The Teaching Library

Get the information needed to advocate for the significance of your library! How do you make the case that your library is a valuable instruction center? The Teaching Library helps librarians assess data on information literacy instruction programs so that they can better support the teaching role of the academic library in campus settings. This practical, professional resource features case studies from across the United States and Canada—in both public and private institutions—that offer a variety of evaluation methods. Here are the latest, easy-to-adopt ways of measuring your library’s direct contribution to student learning, on-campus and off. With a unique multifaceted approach to questions of assessment, The Teaching Library is an important resource that not only offers the latest techniques, but answers the larger question of how to make use of this data in ways that will best advocate information literacy instruction programs. From creating a multidimensional assessment to turning an initiative into a program to teaching and learning goals and beyond, this invaluable text covers many of the core issues those in this rapidly-evolving field must contend with. These contributions reinforce the importance of the learning that takes place in the classroom, in the co-curriculum, the extra-curriculum, and the surrounding community. Some of the key topics covered in The Teaching Library are: assessment practices such as 360° analysis, attitudinal, outcomes-based, and gap-measured integrating the teaching library into core mission, vision, and values statements presenting the message of a library’s value to internal audiences of colleagues building momentum—and maintaining it tying information literacy assessment to campus-wide assessment activities identifying and reaching end-of-program learning outcomes assessing the impact of the one-shot session on student learning information literacy instruction and the credit-course model promoting instruction among Library and Information Science educators and many more! The essays in The Teaching Library offer viable and practical ways for librarians to demonstrate their direct contribution to student learning in ways consistent with those accepted as valid across the campus. An important resource for academic librarians and Information Science professionals, The Teaching Library is also a useful tool for those in the campus community concerned with developing, funding, and continuing successful library programs—professional staff such as alumni directors; faculty and educators looking to make students more successful; and researchers.

Give students exciting learning opportunities across the curriculum while teaching them important information skills! This book documents a continuous library center program with a series of mini-lessons that cover topics from bears, books, and dinosaurs to natural resources, rockets, and Victorian holiday traditions. Projects use different types of media (e.g., books, tapes, CD-ROMs, the Internet), giving students a variety of experiences with fiction and nonfiction and allowing them to interact with resources-to find books; use the library catalog, dictionaries, encyclopedias, and CD-ROMs; alphabetize; perform author research, build a bibliography, create a book cover and poster; role play; conduct a video interview; and so on. For each center, the author provides reproducible instruction cards, a list of materials, and suggestions for implementation. Various assessment tools are recommended-observation checklists, coaching and discussion, presentations, celebrations, and formal checklists to be

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.

Get the information needed to advocate for the significance of your library! How do you make the case that your library is a valuable instruction center? The Teaching Library helps librarians assess data on information literacy instruction programs so that they can better support the teaching role of the academic library in campus settings. This practical, professional resource features case studies from across the United States and Canada—in both public and private institutions—that offer a variety of evaluation methods. Here are the latest, easy-to-adopt ways of measuring your library’s direct contribution to student learning, on-campus and off. With a unique multifaceted approach to questions of assessment, The Teaching Library is an important resource that not only offers the latest techniques, but answers the larger question of how to make use of this data in ways that will best advocate information literacy instruction programs. From creating a multidimensional assessment to turning an initiative into a program to teaching and learning goals and beyond, this invaluable text covers many of the core issues those in this rapidly-evolving field must contend with. These contributions reinforce the importance of the learning that takes place in the classroom, in the co-curriculum, the extra-curriculum, and the surrounding community. Some of the key topics covered in The Teaching Library are: assessment practices such as 360° analysis, attitudinal, outcomes-based, and gap-measured integrating the teaching library into core mission, vision, and values statements presenting the message of a library’s value to internal audiences of colleagues building momentum—and maintaining it tying information literacy assessment to campus-wide assessment activities identifying and reaching end-of-program learning outcomes assessing the impact of the one-shot session on student learning information literacy instruction and the credit-course model promoting instruction among Library and Information Science educators and many more! The essays in The Teaching Library offer viable and practical ways for librarians to demonstrate their direct contribution to student learning in ways consistent with those accepted as valid across the campus. An important resource for academic librarians and Information Science professionals, The Teaching Library is also a useful tool for those in the campus community concerned with developing, funding, and continuing successful library programs—professional staff such as alumni directors; faculty and educators looking to make students more successful; and researchers.

Presenting examples of school librarians leading professional learning in numerous contexts and for diverse learning goals with remarkable success, this book will inspire other practitioners to initiate and refine professional learning in their schools and districts. School administrators are recognizing that school librarians are ideal to lead professional development because they service the entire school network, from the students and faculty to families and the community. As a national downturn in educational funding is diminishing districts' ability to optimally staff libraries, investing energy in professional development is a sound strategy to bring information literacy skills to every student—especially in buildings with part-time librarians, or districts with only a single librarian of record. Growing Schools: Librarians as Professional Developers stands apart from other works as the first book that directly addresses the potential role of the school librarian as a staff developer. Within the chapters, the authors relate their professional development journeys, collectively representing experience within K–12 public and private institutions, district and regional units, and universities across the United States and Canada. The work provides various approaches to professional development with a range of processes and techniques that have been proven effective in different contexts and in achieving diverse learning goals. Practitioners at the building and district levels as well as school principals, state and district personnel, and library educators will find this book insightful and instructive.