These days it seems like school librarians are under attack, if not already an endangered species. After eight years of the No Child Left Behind Act--which, paradoxically, chipped away at many library positions--recent state and local budget shortfalls have led to rounds and rounds of layoffs for school librarians. While things are tough in the trenches, there's more library research being conducted in this country than ever before--and much of it is seeking to demonstrate the unique value of school librarians in the lives of learners. There are school library researchers scattered throughout the nation's library and information science programs, but there are three institutes in particular--at New Jersey's Rutgers University, Florida State University, and New York's Syracuse University--that are poised to make the biggest difference. All three are hothouses of innovation, but each has its own special emphasis. Rutgers's Center for International Scholarship in School Libraries, or CISSL (pronounced sizzle), is focused on investigating evidence-based practice, guided inquiry, and international school librarianship, while Florida State's Partnerships Advancing Library Media (PALM) concentrates on the leadership role of media specialists and their impact on school technology. Meanwhile, the Center for Digital Literacy (CDL)--a partnership of Syracuse University's School of Information Studies, the Newhouse School of Public Communications, and the School of Education--has the broadest mandate: understanding the impact of information, technology, and media literacies inside and outside the library setting. Even better for those school librarians out there on the frontlines, the three centers have just begun to collaborate on a project that will help media specialists demonstrate to administrators and other stakeholders that their jobs really matter.