Advancing Adolescent Health Literacy through School Library Collaboration

Abstract

This three-year (2024–2026) practice-based case study describes a program initiated and led by a school health teacher, with teacher-librarian support for selected library-based activities. Students moved from accessing and appraising health information to applying and producing it through KWL inquiry, source evaluation, student-created health materials, and health-manager role reversal. A Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) structured the 2025 expansion, while Rogers' Diffusion of Innovations was used retrospectively to analyze how the practice became visible and shareable within and beyond the school—spreading from an originating partnership to school-wide, inter-school, and system-level dissemination. The case also highlights neuroscience-informed design principles, including context-rich learning, active generation, and agency with feedback; neural outcomes were not directly measured. It offers a transferable model of library-supported health literacy grounded in student agency, authentic action, and professional collaboration.