Book excerpt: Practicing librarians and library educators demonstrate the power of inquiry to achieve the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and promote school librarians as key partners in implementing this type of critical teaching and learning in K–12 schools. With the adoption of the CCSS in most of the nation's schools, educators and administrators at K–12 schools have a pressing need to find the best ways to implement these rigorous and comprehensive standards that challenge students to understand informational text and digital content at increasing levels of complexity. This text provides faculty with much-needed support in achieving this critical goal, thoroughly describing inquiry learning and how it links to the CCSS. The authors—nearly 30 contributors total, comprising librarians, library media specialists, educational leaders, teachers from the kindergarten level to college professors, and administrators, each with direct experience and knowledge regarding the subject matter—explain how the standards' emphasis on in-depth investigation and evidence-based reading and writing skills dovetail perfectly with inquiry-based learning initiatives. Acclaimed thought leaders such as Jean Donham, Kristin Fontischiaro, Leslie Maniotes, and Barbara Stripling clearly define and illuminate the librarian's role in school initiatives today and share lesson plans that have been proven effective in actual practice.