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FOREWORD This book provides an essential intersection to what I consider to be two core dynamics for the future of learning in information-intense and data-rich educa- tional contexts: inquiry-centered learning and data-driven evidence-based prac- tice. These dynamics call for powerful actions—in the form of enacting empirically derived models of teaching and learning that provide a rich foundation for edu- cational practice, as well as measuring the nature and outcomes of educational practice. The intersection of both these dynamics comes at a time when educa- tional communities around the world are questioning traditional infrastructures in schools for the provision of information, such as school libraries and informa- tion technology affordances. This too is amid clarion calls for school libraries to position themselves much more visibly as a vibrant part of future-ready schools and as an information-knowledge ecosystem for all, one that is enabled by state- of-the-art technology, regardless of social, economic, and access circumstances, and empowered by quality pedagogy that opens a window to the wealth and often-problematic diversity of ideas, viewpoints, and perspectives that are founda- tions for a thinking and knowledgeable community. The key challenge as I see for the future of both schools and school libraries is to enact a connected knowledge ecosystem that provides opportunities for users to inquire deeply—to question, to think beyond their existing knowledge horizons, to examine diverse perspectives and controversies, and to sustain personal founda- tions of knowledge in evidence-based ways. All educators—administrative lead- ers, classroom teachers, technology leaders, school librarians—have a significant professional role in nurturing a knowledge ecosystem: one that is underpinned by authentic and powerful pedagogy one that provides expert instructional leadership and guidance for individual and group learning, diverse information resourcing,