LBGTQ+ Books Within Middle School Libraries and How Librarians Promote These LGBTQ+ Books to Students

This mixed methods study allowed the researchers to explore the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ+) materials available in public middle school libraries and to interview six middle school librarians about their perceptions on “caring about and caring for” in order to provide middle school students with LGBTQ+ books. The study took place in one Texas school district. The quantitative data came from the middle school libraries' online database to determine how many LGBTQ+-themed young-adult books were found in each of the 12 school libraries. The findings revealed that the middle-school libraries offered very few LGBTQ+-themed books for students to checkout. The qualitative data came from interviewing six middle school librarians. Their stories revealed two critical themes toward LGBTQ+ books within their school library: (1) librarians' perceptions and reactions to students' needs and (2) librarians' perceptions and reactions regarding silence within the district.

Implementing Makerspace in Nigerian School Libraries

The 21st century is a knowledge age where the only currency is knowledge; thus, to function in it, possession of 21st century skills is germane. The required skills are critical thinking, problem-solving, analytical, mathematical, communication and cooperative, leadership, and technical skills. In the same vein, 21st century libraries are evolving to instill the 21st century skills into learners through makerspace. Makerspace is an avenue for creating, making, tinkering, and inventing by trial and error based on the interest of the learners. This study, therefore, examines makerspace, school library and makerspace, the role of school librarians in makerspace, implementing makerspace in school library, challenges of hosting makerspace in school libraries in Nigeria, and recommendations.

Social Tagging and Secondary School Libraries

This chapter examines the Archive of Our Own (AO3) tagging system and backend design to determine how its successful elements can be implemented in a secondary school library setting. Specifically, it looks at social tagging on the platform to evaluate how effective a collaborative tag-based search system could be as a supplement to a traditional school library catalog. The author conducted field research and created an online library tagging template for school use. Google Forms are also used to generate content for the platform, which is designed for both librarian and student user groups. This work was carried out throughout the 2019-2020 school year. The author found that community care, subject knowledge, and “tag wrangling” are the key elements of the AO3 that can potentially be leveraged in a secondary school library environment to promote student engagement and reading for pleasure.

Exploring status of library management technical aspects in Indian schools

PurposeSchool library is regarded as the heart and soul of the school. It acts as learning resource centre and support the school curriculum in all possible manners. The main aim of this paper is to document the factors associated with library management in selected school libraries in Varanasi, India.Design/methodology/approachSurvey method is used to conduct this research in which close-ended questions were provided to the school librarians. Simple random sampling was used to collect samples from secondary schools of Varanasi.FindingsIt was found that 34% school libraries affiliated to Central Board of Secondary Education are managed properly and they are termed as first class library. Rest of the schools are not managed as per rules and regulations of school librarianship. Some librarians themselves are not properly aware of the significance of the library and hence the management is suffered accordingly.Practical implicationsThis research will help in exploring the existing status of library management in school libraries. The work is designed specifically for school libraries. Simple ranking system for school libraries will be helpful to make an exhaustive school ranking based on library management.Originality/valueThis research will bring on record the ground reality of school librarianship in India and the way they are managed. Simple ranking system for school library is given in this paper that will help to find out which school library is functioning properly or not.

Exploration of School Library Services for Students with Disabilities

To implement inclusive education, schools need to provide a range of services for students with disabilities. One component that must be adapted is the school library, which must also create an inclusive environment so students with disabilities can access it. This research aimed to examine and explore school libraries’ readiness to provide services for students with disabilities. This was qualitative research. The research was conducted in five school libraries in the Special Region of Yogyakarta. Data were collected through library accessibility checklist forms from IFLA, in-depth interviews, and documentation analysis. Ten informants participated, while documentation was examined from school-owned documents, websites, and school library profile videos. The results showed that only two school libraries were well prepared to provide services for students with disabilities, one of which already provided special services for people with disabilities. In contrast, other libraries have not provided services for students with disabilities because there is no need for internal schools. However, some of the school libraries have done mapping and planned the needs for developing disability services to optimize library services. Keywords: school library, library service, accessibility, students with disabilities

“DADI-DADI DOGEN”AS IDEOLOGY IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOL LIBRARY IN THE CITY OF SINGARAJA, BULELENG, BALI

The Law of the Republic of Indonesia Number 43 Year 2007 concerning Libraries states that schools are required to have school libraries based on the National Standards of Library (SNP). This condition forces every school to develop a library, even though the conditions are still far from the standard set. To realize the existence of library, each school uses various resources in its school to establish a school library. This study aims to explore the efforts of primary schools in Singaraja City to fulfill their obligations in providing library space. This study uses a qualitative approach based on critical social theory commonly used in the Cultural Studies approach. The data collection was carried out by in-depth interviews, involved observation and document study. Data analysis in this study follows Peter Berger's model with the following steps: conceptualization, conceptualization results, verification, and objectivation. The results show that the obligation to have a school library at the primary school level is not easy due to various obstacles. This gave rise to the ideology of permissivism or in Balinese it is called dadi dadi dogen. This ideology allows schools to use various types of spaces to become libraries, for example classrooms, teacher rooms, warehouses, UKS, and so on. Keywords: elementary school libraries, dadi dadi dogen, permissivism, ideology

Blue Pencil

This article aims at analyzing and discussing the proposed objectives and outcomes of a transmedia project that was run in partnership with CICANT/Universidade Lusófona, in Lisbon, Portugal, and the Portuguese media group Impresa, as part of a European Commission-funded project named CIAKL-Cinema and Industry Alliance for Knowledge and Learning. The Blue Pencil project had as its main objective the development of a transmedia narrative that grouped different platforms and technologies, which included intersections inside the narrative within the genres of entertainment and education. Taking as its central theme the censorship in Portugal during the Estado Novo, the narrative extends into a short fiction film, a documentary, a site with archive material, an online game that challenges writing on freedom of the press, an online store, and a school program, in partnership with the network of school libraries, to launch the debate of censorship in schools.

Use of selection tools in New Zealand secondary school libraries

<p>The purpose of this research was to investigate the use of selection tools in New Zealand secondary schools, specifically which selection tools are used, how satisfactory the tools are, and which criteria secondary school librarians use in assessing selection tools. Particular attention was paid to the status of evaluative and alerting selection tools in school libraries. A mail questionnaire was sent to a random nationwide sample of 186 secondary school librarians. To gain a richer understanding of the context of selection in secondary schools, 4 focus groups were also held in the Wellington, Horowhenua, Palmerston North, and Wanganui areas. The resulting data was analysed alongside the questionnaire data to provide more comprehensive answers to the study's research questions. The study found that alerting tools were more widely used and considered more valuable than evaluative tools, with the ability to preview an item a key concern for school librarians. Tools supplied by the book selling and publishing industries were the most common tools used, and the features of selection tools considered most important focused on a tool's performance as an alerting tool. Online tools were not widely used, with connectivity problems and lack of time cited as the most common reasons.</p>

Use of selection tools in New Zealand secondary school libraries

<p>The purpose of this research was to investigate the use of selection tools in New Zealand secondary schools, specifically which selection tools are used, how satisfactory the tools are, and which criteria secondary school librarians use in assessing selection tools. Particular attention was paid to the status of evaluative and alerting selection tools in school libraries. A mail questionnaire was sent to a random nationwide sample of 186 secondary school librarians. To gain a richer understanding of the context of selection in secondary schools, 4 focus groups were also held in the Wellington, Horowhenua, Palmerston North, and Wanganui areas. The resulting data was analysed alongside the questionnaire data to provide more comprehensive answers to the study's research questions. The study found that alerting tools were more widely used and considered more valuable than evaluative tools, with the ability to preview an item a key concern for school librarians. Tools supplied by the book selling and publishing industries were the most common tools used, and the features of selection tools considered most important focused on a tool's performance as an alerting tool. Online tools were not widely used, with connectivity problems and lack of time cited as the most common reasons.</p>

Barriers to Māori Usage of University Libraries: an Exploratory Study in Aotearoa New Zealand

<p>There is a large body of work on the barriers that Māori, other indigenous peoples and minorities encounter at educational institutions, there is also research into the barriers that these groups encounter within the health sector and a smaller body of work pertaining to these same barriers within public and school libraries. This research combines the findings from these bodies of literature with the results from two focus groups of university students to explore the possibility that there are barriers which they may have encountered at their university library. The results showed that there were barriers within the university library, and like other barrier research these were many and varied and were dependant on a number of factors including, institution (library system) size, and individual expectations of the student. These findings are discussed in terms of the implications that they have for Māori university students, and suggestions are made for further research, as well as ways that these barriers may be countered.</p>