school libraries Archives | Page 10 of 11 | American Libraries Magazine

Libraries Win as President Signs ESSA

December 10, 2015

A major reauthorization bill overhauling K-12 education policy–the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)–has been signed into law by President Obama and in a significant victory for ALA’s decade of advocacy efforts, it includes provisions favorable to libraries. ALA President Sari Feldman praised all ALA members, crediting their unified, collective, high-impact messages to their Members of … Continue reading Libraries Win as President Signs ESSA →

Capitol Building (Photo: Laurie D. Borman)

Senate Passes Every Student Succeeds Act

December 9, 2015

AASL President Leslie Preddy and ALA President Sari Feldman released the following joint statement regarding today’s developments: “The Senate vote brings America’s schoolchildren one step closer to the school library resources and other tools that they need to succeed as 21st century students. For school-age students, ESSA represents an historic new chapter in federal support … Continue reading Senate Passes Every Student Succeeds Act →

Support School Libraries!

By Keith Michael Fiels | September 4, 2015

In some communities, we see that testing pressures and budget decisions have led to the elimination of school libraries and school librarians. In some districts, we see that school libraries are seen as a “frill”—nice to have but not essential to student learning. Yet school libraries and school librarians are among the most effective and efficient … Continue reading Support School Libraries! →

Bookend: Urban Renewal

September 1, 2015

“These are stories that are about inner-city life and urban life, and the kids could really relate,” says Boyd, now library media specialist and director of social media at Wendell Phillips Academy High School, where she has worked since 2010. When Boyd began advocating for the urban fiction genre, she was sometimes misunderstood. Many people, … Continue reading Bookend: Urban Renewal →

Newsmaker: James Patterson

By Megan Cottrell | June 4, 2015

American Libraries: You made headlines last year by giving $1 million dollars in small grants to independent bookstores, and now you’re doing the same for school libraries. The problems bookstores are facing are well known, but school libraries haven’t received as much national attention. Why did you decide to focus on school libraries? That’s exactly … Continue reading Newsmaker: James Patterson →

The Future of Library Services to Teens

By Linda W. Braun | May 22, 2015

Not only can students learn from these presentations but so can professors who develop LIS courses and help students gain the necessary skills to succeed in 21st-century libraries. This need to bring the real and the academic worlds together underscores the importance of the work that the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) has done … Continue reading The Future of Library Services to Teens →

Library Systems Report

By Marshall Breeding | May 1, 2015

Tied to the economy of libraries, the vendors that make up the library technology industry support a stable but highly constrained economic sector, with global opportunities. Library budgets may never recover to pre-recession levels, fueling interest in technology to improve their efficiency and the impact of collection resources. Products able to deliver efficiency, innovation, and … Continue reading Library Systems Report →

The State of America’s Libraries 2015

April 13, 2015

This and other library trends of the past year are detailed in ALA’s State of America’s Libraries Report 2015, made available during National Library Week, April 12–18, both as an American Libraries digital supplement, as well as on the ALA website at ala.org/americas-libraries and as a PDF file. As society continues to change the way … Continue reading The State of America’s Libraries 2015 →

Selecting the (Mock) Newbery and Caldecott Winners

By Greg Landgraf | January 27, 2015

Zinkovich operates the mock election as an activity for 4th- and 5th-graders that takes place during the school’s end-of-day study hall period. At the beginning of the year, the group discussed criteria for the award. Since then, the club has met every three weeks to discuss books. “After a bit of trial and error, we’ve … Continue reading Selecting the (Mock) Newbery and Caldecott Winners →

A girl reads to Minnie from K9 Reading Buddies of the North Shore.

Dog Therapy 101

By Timothy Inklebarger | December 22, 2014

“I started pitching it at the school, and my principal was absolutely against it,” Weibling tells American Libraries. The former 3rd-grade teacher, who was then working toward her master’s degree in library science, was eager to find new ways to get students excited about reading and comprehension. “Reading therapy dog programs weren’t common knowledge to … Continue reading Dog Therapy 101 →

Ferguson’s Safe Haven

By Timothy Inklebarger | November 10, 2014

After being informed that classes would be canceled, Carrie Pace, an art teacher at Ferguson’s Walnut Grove Elementary, wanted to do something, anything, to help with the recovery. While driving through town she passed the Ferguson Public Library. That’s where she got the idea to use the facility as a place for kids to go … Continue reading Ferguson’s Safe Haven →

How Libraries Help Kids Stand Up to Bullying

By Beverly Goldberg | October 1, 2014

Before study hall was over, the principal was dealing with the perpetrators. “We handled it all immediately,” Watson tells American Libraries. “That’s a key role of what librarians can do in schools to be a force against bullying. If the students know you’re there, and that you’re an advocate for them, they’ll come to you.” … Continue reading How Libraries Help Kids Stand Up to Bullying →

Latest Library Links

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Sheila Craft-Morgan writes: “Citations are a key measure of the impact of a researcher’s work. However, research in a variety of disciplines has found that women are less likely to be cited than men; citations contain geographic bias; and the Matthew effect—in which those who begin with advantage continue to gain advantage—leads to more citations for prominent scholars in a specific discipline. These findings contribute to the notion that scholarly knowledge comes from a homogenous group of researchers, thereby overlooking the contributions of other groups.”

American Libraries column, June
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Mel Baldwin writes: “Regardless of why someone comes into a library, every patron should be free to interact with staff, browse materials, and use the internet without fear of harassment or worse. That freedom depends on libraries upholding patron privacy. With nearly 400 active anti-trans bills pending in state legislatures as of April 2024, it is a dangerous time in the US to be gender nonconforming, someone whose gender expression does not align with the traditional male or female binary. And for trans people of color, studies show the risk of discrimination and violence is higher.”

American Libraries column, June
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Greg Landgraf writes: “On a school morning last September, small groups of 5th-graders crowded around tools connected to scientific research—a microscope, a robotic camera, and even a snake named Morgan Freeman—clipboards and pencils in hand. They were at the Melrose branch of Roanoke (Va.) Public Libraries (RPL), judging graduate students from Virginia Tech in Blacksburg on their research. The event was RPL’s second Flip the Fair, introduced in 2022 to help graduate students develop skills to effectively communicate their research while engaging local elementary students with STEM topics and the library.”

American Libraries Trend, June
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Aaryn Bierly writes: “Disability Pride Month is traditionally celebrated in July to celebrate the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in 1990. The ADA regulates laws regarding service animals, requires employers to accommodate their employees’ physical and medical needs, stipulates the number and placement of accessible parking spaces and restrooms, and more. One in five Americans has some type of disability that makes working more difficult, and the ADA has made working conditions easier for a significant number of Americans. We’ve got several great lists of books for kids and teens of different ages featuring characters with a range of disabilities.”

Herrick District Library (Holland, Mich.), July 1
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“Many people already turn to libraries as sources of trusted information ahead of elections, and organizations like ALA and the League of Women Voters are hoping to expand those numbers. We’ve curated a selection of resources, tools, and ideas to help inform your library’s approach to this important work.”

WebJunction, July 3
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“A federal appeals court in New Orleans is taking another look at its own order requiring a Texas county to keep eight books that deal with subjects including sex, gender identity, and racism on public library shelves. Llano County officials had initially removed 17 books from its shelves amid complaints about the subject matter. The June 6 order was vacated July 3 after a majority of the 17-member court granted Llano County officials a new hearing before the full court. The order did not state reasons and the hearing hasn’t yet been scheduled.”

Associated Press, July 7
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Todd Spangler writes: “In the days after Paramount Global disabled mtvnews.com and mtv.com/news in June—removing a trove of hundreds of thousands of articles about music and pop culture from the internet—the not-for-profit Internet Archive assembled a searchable index of 460,575 web pages previously published at mtv.com/news. The Wayback Machine’s archive of MTV News is not the full complement of what was published over the span of more than two decades. But the new collection at least ensures, for the time being, that much of MTV News’ articles remain accessible in some form.”

Variety, July 2

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