Empowering student volunteers in the school library

CHICAGO — Juggling the responsibilities of teaching, budgeting, curating, programming, planning, and advocating, it's no wonder that school librarians feel overstretched. Training student volunteers in leadership skills is the solution you’ve been looking for. Empowering students will not only assist you in balancing the day-to-day operations of the school library, it will also give learners the valuable experience they need for their future growth while fostering a sense of ownership and pride in their tasks. Published by the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) and ALA Editions, “From Learners to Leaders: Empowering Student Volunteers in the School Library” offers a roadmap for giving your learners the guidance and direction to take the lead in running their school library space and teaching their peers. Authors Dione Mila (whose elementary school received the Florida-Power Library School Award) and Diana Haneski (Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Florida) share nuts-and-bolts advice drawn from their own successful student volunteer programs and other real-world success stories to guide you at your own school library. Using this book, you will:

• be introduced to the many benefits of learner-led library leadership, which nurtures critical thinking and problem solving, collaboration and communication, inclusivity and respect, and creativity and initiative;
• discover how empowering student volunteers can give you breathing room to focus on high priority items, tackle ever-growing pending tasks, foster collaborative relationships, and tend to your own wellness and stress management;
• walk through the essential steps for making it happen, from creating a "call for volunteers" poster and conducting interviews with learners to drafting a parent information letter and permission form, managing sign-in sheets, and completing a reflection rubric;
• receive clear, actionable frameworks for goal setting, building your leadership team, training learner leaders, offering praise and motivation, and effective behavior management; and
• learn strategies to use your student leadership program for generating greater visibility for the school library, increased administrative support, better communication with the school community, and more opportunities for extracurricular clubs and programming.

Mila is a public elementary school librarian in South Florida, the first in Broward County to earn the coveted Florida-Power Library School Award. She has served as President of the Broward County Association of Media Specialists, Region 5 chair for Florida Association for Media in Education, Chair for the Sunshine State Young Readers Award Grades 3-5, and is a frequent speaker at local, state, and national conferences.

Haneski is the National Board–certified educator/librarian at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, a Florida Power-Library School in Parkland, Florida. 2024 recipient of ALA’s I Love My Librarian Award, she has worked with learner leaders at Westglades Middle, Park Trails Elementary, and Silver Lakes Elementary Schools. Along with her therapy dog, River, she speaks at conferences on how library workers can find joy in engaging programs, updating library spaces, and supporting their communities’ mental health.

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

ALA Store purchases fund advocacy, awareness and accreditation programs for library and information professionals worldwide. ALA Editions publishes resources used by library and information professionals, scholars, students, and educators to improve programs and services, build on best practices, enhance pedagogy, share research, develop leadership, and promote advocacy. ALA authors and developers are leaders in their fields, and their content is published in a variety of print and electronic formats. Contact ALA Editions at editionsmarketing@ala.org.