner-centered community. Whether you're looking to inspire creativity, encourage teamwork, or build emotional resilience,…

In this article, school librarians from Henrico County Public Schools in Virginia [the AASL 2011 National School Library Programs of the Year (NSLPY) Award recipient] share some of their experiences caring for students in their libraries.

In "What Defines an Exemplary School Librarian," Jami Jones and Gail Bush make a strong argument that professional disposition is the key to a successful library media program. The authors emphasize the relevance of INTASC standards which specify that teachers must promote "positive social interaction and (develop) healthy and helping…

School librarians help train students to be effective acquirers, evaluators, and users of ideas and information--a necessary skill for survival in the information-rich society. From this stance, school librarians are definitely caregivers. But the author argues that this does not get to the heart of the matter: Librarianship usually translates…

A school librarian may or may not have access to the same students on a daily basis as would a teacher. This could be a good thing or a bad thing. Often, students are drawn to those who are not their "teacher," and a bond is naturally formed. In other instances, students may not seek this bond. Either way, a school librarian can reach out to…

Mentorship is essential to the health of any institution; sharing knowledge and experience transforms managers into stronger leaders and helps less senior employees improve their job skills. Noted reference librarian and researcher Lee offers librarians at all levels both her experience and her ideas about establishing a formal mentoring process…

This study investigated how school librarians perceive their status within the school by looking at factors suggested by the literature as either impacting on, or impacted by, status: their relationships with their colleagues and supervisors, their role within the school, job satisfaction, and views on their careers and their training. Most…

One calls people on the street strangers if he or she doesn't know who they are, so students whom the librarian has never dealt with are just that, strangers. When the school librarian gets involved in collaboration, most of the time they don't see the student's Individualized Education Programs (IEPs), language barriers, or anything else that…

The expectations placed on library instruction programs by the Association of College and Research Libraries are high. Many universities also include information literacy competencies as learning objectives to be assessed at the institutional level. With those standards in mind, it is becoming increasingly difficult to adequately educate students…

The article explores the concept of baby boomers as a "crossover" generation, one that embodies characteristics of previous and later generations. The context is the retirement of the baby boomers and its potential impact on the public library. Ethnographic method within a constructivist framework was used, employing the techniques of…

This article provides a critical analysis of some of the key theories and assumptions that underpin prevailing approaches to the concept of "information user" in contemporary information research and professional practice, suggesting that they continue to reflect a tacitly systems-oriented focus. The author draws on the Sense-Making…

In this report, we review social science and library studies literatures on librarian-faculty relations, and present a preliminary sociological analysis of these relations. We find an asymmetrical disconnection between both groups: Librarians and faculty identify a disconnection that keeps the two separated, but only librarians view this…

In this article, the author shares some tips for the new or not-so-new library media specialists. During the first week of school, the library media specialist's life will be filled with teacher work days, mandatory meetings, piles of stuff with no apparent purpose, and a line of teachers and other staff who want something from the library. There…

This book is designed to help library and information specialists and students tackle communication challenges ranging from public speaking to listserv posting. All types of communication are covered--conducting interviews; delivering speeches; leading group discussions, workshops, and conferences; designing newsletters, handouts, and brochures;…

Presents a selective survey of cognitive assumptions informing experiential variation as a platform for consideration of contextual information seeking and the implications for providers of information. Information professionals must bridge intellectual and experiential differences in delivering needed information. Librarians must be literate…