School Librarianship

This book illuminates school librarian and teacher librarian education and training in light of the 2015 IFLA School Library Guidelines, second edition. The Guidelines provide a framework for effective service delivery to ensure that students and teachers have access to quality library services delivered by qualified librarians and information professionals. The book focuses on moving professional practice forward, translating the Guidelines into actions ensuring effective education and training and improved practice. The book highlights issues and concerns related to school librarian and teacher librarian education and training. What attitudes, skills and knowledge are required to inspire students and support teaching and learning effectively? What curriculum content is required? How are field and practical experiences integrated appropriately into face-to-face and online educational and training programmes? How are leadership skills developed effectively? Case studies and innovative educational and training programmes from around the world illustrate the diverse ways of preparing librarians for the roles identified in the Guidelines. Topics covered include: delivering school librarian credentialled programmes; improving school librarian services; providing professional development; preparing and delivering educational and/or cultural programmes and services; managing human resources; collection development of digital and print resources; innovative aspects of technology use; promotion and advocacy; and evaluation and assessment.

The first comprehensive history of American public school librarianship. "Can I get a library pass?" Over the past 120 years, millions of American K–12 public school students have asked that question. Still, we know little about the history of public school libraries, which over the decades were pulled together and managed by hundreds of thousands of school librarians. In American Public School Librarianship, Wayne A. Wiegand recounts the unseen history of both school libraries and their librarians. Why, Wiegand asks, did school librarianship turn out the way it did? And what can its history tell us about limitations and opportunities in the coming decades of the twenty-first century? Addressing issues of race, social class, gender, and sexual orientation (among others) as they affected American public school librarianship throughout its history, Wiegand explores how libraries were transformed by the Great Depression, the civil rights era, Lyndon Johnson's Great Society programs, and more recent legislation like No Child Left Behind, Common Core, and the Every Student Succeeds Act. Wiegand touches on censorship, the impact of school segregation on school libraries, disparities in funding that fall along lines of race and class, the development of school librarianship as a profession, the history of organizations like the American Association for School Librarians, and how emerging technologies affected school librarianship. Wiegand clarifies the historical role of the school librarian as an opponent of censorship and defender of intellectual freedom. He also analyzes the politics of a female-dominated school library profession, identifies and evaluates the profession's major players and their battles (often against patriarchy), and challenges the priorities of librarianship's current agendas, particularly regarding the role of "reading" in the everyday lives of children and young adults. Filling a huge void in the history of education, American Public School Librarianship provides essential background information to members of the nation's school library and educational communities who are charged with supervising and managing America's 80,000 public school libraries.

This title offers pre-service, newly practicing, and seasoned school librarians opportunities for reflection as well as inspiring strategies for enacting four core values of the profession. The school library profession has been in "crisis" for more than a decade. Educational decision-makers have not been made aware of or sold on the core values of school librarianship and its value to students, classroom teachers, administrators, and the entire school community. Budgetary priorities often do not include school librarians, resulting in a lack of funding and the elimination of many positions, which can cause many school librarians to feel vulnerable and afraid. Guideposts are needed to offer today's school librarians a chance to connect or reconnect with their passion for literacy, learning, and serving that led them to the profession. Core Values in School Librarianship: Responding with Commitment and Courage provides preservice, newly practicing, and seasoned school librarians with opportunities for thoughtful reflection alongside inspiring strategies for gathering courage and enacting four core values of the profession. It is an important and visionary book that all school librarians should read as they develop in their role as leaders in their schools.

This publication focuses on the past, present, and future impact of school librarians. The contributors are recognized leaders within the information profession with expertise in school libraries, and they chronicle international issues in professional education, scholarship, organizations, and the innovations of practitioners –information that appeals to a global audience of professional educators, practitioners, and students involved in school libraries. The book is divided into three parts with each chapter contributed by an individual who has made significant contributions to the profession. Part 1 focuses on the history of school libraries and children’s literature. Part 2 provides a perspective on the current trends and opportunities for professional development and scholarship for school librarians, and Part 3 offers views on the ways school librarians will interact with students and teachers in the future. Readers will find authoritative information about the education, professional associations, scholarship, and innovations that are occurring internationally, and they will be inspired to perpetuate the legacy of school library advocacy established by Dr. E. Blanche Woolls. The book will appeal to a global audience of professional educators, practitioners, and students involved in school libraries.

Cataloging for School Librarians, Second Edition presents the theory and practice of cataloging and classification to students and practitioners needing a clear sequential process to help them overcome cataloging anxiety. By following the instructions in this book, the new cataloger will become proficient at creating bibliographic records that meet current national standards, and make library materials accessible to students and faculty. This new edition fully integrates RDA while referencing its antecedent, AACR2. FRBR, Sears, the Dewey Decimal Classification and the implications of Web-Scale Discovery services are covered. It presents numerous examples of how to catalog books, non-print and electronic library materials using the MARC format. To reinforce learning, each chapter concludes with a revised review quiz and critical thinking questions. Cataloging for School Librarians, Second Edition includes sample full MARC records, a glossary and an index.

By working through these cases and the accompanying learning exercises, both pre-service and practicing school librarians will strengthen their readiness, expand their perspectives, and build confidence for solving problems and making informed, thoughtful decisions in their school libraries. In their preparation for school librarianship, library students learn foundational ideals and observe best practices that center and guide their work. However, discussions of aspirational versions of school librarianship often leave out sufficient practice in managing the many challenges and decisions school librarians face on the job. In this book, veteran educator Rebecca J. Morris uses stories of day-to-day librarianship to empower school librarians as they navigate and manage the complex interactions, decisions, and opportunities of their work. The book's alignment with the AASL/CAEP standards makes it helpful to school library educators planning curriculum, syllabi, and course activities. Perfect for reading or study groups, graduate classes, and professional development, these stories invite reflection and lively conversation.

This book celebrates the new IFLA School Library Guidelines and shows how the Guidelines can be used in improving school library services. Each chapter describes innovative initiatives for developing, implementing and promoting school library guidelines. The book provides inspiration and guidance for the creation of national school library standards and for the development and use of standards and guidelines to change school library practice, to define the teaching role of school librarians, to guide the initial preparation of school librarians, and to advocate for school library services. Contributors to the book come from around the world: Australia, Canada, Ethiopia, France, Malaysia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the United States. Their work illustrates the shared commitment of school librarians around the world to "teaching and learning for all", as envisioned in the IFLA/UNESCO School Library Manifesto.