Using AASL’s Shared Foundation of Include as a roadmap for more inclusive spaces and practice

CHICAGO — Published by the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) and ALA Editions, Julie Stivers’s book “Include” brings together a chorus of school librarians, scholars, and students representing a wide range of races, ethnicities, experiences, and identities. Part of a six-volume series on the Shared Foundations in AASL’s National School Library Standards, this guide offers:

• an understanding of why the concept of Include is paramount to school librarian practice, supported by key research to share and inspire the inclusion of learner and educator voices and experiences;
• an explanation of what it looks like to successfully integrate the Include Shared Foundation in terms of collection, space, and instruction; 
• useable guidance that school librarians can confidently incorporate in their settings, including easy-to-implement ideas, inspiring stories, events, and transformation; and
• reflections, questions, and action steps to help readers move their practice forward.

Stivers is scheduled to lead an AASL 2021 Preconference Workshop spotlighting this book. She is the librarian at Mount Vernon Middle School, an alternative public school in Raleigh, North Carolina. Her work has been published in Knowledge Quest, School Libraries Worldwide, School Library Journal, and YALS, and she was named a 2019 Library Journal Mover & Shaker. She worked alongside her ALA Emerging Leaders group to create Defending Intellectual Freedom: LGBTQ+ Materials in School Libraries. Her research and practical interests include culturally sustaining pedagogy, building inclusive library spaces, and exploring the power of manga and anime with her students. Find her on Twitter: @BespokeLib.

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

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