School Libraries

Fifty Connecticut schoolchildren joined ALA president Barbara Stripling, library officials, and other Connecticut residents for a signing of the Declaration for the Right to Libraries at the Hartford Public Library.

As school library professionals from around the country flock to Hartford, CT, this weekend for the AASL National Conference, Connecticut’s own media specialists are at a crossroads. They face one of the highest achievement and budget gaps in the US between the state’s poor and wealthy school districts. However, the potential for successful advocacy is very high.

The American Association of School Librarians (AASL) is launching two national surveys—one for school librarians, one for stakeholders—in order to examine ways that the two groups view the profession and to, ultimately, “provide a refreshing and inspiring image” of school librarians and school library programs.

If you’re planning to attend AASL in Hartford, please add our first-ever Unconference on your agenda. Our kinda edgy, late-night event will take place in the Capitol Ballroom at the Marriott beginning at 9 PM on Friday night. The focus is on informal, peer-to-peer learning, PLN building, and sharing–ensuring that voices get heard and that [...]

When we tell the story of our library, do patrons feel that it represents them? Every time we discuss a successful program, we are reinforcing our library's importance to administrators, students, and teachers. Here are some effective strategies from Michael Margolis, CEO of Get Storied, an organization devoted to transformational storytelling.

Three experts shared tech tips and tools during “Flipped School Libraries,” a rapid-fire, dynamic session during The Digital Shift: Reinventing Libraries (#TDS13) webcast.

"There are 242 schools in the School District of Philadelphia. Only 16 librarians are left standing across that line. And what my [former] city colleagues tell me, is that NO Philadelphia public high schools have certified school librarians," writes Joyce Valenza. "Consider this divide."

Follett and the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) have announced that applications are being accepted for the 2014 National School Library Program of the Year (NSLPY) Award. The competition is open to K–12 programs that are fully integrated into the school’s curriculum and meet the needs of the changing library environment. The deadline to submit an application is January 1, 2014.

When I wrote about it a couple of weeks ago, the resources were not yet available online.   They are now.  So please spread the message widely.  Have everyone you know who believes in equity, who believes that every child has a right to a strong library program, sign Barb Stripling’s Declaration. Host a face-to-face signing or [...]