Mission and Goals of the School Library Media Program

The mission of the library media program is to ensure that students and staff are effective users of ideas and information. This mission is accomplished:

• by providing intellectual and physical access to materials in all formats
• by providing instruction to foster competence and stimulate interest in reading, viewing, and using information and ideas
• by working with other educators to design learning strategies to meet the needs of individual students.

Roles and Responsibilities of the School Library Media Specialist

• As teacher, the library media specialist collaborates with students and other members of the learning community to analyze learning and information needs, to locate and use resources that will meet those needs, and to understand and communicate the information the resources provide.
• As instructional partner, the library media specialist joins with teachers and others to identify links across student information needs, curricular content, learning outcomes, and a wide variety of print, nonprint, and electronic information resources.
• As information specialist, the library media specialist provides leadership and expertise in acquiring and evaluating information resources in all formats; in bringing an awareness of information issues into collaborative relationships with teachers, administrators, students, and others; and in modeling for students and others strategies for locating, accessing, and evaluating information within and beyond the library media center.
• As program administrator, the library media specialist works collaboratively with members of the learning community to define the policies of the library media program and to guide and direct all activities related to it.

--Information Power: Guidelines for School Library Media Programs (1988), from ch. 1

for more information visit http://www.ala.org/ala/aasl/aaslproftools/informationpower/informationpower.cfm