Reviews the profiles of a typical public library, the Redondo Beach Public Library (California), and its nearby community college library, the Schauerman Library at El Camino College in Torrance, California. Discusses similarities between staff in public and academic libraries; differences between the two environments; and like missions of both…

Presents a brief overview of the sociological forces shaping the discourse of disability; examines the part that public libraries have played, or failed to play, in addressing issues of exclusion as they relate to people with disabilities. Focuses on Australia's deaf community and its particular informational needs. The low impact of the…

Teacher-librarians are awash in data. Studies on the impact of school library programs on student achievement have now been replicated in 12 states (more are in the works) with amazingly consistent results, these are added to studies dating from the early 1960s that support the importance of school library programs to student achievement and the…

In March 2003, a total of 394 media specialists throughout the state of Kentucky completed an online survey regarding the professional development needs. The public relations subcommittee of the Kentucky School Media Association Board of directors generated the questions and collected data from the three parts of the survey-demographics,…

Georgia's Choice/America's Choice (GC/AC) is a school reform model, which was adopted in approximately 160 schools across the state to focus on student work and achievement, to align the instructional process and to place emphasis on results. Library Media Specialists (LMSs) are important to school community's spirit of acceptance and should serve…

Calls for proper assessment of students' abilities are on the rise in the U.S. and the No Child Left Behind Act is one example of the efforts undertaken at the state and national level. The role of library media specialists in the authentic assessment of students where they perform tasks that demonstrate their grasp of essential knowledge and…

Securing public access workstations should be a significant part of any library's network and information-security strategy because of the sensitive information patrons enter on these workstations. As the IT manager for the Johnson County Library in Kansas City, Kan., this author is challenged to make sure that thousands of patrons get the access…

From accountability to scientifically based research to adequate yearly progress, the No Child Left Behind Act has had educators scrambling to understand and comply with its daunting regulations. Although President Bush's education reform law is written with teachers in mind, media specialists have an equally important role to play in improving…

Discusses the lack of communication between school principals and school library media specialists, the lack of information principals have regarding media specialists' roles and responsibilities, and the use of the executive briefing to open up effective channels of communication. Explains correlations between "Information Power"…

Describes advantages for school library media specialists to be school board members. Highlights include budget allocations for media centers in new schools; meeting with various lawmakers to advocate for school library interests; explaining the rationale for new technology; working with administrators; and being a change agent. (LRW)

This paper describes the many difficulties of a newly founded satellite branch library to evolve into an independent college library within sixteen years. Changing roles and priorities are discussed, as well as the influence of the accrediting agency on this small California community college library. (Contains 3 notes.)

Reported here are the results of a research project that examined the role of UK public libraries in addressing adult literacy including approaches and issues. Eight public libraries were selected as case studies and adult literacy provision was investigated using staff interviews. The interviews provided support for the role of public libraries…

In this article, the author states that the answer to the question--"How do we respond to the dreams of teachers?''--can be found in school libraries, where professional librarians are prepared to build supportive alliances with teachers. Although school library programs around the nation vary, they all share core values of service to their users,…

In recent years academic librarians have sought to partner with other organizations of higher education to establish areas of mutual interest and to work together to further these areas. Richard Ekman, as president of the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC), has involved librarians in various CIC programs. This past year, under Richard's…

Digital and textual objects are coming under a new kind of scrutiny as scholars are becoming more interested in physical artifacts and their relation to their social and cultural environment. This study of material culture suggests a need to explore the nature of digital materiality, as well as the broader historical context in which electronic…