Video contest challenges students to let loose their creativity

CHICAGO – The American Association of School Librarians (AASL), in collaboration with SchoolTube, announces the launch of the School Library Month 2013 student video contest “Communities matter @ your library.” Contestants are urged to let loose their creativity and use humor, drama, music and/or special effects to illustrate how the school library program fosters a sense of community in their school. More information can be found at www.ala.org/aasl/slm/video.

"The theme for School Library Month 'Communities matter @ your library' is one that resonates with all who use school library programs and services," said AASL president Susan Ballard. "School libraries foster opportunities for collaboration and coming together in a flexible physical learning environment, as well as through their virtual presence and the positive use of social media and networks. These physical and virtual communities provide connections and conversations that help students and teachers to delve deeply into the process of inquiry and exploration. I look forward to seeing how students capture and share these concepts in imaginative and informative videos."

Submissions for the video contest will be accepted through March 19 and winners will be announced at the beginning of School Library Month on April 1. Contest judges will select three winners from all entries received. Student collaboration with educator support is encouraged; however, school librarians are asked to limit their help in the production of videos.

In addition to earning a prize, the winning videos will be featured on the AASL and SchoolTube websites and social networking platforms. Winning entries will also be used in a new contest format recently launched by SchoolTube – the SchoolTube Challenge. During the challenge, which will run during the month of April, students, educators and members of their social circles will earn virtual points and recognition for interactions with the winning videos. At the end of the challenge, AASL will award prizes to the top three point earners.

“SchoolTube delivers the highest quality, teacher-approved video sharing platform to students and school communities,” said SchoolTube CEO and Co-founder Carl Arizpe. “With the rapid adoption of smart mobile devices now proliferating throughout K-12 communities, we are now seeing an explosive growth in video sharing by both students and educators to enrich their learning experiences. We are so proud to support the AASL as they seek to enhance the classroom with 21st century tools and applications for all our students and educators."

SchoolTube is the nation's largest K-12-moderated video sharing platform specifically designed for students and educators, and exclusively endorsed by over a dozen national education associations. Founded in 2006 and in part funded by Silicon Valley-based Learn Capital, SchoolTube has been committed since its inception to providing a safe and fun video-sharing experience for the entire spectrum of K12 user communities.

The American Association of School Librarians, www.aasl.org, a division of the American Library Association (ALA), promotes the improvement and extension of library 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 field.