The Virginia SOLs do include library skills throughout, thus strengthening the case for curriculum integration of library skill instruction and for collaboration as the method to ensure that this instruction takes place. Collaboration is the buzzword at the moment. The library media specialist and teacher develop a lesson or activity that uses the best the classroom, media center, and wider learning community can offer. The relationship between teacher and librarian should be seamless. The teacher and librarian are to be seen interchangeably in the classroom and the library media center.
Collaborative teaching is the best way to ensure student achievement.
With the proliferation of the information superhighway, electronic databases, and real-world applications, the library has had to change more than its name to keep in touch. You are as likely to find the latest in presentation software as the latest in YA fiction. Library media specialists and teachers are working together on media center based activities to encourage reflexive learning that crosses curriculum areas. Students utilizing the media center are learning as much about the center itself as they are the topics they are studying and researching. The process uses the best of the resources inside the media center as well as outside it.