AASL selects 2007 awards recipients

CHICAGO - The American Association of School Librarians (AASL), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), is pleased to announce the 2007 recipients of its annual awards.

The AASL Collaborative School Library Media Award of $2,500 has been awarded to Renee Zorc, school library media specialist, Daniel J. Wright Junior High School, Lincolnshire, Ill. The Collaborative School Library Media Award, sponsored by Tandem Library Books, recognizes and encourages collaboration and partnerships between school library media specialists and teachers in meeting goals outlined in Information Power: Building Partnerships for Learning through joint planning of a program, unit or event in support of the curriculum and using media center resources.

The ABC-CLIO Leadership Grant has been awarded to the Association for Indiana Media Educators (AIME). The grant of up to $1,750 is sponsored by ABC-CLIO Schools and is given to school library media associations that are AASL affiliates for planning and implementing leadership programs at the state, regional, or local levels.

Nathan S. Greenberg, superintendent of schools, Londonderry (N.H.) School District, is the recipient of the Distinguished School Administrator Award, sponsored by ProQuest Company. An award of $2,000 is given to a school administrator who has made worthy contributions to the operations of an exemplary school library media center and to advancing the role of the school library media center in the educational program.

The Frances Henne Award has been awarded to Jessica Klinker from Immaculate Conception School in Columbus, Ohio. The award, sponsored by Greenwood Publishing Group, is given to a school library media specialist with five or fewer years in the field, to attend an American Library Association (ALA) Annual Conference or AASL National Conference for the first time.

The Information Technology Pathfinder Award recognizes and honors a school library media specialist demonstrating vision and leadership through the use of information technology to build lifelong learners. The Elementary category winner is Holly Hartell of Pacolet (S.C.) Elementary School. The Secondary category winner is Sheila Howard from North Atlanta (Ga.) High School. Sponsored by Follett Software Company, the award gives $1,000 to the school library media specialist and $500 to the library.

Nancy Baumann, a librarian at Barnett Shoals Elementary School in Athens, Ga. is the recipient of the very first Innovative Reading Grant. Baumann’s program “Early Bird Readers” is designed to promote elementary students’ reading development and attitude enhancement by regular reading practice. The $2,500 grant is sponsored by Coughlin Publishing.

The National School Library Media Program of the Year Award is sponsored by Follett Library Resources. The award recognizes school districts and single schools for exemplary school library media programs that are fully integrated into the school's curriculum. Winners receive a crystal obelisk and $10,000 each, in two categories (one District award and two Single schools). The 2007 award has been given to Norman (Okla.) Public Schools in the School District category, and to Harpeth Hall School in Nashville, Tenn. and North Elementary School in Noblesville, Ind. in the Single School category.

Donna Mae Ohlgren of Minnesota is the recipient of the School Librarian's Workshop Scholarship, awarded to a full-time graduate student (at an ALA-accredited library school program or in a school library media program that meets the ALA curriculum guidelines for the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education) preparing to become a school library media specialist at the preschool, elementary, or secondary level. The $3,000 scholarship is donated by Jay W. Toor, president of Library Learning Resources.

The AASL awards will be presented to the winners during a ceremony and luncheon held on Monday, June 25, during the 2007 ALA Annual Conference in Washington, D.C. Special guest speaker for the event is author Carmen Agra Deedy. For more information about the event, please visit the AASL web site http://www.ala.org/aasl/annual.

The American Association of School Librarians, www.aasl.org, a division of the American Library Association (ALA), promotes the improvement and extension of library media services in elementary and secondary schools as a means of strengthening the total education program. Its mission is to advocate excellence, facilitate change and develop leaders in the school library media field.

AASL selects 2007 awards recipients