Current Ideas and Research

Here are current voices and research on essential elements that support the creation of an innovation lab and learning commons in a school.

Sample Major Voices

Innovate Inside the Box, George Couros and Katie Novak provide insight on creating purposeful learning opportunities for all students. Couros and Katie believe by combining the power of the Innovator’s Mindset and Universal Design for Learning (UDL), they can empower educators to create opportunities that will benefit every type of learner and bring creativity to student learning.

Marzano's Levels of Understanding (4-3-2-1 Rubric model) help students self-evaluate and assess how well they comprehended a lesson on a concept. This tool allows Teachers to quickly gauge how well their students understood the lesson.

School Library Scholars

Barbara Stripling

Barbara K. Stripling is a long-standing leader in the school/library field: former school librarian, district & system library services director (e.g. New York City), professor of practice (Syracuse University iSchool), and President of the American Library Association (ALA) in 2013-2014.

She has been especially active in advocacy, developing standards/continua, inquiry-based learning, information fluency / literacy, and frameworks to help librarians respond to changing educational and technological landscapes.

Keith Lance

Keith Curry Lance is a researcher & consultant specializing in library studies, especially school libraries.

He has led many large-scale impact and statistical studies (School Library Impact Studies, SLIDE, etc.).

Much of his recent work is with the SLIDE project (The School Librarian Investigation: Divergence & Evolution), which is inherently about change, trends, and the future of the profession.

Joyce Kasman Valenza

Joyce Valenza is Associate Teaching Professor of Library and Information Science at Rutgers University.

Her background includes working in school libraries, public, reference, and special libraries.

Her research / teaching interests include digital literacies, technology and learning, digital libraries, school libraries, youth & social media.

She has been active in many professional associations (AASL, ALA, ISTE, etc.), writes (blogs, columns), speaks internationally

Dr. Carol Collier Kuhlthau

Carol Collier Kuhlthau is Distinguished Professor Emerita of Library and Information Science in the School of Communication and Information (SC&I) at Rutgers University, where she directed the graduate program in school librarianship. She achieved the rank of Distinguished Professor, a special rank at Rutgers requiring additional review beyond that for full professor. She also chaired the Department of Library and Information Science and was the founding director of the Center for International Scholarship in School Libraries (CISSL). She is internationally known for her groundbreaking research on the Information Search Process and for the ISP model of affective, cognitive and physical aspects in six stages of information seeking and use. Kuhlthau is the author of seven books. Two of her more recent books, Guided Inquiry: Learning in the 21st Century and Guided Inquiry Design: A Framework for Inquiry in Your School, authored with Leslie K. Maniotes and Ann K. Caspari, are available through Bloomsbury.

Dr. Leslie Kuhlthau Maniotes

Dr. Judi Moreillon

Judi Moreillon is an author, editor, and literacies and libraries consultant. She taught preservice school librarians for 25 years. A former classroom teacher, literacy coach and classroom teacher educator, Judi served as a collaborating school librarian at all three instructional levels. Her research and publications focus on school librarian leadership and classroom teacher - school librarian instructional partnerships. Judi edited and contributed to Radical School Librarianship: A Global Response (Facet, 2025) and Core Values in School Librarianship: Responding with Commitment and Courage (Bloomsbury, 2021). She is the author of four other professional books for school librarians and classroom teachers. Judi has also published four books for children. She earned the 2019 Scholastic Publishing Award. Judi lives in Tucson, Arizona, U.S. and earned both an MLS and a PhD in education at the University of Arizona. Judi’s homepage is https://storytrail.com. She posts to Bluesky @judimoreillon.bsky.social.

Preserve Curiosity starting in Kindergarten

Taboo: The Journal of Culture and Education

The "Curiosity" Edition of Taboo

Eight articles on aspects of curiosity and education comprise this edition of the journal Taboo.

Richard K. Gordon's "Educational Renaissance: The Building of Curiosity," which is based on his dissertation to understand students' actual experiences in US schools. Longtime education advocate and critic.

Alfie Kohn includes summaries of others' research to emphasize the declining state of curiosity in K-12 public schools. Some contributors offer practical strategies and techniques.

J. Cynthia McDermott outlines 10 of them in "Blessed Are the Curious for They Will Have Adventures."

Connie Williams presents the Question Formulation Technique of Dan Rothstein and Luz Santana, and how it leads to curiosity in "The Question Formulation Technique That Encourages Curiosity."

Two other authors explore the connection and roots of cultures' curiosity development through myths: "Curiosity and the Metamorphosis of Consciousness" by John LaCorte and "Aphrodites of the World: A Brief Overview of the Feminine in the Patriarchal Order," by Lejla Panteja.

Mixing current politics with critical pedagogy, Tyson E. Lewis posits a short, punchy rant on the least and most curious from both domains.

Finally, the team of Dee Sherwood, Julian Vasquez Heilig, Frank Waln, & Skyler Wolverton explore how two Native American organizations are increasing the visibility of their members at a predominantly white institution (PWI) in the Midwest through culturally affirming teaching and learning practices that free up intellectual curiosity of both parties.

Fixed/Flex Schedules in Elementary School Library: The Solution

With flex time, elementary students can explore ideas further and freely at their library innovation hub. See the Phase One section on "My Time," pages 20-39.

Creativity & Problem Solving

uTEC Maker Model

Loertscher, D. V., Preddy, L., & Derry, B. (2013). Makerspaces in the school library learning commons and the uTEC maker model. Teacher Librarian, 41(2), 48.

This is the underlying model for engaging with makerspaces in a library as an innovation hub. Here is a summary of the 4-part model:

U for Using: enjoying, sampling, engaging, playing, participating in, or experiencing what others have created.

T for Tinker: playing, messing around, questioning, researching, making personal changes to others' creations.

E for Experimenting: building, trying/failing, repurposing, modifying, and testing theories, learning from failure/success.

C for Creating: inventing, producing, entrepreneurship, novel product, ideas, inventions.

My Developing Dispositions

Strategies: Work & Time, Organization, Teamwork, Problem Solving, Persistence, Resilience, Action Know, Imagine, Inquire, Design, Collaborate, Role Presenter, Mentor, Coach, Communicator, Leader.

Want To Make A Change? Let Young People Tell Their Stories

This TED talk highlights three efforts by a social entrepreneur to capture youth stories and influence policy changes in areas such as urban climate, net-zero, and overlooked issues.

Literacy

Tech Aligned With Values and Long-Term Goals

Steve Hargadon recommends doing "the Amish Test" as a way to determine whether a particular tech tool can contribute to individual students.

Science

Developing School Library Maker Spaces, Meeting SEL Needs

In an interview with EdTech Magazine, Rebecca Torchia interviews four instructional leaders from states across the country on the status and development of science-focused maker spaces in their school district libraries. They share their current and best practices for simultaneously addressing students social emotional learning (SEL) and offer advice on how to grow a library maker space program.

Social Studies

InquirED's inquiry-based social studies curriculum for elementary and middle school

Centered on inquiry, with Social Studies in K-8 as its vehicle, InquirED designs curriculum and instructional materials that include several components of innovation labs: inquiry, higher-level thinking, and collaborative knowledge-building. In their words, "inquiry starts with a compelling question, moves through a rigorous investigation, and culminates in real-world application." Consider how a school librarian could guide instructional leaders to utilize the innovation lab to enhance the social studies curriculum with inquirED's approach.

General Education Scholars

Mdodana-Zide L and Chimbi GT (2025).pdf

A graphic representation of Todd and Kuhlthau's 2005 model of the school library as a dynamic agent of learning.

Library as Innovation Hub, Transforming Teaching & Learning in Rural South Africa

This July, 2025 study published in Frontiers in Education illustrates that designing the library as an innovation hub isn't just a tech playground for students in well-funded, high income countries. Authors Lulama Mdodane-Zide and Godsend T. Chimbi detail the results of establishing libraries in six rural schools in South Africa and the impact on teacher pedagogy and student exploration that resulted. In their own words, "by transforming school libraries from mere repositories of information to innovative pedagogical hubs, libraries have the potential to enhance the quality of teaching and learning significantly."

How To Use Creativity To Drive Success: 4 Strategies To Unlock Innovation

The Forbes company has featured research on innovation and the kinds of workers and organizations that increase it. Read this article by Amy Blankson.

Wonder who the Forbes Company is hiring and promoting for their innovative work? Human Capital Innovations, through the work of Jonathan Westover, features many of their stories and pathways to success.

"By creating the right environment for creativity and giving yourself permission to think freely, you can unlock endless opportunities and turn innovative ideas into impactful results." - Amy Blankson

First Lady Launches AI Challenge to Promote K-12 Innovation

Melania Trump, supported by Michael Kratsios, Science Advisor to the President and Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, discussed the launch of the Nationwide Presidential AI Initiative at a meeting of the White House Task Force on Artificial Intelligence Education on September 4. (Source: https://www.whitehouse.gov/videos/first-lady-melania-trump-hosts-a-meeting-of-the-white-house-task-force-on-ai-education-2/) The meeting was attended by high level business and government leaders, like the CEO of IBM and Linda McMahon, the Secretary of Education.

According to the launch page for the challenge on AI.gov, "Student participants will complete a project that involves the study, development, or use of an AI method or tool to address community challenges, while educators will focus on creative approaches to teaching or using AI technologies in K-12 learning." In an interview with EducationWeek, Jeremy Roschelle, co-executive director of learning sciences research for the nonprofit Digital Promise, commented that, "Challenges like these are also opportunities for highlighting students’ and teachers’ creativity." Libraries as innovation hubs can provide the resources for students to develop their submissions to the contest, which are due January 20, 2026. With libraries being places to get access to emerging technologies, school librarians are in a position to partner with teachers to submit their own proposals.

GuideToAIInSchools.pdf

Is Your School Still Figuring Out AI Policy? This Guide is for You!

Centered on input from practicing teachers and their students, this guide from the MIT Teaching Systems Lab assists school leaders in crafting their (current) AI policy. Many stakeholders will appreciate the humble approach and the inclusion of perspectives from those who are grappling daily with what works and doesn't work with AI. Starting with the ethical considerations for the situations and manner to make use of AI, each chapter that follows develops those ethics with a further question. By the end of this guide, readers should be more confident in crafting a working AI use policy for their school.

How to Make Purposeful Decisions About Generative AI in Your School

Andrew Boryga's interview with Justin Reich, associate professor and director of MIT's Teaching Systems Lab, in a September 2025 Edutopia post provides additional background on the Lab's AI Policy Guide (above). Reich encourages school leaders, like librarians, to engage with AI and start trying some approaches for solutions to challenges and needs. The innovation laboratory could certainly be used to test AI tools and practices in schools and districts.

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