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This study investigates how place consciousness affects the advocacy practices of five rural/frontier Montana school librarians. Eighteen Montana rural/frontier school librarians were interviewed about their advocacy activities. A grounded theory analysis revealed that the recognition of community context is vital to effective school library advocacy. A secondary data analysis using narrative inquiry was conducted, resulting in five narratives anchored in the conceptual framework of place consciousness and using the hero's journey story structure to further explore how rural/frontier school librarians advocate for effective programs. Lessons learned about rural/frontier school librarian advocacy are shared, as are implications for practice and suggestions for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The school library is a service of educational institutions that contributes to the formation of communicative and informational skills of the educational community. The purpose of the study was to understand the dynamics of the school library for the promotion of multimodal reading in elementary school students. The research methodology was the case study. The data collection instruments were the field diary and the evaluation of workshops by the students. The participants were 92 students from the third, fourth and fifth grades of a public educational institution in the city of Medellin, Colombia. The results show that the students positively valued the multimodal reading promotion workshops that were implemented from the school library, expecting to find diversity in multimodal resources that motivate them to read and a higher level of interaction with the other participants. In the conclusions it is affirmed that the services of the school library must be aligned with the formative purposes and institutional guidelines on the learning of reading, writing and orality in the students of the basic primary, in addition, that the work of the school librarian It requires permanent updating on strategies to promote reading at school. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents an entry in the journal's regular column focusing on strategic planning and assessment in library science and administration. This entry describes the impact of the U.S. Common Core State Standards initiative on higher education and libraries. Related subjects addressed include the link between library services and the Common Core system, the link between the Common Core requirements and higher education, and the implications of the Common Core on assessment practices.

The article examines the important role played by school librarians in collecting data that are used to highlight equity or inequities of library service to students. Topics discussed include the opportunity for the school library profession to use data to illustrate the inequities of race, ethnicity and poverty in the U.S., data from the National Center for Education Statistics, and local school district data on equity.

In this paper I share my experiences, opinions and perspectives of running a school library during the COVID-19 pandemic. I discuss the difficulties and problems I have encountered, but also the opportunities for creativity that have presented themselves. From experiencing government cutbacks to layoffs and school closures, I discuss my feelings and frustrations about COVID-19 and how it prevented me from doing my job. I demonstrate how the pandemic heightened the feeling of isolation and loneliness in a job that can already make one feel disconnected; I highlight the importance and need for human connection. I also examine the new creative opportunities that working during a pandemic has given me, like asynchronous programming, collection development, professional development and a chance to experiment or renovate. This paper is meant to highlight the importance of school libraries and start a discussion of our role before and after the pandemic. Advocacy helps ensure that school libraries remain open. My goal is to give a glimpse of day-to-day library practice in a school library during the pandemic and share ideas and information with the library and information community. My views and opinions are my own, and the context will be different in every school. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates user preferences for reference and technical support, services, and facilities featured in an academic library and Learning Commons through a 23-item questionnaire distributed to building entrants during one 24-hour period on March 14, 2006. Results revealed a strong preference for face-to-face assistance (including roving), suggested enhancements, and documented user demographics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the challenges of providing access to library and information resources within the University of the South Pacific and its library in Suva, Fiji. The University of the South Pacific was established by the Royal Charter in 1967 on behalf of eleven South Pacific states spread out across the Pacific Ocean. The university is funded on a regional basis by member countries. The library is managed by professional librarians. The library is increasing its investments in online database and periodicals subscriptions and embarking on a digitization program.

This article examines the results of a survey sent to Association of Research Libraries (ARL) Special Collections requesting information on outreach to K-12 students. Over half of the respondents work with K-12 and many of those who currently do not are planning to. New pressures and changing philosophies contribute to this trend. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents the results of a library service survey conducted at the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences in Boston in January and February 2002. Background on the college; Factors affecting the satisfaction of library users; Main reasons for students to use Sheppard Library; Libraries used by students besides Sheppard Library; Things that are lacking in the Sheppard Library collection.

Examines various factors that might affect the relationships, perceptions and relative power that library school deans and library directors have in shared academic settings. Study on library schools-host academic libraries relationship; Focus of the study; Methodology used in the study; Analysis of results; Perceptions on the relationship between dean and director; Evidences that support the issue on relationships; Conclusions.

Discusses the need for librarians to understand the importance to the library of their participation in university service. Definition of university service; Importance of providing incentives and rewards for meaningful work that occurs either within the university or when librarians represent the university in system or statewide service; Responsibilities of library directors; Spheres into which the Higher Education Employer-Employee Relations Act divided governance.

The article presents a selected review of professional literature that explores the benefits of creating school and public library partnerships. It describes the importance of a community-based approach to serving youth and teens, an age group which both schools and public libraries serve. An article published in "Voice of Youth Advocates" in 2016 describes the collaborative work initiated by librarians Kate Neff and Alexandra Phillips.

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses various reports published within the issue which include the impact of storytelling activities on student interest, the readiness of librarians to lead digital integration, the state of school librarians in Brazil.

This article explores how three regional children’s choirs and their practitioners, from different provinces of South Africa, project a distinctly South African choral identity that they themselves construct by fabricating a mental representation of themselves, through the identification, organisation and interpretation of particular musical and non-musical elements. It is ultimately argued that each of the three choirs – The Eastern Cape Children’s Choir, Cantare Children’s Choir and the Tygerberg Children’s Choir – projects its own unique choral identity, which is inclusively South African. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article focuses on Innovation Pursuit (IP) and Berwick Innovation Center (BIC) pilot program to foster critical thinking and collaboration among students introduced in 2016 by the Berwick Academy in Berwick, Maine. Topics discussed include BIC providing opportunities for students to learn subjects in creative ways, working on projects with the help of 3-D printers and electronics, and IP offering project management skills.

Using the Architecture Library at Ball State University as an example, the author demonstrates how libraries can create a brand as a framework for executing a marketing plan. Libraries, even specialized branch libraries serving well-defined user groups, can benefit from giving careful consideration to the library's image and whether or not users perceive the library to be relevant to their information needs. The Architecture Library's brand is student-focused, with a minimalist, modern look intended to appeal to students in the university's environmental design programs. It promotes the Architecture Library through its logo, displayed in posters, marketing campaigns, and social media. It also characterizes the type of library experience the staff seeks to provide to users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The University of North Texas Libraries received a grant for e-book readers for students purchasing digital textbooks. The grant provided a way to access electronic information in the form of digital textbooks to those who wish to use them but could not afford to purchase e-readers. The university bookstore offers digital textbooks, but not many students have used them. Through administering the grant the authors learned how to implement and market the e-reader service and how students felt about the technology. Evaluation methodology included a pre- and post-test outcomes-based survey for students using the technology. Future considerations are also noted. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article discusses the author's experience with the challenges and the progress of transitioning a traditional school library to learning commons. Topics discussed the changes for the planned special events for the entire year to reflect the needs of her school community and students' interests, some of the spring events she organized and executed with the help of her library media center (LMC) committee and her goal to make LMC the hub of the school.

The basic purpose of this paper is to evaluate the quality of library services at COMSATS Institute of Information Technology (CIIT) Islamabad campus from its users' perspective. The survey method was selected for the study and a modified SERVQUAL questionnaire was used as an instrument to collect data from the students, faculty, and staff members. Because of the large potential population, random sampling was applied and 275 questionnaires were distributed, of which 207 valid responses were received. The questionnaire was consisted of 22 paired closed-ended questions to elicit the responses of the users on a 7-point Likert scale. Analysis of the collected data revealed that there are no significant differences between the levels of users' expectations and perceptions, which signify that the CIIT library is not lacking in quality services and users are satisfied with various aspects of its service quality. The study will be useful for those library professionals who wish to investigate the strengths, weaknesses and threats in their library services and who also intend to enhance the quality of these services. The study demonstrates that it is possible to make meaningful comparisons of library services, and argues that LIBQUAL should be introduced to provide a systematic regular study of the performance of Pakistan's university libraries in meeting user expectations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]