AASL 2012 Elections

Division Councilor

Sara Kelly Johns

Current Position:

School Librarian, 1999, Lake Placid Middle/High School, Lake Placid, NY

Previous Positions:

Instructor, Mansfield University School of Library and Information Technologies, 2008-present

Adjunct Instructor for Bibliographic Instruction, Feinberg Library, State University of NY, Plattsburgh, 1990-2007

School Librarian, Beekmantown (NY) Middle/Senior High School, 1972-1999

Degrees and Certificates:

State University of New York at Plattsburgh, BA, English Literature, 1971; State University of New York at Albany, MLS, 1972;  State University of New York, Plattsburgh, Graduate courses in Education, Literature, Educational Administration, 1974-1986.

ALA and/or ALA-APA Activities:

ALA: AASL Division Councilor, 2011-present; Councilor at Large, 2002-2004, 2010-2011. Candidate, ALA President, 2010; Grassroots Advocacy Subcommittee, 2010-present;  Spectrum Scholar Advisory Committee, 2011-present.  Advocacy Committee, 2008-2009; Presidents' Task Forces (Rettig, Alire, Stevens, Raphael, 2008-present; ALA Education Committee, 2003-05.

AASL: President-Elect/President/Past president, 2006-2009. Legislative Committee, 2009-present. Learning4Life (L4L) Coordinator for NYS, 2009-present. Associate Editor, AASL Community, Knowledge Quest, 2003-2010;  Editor, AASL KQ Conference Issue, 2011. Region II Director-elect, 2003-2005, Region II Director, 2005-2007. Member, NSLMPY Committee, 2005-2006. Leadership Forum Planning Committee, 2001-2005.

Offices held in the ALA-APA, state, & regional library associations, and other associations:

NYLA: National Legislative Day Delegation, 2007-present. Legislation Committee, 2005-2009. Public Advocacy Committee, 2005-present. NYLA Executive Council, 1993-94, 2002-05. Finance Committee, 2004-05. Awards Committee, 2002-04. Conference Advisory Committee, 1991-93. Local Arrangements Committee, 1987 and 1992. Recruitment Ad Hoc Task Force, 1985. Public Awareness Committee, 1995-2000. Membership Committee, 1994-1996.

NYLA/SLMS (SSL): SLMS President, 1993-94. Educational Leadership Committee, 1990-present; chair, 1994-2007, 2010-present.  Program Director, Summer Leadership Retreats, 1993-present. VP/President-Elect, 1992-93. Region IV Representative, 1986-90. Promotion of School Librarianship Ad Hoc Committee, 1984-86.

Honors and Awards (library and non-library):

Recipient, New York Library Association President's Lifetime Achievement Award, 2011
Recipient of the Adjunct Excellence in Teaching Award, State University of New York, Plattsburgh, 2002
Recipient of the North Country Reference and Research Library Resources Council Excellence in Librarianship Award, 1996

Major Accomplishments:

IN 2010, as a member of the AASL Legislative Committee, I worked with the Division Councilor and ALA Legislative committee to write the RESOLUTION TO INCREASE FUNDING FOR THE IMPROVING LITERACY THROUGH SCHOOL LIBRARIES PROGRAM TO A $100 MILLION  which was then the lead resolution for all of ALA as we lobbied on Capitol Hill.

As chair of the Educational Leadership Committee of the NYLA SSL (formerly SLMS), I have been program chair of the Educational Leadership Retreat at Cornell that provides national-level professional development centered on Information Power, IP2, and now the AASL Standards for the 21st Century Learner. The retreat, designed for librarians at all stages of their careers, has brought noted presenters to train our school librarians.

As AASL president, I am proud of the hundreds of school librarian volunteers I appointed to committees and task forces who developed Standards in Action, the Advocacy toolkits, and revitalized School Library Month, the Intellectual Freedom committee and the Board that increased involvement with Spectrum Scholars and diversity and other important work for the profession.

Publications:

Article: "Your School Needs a Frugal Librarian! " Library Media Connection January 2011: 26-28.

Article: “What can Teacher-Librarians do to Promote their Work and the School Library Media Program? Offensive Formula: P+M=A.” Teacher Librarian, October 2008: 30-31.

Book Chapter: “It Takes Connections to be a NBCT.” School LibraryManagement. 6th ed. Ed. by Judi Repman and Gail K. Dickinson. Columbus, OH: Linworth, 2007.

Links for further information:

Advocacy blog, "Make Some Noise," for School Library Journal beginning in February, 2012.
Twitter: skjohns

Statement of Professional Concerns:

ALA and AASL represent the library profession and, especially, school librarians. The White House petition to include school librarians in ESEA reauthorization started by AASL President Carl Harvey was strongly supported by librarians of all types. It is that collaboration for the good of all the profession that led me to seek a seat on the ALA Council as a Councilor-at-Large in 2004 and, after my term as AASL president, again in 2009. I shortened that term to fill out the balance of AASL Division Councilor Sylvia Norton’s term after she was elected to the ALA Executive Board. I now seek a full term as AASL Division Councilor. I have been often labeled a "connector," connecting people to get things done. This skill is important as resolutions are proposed and supported. My experience will represent AASL, bringing school library concerns before Council, using ALA's voice for us.

Member of ALA since:

1984