Author Archives

Melanie Lewis Croft is an assistant professor in the College of Education at the University of West Georgia and program coordinator for its fully online School Library Media Program. Dr. Croft has worked with all grade levels and subject areas across a variety of learning environments in public, private, urban, and rural school systems. She served the K-12 field of education for 17 years as a state-certified elementary level classroom teacher, secondary level library media specialist, and district administrator of technology, library services, and curriculum. Since 2014, Dr. Croft has worked at the university level as both a faculty member and program coordinator of two graduate education programs in school library media. She currently serves AASL as a member of the School Library Research Editorial Board and contributor to the Knowledge Quest Blog.

• Partnering with Parents to Improve Student (Digital) Literacy, Part 2

  By Melanie Lewis Croft on 05/18/2022 • ( 0 )

  In a previous post entitled “Partnering with Parents to Improve Student Literacy,” I shared how school librarians can help guide parents to support their children’s basic literacy development. In this new post also focused on equipping parents to support their… Read More ›

• Restoring Lost Focus through the School Library

  By Melanie Lewis Croft on 04/22/2022 • ( 1 )

  I’ve been increasingly interested in studying the causes behind recent shifts in our ability to engage in deep thinking and reading. For a recent long commute, I decided to download and listen to a new audiobook. I selected one I’d… Read More ›

• I Heart the Codex

  By Melanie Lewis Croft on 04/07/2022 • ( 0 )

  Like most school librarians, I love books! As a child and young adult, I spent a lot of time in both my school and local public libraries, browsing the shelves for my latest reads and leaving with bags full of… Read More ›

• The Distracted School Librarian Mind

  By Melanie Lewis Croft on 02/17/2022 • ( 0 )

  I have had difficulty finishing this post for days…I’ve been so distracted! I suppose that’s fitting considering I’m writing about The Distracted Mind: Ancient Brains in a High-Tech World by Adam Gazzaley (a neuroscientist) and Larry D. Rosen (a psychologist)…. Read More ›

• Professional Reading Goals for the New Year

  By Melanie Lewis Croft on 01/24/2022 • ( 0 )

  “Read what gives you delight – at least most of the time – and do so without shame.” This is a quote from an enlightening book entitled The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction by Alan Jacobs (2011,… Read More ›

• Partnering with Parents to Improve Student Literacy

  By Melanie Lewis Croft on 11/11/2021 • ( 0 )

  I recently re-read two very helpful books on the subject of reading aloud: The Enchanted Hour: The Miraculous Power of Reading Aloud in the Age of Distraction by Megan Cox Gurdon, and Jim Trelease‘s Read Aloud Handbook (8th ed.). The… Read More ›

• The Library Lab School

  By Melanie Lewis Croft on 10/11/2021 • ( 1 )

  Sir Ken Robinson’s 2006 TED Talk “Do Schools Kill Creativity” is one of the most popular TED Talks to date with over 71 million views. It’s an inspiring video and one that I have regularly included in my courses to… Read More ›

• Equipping School Leaders to Support School Librarians

  By Melanie Lewis Croft on 09/08/2021 • ( 0 )

  My research study titled “Enabling School Librarians to Serve as Instructional Leaders of Multiple Literacies” was recently published in School Library Research. This study was an extension of my previous research focused on exploring how school leaders can foster the… Read More ›

• The Quiet Space Cure

  By Melanie Lewis Croft on 07/23/2021 • ( 0 )

  Several years ago I read Reclaiming Conversation: The Power of Talk in a Digital Age by Sherry Turkle (2015) and found myself dismayed by her descriptions of the state of our youth, yet hopeful about what I saw as opportunities… Read More ›

• School Librarians Are Knowledge Builders

  By Melanie Lewis Croft on 06/11/2021 • ( 2 )

  As an avid bibliophile and concerned educator, I try to make an effort to engage with education-based publications to examine potential connections to the school library field. One recent publication I found to be of great interest is The Knowledge… Read More ›