Libraries Seeking Updated Role as Learning Center

Portland, Ore.

Peter Chalmers remembers how library days used to be. His class would go to the library at Riverdale Grade School on the same day and at the same time each week to learn how to use its resources, to finish an assignment, or to find a book to read throughout the week.

"We would come into the library, and it would be completely unrelated to what we were doing in class. We'd check out books and do book reports, but our time wasn't spent very well," said Peter, an 8th grader who has attended the school in the Riverdale...