School Librarian of the Year

To be considered, applicants must meet state requirements for school library media certification and be currently employed in a media specialist, teacher librarian or equivalent position. He or she can be working in either a public or private school at a site level—supervisors or managers of library programs (including at a district or regional level) are not eligible. The winning school librarian will receive:

$2500 cash and $2500 in-kind digital and/or print products for their library
“Mr. Schu’s Scholastic Book Fair Picks” Collection
A visit from John Schumacher, Ambassador of School Libraries, Scholastic, including a book give away for every student in the school.
An invitation to participate in a 2019 Scholastic Book Fairs Summer Reading Summit (including coach airfare, one night hotel stay and summit registration)
A feature profile in the September 2018 issue of SLJ.

In addition, two finalists will be honored in the following categories:

SLJ‘s Librarian Champion of Student Voice
SLJ‘s Librarian Champion of Civic Engagement

The two finalists will each receive $1000 of in-kind digital and/or print products for their library; “Mr. Schu’s Scholastic Book Fair Picks” Collection; a visit from John Schumacher; an invitation to participate in a 2019 Scholastic Book Fairs Summer Reading Summit (including coach airfare, one night hotel stay and summit registration); and editorial coverage alongside the winner in the September 2018 issue of SLJ.

Previous applicants who have not yet received the award are encouraged to apply again.

2018 JUDGING & CRITERIA

A panel comprised of SLJ editors; John Schumacher, Ambassador of School Libraries, Scholastic; Tamiko Brown, 2018 School Librarian of the Year; and a school administrator will judge nominations per the following criteria:

Exemplary service to fulfill the needs of students and school community
Creativity in programming and use of content
Collaboration with teacher peers, staff, and administrators
Effective integration of library services with curricula
Demonstrated student engagement
Exemplary use of technology tools
Outreach to parents, families
Effective promotion of the library and what it offers

2018 APPLICATION PROCESS

A written statement of up to two pages describing the award nominee and the services implemented must demonstrate how the librarian’s accomplishments fulfill the award criteria above. Provide context regarding the school and its library, including:

A description of library services and how they are delivered (i.e. scheduling)
The size and makeup of library media center resources, including staff
Budget information (school and library, and technology funding)
The physical plant (include approximate square footage of library)
Student demographics
A description of the community served
Two letters of recommendation must also accompany the application.

Photographs, video, links, including related blog posts and press coverage, and other supportive material, may also be submitted but will be considered supplementary.

Applicants can nominate themselves. Supporters (i.e. administrators, peers, institutions) can also nominate a librarian for the award. But due to the responsibilities of the winner/finalists (the production of related content for SLJ), the nominee must be aware of the application and attendant responsibilities of participation.

As much as possible, please send submissions in an electronic format such as a Word document or a PDF via email to sljlibrarianoftheyear@mediasourceinc.com.

2018 KEY DATES

Nominations open: March 19
Nominations close: May 24
Final decision: July
Winners profiled in SLJ: September

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