Supporting the "Infrastructure Needs of 21st Century School Library Programs," also known as the Pennsylvania School Library Project, was a one-year project conducted in Pennsylvania to better identify and understand what stakeholders--teachers, administrators, parents, school and community leaders, and education associations--expect…

Evidence-based library and information practice (EBLIP) provides school librarians a systematic means of building, assessing, and revising a library program, thus demonstrating a school library program's worth to the larger school community. Through survey research collecting both qualitative and quantitative data, 111 public school…

Many scholarly studies investigating school library services provided to students with special needs primarily address aspects of collaboration with special education (SPED) teachers in an immersed school environment. Scarcely studied are ways that school library programs (SLPs) empower students in schools serving only students with a specific…

The programs and services offered at school libraries will be accessed by K-12 students with a range of physical and cognitive abilities. School librarians must be equipped to address the information-seeking needs of all patrons, including those with special needs. An electronic survey was conducted to collect data from school librarians working…

This paper presents selected key findings of the first phase of a multiphase research study commissioned by the New Jersey Association of School Librarians (NJASL) in 2009 and undertaken by the Center for International Scholarship in School Libraries (CISSL) at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. The overall research agenda seeks: (a) to…

This qualitative content analysis presents subscription databases available to school libraries through statewide purchases. The results may help school librarians evaluate grade and subject-area coverage, make comparisons to recommended databases, and note potential suggestions for their states to include in future contracts or for local…

The American Association of School Librarians (AASL) released new guidelines for school library programs in the summer of 2009. Empowering Learners: Guidelines for School Library Programs (AASL 2009a), hereafter referred to as EL, spells out the five roles that school librarians must practice to empower library users. The purpose of this…

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…

To be efficient and effective learners in the information age, individuals must be able to engage successfully with a wide variety of information types and formats. Becoming lifelong learners in a world in which information flows freely and defies the boundaries of traditional disciplines and subject areas, children and youth in particular must…

School library and youth services professionals must develop and display a strong sense of cultural competence to effectively serve their patrons. Cultural competence is defined here as one's ability to understand the needs of populations different from their own. This paper reports on the perceptions of school library and youth services students…

In an effort to address the lack of empirical knowledge about the school librarians' role in technology, the Institute for Museum and Library Services funded Project Leadership-in-Action (LIA) to study leadership practices of school librarians. This current grant project includes a survey of the technology integration practices of school…

This study investigated the information-seeking practices and interactions of school librarians and special education teachers to better understand how they support the learning of students with disabilities. The work of school librarians and special education teachers may appear divergent; however, as professionals in a rapidly changing…

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…

This article reports the results of the third and final phase of a two-year research study on the impact of New York State's school libraries on student achievement and motivation. Results of phase I and phase II are briefly reviewed to provide the context for phase III methods and findings. Phase III comprised (1) qualitative research that…

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…