Provides vision for strong school library programs, including identification of the skills and knowledge essential for students to be information literate. Includes recommended baseline staffing, access, and resources for school library services at each grade level.
School libraries stand at the forefront of innovation in education. Yet many teachers and administrators do not know what to make of them, much less how to best utilize their varied and valuable resources. What if school librarians, whose field of practice has transformed in the past few decades, could show us excellent models for innovative teaching? What if the vital adaptations that school librarians have made could help other educators evolve? What if the lessons learned in the library could be scaled up to benefit all fields of practice and all students? The 21st Century School Library takes an in-depth look at the paradigm-shifting work that school libraries are doing to advance student learning, professional development, and school-wide engagement. It explains how library-led, forward-thinking initiatives can guide all educators – teachers and administrators alike – toward transformative educational practices. It is an inspiring survey of 21st century school libraries whose guiding principles also serve as a blueprint for innovation in K-12 education. School libraries – and all the educators associated with them – offer a compelling vision for the future of K-12 education. This book is a roadmap for how to make this vision a reality.
An advocacy brochure on library standards to be sold in packs of 12 for school librarians to hand out to teacher, principals, administrators. Content comes from AASL Standards publication.
The seventh edition of this comprehensive school library management text expands upon the role of the school librarian, especially in the ever-growing digital realm, and highlights the importance of school librarian leadership and outreach. In an era of budget cuts, reduced staffing, and a global pandemic, it's more important than ever for new LIS professionals and established school librarians and administrators to demonstrate the value of school libraries to decision makers. This revised and updated edition of a classic text adds two well-known authors to help lead readers through the many essential management tasks and skills required to administer the successful school library program. It emphasizes the importance of the school librarian in providing digital access to information for teachers and students, describes how facilities are being modified to accommodate new resources and programming, and offers new ways to use AASL standards to evaluate programs. All chapters are updated, and the text addresses such timely subjects as providing information resources when students, teachers, and librarians are interacting online. A new chapter highlights the importance of the school librarian's leadership in schools, districts, and communities. This invaluable textbook teaches practical skills for school library management and offers inspiration and guidance for growing LIS careers.
Introduce your teachers, librarians, and administrators to the roles and responsibilities of educators in advocating a whole school library learning commons using this step-by-step guide for creating shared learning space in your school. It is no surprise that technology has shifted the way we educate—bearing on how, what, and where we learn. This guide lays the framework for helping turn your school library into a whole school library learning commons (WSLLC)—a space where traditional academics merge with the latest technologies to engage learners in a way never before realized. Author Judith Anne Sykes contends that since the WSLLC philosophy allows staff and students to co-create knowledge in a shared space, it is more effective than the traditional approach. Sykes addresses the differences between a school library and a WSLLC, provides reasons to champion its creation in your institution, and discusses how to use mentoring as a means to sustain its survival. The book explores the roles and responsibilities of educators in developing WSLLC goals and presents strategies for using typical assessment tools—including standardized tests, report cards, and anecdotal assessments—to help support its philosophy.
How should teacher librarians or instructional leaders engage in action research to improve their school library and benefit students' learning? This book provides the answers. Teacher librarians need to get directly involved with the research process in the learning commons in order to create actions and strategies that will enhance student learning—and benefit their own professional development as well as demonstrate accountability through their action research efforts. This book provides practical tips and work spaces for educators at the local, state, and national levels, clearly modeling and explaining the process and the tools for conducting action research in a school library setting that will identify the program's strengths and weaknesses. The author coalesces current expert opinions on the topic of action research in the school library environment and highlighting what other teacher librarians in the field have identified as the pros and cons of using the process. Readers are directed to focus on mitigating the "cons" through the use of specific working pages and templates and by initially exploring "five favorite" links, thereby encouraging those who are new to action research to try what might otherwise seem a daunting process. School principals K–12 who read this book will be better equipped to support their teacher librarians and teachers in this important professional process.