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ML3: Librarians as Leaders for Media Literacy

   

Librarians as Leaders for Media Literacy (ML3) is a not-for-profit initiative of Project Look Sharp (PLS) at Ithaca College. ML3 provides K-12 school librarians with free resources and Professional Development for their work with students and teachers to develop Habits of Critical Thinking about ALL media messages through engaging, student-centered, curriculum-driven, question-based media analysis. We call this process Constructivist Media Decoding (CMD).

For over 25 years PLS has been providing free media decoding lessons for integrating media analysis into the teaching of core knowledge and skills in all grades and for diverse subjects (including Library and Information Literacy ). Many of our 900 free media decoding lessons have been co-created with school librarians. And we are continually adding and revising resources based on feedback from school librarians. PLS also has over 100 free PD materials on our website, including short CMD Demonstration Videos, Starter Kits for all subject areas, and Resources for Delivering PD about CMD.

Professional Development for School Librarians
PLS, In collaboration with AASL, NAMLE and library leaders across the country, has developed proven hybrid PD that gives school librarians the training, resources and support needed to become leaders of media literacy in their schools, districts and regions.

Project Look Sharp regularly offers the PD course, Empowering All Students Through Media Decoding . In addition, organizations (districts, state library associations, teacher centers, etc.) collaborate with PLS on hosting this course in their regions. We also offer advanced ML3 PD for school librarians to deliver the course to their colleagues. For more information contact looksharp@ithaca.edu.

Project Look Sharp is the absolute gold standard for media literacy professional development.
Michelle Ciulla Lipkin - Executive Director of NAMLE

CMD has changed the way I approach teaching media with students. Having the option to do it virtually made it possible for me.
ML3 Librarian

I wish that {CMD} could be a part of every teacher training program - it would change the face of education and likely shift the fractious thinking in our country.
ML3 Librarian

Project Look Sharp's exceptional CMD model is the solution to developing the next generation of media literate learners.
Dr. Heidi Hayes Jacobs, Author of Curriculum 21


ML3 Newsletters:

     Issue #2: Feb. ’25
     Issue #1: May ’24

ML3 Brochure(PDF)

To receive updates on PLS school librarian related news, make sure you have “Librarian” selected in you profile on your Project Look Sharp account. Don’t hesitate to contact us at looksharp@ithaca.edu .


History:

Project Look Sharp was founded by Cyndy Scheibe, Chris Sperry, Faith Rogow and others in 1996 to support all educators to integrate critical thinking and media literacy throughout the K-12 curriculum. We quickly focused our work on providing free resources and engaging PD that supports educators at all levels and in all content areas in integrating question-based media decoding into the subject area skills and knowledge they are already teaching.

Over the decades, school librarians became a key stakeholder in PLS’s work. In 2021 PLS, in partnership with the New York State School Library Systems Association (SLSA) and with a grant from the Booth Ferris Foundation, began ML3: Librarians as Leaders for Media Literacy . After 2 years we had trained over 1,500 New York State School librarians and were ready to scale the work nationally. Read the ML3 evaluation report .

In 2023 Project Look Sharp, in partnership with AASL and NAMLE, received a planning grant from IMLS to scale up ML3 nationally. Over the next 2 years we delivered, evaluated and revised dozens of trainings for school librarians including running 9-week hybrid CMD courses in different states through school library associations, departments of Education, etc. We had developed a comprehensive plan for bring ML3 to all states when the Trump administration shuttered IMLS in April of 2025. We are planning to do our best to continue to offer ML3 trainings without funding and support from the federal government. To inquire about ML3 PD email looksharp@ithaca.edu.

The Goals of ML3:
To give K-12 school librarians methods and resources for integrating habits of critical thinking through student-centered, curriculum-driven, question-based media analysis in their schools.

New ML3 Resources by and for School Librarians

In response to input from ML3 participants, library leaders, and the ML3 Advisory Group , Project Look Sharp added the following resources to the PLS website.

  • Library Standards added to all new PLS lessons
  • 20 subject and grade-specific Starter Kits for integrating CMD into diverse levels and subjects.
  • New Search capacities for our 900+ lessons including by Popularity, filtering by lesson Duration, Boolean search capacities, and more

Media Documents for analysis from Global Perspectives through Movie Posters

  • Resources for Delivering PD that includes Handouts, Tips for Collablration and Advocating, Slide SetsandPresenter Guidesfor delivering PD for different amounts of time to different audiences.
  • Short videos that explain and promote ML3 such as this 9-minute video that provides an overview of Constructivist Media Decoding and the role of school librarians in leading this work.

Upcoming Resources:

In response to requests by school librarians we will be adding the following in the near future.

  • New PD events for continuing ML3 librarians who want to collaborate and learn more.
  • Guides for Decoding Challenging Topics – by level
  • Media Literacy Curricula for Early Elementaryby Faith Rogow

To be informed about these and other school librarian related news, make sure you have
“Librarian” selected in you profile on your Project Look Sharp account. Don’t hesitate to contact us at looksharp@ithaca.edu .