This handbook provides librarians and technology specialists with the tools to understand the issues and challenges related to their counterparts' jobs, and find ways to work together for the betterment of all concerned. School Librarians and the Technology Department: A Practical Guide to Successful Collaboration was inspired by the authors' collective realization that far too often librarians and technology specialists fail to collaborate successfully, and sometimes even find their groups at odds with one another. This book is the antidote: it is a powerful call to establish and improve relationships between the two for the benefit of the students as well as the librarians and technology specialists themselves. The book begins by providing background information about the history of librarianship and the use of computer technology in schools. The authors trace the origins of the positions related to educational technology, such as "technology specialist," "teacher," and "director." The following chapters describe and address specific concerns of both librarians and technology specialists. Most importantly, this collaborative work offers practical suggestions for cooperation between these two groups of educators as they work together to offer the best possible materials and instructions to students. School Librarians and the Technology Department concludes by hypothesizing what the future holds in the realms of librarianship and technology in this rapidly changing information age.

This textbook, for school library administration courses, is written by a professor who has taught this course at least once a year for the past twenty years. Technology is interwoven throughout the book and not listed as a separate chapter or book section. This is because the school librarian of today—and certainly the school librarian of tomorrow—is working in an environment of web resources, multimedia, mixed methods, and varying programs and services. Major chapters cover the various roles of the school librarian, curricular standards and guidelines, policies and procedures, budgeting, facilities, personnel, services, programming, ethics, advocacy, and evaluation. Sample policies, procedures, and plans make this book valuable to both new and experienced school librarians.

Stay current, meet educational standards, and keep your students coming back again and again by incorporating the latest technologies into your school library. Both theoretical and practical, this book will provide you with a strong introduction to a variety of technologies that will serve you—and your patrons—well. Each chapter addresses a different aspect or kind of technology. You'll learn essential skills, planning and funding techniques, and what hardware and software you'll need. You'll find plenty of information on creating or maintaining your library's web presence through websites, blogs, and social networking, as well as on various tools that you can use and apply to your curriculum. Many state standards include technology components, and this guide shows you how to meet them and stay up to date. You'll also learn what you should watch for in the future so you remain essential to your school.

By becoming practical futurists, school librarians can help their libraries not only to survive sweeping changes in education but to thrive. This book shows how to spot technological trends and use them to your library's advantage. During this time of rapid modernization of technology and educational reform, this book is a must-read for school librarians tasked with ensuring their libraries meet evolving standards. This title provides the research and organizational techniques and skills they need to gain seats at the table of the three power committees: technology, curricula, and strategic planning. School librarians need to collect and publicize national and local school-based evidence that shows the positive correlations between school librarians and student achievement. Craver notes correlative sources and provides ideas to employ them to ensure that school librarians remain indispensable. In addition, acquiring technological skills and becoming expert at their application are paramount for librarians. Even more important is the need for librarians to assume sole responsibility for designing and integrating information literacy and critical thinking skills throughout the curriculum. Craver analyzes studies that show students' inability to discern fact from fiction, ads from news, and information bias in electronic information sources and recommends six actions that school librarians take to ensure that they become active participants in their future rather than its victims.

School librarians are prepared to be leaders and can use their strengths to advocate for policy that benefits school libraries. This book will teach you how to engage elected officials to effect change that extends to your library. Education and information policy has a direct impact on school libraries and is shaped by decisions at the local, state, and federal levels. School librarians are positioned uniquely to leverage their inside knowledge of effective school library programs to make a difference in education through civic engagement; however, a thorough understanding of both the explicit and "hidden" rules of government is necessary to be an effective advocate. This compact book serves as a guide to advocating for effective programs, filling a gap in the practitioner literature regarding the policies that affect school library programs. Drawing on research-based best practices and the author's experience as the chairman of the ALA Legislation Committee and in political advocacy, this book explains the political process through concrete examples of both success and failure and analyzes these examples to show how librarians can move education policy in a positive direction.

Compact yet remarkably comprehensive, this book covers all the major aspects of school library services, from administration to instruction focused from the elementary school librarian perspective—now updated and expanded to include the latest developments in makerspaces, the Common Core, social networking, and eBooks. How do you accomplish a technology transformation at a time when budgets are extremely limited? What is the proper location for web-based social networking in the school library? What are the best practices for working together with students, parents, and educators? The 21st-Century Elementary School Library Program: Managing for Results is an invaluable resource for answers to these and many more questions, as it brings together in one volume the advice and insights you need to bring your library into the new century. This invaluable guide provides tips and techniques, forms and templates, and advice on everything from staffing and budgeting to collaborating with teachers and other libraries, to Web 2.0 and other new computer tools for building collections and devising special programs. Whether you are just getting started or are a library veteran seeking effective program renewal, this book belongs on your shelf.

Everhart provides practical guidelines and ready-to-use forms for evaluating a school library media center, as well as important results derived in other studies. She includes qualitative and quantitative techniques for the areas of curriculum, personnel, facilities, collections, usage, and technology. She also gives step-by-step instructions on how to create in-house surveys, conduct interviews, and use observation to gather useful data. Conduct research, collect statistics, and evaluate your program with this useful resource. Everhart provides practical guidelines and ready-to-use forms for evaluating a school library media center, as well as important results derived in other studies. She includes qualitative and quantitative techniques for the areas of curriculum, personnel, facilities, collections, usage, and technology. She also gives step-by-step instructions on how to create in-house surveys, conduct interviews, and use observation to gather useful data. For example, there are directions on how to assess information literacy with rubrics. In addition, each chapter gives detailed references, a list of further readings, applicable Web sites, and dissertations. A quick and easy guide to justifying and supporting your SLMC operations and effectiveness, this book is invaluable to all school library media specialists. It will also be of interest to school library media supervisors and researchers.

The first book published about independent school libraries since 1985, this work offers both the independent school library community and the broader school library community a wealth of insights into excellence in library practice. Independent School Libraries: Perspectives on Excellence offers readers insights into best practices in library services for school communities, using examples drawn from independent schools of various sizes, descriptions, and locations across the United States. Two overview essays introduce a statistical analysis of independent schools. Each of the remaining essays provides perspective on a different aspect of library practice, including staffing, advocacy, assessment, technology, collaboration, programs beyond the curriculum, intellectual freedom and privacy, budgeting, accreditation, disaster planning, and more. Because independent school librarians work across divisions and without a mandate to adhere to state or national standards, they have the freedom to explore and refine best practice in a school library setting. Fortunately, the ideas and methods they have developed, many of which are on display here, can be applied in any school library.

As school districts across the United States increasingly question the need for trained librarians, this collection of research-based evidence helps make the case for a state-licensed librarian in every school. While serving on the AASL legislation committee, Mirah Dow recognized the urgent need to utilize research-based evidence to prove school librarians are much more than an educational luxury. This collection is the result. It brings together school library research studies and findings from the past decade and draws connections to how they can be applied to situations and questions that occur in practice. Taken as a whole, the research underscores that state-licensed, school librarians are a necessity for 21st-century students. Chapters center on important research studies from the past decade that examine data and locate school libraries within operational contexts. Methodologies are explained and findings summarized, while notes clarify practical applications for school librarians. Because each chapter includes a connection to broad realms of theoretical influence in the social sciences, the work will also be relevant to educators and public policymakers, arming them to better communicate research-based links between investments in school libraries and student learning outcomes.

With the emergence of innovative technologies, the digital nature of learning environments has changed the face of education. The integration of these technologies into classroom instruction is essential for promoting student learning. Literacy Enrichment and Technology Integration in Pre-Service Teacher Education examines the various strategies to resolve the challenges of technology integrations for teachers while offering best practices for transforming education. Focusing on the future of technology integration in education; this book is an essential tool for administrators, technology leaders, faculty, teachers, technology staff, and other educational technology stakeholders in various education-related disciplines.