Innovation is the essence of the American spirit. In the twenty-first century, it will be the innovative thinkers who will make the greatest contributions to our society, find cures for diseases, create technologies that enrich our lives, and find innovative solutions to the world's problems. Schools must provide more opportunities for…

A study was conducted to determine the impact of the use of audiobooks with struggling readers in a school library audiobook club. The participants met weekly in the school library with the school librarian and researchers to discuss audiobooks and make reading recommendations to their peers. Standardized test data as well as pre- and post-study…

This paper seeks to expand our understanding of how educators, and in particular school librarians, acquire and use professional-practice knowledge. This exploratory study, grounded in "lived practice" (Spillane, Hunt, and Healey, 2009) uses reflective analysis to amplify competencies and skill development in pre-service school library education.…

This paper reports an exploratory investigation of the information-literacy levels of primary 5 students in Hong Kong. Factors such as gender and reading ability were also examined. Primary 5 students from four local schools completed a fourteen-item information-literacy assessment (ILA), which was adopted and modified from questions on the…

This study describes preliminary results of a study with elementary school teachers and librarians. Professional-development intervention workshops were conducted to improve teacher and school librarian collaboration to integrate library and subject content. A revised 24-item teacher and school librarian collaboration instrument (TLC-III) was used…

To address the presence or absence of school librarians in Kansas public schools, a study using analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was designed to investigate staffing levels for library media specialists (LMSs), the label used for school librarians in licensed-personnel data in Kansas, and student achievement at the school level. Five subject areas…

Emphasis on collaboration is a significant thrust in both current school reform and school librarianship. Planning for instruction is generally included in various definitions and models of collaboration. Some research exists about individual planning done in isolation (Warren 2000), but little is known about teachers' planning with other…

Prompted by the recent surge in the popularity and utilization of graphic novels in the elementary classroom as well as trends toward the publication of content-focused graphic novels, the research described in this study was designed to explore educators' perspectives toward the medium as well as the issue of quality in graphic novels with…

The question of why school librarians still struggle to fully enact the roles defined in "Information Power" and "Empowering Learners" may be viewed as a struggle to gain recognition from others that this is what a "real school librarian" does. Discourse Analysis offers school library research a new theoretical and analytical tool to explore how…

This article describes research conducted to understand the experiences of children in order to inform school librarians' practice in fostering intrinsic motivation for information seeking. An inductive naturalistic approach was used to explore the following question: "What are the experiences in the lives of upper-elementary school children that…

This research describes the results of a cross-case analysis of four individual case studies at schools having nationally recognized school library programs. The focus of the study is on the culture of the school as an organization and its effect on establishing an effective school library program. The purpose of the study was to identify cultural…

In recent years, a number of statewide research studies have been conducted to determine the impact of school library media centers and their school library media specialists (SLMSs) on student achievement. Research studies in eighteen states have clearly established the relationship between well-staffed, well-funded school libraries on student…

This article reports the results of the second phase of a three-phase study on the impact of the New York State's school libraries' services and resources on student achievement and motivation. A representative sample of more than 1,600 classroom teachers, students, and school library media specialists (SMLSs) from 47 schools throughout New York…

A qualitative case study highlighting one rural Iowa elementary school provided insight into the issue of small schools without library programs as they are preparing to meet the Iowa reinstatement of the requirement for school library programs. The site was purposefully chosen because it has been operating without a school library program or…

This study explores Virginia elementary school principals' perceptions of the instructional role of the library media specialist and the origin of these perceptions. Principals who responded to the study strongly endorse the role of library media specialist as teacher of information literacy skills and as instructional partner. Respondents…