I have been thinking quite a bit about media literacy for a long time now, and I have noticed that my training and career as a school librarian have really impacted how I consume media. I’m not able to casually… Read More ›
Community/Teacher Collaboration
Not Your Traditional Book Club
Book clubs have been a staple in school libraries for years. Usually the same few students show up each time, because they genuinely love books. While every school librarian is pleased that they attend, it would be nice to add… Read More ›
Condoms in the Library: “Things You Might Need”
The unofficial service motto of my high school library is “Yes! We Can Help!” Need a double-sided photocopy? We will teach you. Need help formatting your citations and printing your paper? Absolutely. Do you need to borrow colored pencils, scissors,… Read More ›
Supporting Student Learning with Community Partners
Fostering Real-World Learning Experiences As school librarians we all wear so many hats. For me, one of those hats has been teaching video broadcasting to seniors at our high school. To say this was out of my comfort zone is… Read More ›
Digital Solutions to Book Club Issues
Book Clubs Are Great! Except… I think we can all agree that book clubs are great. They encourage a sense of community and collaboration as the group reads and discusses their reactions to the texts. They foster students’ sense of… Read More ›
Partnering with Parents
Research has shown that students who have parents that read to them consistently have better reading skills. Furthermore, parents who are involved in their child’s education, particularly reading, perform better in school. Parents empower students for reading success. The question… Read More ›
6 Steps to Building a Virtual Village for Your School Library
An African proverb states, “It takes a village to raise a child.” Everyone working together can grow successful students and create lifelong learners, avid readers, and critical thinkers capable of solving complex problems that have the potential to create greater… Read More ›
Little Libraries
As school librarians we are constantly giving book recommendations; in fact once I’ve read an incredible book I can hardly wait to tell everyone I know about it and put it in their hands too! However, there have been times… Read More ›
Gimme a C for Collaboration: Meeting the Needs of Special Education Classrooms through Outreach and Advocacy
By Natalie Romano Last fall, I was approached by a teacher at Asbury Elementary, a public, K-5 school in my library’s service area, about bringing library resources into his special education classroom. As someone with almost no training in special education,… Read More ›
Connecting with Parents
As a school librarian, my contact with parents is not as frequent as a classroom teacher’s. In the past, parents only heard from me if their child had an overdue book or when it was book fair time. Since starting… Read More ›