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This study examined how school librarians spent their own money to support their libraries during the 2020-2021 school year in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and the various factors that influence this spending. Using mixed methods, this study identified demographic information about the participants and schools served, personal spending practices, perspectives on the need for personal spending, and local school policies related to library funding that impacted out-of-pocket spending. The major findings of this study indicate that school librarians used their own money to purchase books, decorations, prizes, office supplies, and cleaning supplies. Librarians used their own money to meet student needs, to get what was needed quickly and conveniently, to obtain items for which they were not allowed to spend school money, and to avoid dealing with time-consuming purchasing and reimbursement processes--if reimbursement was even an option. School librarians also spent their own money because library budgets were eliminated, reduced, or frozen during the pandemic. In addition, school librarians who spent the most of their own money worked in rural areas with a higher proportion of students who qualify for free/reduced lunch. School librarians who were over 60, unmarried, or had lower library budgets spent more of their own money on their libraries than did other study participants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the discursive practices of librarians serving teens in school and public libraries during a specific span of the COVID-19 pandemic, the period from August through October 2020. A methodology of discourse analysis was applied to three multi-author blogs published by professional library organizations. The research examined how the discursive practices of librarians serving teens in school and public libraries suggest what the librarians value around teens and library services; and how librarians serving teens in school and public libraries use language to construct beliefs on their role(s) in providing teens access to information and reading materials. Through their language, the librarians show they value library services for teens, especially in times of crisis; they assume teens want and need library services such as book circulation; and they believe that libraries are social goods, essential for continued distribution in the pandemic. The librarians' language suggests the belief that librarians are responsible for, and follow through in, devising creative ways to serve teens upon library closures or in circumstances of limited library access. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This qualitative meta-analysis explored the nature of successful collaboration between teachers and school librarians. Three action research studies of school librarians who integrated instruction or curriculum through collaboration with teachers are examined to understand more about what strategies made the collaboration successful. Strategies used by the librarians to collaborate more effectively with teachers are presented, as well as measures that can be used to determine successful collaboration. The findings indicate that the school librarians in this study used many different strategies to lead the collaboration to success. These strategies included initiating the collaboration, securing support from the principal, identifying a shared vision with all collaborators, collecting and analyzing data about the progress of the collaboration, holding regular meetings, and documenting the collaboration. This paper was presented for the AASL Research into Practice track at the 2019 AASL National Conference in Louisville, Kentucky, USA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]