In 1978, the Board of Cooperative Educational Services, a consortium of public school districts in upstate New York, was sued by the Encyclopedia Britannica Educational Corporation because the consortium taped educational programs broadcast on local public television stations and provided copies to local schools. This case, known as…

In this article, the author describes her efforts to collect perspectives about the topic of most appropriate job title for school library administrators. The author presents the results of a pilot study (with 31 respondents) and a national study (with 213 respondents) conducted to answer two research questions: (1) "What do future school…

Book displays have always been an important part of the library field. However, despite all the time and effort, children do not read them. In this article, the author stresses the need to stop promoting reading. Instead, she encourages library media specialists to help children find reading material they will be eager to read.

This article takes a retrospective look at a Center for Digital Literacy (CDL) program called E*LIT which stands for "Enriching Literacy through Information Technology." E*LIT was created by CDL director, Dr. Ruth V. Small. Every year for the past six years, the E*LIT Competition has inspired students in and around Central New York to…

Teaching in urban school settings is an experience filled with challenges and rewards. For library media specialists serving in urban schools, additional roles of information specialist and instructional partner (AASL/AECT, 1998) increase those challenges. In this article, the authors describe factors that differentiate work in urban schools and…

These days it seems like school librarians are under attack, if not already an endangered species. After eight years of the No Child Left Behind Act--which, paradoxically, chipped away at many library positions--recent state and local budget shortfalls have led to rounds and rounds of layoffs for school librarians. While things are tough in the…

In recent years, a number of statewide research studies have been conducted to determine the impact of school library media centers and their school library media specialists (SLMSs) on student achievement. Research studies in eighteen states have clearly established the relationship between well-staffed, well-funded school libraries on student…

In this article, the author shares how she follows the policy developed by the Library Advisory Council (LAC) when she acquires new books for her school library. LAC is a group of fifty or so teaching librarians from all five New York City boroughs. They meet four times a year to help the Office of School Library Services focus on issues important…

This article reports the results of the second phase of a three-phase study on the impact of the New York State's school libraries' services and resources on student achievement and motivation. A representative sample of more than 1,600 classroom teachers, students, and school library media specialists (SMLSs) from 47 schools throughout New York…

Students from Far Rockaway High School are just back from spring break, and media specialist Geri Ellner is busy getting ready for her first class. She's already pulled out a copy of Anthony Browne's award-winning picture book "The Shape Game" (Farrar, 2003), and now she's patiently cuing up a Disney video of "Pocahontas" on…

Winter 2007 marked an episode of high anxiety in the library science profession, when the latest Newbery winner, "The Higher Power of Lucky," triggered discussion about words and their suitability for young readers. It seems that the entire world now knows that the word "scrotum" appears on the first page of the book. School…

This is a collaborative column by K-12 library media specialists and academic librarians who write about the motivational strategies that have worked for them in teaching IL skills. Students who do not raise their hand to answer a question and are reluctant to learn something new often suffer from something called "fear of failure." They…

THE REPORT PROVIDES DETAILED TECHNICAL GUIDANCE IN MAKING DESIGN DECISIONS. IT IS DIRECTED TO PERSONNEL CONCERNED WITH THE DETAILS OF DESIGN SUCH AS ARCHITECTS, ENGINEERS, SUPPLIERS, AND MEDIA SPECIALISTS. THE DATA OFFER GUIDANCE IN THE PROGRAMING AND PLANNING OF EDUCATIONAL FACILITIES AND INFORMATION ON (1) ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS AND FURNISHINGS,…

Data are presented from a survey of each of 30 New York State community colleges: Adirondack, Broome, Cayuga, Clinton, Columbia-Greene, Corning, Dutchess, Erie/City, Erie/North, Erie/South, Finger Lakes, Fulton-Montgomery, Genesee, Herkimer, Hudson Valley, Jamestown, Jefferson, Mohawk Valley, Monroe, Nassau, Niagara, North Country, Orange,…

THE CONTENTS OF THIS GUIDE PRESENTED A BODY OF MATERIAL TO AID THE DESIGN PROFESSIONS IN EDUCATIONAL AND ARCHITECTURAL DECISIONS. IT IS DIRECTED TO ARCHITECTS, PLANNERS, DESIGN SPECIALISTS, AND PLANNING COMMITTEES. DATA HAVE BEEN COLLECTED AND ORGANIZED FOR THE PROGRAMING AND PLANNING OF EDUCATIONAL FACILITIES. IT PROVIDES INFORMATION ON--(1) THE…