Contact: Jonathan West
AASL, Communications Manager
(312)280-4381
jwest@ala.org

For Immediate Release,
January 2, 2008

Jean Donham, Carol L. Tilley named co-editors of School Library Media Research journal

CHICAGO - The American Association of School Librarians (AASL), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), is pleased to announce Jean Donham and Carol L. Tilley have been named co-editors for the online journal School Library Media Research (SLMR). Donham and Tilley take over for Daniel Callison, who stepped down earlier this year after serving as editor for the past decade.

Donham previously served on the editorial board of SLMR. She is the college librarian and professor at Cornell College in Mt. Vernon, Iowa, where she has worked since 2000. Before arriving at Cornell, Donham taught courses in school librarianship, children's resources, information literacy, research methods and multimedia at the University of Iowa. She is the author of journal articles and books, including "Enhancing Teaching and Learning: A Leadership Guide for School Library Media Specialists." She also served on the AASL Executive Board from 1996 to 1999.

Tilley previously served as the editorial assistant for Callison. She is an assistant professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Before arriving at UIUC in 2007, she served as a lecturer and coordinator of distance education at the School of Library and Information Science at Indiana University, where she received her doctorate in Information Science.

"We are very fortunate to have SLMR continue in such capable hands," said AASL president Sara Kelly Johns. "Danny's stewardship made SLMR one of the most useful online journals, and I look forward to Jean and Carol continuing the important work of disseminating research within our school library community."

The purpose of School Library Media Research is to promote and publish high-quality original research concerning the management, implementation and evaluation of school library media programs. The journal will also emphasize research on instructional theory, teaching methods and critical issues relevant to school library media. SLMR is the successor to School Library Media Quarterly Online.

A 2005 study ranking the value of more than 70 library/information science refereed research journals and their importance in supporting promotion and tenure decisions found that SLMR was the top-ranked journal related to the school library media field and is the only online journal that ranked among the top 20.

For more information on SMLR, including submission guidelines, please visit http://www.ala.org/ala/aasl/aaslpubsandjournals/slmrb/schoollibrary.cfm.

The American Association of School Librarians, http://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.