As the role of the school library media specialist continues to evolve, and dependence on technology increases, collection development for the school library media center becomes increasingly complex. "Collection Development for a New Century in the School Library Media Center" provides an overview of the issues and problems along with strategies for solutions. A complete list of collection development resources will aid the library school student, new librarian, and experienced librarian alike in building a collection that best meets the needs of their school in the 21st century.

Beginning with a discussion of collection development as both art and science, the author demonstrates how a collection should reflect the culture of the community that it serves. He advises school library media specialists on creating collection development policies, particularly with regard to protecting the collection from censorship, and presents strategies for balancing print and nonprint resources. He concludes with an individual examination of each of the major aspects of the collection (fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and biography), with suggestions for developing each. School library media specialists, using the principles outlined here, will be empowered in assisting both teachers and students with quality resources to support the school curricula.

This book provides an analysis and rationale for community information in the School Library Media Center. Arguing for the improved integration of community information into curriculum design, the book suggests that the topic can be used to promote the overall development of information literacy. It also considers community information and the preparation required to adequately teach community information. Important issues such as the kinds of materials necessary for community information instruction and the role played by community information in government mandated basic skills requirements are also treated.

Well-known authors, W. Bernard Lukenbill and Barbara Froling Immroth, provide an introduction to a difficult topic. This book covers the general status of youth healthcare, the issues and concerns providing a model of health delivery, and their relationship to the school and public library. Public and school librarians and their clientele will appreciate this straightforward approach to finding and selecting consumer information on health related topics. School librarians will find resources to help teachers who are being asked to teach consumer health classes. Students, librarians, teachers, parents, and caregivers in need of information that addresses health issues encountered by youth will find it in this inclusive book on the topic. Public and school librarians will appreciate discussions of issues related to the general status of healthcare for youth, delivery systems, and locations of consumer information and methods to select and manage the collection of health information materials.

Research from psychology and sociology has demonstrated that biography is assuming a powerful role in the sociological and psychological well being of youth. Biographies present role models, and define acceptable behaviors, social expectations, and values. They also demonstrate what is rewarded in society and what is less valued. This book considers selection and programming issues important, but goes beyond that and seeks to relate biography for youth within the larger arena of scholarship and research in terms of its literary, social, and cultural impact and importance. Lukenbill's overall goal is to help librarians, teachers, and youth workers better understand the power of biography, and ways it can be used. The book contrasts the influences of our current celebrity-and-media-driven culture with the role librarians, teachers, and parents can play in the positive development of youth. The use of biography in the school is presented as a fundamental tool of instruction, emphasizing its important role as a vehicle for cultural and information literacy dissemination. The use of biography in the public library centers on its use in programming and its potential for promoting cultural literacy, positive self-identification and healthy recreation. Major topics covered by the book include: biography in life and in learning; biography as used both in school library media center, the public library, and the classroom; biography as literature; biography as contemporary commentary; biography for the very young; biography as it affects attitudes and behaviors; and biography as social dialogue. The book's approach is at once theoretical and practical