As digital engagement becomes central to childhood education, teaching responsible online behavior is increasingly important. This study examines how book clubs can support digital citizenship in a private primary school in Ilorin, Nigeria. Using classroom observations and interviews, the research explores how storybooks with embedded digital ethics help pupils understand online safety, respectful communication, and critical thinking. Findings show that book clubs foster awareness of digital norms and ethical reasoning. Teachers noted that story-based discussions made complex topics like cyberbullying and privacy more accessible. Despite challenges like limited device access and training, book clubs offer a promising model for digital education.
This study explores school librarians as academic migrants who must adapt to unfamiliar cultural and technological environments. Drawing on an autoethnographic study conducted during a six-month Fulbright appointment in China, 2,181 information-seeking incidents are analyzed through Chatman's Theory of Information Poverty. Findings reveal how information barriers were addressed through mobile technologies, risk-taking, and adaptive information practices. Interpreted through a school librarianship lens, the results demonstrate that digital resilience and intercultural competence are critical professional capacities for school librarians working in international schools, global partnerships, study-abroad programs, and culturally diverse educational communities.
Employee skills are primarily categorized into soft skills and hard skills. Hard skills are academic, and specialized discipline-pertinent knowledge, and soft skills are non-academic, people-oriented, behavioral, intra- and inter-personal. Hard and soft skills are complementary and essential to succeed in all spheres including in academia for both faculty members and doctoral students. Doctoral programs prepare students for faculty roles and the primary formal focus of such programs is on hard skills. There is limited formal attention in doctoral programs on soft skills even though they are also vital for both doctoral students and faculty members in their professional journey. This soft skills-focus research conducted an exploratory qualitative research with current and retired school library faculty members to understand how they developed and/or honed such skills during their doctoral degree programs. The emerging themes and trends from analysis of data suggested that the study participants developed and/or honed their soft skills explicitly and implicitly in their doctoral degree programs through a variety of formal and informal learning opportunities including interactions with faculty members and supervisors, coursework, programs and events, fellow graduate students (peers), conferences, assistantships and fellowships, committee work and non-academic opportunities (get togethers with peers and colleagues). The aim of the study is to contribute to soft skills-relevant literature, particularly in the context of academia including doctoral students and faculty members, and to put a spotlight on doctoral program curriculum and structure. The researchers also encourage doctoral program planners to give formal consideration to, and systematically and intentionally develop, soft skills during doctoral degree programs.
This article presents the first comprehensive survey of school library provision in Northern Ireland since 2002, addressing a critical gap in educational research and policy. Despite international evidence linking school libraries to improved educational outcomes, Northern Ireland lacks statutory requirements for libraries or professional librarians in schools. The findings reveal both the significant benefits of library access - including enhanced digital literacy and information skills - and the persistent challenges of underfunding, staff shortages, and inequitable resource distribution. By providing robust, up-to-date data, this research offers essential insights for policymakers and educators seeking to advance educational equity while drawing on important international lessons.
This qualitative study investigates the impact of South Carolina’s Regulation 43-170 on school librarians’ collection development practices and professional identity. Through interviews with 16 librarians across diverse districts, findings reveal a shift from dynamic, student-centered collection development to scripted and time-consuming procedures driven by fear of censorship and punitive consequences. Participants report increased reliance on corporate tagging systems, extensive documentation, and self-censorship. The regulation has strained relationships with stakeholders and contributed to professional precarity. Findings also highlight the need for advocacy, administrative support, and revised content in preparation programs to address the evolving challenges facing school librarians under restrictive legislation.
