Belief Statements

Belief Statements of the Center for International Scholarship in School Libraries (CISSL)

The researchers, staff and members of the Advisory Board of the Center for International Scholarship in School Libraries (CISSL) strongly support the following beliefs:

  • The integration of learning, information, and technology presents unique challenges for teachers, school librarians, administrators and students in 21st century schools;
  • Inquiry learning is at the heart of effective teaching;
  • Inquiry learning shifts emphasis to student questioning, critical thinking, problem solving, engagement with diverse information sources, and development of deep knowledge and understanding;
  • Carefully  designed teaching and learning initiatives that guide and engage students in their inquiry enable students to transform information to knowledge;
  • Five decades of research, experience, insights and systematic measures support the transformative role of school libraries in the development of the student’s personal, social and cultural growth;
  • CISSL has a commitment to be the connection between the research and the practitioners in the field of school librarianship;
  • School libraries are 21st century places of inquiry-based learning; they are now, more than ever, crucial to the development of students as intellectual agents;
  • School libraries can and should play an integral role in school reform.