Contact: Andrea Parker



AASL Program Officer


312-280-1396

For Immediate Release


November 7, 2003

AASL 11
^th National Conference draws almost 3,500

Participants and vendors at the American Association of School Librarians’ (AASL) 11th National Conference said good-bye to Kansas City with a smile.
A total of 3,494 attendees, including more than 1,000 vendors, registered for the conference.

“This was an extremely positive conference,” said AASL President Frances Roscello.
“At a time when funding cuts are threatening libraries nationwide, it was encouraging to see so many of my colleagues engaged in the critical issues affecting the profession – and having some fun, as well.”

Motivational speaker, educator and opening general session speaker Bertice Berry was a clear favorite with her energetic delivery and clear support for school library media specialists and their critical role in educational achievement.

“I loved the opening session – she was so inspirational,” said first-time attendee Lori Loranger from Kirkwood School District in Missouri.
“I loved the energy of the whole conference.”

Energy was a word many people used when describing their experience.

“This was a great conference for us,” said Lisa Spiko, vice president of marketing for Gale, a business of The Thomson Corporation. “We saw excellent booth traffic, and attendees were energized.” Gale hosted three book signings and sold more than 400 large-print versions of “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.”

Many conference programs, including several sessions on recent school library research and the “Celebrate Conference” reception for new AASL members and first-timer conference goers, drew overflow crowds. More than 225 conference participants also joined the American Library Association’s (ALA) Library Advocacy Now! Network.
The e-mail list of hundreds of librarians from all library types provides idea-sharing, updates and legislative alerts of special interest to library advocates.
To learn more about the network, visit the ALA’s Issues and Advocacy section from the home page.

A full house welcomed the national launch of the school library component of the @ your library
â campaign. The initiative kicked off with a special rendition of “When the Scores Go Rising Up” (set to “When the Saints Come Marching In”) sung by the members of AASL’s @ your library Special Committee in Kansas City’s Union Station.
Roscello and ALA Executive Director Keith Michael Fiels also unpacked a literal toolbox of materials tailored for school librarians to increase public awareness of the significant contributions made by school library media specialists through school library media programs.

“This campaign will assist all school library media specialists in promoting themselves and their programs to the various constituencies they serve,” said Committee Chair Harriet Selverstone.
To learn more visit the “School Library Campaign” section of the @ your library Web site at www.ala.org/@yourlibrary.

Additional conference highlights included:

·
Dozens of author signings on the exhibit floor, including the first-ever “Chat ‘n Chew” sessions featuring local authors and illustrators;

·
A diverse second general session lineup that brought together Shannon Lanier, Anna Rosmus and Patrick Douglas Crispin sharing stories of how they were unwilling to accept information as it existed and set the record straight;

·
Hands-on interaction and sharing of best practices at the Exploratorium; and

·
The inaugural administrator’s day featuring complimentary registration for school administrators to attend a presentation by Keith Curry Lance, Ph.D., director of the Library Research Service, highlighting
recent research correlating higher test scores with well-developed school library media centers.

A PDF order form (for mail orders) and a link for online ordering of audio recordings of select sessions from the AASL 11th National Conference are available on the conference homepage at
www.ala.org/aasl/kc.

Mark your calendars! The AASL 12th National Conference & Exhibition will be held October 5-9, 2005, in Pittsburgh. The theme will be “Every Student Succeeds @ your library
â.” Watch
www.ala.org/aasl for more details.