The purpose of this study was to assess the readiness of South Carolina secondary school library media specialists to prepare students to meet the AASL Standards for the 21^st Century Learner (American Association of School Librarians, 2009b) by investigating the availability of 21^st century technology tools, the confidence level of media specialists in utilizing these tools, and the frequency with which media specialists assist students in the use of these tools. The study was limited to the entire population of 477 secondary school library media specialists in South Carolina, of which 213 respondents completed all items included on the survey. This response rate resulted in a 95% confidence level with a 5% margin of error.

A self-reporting online survey was used to collect data. Survey results revealed that faculty and staff enjoyed greater access than students did to the technology tools included in the study and that both groups experienced greater access to the traditional technology tools and less access to the AASL 25 Best Websites for Teaching and Learning (American Association of School Librarians & American Library Association, 2009). Media specialists reported confidence in their ability to utilize 28 of the 46 technology tools included in the survey, even if the technology tool was not available in their media center. Media specialists reported a lack of confidence in utilizing many of the AASL 25 Best Websites for Teaching and Learning (American Association of School Librarians & American Library Association, 2009) and this suggested that media specialists may not have been familiar with this list of resources. Media specialists reported assisting students with only a limited array of technology tools including computers, computers in a lab setting, the Internet, and online databases, including DISCUS.

Results of this study suggested that students in South Carolina would benefit from expanded access to 21^st century technology tools and that media specialists in South Carolina would benefit from additional training in the use of 21^st century technology tools and in the design of learning activities utilizing these tools.