Goal 2 of the State Library's LSTA Five-Year Plan 2008-2012

“Information literate people are those who have learned how to learn. They know how to learn because they know how knowledge is organized, how to find information and how to use information in such a way that others can learn from them. They are people prepared for lifelong learning, because they can always find the information needed for any decision or task at hand.” (American Library Association, Presidential Committee on Information Literacy, Final Report, 1989)

Librarians – working in libraries of all types – have an important
role to play in helping their communities become information literate. Teaching others how to find and critically evaluate information is a unique skill that librarians bring to our information-overloaded society. 

Improve Iowans’ information literacy skills, the ability to effectively find, evaluate and use information.

a) Provide training to help Iowa librarians recognize their role in information literacy and provide them with strategies for promoting information literacy.

b) Provide training on database searching for librarians.

c) Enhance the online Information Literacy toolkit.

d) Support the “Iowa School Library Program Guidelines: Libraries, Literacy and Learning for the 21st Century.”

e) Monitor information literacy education provided in K-12 schools.