As a Media Specialist, I realize that I must be aware of how current educational trends and issues affect my library program. "Harry Potter, Information Literacy, Thornton and School Librarians" discusses censorship, intellectual freedom, and information literacy skills, in addition to the value of school libraries and their funding, as related to Montgomery County Public School media centers. Further, the paper acknowledges that Media Specialists must be informed about these issues so that they can take leadership roles to advocate for their media center programs. Censorship is one of the areas in which Media Specialists must take a leadership role. For an MCPS media specialist this is especially important because censors are now targeting textbook contents and I must approve text book purchases. Secondly, I must take a leadership role to see that information literacy is incorporated into all lessons. As a Media Assistant at Richard Montgomery High School, I have seen that incorporating these skills into a media center orientation can begin to impact life long learning. Two ESOL students who participated in a lesson that introduced them to our library now come in weekly to check out magazines and easy reading books. Checking out reading material for pleasure is a sure sign that a student is on the way to becoming a life long learner. Finally, the paper addresses how important it is for Maryland’s government to fund The Thornton Education Bill. Because this artifact addresses the relationship of the library media program to current educational trends, such as the funding of Thornton, it meets the Acceptable level for this objective.