"Developing Collections to Empower Learners" examines collection development in the context of today's shifts toward digital resources while emphasizing the foundational beliefs of the school library profession. Writer Sue Kimmel includes practical advice about needs assessment, planning, selection, acquisitions, evaluation, and…

We conduct a randomized evaluation of a school library program on children's language skills. We find that the program had little impact on students' scores on a language test administered 16 months after implementation. The estimates are sufficiently precise to rule out effects larger than 0.13 and 0.11 standard deviations based on the 95 and 90…

Graduating preservice teachers were surveyed regarding their knowledge of information literacy concepts, the pedagogy of information literacy, and the role of the teacher librarian and school library programs. The preservice teachers felt poorly prepared to teach information literacy to pupils, had a limited array of information skills, and held a…

Have you ever had a teacher say, "I'd love to bring my classes to the library more often, but we just don't have enough time because we have to prepare for our state standardized tests?" This response stems from a misconception about the role of library media centers and library media specialists. In some school environments, the library media…

This paper presents the full results from a 2008/2009 research study examining the application of a "learning environment" paradigm to the school library setting. The preliminary results from the examination of the Fifth Grade science classes were presented at the IASL 2009 Research Forum. We now report the process of completing our…

The national program focuses on support of a systematic information network, but the problem at the school library level is that students and others do not know how to use what is available. Support for such education is needed. (LS)

At a joint meeting with NCLIS, the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) expressed concern that the NCLIS program was not much concerned with school library programs, and might also reduce their federal support. AASL made some suggestions for improvement. (LS)

A survey of 377 independent secondary school libraries or librarians revealed an increased and ever-increasing awareness of the importance of the role of the library within the school. This report, partially presented in question-and-answer form, is based on questions most frequently asked by librarians and administrators. The questions cover the…

In this article, the author shares her experience during her practicum for her master's in library science wherein she had the opportunity to work in a school library that was moving toward combining with a local branch of a public library. Combining the public and school libraries meant integrating these two related yet distinct missions, or at…

This 1973 report is the result of a continuing workshop funded by the Santa Barbara High School District. Its purpose was to formulate goals, objectives, program description and evaluation for effective secondary school library service. The librarians of the high school district drafted this publication. Although initially directed toward the…

This research report attempts to place the evaluation of the library services on a quantifiable, reproducible basis. Since the research design was developed after the project was well under way, no cause-effect inferences can be made. Each of the ten chapters covers one phase of the evaluation design: (1) Librarian's Description of the Project,…

To evaluate the current conditions and perceptions of school media specialists, a questionnaire was disseminated to 700 school library media specialists in six southeastern states. Participants were asked to rank 18 perception items on a four-part scale, having to do with media center mission and use. Most frequently mentioned as "very…

THE PURPOSES OF THIS STUDY WERE (1) TO IDENTIFY RESEARCH PROBLEMS IN SCHOOL LIBRARIANSHIP, (2) TO INDICATE THE RELATIVE IMPORTANCE OF THE PROBLEMS AND NEEDS IDENTIFIED, AND (3) TO SEARCH FOR AND COMMENT UPON EXISTING RESEARCH IN THE FIELD. OPINIONS ON THE RELATIVE IMPORTANCE OF RESEARCH NEEDS AND PROBLEMS WERE GATHERED THROUGH QUESTIONNAIRES SENT…

To measure the effectiveness of the services provided to users of elementary school media centers, a survey instrument has been developed to poll teachers, students, or administrators. Ratings cover nine broad service categories: accessibility, awareness, professional materials, utilization, planning, acquisition, production, evaluation, and…