School Libraries

Ask and ye shall receive. Not 24 hours after I lamented our challenges in covering school libraries, I received an e-mail from an employee at a private, K-12 school in New Jersey:

I am running a non-profit private school and I need some help in setting up my library. The main help that I need is to find out what kind of software I should be buying to launch the library. What initial things do I need? We have at least 1,500 Books and we want them to circulate to the students.

Initially, I wasn't sure how this question ended up being sent to us. I felt unqualified to answer and wanted to refer the question to someone else...to an "expert". Then something occurred to me--I can ask the several thousand experts who read this blog! If you have questions about setting up a library like this school administrator does, who better to ask than an open forum of experts?

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Much of the discussion on our blog centers around public and academic libraries, and we often neglect an extremely vital player in the library technology world--school libraries. School librarians are, in many respects, the gatekeepers of library technology. They help teach basic technology skills, particularly library technology skills to our future public and academic library patrons (and employees). They interact with younger users of this new technology and work hands-on to make these technologies practical learning tools. Because they work with these young student users, school librarians can provide insight into the application of these technologies that librarians who work primarily with adults cannot.

I was thrilled to see this article in Sunday's New York Times, which goes a long way towards providing some of the coverage we haven't been able to. Read More »

In the past few months, I have had the privilege to work with some amazing school librarians. Many of them want to begin incorporating more technology into their libraries, but are hampered by filters and lack of knowledge about the available tools on the Web. For some, even the most basic tools are blocked by overzealous IT and administrations. Read More »

"If people were better informed about social networking sites and knew and used basic Internet safety tips, the cloud of fear may decline."—Robert Doyle, Executive Director of the Illinois Library Association
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Last Sunday I traveled out to California to attend the Internet Librarian Conference—ITI's tenth, my first. I managed to fly to San Jose with nary a directional question, then took a shuttle bus past fields of artichokes and garlic, and dry brown hills mad in the October sun, down to Monterey on the coast.
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YALSA executive director Beth Yoke posted this comment today to the recent DOPA and 2 Cents post on this blog (as well as a similar call to action on the YALSA Blog). Her comment:

URGENT Action Needed Read More »

On the ever-informative LibraryLaw Blog Wednesday, Mary Minow posts a three-question interview with the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) executive director Beth Yoke about DOPA (Deleting Online Predators Act of 2006). In it, Yoke provides her 2 cents on the proposed legislation and her experience at the hearing. (Minow has stated that she believes the "law is blatantly unconstitutional," but warns, "that doesn't mean it won't get passed.")
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Digitally re-shifting your school library is about harnessing the power of new ideas like Web 2.0 to help fulfill the mission of school libraries. It does not necessarily mean discarding the old, but rather reconsidering what works best in meeting new challenges in a changing educational world. It's all a part of helping students become literate users of information in order for them to have successful careers in school and beyond. Remember that for some students, a rich school library experience may be their only library experience. Let's use every opportunity to help our students engage the joy of reading and the power of information.—Chris Harris, "School Library 2.0," School Library Journal
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