In 2020, New America embarked on a year-long initiative with librarians in children's and youth services across three library systems in Illinois. The aim was to build staff members' skills and confidence in media mentorship--the act of mentoring and providing tailored guidance to students and families in selecting, analyzing, and using media to…

The importance of early literacy to later academic achievement has been well documented, as has the positive impact of high-quality early literacy environments. One stumbling block to achieving improvements in literacy skills for school-aged children appears to be inequities in access to high-quality early literacy environments. Public libraries,…

From Ainsworth to Yutan, from library systems with twelve branches (i.e., Omaha) with a legal service area population of 537,709 to single libraries serving a population of less than 1,000 (which describes 60% of all public libraries in Nebraska), the Nebraska Library Commission serves very different constituencies all with different needs and…

LINQ: The Librarians' Inquiry Forum is a practitioner inquiry model for public librarian professional development whose theoretical foundations are based in New Literacy Studies, Critical Race Theory and social epistemology. This research explains the development of the LINQ methodology and design across four public librarian communities of…

Librarianship is constantly confronted with unexpected and quickly evolving sociotechnical challenges, yet the documents that define the core professional competencies for librarians are infrequently updated. Based upon survey responses collected from 383 working librarians located in the United States, we describe a set of gaps between current…

Literature in the field investigates and debates the importance of the MLIS degree in librarianship. This information is of limited use in Maine where over 30% of public library directors have only a high school diploma. The research questions guiding this Constructivist Grounded Theory study are: How do high school educated library directors in…

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…

Family engagement is a shared responsibility among families, educators, and communities to support children's learning and development. For families, it is about the knowledge, attitudes, values, and behaviors that enable children to be motivated, enthusiastic, and successful learners. For libraries, this means having respectful partnerships with…

This paper examines the extent to which public librarians are successfully prepared to engage the community in digital literacy and inclusion. A qualitative, multiple case study research design was chosen, using an analysis of policy documents and existing training programs offered by the libraries together with semi-structured interviews with…

For the Spring 2015 semester of the Public Library Management course, students were given digital badges along with grades for their coursework. For each topic's corresponding assignment, students received a traditional grade and those achieving at least an A- received a digital badge that represented the skill or knowledge demonstrated. By using…

This dissertation is about a group of African American inner-city public librarians who, over the course of 16 months, read the literary genre Street Lit in an inquiry-based book club for the purpose of professional development. I explore their literary responses to Street Literature to learn what it means to be an educated, African American…

This article presents an interview with Karen Glover of Georgia Tech, a key person behind the planning of the Access Services Conference held last fall, and now going into its second year. Glover started working in libraries as a part-time library assistant at her local public library during her high school years. She later became a Circulation…

Replicated across the globe, the Learning 2.0 programme--also known as "23 Things"--has been touted as a means to not only educate staff about emerging social and mobile technologies but as a means of moving the participating library forward as a learning organisation. This paper explores the results of a multi-faceted research project…

Libraries across Australia are becoming increasingly involved in the development and implementation of family literacy programs, placing librarians at the centre of this initiative. "Better Beginnings" is a family literacy program developed by the State Library of Western Australian and delivered throughout the state. The program…

The Commission on International Adult Education (CIAE) of the American Association for Adult and Continuing Education (AAACE) provides a forum for the discussion of international issues related to adult education in general, as well as adult education in various countries around the globe. The following purposes summarize the work of the…