This paper presents an overview of a research project commissioned by the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) in November 2021 to address the specialised needs of school libraries within the context of ALIA’s (2022) vision for developing aprofessional pathways framework. Recommendations are based on the findings and conclusions, while also takinginto consideration the ALIA Professional Pathways Board’s recommendations in response to the Professional Pathways Technical Report.

Sri Lanka is an island which has a school going population of 4.2 million students and23592 teachers, distributed among10155 schools throughout the nation. The main objective of thisstudy was to explore how the Sri Lankan school libraries, especially those in the western province,managed the challenges faced during the Covid phase and also during the years 2020-2022, owingto the prevailing economic crisis. By the year 2022 Sri Lanka was facing a severe economic crisisas a result of the depletion of the country's foreign reserves, which resulted in the shortages of food,fuel, medication, cement, and other essential items. The school libraries too faced manychallenging issues due to the economic crisis, with regard to the purchasing of books and readingmaterials and the training of staf . Therefore, a program was organized for a group of students inthe Western Province so as to encourage them to read and develop their skills in creative writingand critical thinking.

General consensus during the IASL presentation was that social media can be harmful. It canalso be used for good. With the ever growing presence of Artificial Intelligence, librarians and libraries can serve as that place to balance technology and human interactions in real life. It is essential to include students in the conversations about social media and to have repeated conversations with them about these powerful tools and platforms.

Most districts in the United States now provide computer devices to every student(Bushweiler, 2022). The research on 1:1 computing has primarily looked at the impact onstudent learning achievement, teacher and student attitudes and perceptions, andstudent-centered instructional practices (Penuel, 2006; Zheng et al., 2016). To date, no studyhas explored the role of the school librarian in any capacity in the implementation of 1:1computing programs.

The basic research question addressed in the study is “What are the experiences in the lives of juniors (aged 16-18) in high school that foster intrinsic motivation to read for pleasure?” An examination of these experiences can lead to an understanding of how juniors in high school are able to maintain their intrinsic motivation to read for pleasure to reap the academic benefits afforded to avid readers. It is the purpose of this study to provide educators and librarians with insight into high school students’ needs to facilitate reading for pleasure.

The University School (pseudonym) is a teacher training lab which provides real world learning experiences with research-based instruction for K-5 (ages 5-12) students. The two research questions were: In what ways does professional development centered on the NC Digital Learning Competencies for Educators influence teacher/staff/student knowledge of NCWiseOwl? In what ways does professional development centered on the NC Digital Learning Competencies for Educators influence essential digital literacy skills? The researcher conducted a survey in April 2021 of University School faculty and staff to define current levels of knowledge as a first step. Several themes immediately arose from the results of the focus group interviews which include intentional professional development, awareness of digital content offerings, adding to teacher toolkit, use of credible resources, self-reliance/weaning off support from non-classroom educators, and the after effects of COVID-19 pandemic/resistance to online learning.

We are pleased to share the Proceedings of the 50th Annual Conference of the International Association of School Librarianship conference and the 25th International Forum on Research in School Librarianship held virtually and in person in Columbia, South Carolina from July 11-15, 2022. The Research Papers and Research Abstracts were peer-reviewed by a minimum of three school library researchers. A very special thank you to the conference committee chaired by Dr. Lucy Santos Green.
 To cite these proceedings follow this example.
 Johnston, M. P. (2022). Teacher librarians supporting STEM education. In C. Stang & J. L. Branch-Mueller (Eds.). Proceedings of the 50th annual conference of the International Association of School Librarianship and the 23rd international forum on research in school librarianship. Edmonton, Canada: University of Alberta. (You can add the direct link to your paper as well as the unique DOI)

This paper reports the preliminary results of a 2020/2021 research project about open schooling, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and outdoor learning in Europe and the role of school libraries in implementation and development of Open Education Resources (OER). School librarians support learners who have been unable to access schooling, but also the learners who are in school, but are not learning effectively. School librarians as Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and educational experts have all important skills to support teachers and students in development and using an OER. Innovative distance learning needs to be established for monitoring, evaluation, quality assurance, and continuous improvement. The SDGs could be achieved only if local communities ensure open access to education.

Disability Acts are aimed at providing disabled students with both physical and intellectual access to education. The research takes into account UNESCO’s mission and Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) that education as a fundamental human right lies at the heart of equal access. The document analysis approach was used to select six Caribbean countries’ disability Acts to examine the kind of access indicated for educational institutions and libraries. The roles of the stakeholders who are expected to implement the Acts were also examined. Additionally, document analysis was used to determine if what was seen in these Acts were actually being implemented. The disability Acts selected were those from a Commonwealth Caribbean country that developed national policies or acts on disability and that the Acts had specific articles on access to education for disabled persons. It was discovered that the clauses with regards to access and stakeholders’ role in implementing the Acts were very limited. There is also a significant gap between what is written in the Acts and what is actually taking place. One recommendation that was suggested was that each country treat their Act as a priority as equal access is a human right as emphasized by UNESCO.

Part of the “information rich but knowledge poor” discussion concerns physical access to information, but another aspect relates to whether people can use the information they have accessed effectively. In education this is in relation to pupils, but it also concerns teachers. If teachers fail to understand the value and relevance of information skills to themselves as learners, will this create problems in developing those skills in their own pupils? This paper focuses on interviews with (1) professionals who have expectations of student teachers regarding information skills, (2) student teachers reflecting on their own information skills. The data is set within the context of information skills development and the present teacher training ethos in Scotland. Results so far indicate three main issues: first, a lack of understanding about the term information skills; second, a general inability to view information skills as generic skills in a holistic way; and third, an inability and/or lack of opportunity, in many cases, to reflect on abilities and shortfalls.