scholarly journals School Library Advocacy Literature in the United States

Author(s):  
Ann Dutton Ewbank ◽  
Ja Youn Kwon

Despite evidence of school librarians’ impact on student achievement and multiple advocacy efforts, position eliminations and budget reductions continue across the United States. The researchers conducted a preliminary conceptual content analysis of the scholarly and practitioner literature about school library advocacy in the United States from 2001-2011 to determine methods of and rationales for advocacy. The most frequent advocacy method was distributing literature or information about school libraries. The most frequent reason cited in the literature for engaging in advocacy activities was in response to a potential funding or position reduction or elimination. Advocacy is highly contextualized and different situations may warrant different approaches. Viewing school library advocacy through an organizational evolution framework may frame the context. School library researchers should address the dearth of empirical and theoretical work on both the practice and impact of advocacy on the profession.

Author(s):  
Lesley S. J. Farmer

International guidelines for school libraries and school librarians exist. However, the role of professional library associations in school librarian education has been largely overlooked. This exploratory study examines the role of professional library associations in Brazil, Honduras, Nepal, and the United States (specifically California) relative to school librarian pre-service education and in-service professional development. The associations are analyzed in light of communities of practice and the contingency theory of socialization. The findings demonstrate how professional library associations provide culturally relevant professional development that melds professional expertise and socialization.


Author(s):  
Yunfei Du ◽  
Barbara Stein Martin ◽  
Marjie D. Lorica

School library media specialists in the United States were surveyed to determine their perceptions of the most critical needs in their school libraries. The purpose of the survey was to develop information to be shared with grant-making agencies and foundations to provide suggestions in determining how money might be appropriated for spending. Results of the survey may also be used to compare the priorities of the general population of school library media specialists with those of specific subsets, such as those serving disadvantaged populations.


Author(s):  
Lesley Farmer

International guidelines for school libraries and school librarians exist. However, the role of professional library associations in school librarian education has been largely overlooked. This exploratory study examines the role of professional library associations in Brazil, Honduras, Nepal, and the United States (specifically California) relative to school librarian pre-service education and in-service professional development. The associations are analyzed in light of communities of practice and the contingency theory of socialization. The findings demonstrate how professional library associations provide culturally relevant professional development that melds professional expertise and socialization.


Author(s):  
Mona Kerby ◽  
Jennfer Branch-Mueller ◽  
Kasey L. Garrison ◽  
Jody Howard

This three-hour workshop provides an opportunity for school librarianship professors to discuss and share with their peers best practices in creating relevant assignments for school librarians in the 21st century on the topics of collaboration and leadership. For each topic, the professors from Australia, Canada, and the United States will share the following on a large screen and with handouts: (a) national standards that guide course preparation, (b) the course description, (c) course objectives, and (d) one sample assignment. Assignments for both topics will include the instructions and also the rubrics. After each topic presentation, participants are encouraged to share how they teach collaboration and leadership, and they will then be divided into small groups to share additional ideas. A third component of the presentation focuses on a 2013 U.S. grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Studies to deliver four online courses for doctoral candidates from various institutions with an interest in school library doctoral studies. The session will close with the participants brainstorming critical issues and topics for future IASL presentations from school librarianship professors. Before the IASL conference begins, emails will be sent to attendees who are school library professors to encourage them to attend and to bring sample assignments on teaching collaboration and leadership as a way to extend our conversation beyond the Australia, Canada and the United States.


Author(s):  
Hiroyo Matsudo

The purpose of this study is examining some suggestions on how school libraries can be involved in Special Needs Education in a helpful way. The Modified Grounded Theory Approach is used as the method for this study. In my analysis I focus on the change in perception of 19 school staff members with respect to changes in the school library function and factors for these changes. Based on the result the school librarian’s anticipated four supports are suggested as follows: providing suitable materials that take into account students’ situation, searching study by team teaching, supporting students’ self-affirmation by sympathetic understanding, and educational support encouraging students’ socialization.


Author(s):  
Dianne Oberg

The online distance education program, Teacher-Librarianship by Distance Learning (TL-DL), was developed and implemented at the University of Alberta, Canada beginning in the late 1990s. In this paper, TL-DL is used as an example to explore: how an online program was established and maintained and how the challenges facing the program have been and are being addressed. TL-DL‟s approach to preparing school librarians to support student access to new and emerging technologies was compared and found to be similar to the approaches used in two other types of programs identified through recent research conducted in the United States and Australia. Emerging from the research are questions about the need for shifts in curriculum content and pedagogy to engage digital age learners.


Author(s):  
Novak William J

This chapter examines the idea of the Continental State in a common-law context, by focusing in particular on the American state. Building on some very recent historical and theoretical work on the American state, the chapter explores the conscious effort of the United States to create a modern state based loosely on the Continental model. It argues that American ideas and institutions were not created in isolation. Rather, from the beginning, American intellectuals, jurists, and state reformers engaged in an extended trans-Atlantic dialogue concerning matters of politics, law, and statecraft. This was especially true of the period that experienced the most extensive transformations in American governance and statecraft — the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Accordingly, this chapter takes a close look at the American tradition of law and state building in this formative era — from 1866 to 1932.


2009 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 229-251 ◽  
Author(s):  
GEMMA M. CARNEY

ABSTRACTThis paper argues that the structured dependency thesis must be extended to incorporate political power. It outlines a political framework of analysis with which to identify who gains and who loses from social policy. I argue that public policy for older people is a product not only of social structures but also of political decision-making. The Schneider and Ingram (1993) ‘target populations’ model is used to investigate how the social construction of groups as dependent equates with lower levels of influence on policy making. In United Kingdom and European research, older people are identified as politically quiescent, but conversely in the United States seniors are viewed as one of the most influential and cohesive interest groups in the political culture. Why are American seniors perceived as politically powerful, while older people in Europe are viewed as dependent and politically weak? This paper applies the ‘target populations’ model to senior policy in the Republic of Ireland to investigate how theoretical work in the United States may be used to identify the significance of senior power in policy development. I conclude that research must recognise the connections between power, politics and social constructions to investigate how state policies can influence the likelihood that seniors will resist structured dependency using political means.


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