Advocacy & Issues

Information and resources on major issues within the school library field.

Advocacy
Tools to support advocacy at the local, state and national level.

• Sign up for AASL's Advocacy Tip of the Day - You choose your delivery method: daily, weekly, or monthly to your email or mobile phone. You may opt out at any time.

School Library Programs Improve Student Learning
School Library Programs Improve Student Learning is a series of advocacy brochures designed to help school librarians generate and guide discussion with stakeholder groups in the school library community, including administrators, policymakers, parents, and teachers. Each brochure in the series outlines goals and key questions specific and important to each audience allowing them to visualize a model school library program from their perspective.

• School Library Programs Create Lifelong Learners  – Developed by AASL’s Independent School Section (ISS), this brochure is a guide to help students and parents evaluate independent school libraries.

Position Statements
AASL-developed position statements.

Toolkits
AASL-developed toolkits.

ESEA Reauthorization

Intellectual Freedom Brochure ( )
This brochure was created by the AASL Intellectual Freedom Committee and is available for download, duplication, and distribution. It describes why intellectual freedom is important in a school library program, the difference between selection and censorship, what to do before a challenge occurs, where to obtain assistance during a challenge, why schools filter and how it affects students intellectual freedom, and how the ALA Code of Ethics affects school librarians.

School Library Month
Many school library programs celebrate the month of April as School Library Month in conjunction with National Library Week.

• Other School Library Promotional Events

Banned Websites Awareness Day
In an extension of the observance of Banned Books Week, the AASL will highlight censorship awareness by designating Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2011, as Banned Websites Awareness Day. By doing so, it is AASL’s hope to bring attention to the overly aggressive filtering of educational and social websites used by students and educators.

Legislation Watch
This list shows current legislation that the American Library Association is watching. Visit the ALA's Washington office pages to get up-to-date information on key legislation that affects libraries.

School/Public Library Cooperative Activities  
The AASL/ALSC/YALSA Joint Task Force on School/Public Library Cooperative Activities looks at local and national models of school/public library cooperative activities. The group is charged with creating an action plan to develop a product to function as a clearinghouse for ideas about activities, programs, and services to promote best practices in school/public library cooperation. The Web site provides a bibliography on school & public library partnerships, links to school & public library cooperative programs, and lists of exemplary websites about school & public library partnerships.

@ your library® School Library Campaign  
Developed in collaboration with AASL, the school library component of the American Library Association's @ your library® campaign seeks to increase public awareness of the significant contributions made by school librarians through school library programs to further the academic achievement and lifelong learning of students; strengthen a belief in the value of school library programs and school librarians; and position school librarianship as a desirable career opportunity.