A Framework and Action Plan for Serving English Learners in School Libraries

This poster reflects on the results of the School Librarians Facilitating the Success of English Learners grant funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) from 2021 to 2024. The purpose of the grant was to determine how school librarians could best serve English Learners (ELs) in school libraries. Two of the products created for the grant included the School Librarian and English Learner Framework (Smith, 2024), along with the School Librarian English Learner Action Plan (Smith et al., 2024) to implement it. The framework was based on professional literature and the analysis of feedback submitted by an interdisciplinary group of forum participants. These participants included school librarians, school administrators, linguists, public and academic librarians, classroom teachers, and ELs. The School Librarian English Learner Framework outlines nine domains of focus to help school librarians effectively assist ELs in building their English acquisition skills. Domains covered include continuous improvement, programming, lifelong learning, community partnerships, co-teaching relationships, funding, integrating technology, and resources. The action plan is an extension of the framework that provides suggestions for activities that may be completed for each domain included in the plan. School districts and school librarianship certification programs interested in offering professional development for school librarians may adapt the framework.