Social Networking for Schools is the only book to take a comprehensive look at the topic of social media use in schools. Starting with the numerous justifications for integrating social media into schools, it provides real-world examples of how to seamlessly integrating social media within your classroom or library, examines the methodologies for crafting the necessary policies and procedures to ensure that staff members are prepared to use these tools effectively, and discusses the policy and legal issues surrounding the use of social media in schools. The work uniquely identifies the three core ways that social media can be integrated within a school: as communications tools, as instructional tools, and for professional development. The collaborative effort of a former school librarian and current school administrator with a practicing school attorney, authors Steven M. Baule and Julie E. Lewis bring perspectives and critical insights to the topic not normally considered in similar literature.

Steven M. Baule, EdD, MLS, PhD, is superintendent of North Boone Community Unit School District 200 in Poplar Grove, IL. He was named one of the Top Ten Technology Savvy Superintendents in 2010 by eSchool News. Previously he served as superintendent in Community United School District 201 in Westmont, IL, and has also been a high school principal, assistant superintendent for information technology, high school administrator, middle school library media specialist, and a classroom teacher. Julie E. Lewis, JD, is a partner with Klein, Thorpe Jenkins, Ltd., Chicago, IL, where she concentrates her practice in school and municipal law. She has served as general counsel for a large metropolitan school system in Georgia; as deputy general counsel for the Georgia Department of Education; and as an attorney with The Weatherly Law Firm, a firm that specializes in the representation and defense of school agencies exclusively in the area of educating children with disabilities. Her published works include a chapter in The Yearbook of Education Law; Caregiver Alliance for At-Risk and Dangerous Youth: Establishing School and Agency Coordination and Accountability; and Safe Schools, Safe Communities. She is a member of the Oxford Round Table on Educational Policy where she co-presented a paper entitled Providing Children an Education to Participate in a Democracy. Lewis graduated with honors from Northwestern University and received her juris doctorate from Loyola University Chicago School of Law.