STEM & STEAM in Schools & Libraries

"School libraries often serve as the hubs of different media forms: books, periodicals, videos, computers, and the Internet. Library settings are places for student exploration and discovery, and are usually not tied to the negative stereotypes students may have of the formal classroom," says Subramaniam in an article for Library Quarterly. This transformation of the library space is happening in K-12 schools, colleges and universities, and public libraries across the world. The library is no longer a place where patrons can check out books and students, educators, and patrons sometimes have a hard time understanding that.

This list of articles, videos, books, infographics, and activities help teachers understand how they can begin integrating STEM and STEAM into all of their subjects. STEM and STEAM do not need to be taught separately from each other. The basic concepts of Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math are intertwined into everything that we do in life, so it should be intertwined and integrated into different subjects at school.

As librarians, we need to use our space to show educators and students that our space can foster a love of reading, but also pose challenges and prompt questions that might be helpful in a future class or even everyday life. We can help teachers find a just right read aloud to go with a math project or science experiment. Showing students how STEM and STEAM can be incorporated into the library and everyday life can potentially inspire students to go into a STEM field for the future. Technology is not going anywhere, it is only getting more and prevalent in today's society.

Resources

Mega M. Subramaniam, June Ahn, Kenneth R. Fleischmann, & Allison Druin. (2012). Reimagining the Role of School Libraries in STEM Education: Creating Hybrid Spaces for Exploration. The Library Quarterly (Chicago), 82(2), 161–182. https://doi.org/10.1086/664578

Explore the links and documents below to find out why STEM and STEAM education are a critical need in schools today.

These links and documents will provide some ways STEM and STEAM can be incorporated into different subject areas in schools and why it should be integrated across all curriculum areas.

Choose an InfoGraphic to read all of the information about the importance of STEAM and STEM education in school and after students are finished with their education. The entire picture does not show up in the thumbnail.

These book lists and read alouds for STEM and STEAM provide challenges and projects to really emphasize literacy in STEM and STEAM.

This variety of videos and TED Talks explains the importance of STEM and STEAM in schools and explains different ways to integrate STEAM and STEM into different subjects, movies, etc.