The importance of selecting one's own texts to read has been well documented as it relates to student reading motivation, reading volume, and overall reading attitude. However, elementary students state that having trouble selecting a book is the number one reason they do not read more. The lack of students' ability to effectively implement text…

The Wood River Middle School (WRMS) serves approximately 600 students a year. The school is diverse, with roughly half Latinx students and a large English language learner population. The library collection boasts almost 16,000 books. The most popular section? If you combine the manga and graphic novel sections, they win the top prize, with 38% of…

Soft or self-censorship is when librarians' modify their book choices, not based on a selection policy, but on the climate. To avoid getting in trouble, they choose books that will not be controversial. The result may be that their self-censorship is a greater threat to school libraries than the actual book challenges. In this article, Robbie…

Adults at school board meetings screaming at elected members about "groomer" and "pedophile" school librarians' books, programs, and displays. Politicians who repeat these claims and pledge to remove pornography from local schools. Public threats of physical harm or loss of livelihood against school librarians. The result of…

Teachers and school librarians know that giving students the freedom to choose what to read from a variety of materials is the most effective way to foster a love of reading. Curiosity, pre-existing interests, or even a desire for connection cause students to reach for books that inform instead of entertain. But a genre of books is often left out…

This multiple-methods two-part study included a collection analysis of the holdings of trans books in 35 randomly selected public high school libraries in one state in the southeastern United States. Also, the attitudes and practices of 37 high school librarians (in the same state but not necessarily at the same schools whose collections were…

In a socially just world, everyone would have an equal chance to become an enthusiastic reader. This article presents a detailed 'asset map' of a successful reading life and investigates three necessary components for creating readers: access, choice and time to read. Access to books, the chance and the requisite knowledge to choose reading…

In this article, the author explores why a school librarian's value should be wrapped up in books. First, reading is a foundational skill, and memories are built around who people are before and who they are after reading a book. School librarians get to be a part of that transformation. Second, books still make up the heart of a physical library,…

What can school librarians do about library and book censorship? First, ask questions. Find out what your principal and your district have put into policy and what your principal's expectations are for your school library. Then, communicate with your classroom teachers. For ourselves, school librarians should work with colleagues, especially other…

This study investigated the collection development process in school libraries and the environment of school libraries as it pertains to the collection of materials with LGBTQ+ themes and characters. The study determined the willingness of school librarians to purchase materials with LGBTQ+ themes and characters and surveyed their purchases of the…

The students at the author's alternative, academic-recovery school come from their base schools and at the author's school are able to rewrite their own school stories. Some of that rewriting naturally happens in the library. Many of the students have experiences at multiple schools, but it is not until they come to the author's school that many…

Children's nonfiction once had a reputation as a lackluster genre. However, the nonfiction books published today are noteworthy for their appeal and quality. This study's purpose was to examine contemporary teachers' perceptions of recent children's nonfiction. Fourteen elementary teachers shared their opinions of contemporary nonfiction for…

Teen literature expert Carstensen, creator and editor of "School Library Journal"'s Adult Books 4 Teens blog, presents this comprehensive resource for serving the reading interests of teens in all types of libraries. Moving far beyond merely offering lists of book titles, this RA guide specifically helps librarians and educators in…

In 2010, the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) were adopted by most states in the US. The authors of these standards called for a shift from previous standards by recommending that young children experience a 50-50 balance between informational and literary reading. For this mixed-methods study, researchers examined the contents of 23 first-grade…

In this study, science trade books from the libraries of 10 elementary schools across the United States were evaluated using a science trade book evaluation rubric for their overall quality pertaining to science content, literacy, and critical literacy criteria. Findings indicate that 62% of the books met the overall science content criterion, 99%…