(Image from Pirillo & Fitz)      One of the main goals of the teacher-librarian is to help create information literate citizens. In Achieving Information Literacy the Canadian Association for School Libraries defines information literacy as “the ability to find and use information with critical discrimination in order to build knowledge” (CASL 9). In his book It’s Critical! David Booth explains that “critical literacy asks us to examine how particular texts work, the choices the author made, the intent of the publisher, the point of view expressed, the omissions, and the biases. It calls for agency: readers are to recognize how the text is affecting or controlling them; contribute to change…

      Reference services in a Library Learning Commons include reference interview processes, library policies and of course the carefully selected reference materials themselves. Healthy reference services are imperative to any library learning commons because they encompass the “activities required to meet the information needs of the library’s clientele” (Reitz). Reference Collection       When attempting to improve any section of the school library learning commons it is essential to first analyze and evaluate what is already there. At first glance, our school library reference section is quite small, as pictured below. (Our school library reference section.)      Remembering that “it is better to have a small…