Introduce your teachers, librarians, and administrators to the roles and responsibilities of educators in advocating a whole school library learning commons using this step-by-step guide for creating shared learning space in your school.

It is no surprise that technology has shifted the way we educate-bearing on how, what, and where we learn. This guide lays the framework for helping turn your school library into a whole school library learning commons (WSLLC)-a space where traditional academics merge with the latest technologies to engage learners in a way never before realized.

Author Judith Anne Sykes contends that since the WSLLC philosophy allows staff and students to co-create knowledge in a shared space, it is more effective than the traditional approach. Sykes addresses the differences between a school library and a WSLLC, provides reasons to champion its creation in your institution, and discusses how to use mentoring as a means to sustain its survival. The book explores the roles and responsibilities of educators in developing WSLLC goals and presents strategies for using typical assessment tools-including standardized tests, report cards, and anecdotal assessments-to help support its philosophy.

• Links the use of the WSLLC to standards in education
• Presents a doable plan to implement and sustain the learning commons approach in school
• Illustrates how the WSLLC can be a means of increasing student engagement and improving academic achievement
• Provides ideas for promoting the WSLLC concept to the education community
• Offers suggestions for assessing the effectiveness of the WSLLC
• Features strategies, standards, and checklists to support the program