School Librarians Facilitating the Success of English Learners

Introduction

The University of North Texas Departments of Information Science, Learning Technologies, and Linguistics, in partnership with the International Association of School Librarians, will hold a forum about building the capacity of school librarians to provide services for English language learners (ELLs). The forum will convene an interdisciplinary group of contributors that will include the school library community and ELL stakeholders, such as linguists, ELL community members, public librarians, educational technologists, teachers, and school administrators, to explore the professional development needs of school librarians regarding strategies and best practices for teaching ELLs. The anticipated outcomes include (1) a white paper with an action plan that includes training recommendations to better prepare school librarians for working with ELLs and strategies for building partnerships with the ELL community and (2) a toolkit featuring resources and research-based strategies for serving ELLs in school libraries.