Learning and Media Committee

Who me? A writer for Learning and Media? It's simpler than you might believe. Others have written for our journal and lived through the experience. You have some information that others in our profession need: your ideas, your expertise, your experiences. Please consider writing a piece for us. Although themes are listed below for each issue, we welcome writing on any topic related to librarianship.

We would appreciate it if you would forward it to us as a Word document attached to an email. Pictures may be sent as .jpg files attached to a separate email. Your friendly editor's contact information is provided on the first page of every issue. Any questions, please contact him at nflncfl@ptd.net.

Future Themes of Learning and Media

Fall--Emerging Technologies--deadline 9/1/07

As school libraries evolve they do not resemble the resources and programs that most people -- including school administrators -- remember from their own school days. Web 2.0 and other emerging technologies force us to examine our practice. State and school district initiatives like Classrooms for the Future send us back to the drawing board to redesign school library programs to meet 21st century student needs.

Winter--Information Fluency--deadline 11/15/07

We are no longer satisfied with information literacy. A literate student is a good start, but our society demands students who can combine critical thinking with information literacy to move smoothly from one technology to another. Assembling and reassembling ideas, researching to fill in the gaps and producing products that reflect the highest levels of creative thought -- these are our 21st century goals. Where do school library programs fit in to that vision of education? We are at the center, of course!

Spring--Serving All Users--deadline 2/15/08

We are inviting our members to submit lesson plans, program ideas, resource guides -- anything to help us all deal with the increasing diversity of our student and teacher users. We hope that this issue is the most practical we have ever published in bringing forth solutions to the needs of our variety of students -- special education, ESL, alternative schooled, gifted and talented. And we will look for ways to update our collections to address the racial, cultural and gender-based differences in our student populations.

Summer--Collaborations--deadline 5/15/08

What is the most surprising collaboration that you have engaged in during your career as a school librarian? Was it with a Head Start program, a public library, or a college or university? Did you work in noteworthy ways with homeschoolers or people in the community at large? Did you find that unusual collaboration inside your school building with -- say -- your math teachers? The summer issue will highlight the why's and the how's of relationships that school librarians have built.