Members of the American Association of School Librarians will be busy honoring—and congratulating—standouts in their ranks at the ALA Annual Conference in New Orleans in June, whether they are attending some of the events or just visiting with each other at meetings or socially. Here is a peek at some of the recent celebratory association news.
Association Election Results
When ALA/AASL elections wrapped up on April 4, AASL announced its latest roster of members who have been elected to leadership positions. New terms officially start when the ALA Annual Conference concludes.
The new AASL Board of Directors is headed by Mary Keeling, library services supervisor for Newport News (Va.) Public Schools, who was elected 2019–2020 AASL president. She will serve as president elect this coming year, when Kathryn Roots Lewis begins her term as AASL president (see “Engaging Educational Stakeholders,” p. 60).
In addition to Keeling, the board welcomes four new members and congratulates one returning member. Diane Chen, school librarian at Stratford STEM Magnet School in Nashville, has won a second three-year term as AASL division councilor, the title given to AASL’s representative to ALA Council. Four new regional directors were also victorious, elected to three-year-terms. Anita Celluci, librarian at Westborough High School in Westborough, Mass., won her race for Region 1 director. Kathy Lester, school librarian at East Middle School in Plymouth, Mich., takes on the role of Region 3 director. Becky Calzada, library services coordinator for Leander Independent School District near Austin, Tex., is Region 6’s new director. And Sue Heraper, teacher librarian at Newbury Park High School in Newbury Park, Calif., steps into the Region 7 director position.
AASL Annual Awards
The recipients of AASL’s 2018 awards and grants were announced on May 11. The winners will be honored during the AASL Awards Ceremony and President’s Program event on Saturday, June 23, from 9 a.m. to noon. We’ve spotlighted a few of the school librarians who will be recognized for their achievements.
The National School Library Program of the Year Award goes to Robert E. Lee High School in Springfield, Va. School librarians Mimi Marquet and Lisa Koch created a schoolwide Hour of Code program that involved drafting curricula for classes either with or without devices and providing instructions in multiple languages so that every student could participate.
Marquet and Koch also coordinated a One Book–style community reading program for their school, for which every student and member of the staff was given a copy of March, the graphic novel civil rights memoir by Rep. John Lewis. The librarians led book discussions and developed monthly lessons for teachers in support of the book, as well as book-inspired videos and an art installation. Educational materials and technology provider Follett sponsors this award; the winner will receive a crystal obelisk and $10,000.
The Ohio Educational Library Media Association is the inaugural recipient of AASL’s Affiliate of the Year Award. AASL established this award—which comes with a $1,000 stipend—to recognize the affiliate “most active and dynamic in achieving the goals of AASL at the state and local level.”
School librarian–teacher teamwork is at the heart of the Collaborative School Library Award. This year, a team of educators at Scotts Ridge Middle School in Ridgefield, Conn., are taking home the prize. School librarian Janine Johnson, library assistant Emily Shiller, technology integrator Kim Moran, and seventh-grade science teachers Charlsie Vanderrest and Kelly Hall collaborated on a Human Body Systems project that spanned a quarter of the school year and encompassed the learning commons, makerspace, and classrooms. Among the highlights of the program, students used 3-D models, virtual reality, and giant books to explore within the lessons. Upstart, the Demco brand that sells library promotional items, sponsors the $2,500 award.
Michael Daria, superintendent of Tuscaloosa City Schools, has been selected to receive the AASL Distinguished School Administrator Award. Daria is being credited with spurring major change in his district during his two-year tenure, including expanding and supporting the role of the school library and school librarian in each of the schools he oversees. Library database and research tool company ProQuest is the sponsor behind this award of $2,000.
The Frances Henne Award, given to a school librarian with five years or less of service under his or her belt, goes to Deb Sondall Saetvelt, school librarian at Westside Middle School in Omaha, Nebr. With her $1,250 award sponsored by ABC-CLIO, Saetvelt can choose to attend either an ALA Annual Conference or AASL National Conference for the first time.
Penguin Random House is the sponsor of the Roald Dahl’s Miss Honey Social Justice Award, given in recognition of collaboration between school librarians and teachers in jointly teaching and supporting social justice via lessons and programs that use school library resources. This year’s award will be presented to the group of educators known as the Conti Kindness Team at Dr. Michael Conti School—P.S. 5 in Jersey City, N.J. Team members are school librarian and literacy support teacher Keungsuk Sexton, early intervention counselor Louis DeCarlo, seventh and eighth grade English and language arts teacher Omar Alvarez, and Janice Alvarez, a reading specialist. Together, this group has created a project they call Promoting Social Justice Awareness and a Culture of Kindness Through Literature and Project-Based Learning. Their mission is to create a school environment in which students study and practice such attributes as kindness, compassion, and understanding. Aspects of the program include blending antibullying activities, STEM activities, and elements of social health and wellness. They have also been developing a social justice–themed book collection as part of the project. As winners of the prize, the Conti Kindness Team will receive from Penguin Random House $2,000 for the school librarian, up to $1,000 in reimbursement to cover travel and housing to attend the AASL Awards presentation on Saturday, and a $5,000 book donation.
Social Media Superstars
A year ago, AASL launched the recognition program Social Media Superstars, which acknowledges the role that social media plays in school library promotion. The school library professionals who earn this distinction are nominated and endorsed by their peers, and, according to AASL’s description of the program, “enrich the profession and its work on behalf of students by sharing information, expertise, ideas, encouragement, dialog, and inspiration widely via a variety of social media channels.” The AASL Social Media Recognition Committee evaluates the nominees and selects one person to be recognized in each of up to eight categories. The 2017 recognitions spanned seven categories; this year there are six. The 2018 honorees were named on April 30.
Advocacy Ambassador: Ashley Cooksey, library media specialist at Batesville School District in Arkansas. Cooksey is recognized for her significant school librarian advocacy efforts on the local, state, and national levels.
Leadership Luminary: Shannon McClintock Miller, teacher librarian, blogger, author, consultant, speaker, and Future Ready Librarian spokeswoman
. Miller is recognized for her leadership in the Future Ready Librarian movement, as well as her strengths as a facilitator for creating information-sharing connections between school librarians.
Program Pioneer: Nikki Robertson, school librarian, instructional technology facilitator, and ISTE Librarians Network president elect. Robertson cofounded the first EdCamp Atlanta (an unconference-style professional learning opportunity for educators) and customizes professional development programs for school librarians all over the world.
Sensational Student Voice: Chelsea Sims, teacher-librarian at South East Junior High School in Iowa City, Iowa. Sims stands out for her talents using Twitter and Instagram to highlight and promote students’ work and their varied viewpoints.
Social Justice Defender: Jennifer LaGarde, educator and consultant based in Olympia, Wash. LaGarde’s nominator emphasized her “empathy for at risk students” and her creativity in suggesting how libraries can better embrace their “essential role in serving students in poverty.”
Tech Troubador: Heather Moorefield-Lang, associate professor in the School of Library and Information Science at the University of South Carolina in Columbia. Moorefield-Lang is one of the founders of AASL’s Best Websites for Teaching and Learning lists, a pioneer of the maker movement, and a strong presence on YouTube via her two channels (Tech Fifteen and Research Xpress), where librarians can find information on trends in technology and makerspace programming.
Top Apps Reveal
During an afternoon presentation on Saturday, June 23, AASL will announce its 2018 list of best apps for teaching and learning. Apps are considered based on nominations and feedback that comes in throughout the year from school librarians, app developers, teachers, and students. Nominated apps are then reviewed by AASL’s Best Apps for Teaching and Learning Committee according to its evaluation criteria. Winning apps embody AASL’s learning standards and support the role of the school librarian. The selection committee has previously named top choices in categories that include books, STEM, organization and management, humanities and arts, and content creation.
