21st Century Media Specialists
What can we do for you?
Please Read the Flyer and Take the Survey Below ~ Thank You!
Libraries in the 21st Century
Libraries today are media centers and learning commons where students can use both the physical space as well as the virtual space. Middle school library websites provide virtual access to resources 24/7. (Links for the high school library website, a middle school website, and some award winning middle school websites are listed at the bottom of this page.)
The library media center is the heart of the school where students are achieving the information literacy skills that they need to be successful in the 21st Century. With the changing focus in education to project based learning, the Common Core, and 21st Century Skills, the importance of having strong library media specialists in schools is ever increasing. Media specialists help students become lifelong, independent learners and give them the skill set to go out into the world to be responsible users and creators of information.
What Media Specialists do for Students
Help them achieve the following standards:
Massachusetts School Library Association (grades 5-8)
Standards 1-7 focus on research skills for papers and projects
Standard 8 promotes lifelong independent reading habits
National Education Technology Standards
Creativity and Innovation; Communication and Collaboration; Research and Information fluency; Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making; Digital Citizenship; and Technology Operations and Concepts
Partnership for 21st Century Skills
Learning & Innovation Skills; Information, Media & Technology Skills, Life & Career Skills
Common Core Standards
What Media Specialists Can Do For You
● collaborates with classroom teachers as a partner in the instructional process
● collaborates to design, teach, and assess learning experiences that incorporate inquiry learning, information literacies in their formats, critical thinking and self-assessment
● provides and plans professional development
● provides educator resources (digital and print)
● promotes instructional technology to improve learning
● fosters a creative, flexible environment so that the school library is an essential part of the learning community
● develops and maintains resources appropriate to the curriculum, the learners, and instructional
strategies of the school community
● evaluates, promotes and uses existing and emerging technologies to support teaching and learning