About the Project

The standards alignment project started as a recommendation of South Carolina's committee charged with implementing Information Power: Building Partnerships for Learning, the national guidelines for school library media programs published in 1998. Included in those guidelines are the nine Information Literacy Standards for Student Learning.

The University of South Carolina's College of Library and Information Science, the South Carolina Association of School Librarians, and the South Carolina Department of Education collaborated on development of a graduate level course for practicing library media specialists that focused on standards and the role of library media specialists in supporting the state's standards-driven curriculum. Development of the course (CLIS J721 Seminar in Library Media Programs) was supported by a grant from the South Carolina Commission on Higher Education. In the fall semester of 2000, twenty-four library media specialists from around the state enrolled in the distance education course taught by Donna Shannon at USC's College of Library and Information Science.

The alignment of the Information Literacy Standards for Student Learning and South Carolina's curriculum standards for English/language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies was a major project of students enrolled in the course. Assigned to one of the four curriculum areas, students matched the curriculum standards with related information literacy standards. Before embarking on that task, students investigated what research and the professional literature say about best practice in their curriculum areas. Each student also developed a PowerPoint presentation to demonstrate (1) the connection between the curriculum standards and the Information Literacy Standards for Student Learning and (2) the role of the library media specialist in collaborating and partnering with classroom teachers for meeting both South Carolina curriculum standards and the Information Literacy Standards for Student Learning.

For a list of the individuals who participated in the class and this project (and their contact information), click here.

Special thanks to those who assisted in development of the course:

Martha Alewine, School Library Consultant, South Carolina Department of Education

Penny Hayne, Library Media Specialist, Lake Murray Elementary School, Lexington and Richland District Five, and 1999-2000 President of the South Carolina Association of School Librarians

Debby Stone, Library Media Specialist, Fair-Oak Elementary School, Oconee County, and SC Implementation Coordinator for Information Power

Donna Shannon, Assistant Professor
Coordinator, School Library Media Program
College of Library and Information Science
University of South Carolina
March, 2001