OAE School Library Media Specialist cheat sheet

The school library media program is defined by AASL's National School Library Standards as a shared commitment among learners, librarians, and the school community, organized around six Shared Foundations: Inquire, Include, Collaborate, Curate, Explore, Engage.

Facilities planning rule: shelving height should keep the top shelf within reach of the shortest expected user (commonly 48 inches or lower for elementary); aisles must meet ADA clearance of 36 inches minimum, 60 inches for two-wheelchair passing.

Flexible scheduling (open access) means classes and individuals come as needed rather than on a fixed weekly period; fixed scheduling assigns each class a set library time. Open access correlates with higher library use and inquiry integration.

A district-level library media supervisor coordinates program standards, budget, selection policy, and evaluation across schools; building-level media specialists report program data upward for district accountability.

Annual program evaluation should draw on circulation statistics, database usage counts, collaboration logs, collection age data, and learner outcome evidence, not circulation alone.

Budget categories typically separate print books, digital resources and databases, supplies/processing, equipment, and professional development; per-pupil allocation formulas are the most common funding basis.

Library assistants and volunteers may shelve, process, and circulate materials but should not perform professional duties such as collection selection, reference instruction, or curriculum collaboration.

A library advisory committee (learners, teachers, administrators, caregivers) reviews policy, advocates for funding, and participates in challenged-material review; it does not hold selection authority over the media specialist.

Selection criteria include accuracy, currency, authority, reading and interest level, curricular alignment, diverse representation, cost, format durability, and reviews in professional sources such as Booklist, School Library Journal, and Kirkus.

Weeding rule of thumb: the CREW/MUSTIE mnemonic (Misleading, Ugly, Superseded, Trivial, Irrelevant, Elsewhere); a common currency guideline is science/technology older than 5 years, geography/travel older than 3-5 years, and health/medical older than 5 years.

Reconsideration procedure order: receive written challenge, verify the item against the district selection policy, form a review committee, read the work in full, decide, and notify the complainant in writing with appeal rights.

The Library Bill of Rights and ALA's Freedom to Read statement hold that library materials are self-selected by users and that access is not restricted because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval.

Collection mapping compares holdings by Dewey range or curriculum area against standard percentages, revealing over- and under-represented subject areas before purchasing.

Budget allocation should prioritize replacing worn high-demand titles and filling curriculum gaps, with a standard target of roughly 10 percent of the collection weeded and replaced annually.

Digital licensing models differ: simultaneous-use, one-user-per-title, and metered access; per-title perpetual licenses cost more but preserve long-term access, while subscription databases are leased and lapse if unfunded.

Diverse collection auditing compares the demographic representation of holdings against the school population and published diversity statistics, then targets gaps in the next purchase cycle.

AASL's six Shared Foundations each carry learner dispositions and competencies: Inquire (inquiry process), Include (equity and diverse perspectives), Collaborate (working with others), Curate (gathering and organizing resources), Explore (open-ended discovery), Engage (ethical participation).

The inquiry process is recursive, not linear: Connect (activate prior knowledge), Wonder (form questions), Investigate (search and evaluate), Construct (synthesize), Express (share), Reflect (evaluate own process).

Evaluation frameworks: the CRAAP test scores Currency, Relevance, Authority, Accuracy, Purpose; the SIFT method (Stop, Investigate the source, Find better coverage, Trace claims) is a lateral-reading approach suited to web sources.

Lateral reading - leaving a site to check what other sources say about it - is more reliable than vertical reading of a single page for judging credibility.

Big6 steps: Task Definition, Information Seeking Strategies, Location and Access, Use of Information, Synthesis, Evaluation.

Search operators: quotation marks force exact phrase; minus sign excludes a term; site: limits to a domain; filetype: limits to a format; Boolean AND narrows, OR broadens, NOT excludes.

Citation instruction must name the style required by the school or district (commonly MLA for humanities, APA for sciences) and teach paraphrasing plus in-text attribution, not just bibliography formatting.

Formative assessment of inquiry uses process artifacts - research logs, question drafts, source evaluation notes - rather than only the final product, so the librarian can coach at each stage.

The librarian's instructional role is defined by co-teaching and co-planning with classroom teachers: jointly designing the inquiry task, co-delivering research instruction, and co-assessing the product.

A collaboration log documenting teacher, unit, standards addressed, and learner outcomes is the standard evidence used to demonstrate program impact to administrators.

Professional learning communities place the librarian on grade-level or content teams; the librarian contributes resource expertise and information-literacy standards alignment.

Ethical practice includes patron confidentiality (circulation records are protected in most states by library-records statutes), equitable access, and intellectual freedom defense.

Copyright: fair use is judged on four factors - purpose and character, nature of the work, amount used, and effect on the market; classroom face-to-face teaching exemptions do not automatically extend to posted online materials.

Leadership evidence includes grant writing, presenting at conferences, serving on district committees, mentoring new librarians, and publishing program outcomes.

Professional standards to cite: AASL National School Library Standards, ISTE Standards for Students and Educators, and the state's content standards for the subject area being supported.

Advocacy messaging should quantify outcomes - collaboration counts, database sessions, reading growth - and connect them to school improvement goals rather than describing activities in isolation.