In spring 2024, the Multicounty Multitype Library Systems, supported by State Library Services, conducted a census of K-12 public and charter schools in Minnesota to learn about the status of school libraries. A total of 1,528 out of 1,777 eligible schools completed the census. The findings can help legislators, school staff, librarians, and…

In an era where information is both abundant and increasingly complex, school library media centers (LMCs) serve as hubs for learning, creativity, and critical thought. Yet, little to no data exist describing the state of school LMCs in Minnesota. During the 2023 Minnesota legislative session, Minnesota's Multicounty Multitype Library Systems…

Students look to their school library to find new books, seek information, creatively solve problems, and use technology. School libraries play an essential role in students' academic growth and development of lifelong learning skills. All of the wonderful resources and services that school libraries provide are easily accessible to the population…

This article explores the power and potential of a role-play collaborative argument project centered on a literary work that has been banned or challenged in schools. In the project, students read a banned or challenged novel as they prepared to play the role of a community stakeholder (parent, teacher, librarian, minister, etc.) at a simulated…

For those who are experiencing a lack of creative inspiration within their school library program but are ready to "turn a page" in their career or school library program, they may head to Minneapolis to attend one of the many great preconference workshops. This article presents and describes preconference workshops design to rid…

There is more than snow in Minnesota: Summer brings the Aquatennial with sandcastle competitions, milk-carton-boat races and a torchlight parade, and the St. Paul Winter Carnival has ice carving and snow sculptures and another torchlight parade. But natives and visitors alike note that their favorite season is autumn, which in Minnesota brings…

The major purpose of this study is to identify the information needs of all Minnesotans involved in some post-secondary educational pursuit and to determine if existing resources and services meet those needs. The study report consists of two parts. The first section includes analysis of library data for the 1967-68 year in the areas of available…

Minnesota's libraries provide public access to information technologies and teach the skills necessary to use them. The challenge is to leverage these organizations, largely funded and nurtured at the local level, so that they will be an effective and efficient part of a statewide information infrastructure. In this report, the Minnesota Library…

In late 1981 and early 1982, a total of 775 public secondary school librarians, 507 elementary school librarians, and 324 public librarians in Minnesota were sent questionnaires asking about instances of censorship in their institutions from 1979 to 1981, and about their library selection and reevaluation policies. Response rates of 29 to 32% were…

Reports results of a 1990 survey of the progress Minnesota school library media centers made toward meeting Information Power guidelines for automating circulation, reference services, and the catalog. Order of automation, relationship between school size and automation, media specialists' satisfaction with new systems, and reasons for not…

Summarizes activities of state organizations and associations responsible for school library media programs from Arizona, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Alabama, Connecticut, Kansas, Rhode Island, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Michigan, and New Jersey. (LRW)

Between 1998 and 2003, a Minnesota educational reform movement named the Profile of Learning (POL) generated high levels of school library media center use in high schools and contributed to the fulfillment of the instructional role of the school library media specialist (SLMS) as described in "Information Power". POL consisted of…

A survey of school media centers in Minnesota elementary and secondary schools was undertaken to determine the extent of the progress they have made towards meeting the Information Power guidelines for automation. Two hundred schools were selected to receive an eight-page questionnaire, and 57% responded. The results show that Minnesota library…

Department of Education has created a report card with a star rating system, which would assist parents in evaluating the local schools in Minnesota. Schools should not concentrate only on the stars that are test-based but should also consider other criteria like the quality of the library program.

Discusses a study of combined school/community libraries in eight small communities in South Dakota and Minnesota. Students get more time to use the library, enhanced collections and research opportunities, and improved technological access. The community gets longer operating hours, a better reference section, access to technology, and a…