For immediate release | December 13, 2016

Hilliker, Keeling and Lewis seek 2018-19 AASL presidency

CHICAGO – AASL members Robert Hilliker, Mary Keeling and Kathryn Roots Lewis will seek the 2018-2019 AASL presidential term during the 2017 American Library Association (ALA) election. A full slate of AASL candidates can be found at www.ala.org/aasl/about/elections.

Robert Hilliker is the director of the Edsel Ford Memorial Library at the Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, Connecticut. He currently serves on the AASL Board of Directors as the representative for the Independent School Section.

“I am excited and honored to be nominated, especially alongside such exceptional colleagues,” said Hilliker. “Clearly, we have some challenging times ahead of us, but the profession has been through difficult times before. I am confident that working together we can continue the excellent momentum we generated in getting the Every Student Succeeds Act passed into preparing at the state and local levels for its implementation.”

Mary Keeling is the supervisor of library services for Newport News Public Schools in Newport News, Virginia. She currently serves as chair of the AASL standards and guidelines implementation task force.

“I am so honored to stand as a candidate for President-Elect of AASL alongside my colleagues, Kathryn Lewis and Rob Hilliker,” said Keeling. “This is a significant time to lead school librarians because the Every Student Succeeds Act promises to make new opportunities possible even as AASL prepares to release revised professional standards.”

Kathryn Roots Lewis is the director of media and technology for Norman Public Schools in Norman, Oklahoma. She currently serves on the AASL Board of Directors as the regional director for region 6.

“It is an honor and privilege to be a candidate for President-Elect of AASL,” said Lewis. “School librarians are remarkable educators serving as teachers, collaborators, innovators, leaders, technologists, and information professionals who empower learners to explore ideas, craft compelling questions, find information, ​inquire, ​​tinker, invent, create new knowledge, think deeply, and read voraciously. If elected, I will champion and support school librarians through my leadership, by engaging our members to work together to realize the goals of AASL’s strategic plan.”

Ballot mailing for the 2017 election will begin on March 13 and will run through April 5. To vote, AASL membership must be current as of January 31, 2017. For questions regarding membership status, contact ALA’s Member and Customer Service (MACS) at 1-800-545-2433, press 5 (International members should call +1-312-944-6780) or customerservice@ala.org.

The American Association of School Librarians, www.aasl.org, a division of the American Library Association (ALA), empowers leaders to transform teaching and learning.

Related Links

AASL Elections

Contact:

Jennifer Habley

Manager, Web Communications

American Association of School Librarians (AASL)

jhabley@ala.org

312-280-4383