Inquiry and the Common Core: Librarians and Teachers Designing Teaching for Learning published by Libraries Unlimited has been awarded the 2015 LMC/ARBA Best in Reference Award in the “Best Professional Guide for School or Youth Librarians” category. Violet Harada, professor emerita in the LIS Program, and Sharon Coatney, book acquisitions editor for Libraries Unlimited, are the co-editors of the book that features contributions from some of the leading school library educators and award-winning media specialists. The authors provide essays and lessons that explain how the standards’ emphasis on in-depth investigations dovetail with inquiry-based learning activities. LIS alumni Carolyn Kirio, Sandy Yamamoto, and Elodie Arellano are among the contributors to this volume.
The LMC/ARBA award recognizes pioneering reference resources that support and encourage K–12 student learning and achievement. LMC, Library Media Connection, is a professional journal for school librarians published by ABC-CLIO. ARBA, American Reference Books Annual, features professional reviews of the latest reference resources written by practicing academic, public, and school librarians. Widely recognized for providing credible and critical reviews that enable school librarians to select the best reference sources for student research needs, LMC and ARBA hand-selected a panel of judges from their pool of reviewers and editors to evaluate entries from publishers throughout the K–12 reference market and selected the winning entry based on curriculum connections, authority, objectivity, currency, depth of coverage, and organization. The award was officially presented at the ALA Annual Conference held in San Francisco in June.
Violet Harada and Sharon Coatney (center) are surrounded by some of the contributors to the award-winning book. From L to R: Elodie Arellano, Carolyn Kirio, Deb Levitov, Kristin Fontichiaro, Judi Moreillon, and Jean Donham.