In many elementary schools across the nation the library looks like a revolving door of classes. Classroom teachers come and drop off their classes for a lesson at a set time during the week. The school librarian teaches a lesson in isolation while the classroom teacher has a planning period. There is little time for collaboration. There is even…

The American Association of School Librarians (AASL) Standards are an invitation to explore the endless possibilities of "why." The standards provide permission to take risks, to step beyond the comfort of four walls to truly stretch and grow. The AASL Standards provide a common language for school library stakeholders that bring into…

The students at the author's alternative, academic-recovery school come from their base schools and at the author's school are able to rewrite their own school stories. Some of that rewriting naturally happens in the library. Many of the students have experiences at multiple schools, but it is not until they come to the author's school that many…

School librarians can still support readers with the school library space is closed. Even though it might take some creative thinking, "the school library has the ability to provide continuous access to resources" and can ensure that the love of reading and access to materials continues (AASL 2018, 56-57). This article details ways…

Assessment and evaluation are not optional for school librarians who want to be valued as full-fledged instructional partners. School librarians must document evidence of practice. Classroom teachers plan, implement, and assess student learning outcomes and then evaluate the effectiveness of their instruction. If school librarians are to be…

How can relationship building and demonstrating impact on learning be done? As professionals, school librarians must seek out opportunities to lead or work with others in the area of programming. Much can be done in the library space but when the programs occur outside the school library, a librarian's willingness to be adaptable is leveraged and…

J. Linda Williams was coordinator of school library services for Anne Arundel County Public Schools prior to her retirement. She served as AASL President 2005-2006 and is also a past president of the Maryland Association of School Librarians. Looking back on her 2005-2006 term as AASL President, Williams writes that she feels that particular year…

This article describes how Nancy Jo Lambert, a school librarian, implemented a flexible library schedule at elementary schools in which she worked collaboratively with classroom teachers. After observing students removing bookmarks from the middle of their books in order to turn the books in by the due date or because their fixed library schedule…

As classroom teachers face continued pressure due to prescriptive standards and high-stakes testing, school librarians continue to look for ways to make learning more dynamic and authentic for the diverse students in our schools. However, adolescent literacy research as a field operates largely apart from the research about school libraries and…

Collection development is the core of every school library, and successful school librarians know that meeting all learner needs can contribute to their success. When curating their collections school librarians must consider learners with visual, hearing, physical, and cognitive impairments. The school librarian should work with a team (other…

The school library profession has gone through an evolution since its inception in the early 1900s. School librarians hold strong to unwavering core principles that remain true throughout time. Students today are tech-savvy consumers of information. With smartphones and tablets galore at their fingertips, they have access to all the knowledge of…

School librarians should consistently build relationships to foster collaborative work. For the school librarian, collaboration begins with both the business side of the library and personal interactions. True collaborations involve varied partnerships with shared planning and responsibilities. A co-teacher is expected to share in all aspects of…

Librarianship places an ethical demand on practitioners to put patrons or library users' interests before self-interest, and indeed, this is the hallmark of any service profession. But what obligation do school librarians have to their peer librarians and educators? The Code of Ethics of the American Library Association offers this principle, "We…

In this article, the authors describe McNair Middle School's Independent Study process. Each year in late January the authors connect to look at the calendar to schedule time for the seventh-grade gifted and talented (GT) students to come to the school library to begin their annual Independent Study. "Independent study is a planned research…

Collaboration is one of the most important aspects of the role of the school librarian in the twenty-first century, but, for many reasons, collaboration is challenging to implement. Some classroom teachers may not know how students benefit from the classroom-school library collaboration. Others may be unwilling to relinquish control of their…