This article features an open letter written by the author to her school library media colleagues, applauding those who are providing informative and interesting staff development activities for teachers, administrators, and their library media peers. She reminds her colleagues about their role in staff development and not to underestimate the…

People pay a great deal of attention to the needs of reluctant readers, however, they should not forget that middle school students, reading above grade level, also have unique needs that require help and resources to engage them as readers. A group of students, teachers, and library media specialists in Indiana began in 2005 to address the…

Of all the buzz words used in the school library media profession, "collaboration" evokes the strongest feelings--and not all of those feelings are positive. Some library media specialists are not convinced that collaboration is an essential part of their programs, yet collaboration seems to be essential in many other professions. In fact, there…

It is not unusual for library media specialists to experience having their staff cut. The author has experienced this scenario twice. Each time, she and her colleagues redefined and restructured their library media centers to maximize teaching and learning. In this article, the author discusses some of the things she has learned about coping with…

To collaborate is to share--to collaborate at different levels is to share the responsibility for learning with more and more input. In this article, the author lists the academic areas enhanced by collaboration; the characteristics of collaboration behaviors between educators; and the six elements of successful collaboration. She briefly…

In this first of two articles on making the most of fixed schedules in library media centers, the author discusses the fixed library media center schedule at her school, which allows for some flexibility to help the library media specialist support authentic student learning through collaboration with teachers. She discusses the administrative and…

Library media specialists typically are expected to collaborate with everyone. Because the teacher holds the proverbial key to the classroom door, he or she also has the access to the students. If there is no access to students, there is no opportunity to cause student learning. Real collaboration is, in contrast, based on a mutual understanding…

When a person walks into any library media center, he or she will, no doubt, see lots of students busily working on classroom assignments. While these students may be focused and industrious, the real question is what drives their work, and are they learning? Student learning comes from active efforts to construct knowledge that requires them to…

Teaching today is a challenge. It is tough to design and build instruction every day. It is tough to find the balance between standardized tests, state standards, and best practices. It is tough to help students who think they are information literate understand that they are not. One of the best ways for educators to meet these tough challenges…

Various research studies have shed evidence on the importance of collaboration between teachers and library media specialists. Nearly every aspect of business, management in particular, requires an ability to interact effectively with others. As such, it is advantageous for the library media specialist to view the library media program as a…

The development of "library evidence folders" for assessment purposes was featured in a previous "School Library Media Activities Monthly article, "Building Evidence Folders for Learning through Library Media Centers" (Harada, November 2006). The project developers challenged participants to change their mindsets from…

Information fluency is the ability to access, make sense of, and use information to build new understandings. The term "information fluency" is now accepted in the field of library science as a replacement for "information literacy" because students must not only know the skills, but also apply the skills fluently in any personal or academic…

The term "inquiry" can be viewed from two perspectives. Inquiry refers to the abilities students develop when designing and conducting investigations and the understanding they gain through this process about the nature of science. Inquiry also refers to teaching and learning strategies that enable students to master content concepts. Library…

This article provides an overview of a demonstration project at Kent State University that began in 2003. Many of the resulting projects and activities have content material that can be used directly or as a model for others. This demonstration project has also fostered additional Institute of Museum and Library Services funding for scholarships…

Cultural and ethnic diversity in the United States has been significantly increasing in the past few decades. This growth is greatly reflected in schools in the U. S. where children come from very diverse backgrounds. With the country's expanding relationships with other nations across the world, the need for children to view themselves as members…