Collaborating to Meet Literacy Standards is an essential book that models cooperative relationships between library media specialists and teachers in establishing and reaching classroom literacy goals. The specific age group targeted in this volume is K-2; however, the philosophical principles articulated in the introductory chapters extend way beyond particular grade parameters. Toni Buzzeo carefully addresses literacy legislation in today's elementary school curriculum, gives an overview of collaboration efforts between librarians and teachers during the past ten years and suggests successful practices in introducing literacy programs in the classroom. Collaboration is key in any classroom literacy program and the cooperation of administrators, parents, students and school staff is essential. The majority of Collaborating to Meet Literacy Standards consists of fifteen sample literacy-based units actually implemented by teachers and librarians. The creative units can be easily incorporated as written or adapted to fit most literacy programs. The text is praiseworthy for its theoretical context and practical application. Collaborating to Meet Literacy Standards is essential for schools implementing a collaborative literacy-based program.

Catholic Library World

This subtitle is a more accurate description of the information within. The book opens with a refreshing reality check: No Child Left Behind purports to focus on reading, but envisions reading as little more than decoding and comprehending text. What library professionals consider real reading–reading for meaning, reading as a life skill, reading as an integral piece of the more inclusive concept of information literacy–is sacrificed, as are many libraries and librarians, for this limited and limiting goal. After acknowledging the constraints now imposed upon library media specialists, Buzzeo makes lemonade by taking these limitations and refocusing what librarians do at the primary level through a different lens: becoming literacy cheerleaders and cultivating collaboration with teachers. The author proposes specific strategies for collaboration to overcome imposed roadblocks and presents a template for unit and lesson development that addresses national standards and satisfies NCLB requirements while still dealing constructively with the nine information literacy standards developed by AASL. The 15 units, complete with black-line masters and written by several different library media professionals, make up most of the book and can help struggling school librarians in their attempts to integrate their philosophy with the difficult currency of present reality.

School Library Journal