The mission of the school library media program is to ensure that students and staff are effective users of ideas and information. The school library media specialist (SLMS) empowers students to be critical thinkers, enthusiastic readers, skillful researchers, and ethical users of information by collaborating with educators and students to design and teach engaging learning experiences that meet individual needs; instructing students and assisting educators in using, evaluating, and producing information and ideas through active use of a broad range of appropriate tools, resources, and information technologies; providing access to materials in all formats, including up-to-date, high quality, varied literature to develop and strengthen a love of reading; providing students and staff with instruction and resources that reflect current information needs and anticipate changes in technology and education; and providing leadership in the total education program and advocating for strong school library media programs as essential to meeting local, state and national educational goals.
--Empowering Learners: Guidelines for School Library Media Programs (2009), p.8