Some essential components of "keeping current" with trends and new developments in the school library field for library media specialists includes attending conferences and reading professional literature. Beginning in May 2007, one article on "keeping up" each year has been devoted to summarizing the major themes in conferences and professional…

The new "Standards for the 21st-Century Learner IN ACTION", presented like a colorful flowchart, was previewed without fanfare at the annual Midwinter meeting of the American Library Association in Denver, Colorado, in January (American Library Association 2009). This new publication does a good job in further defining the student…

Whether a school library program is the picture of good health in a state that mandates a professionally staffed library media center in every building or is suffering in a low-wealth district that is facing drastic cuts, the recently launched toolkits by the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) are stocked with useful strategies and…

Political advocacy continues to gain ground in the state of Washington after the landmark Washington state legislative support of emergency funding ($4.09 million) for library media centers during the 2008 legislative session. This stepped-up political advocacy is due to the efforts of the Washington Library Media Association Advocacy members…

School library media specialists have four primary responsibilities: teacher, instructional partner, information specialist, and program administrator. As instructional partners, school library media specialists collaborate in designing instruction and learning activities that "reflect the best in current research and practice." Researchers at the…

This article describes a research center established by Professors Carol Kuhlthau and Ross Todd of Rutgers University in New Brunswick to promote the study of the impact of school library media centers on student learning and the dynamics of effective school library programs. The Center for International Scholarship in School Libraries (CISSL) is…

Describes specific activities for promoting the services of the school library during School Library Media Month in April. Illustrations of and instructions for making promotional buttons, bookmarks, book jackets, banners, flags and puzzles are provided. (EM)

This article features an open letter written by the author to her school library media colleagues, applauding those who are providing informative and interesting staff development activities for teachers, administrators, and their library media peers. She reminds her colleagues about their role in staff development and not to underestimate the…

Describes four peer networking projects initiated by school library media specialists in Georgia that promoted curriculum development, collection development and library services, cooperation between school and public libraries to share online resources, and cooperation between public and school libraries to share magazine articles. (LRW)

"As good as we are, we can always get better." At first thought, one might dismiss it as the chant of an overly optimistic cheerleader. As one really begins to think about it, though, this seemingly simplistic message is one everyone should strive for daily. But how does one get better? It does not simply happen by sitting isolated in the school…

The standards for a school library media program have once again been revisited. The American Association of School Librarians (AASL) has released a new set of standards, and although the content is not totally new, the standards are streamlined. In this article, the author voices her approbation of the new standards and offers advice for…

The American Association of School Librarians (AASL)/Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC)/Young Adult Library Service Association (YALSA) Joint Task Force on School/Public Library Cooperative Activities has been collecting and disseminating information about cooperative activities around the country since the first meeting in January…

In this article, the author describes a management manual she maintained while working as a school library media specialist. She started the manual when she was a student in the organization and administration course in the library science program and kept it current with information gleaned from conferences, workshops, and networking with other…

There are differing ideas, even among leaders in the field of library media, about what the focus of a definitive library media program should be. The one key concept, however, that emerges is that leadership is integral to the success of the library media specialist and the library media program. Successful advocating for the library media…

The development of "library evidence folders" for assessment purposes was featured in a previous "School Library Media Activities Monthly article, "Building Evidence Folders for Learning through Library Media Centers" (Harada, November 2006). The project developers challenged participants to change their mindsets from…