Public libraries are a national reading service, supporting reading and literacy throughout life. As a free local resource, they are particularly powerful in supporting the development of literacy and reading skills in disadvantaged communities. Libraries have a unique and powerful role to play in raising literacy skills, vital for individuals and…

Literacy development in the early childhood and elementary school years is critical for learning and the acquisition of other skills essential for educational achievement. Although schools typically assume the primary responsibility in developing children's literacy and reading skills, a holistic approach to overall literacy development requires…

Open large-scale datasets (LSDS) and data visualization technologies are new cultural tools that have potential to inform public dialogue and learning about important socioeconomic and scientific matters, particularly if the data is used to consider both personal and shared experiences. This paper reports on a design study in which diverse middle…

Trudy Fletcher goes to her town's public library during the noon hour and is faced with an angry group of teenagers crowding the entryway. She enters the library and learns that the library staff members are sheltering a student from a rival school who is being threatened with assault by local students over a previous violent incident. Joyce…

This article investigates learning and teaching in library makerspace programs. Given the recent trend for libraries and makerspaces to define themselves in terms of learning, the findings of this article are particularly relevant to current initiatives. The article first reviews pedagogical theories which are referenced in literature connected…

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…

Dissemination of news and information is often challenging in small, rural communities, where sprawling geography and limited resources can limit the effectiveness of communication systems. While traditional media and local organizations attempt to inform the public through newspapers, flyers, radio, social media, and word of mouth, no one means…

Framing, implementing, and engaging youth in authentic scientific inquiry are highly valued in science education; however, we have very limited knowledge of the nature and use of tools that accomplish these. Therefore, we proposed that board game design is a meaningful tool for engaging youth in understanding environmental issues. We reported…

Using an evidence-based approach, including the authors' own cutting-edge research, this Special Report shares antiracist recommendations for practice that will help librarians in all settings identify and address explicit and implicit racial bias. Librarianship is still a predominantly white profession. It is essential that current practitioners…

While the collaborative trend among professional social workers and librarians gains traction and attention, literature about the utilization of student social workers partnering with libraries is non-existent. Over 64,000 students are currently enrolled in master-level social work (MSW) programs throughout the United States and nearly all are…

Library storytime programs provide opportunities for preschool children to develop readiness skills in early literacy that are linked in research to later success in learning to read and write. Children with disabilities that do not demonstrate school readiness skills upon entry to kindergarten are often placed in self-contained special education…

Despite the proliferation of online homework websites and tutoring services, public libraries still have an important role to play when it comes to supporting young people's educational needs. Public libraries that take a proactive approach--by setting up organized homework centers--have the potential to become catalysts for better performance in…

Diversity has been shown to improve the ability of groups to problem solve and make predictions, as well as guarding against groupthink and overconfidence. Marginalized groups within the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields are still largely underrepresented despite various efforts to increase diversity in STEM. This…

While the Philosophy for Children (P4C) method has been adopted within classrooms by individual teachers and into some school systems by schoolboards, public and school libraries, the ideal users of this sort of programming, have been slow to recognise the benefits of this didactic methodology. This is particularly surprising given that the P4C…

Readers' advisors are tasked with suggesting leisure reading materials to library patrons. The current discourse within the field has it that these advisors ought to adhere to (what I am calling) a "pure preference satisfaction model" wherein they aim to satisfy readers' existing preferences without judging or attempting to alter them.…