AASL's association journal gets dynamic new look

Contact: Kathy Agarwal

Communications Specialist

312-280-4381

kagarwal@ala.org

For Immediate Release

November 13, 2006

AASL’s association journal gets dynamic new look

CHICAGO – Knowledge Quest, the print journal of the American Association of School Librarians (AASL), has undergone a dramatic makeover debuting with its Fall 2006 issue. Formerly printed in primarily black and white, with limited graphic images, Knowledge Quest received a vibrant shot of color and moved to 4-color press production for its 35th volume (September 2006-June 2007).

“New literacies demand new formats,” said Debbie Abilock, Knowledge Quest editor-in-chief. “In this participatory culture we need to tell the stories of school libraries in compelling ways so that school librarians can fully participate, collaborate and learn.”

This year’s Knowledge Quest makeover features an updated masthead for the cover and an interior sprinkled with eye-catching graphics and photo illustrations that enhance the features and columns submitted by contributing writers. KQWeb http://www.ala.org/aasl/kqweb, the online companion to the print journal available on the AASL Web site, also underwent major redesign and reorganization under the leadership of AASL’s new Web editor, Gayle Bogel. KQWeb features a sampling of print articles from each issue, plus Web-only material available exclusively online.

Launched in 1997, the journal (published 5 times a year) is read by library media specialists, supervisors, library educators, and other decision makers concerned with the development of school library media programs and services. Knowledge Quest is one of the features of membership in AASL and is mailed out to all of the association’s members bimonthly September through June.

Knowledge Quest is also available through a subscription; subscribers receive the five bimonthly issues of the journal for a $40 annual fee. In November 2006, AASL launched a new subscription campaign to coincide with the newly redesigned look of the journal.

“We hope Knowledge Quest becomes a valuable resource not only for practicing school library media specialists, but also for the larger K-12 education community,” said AASL President Cyndi Phillip. “College and university libraries, school district libraries and other academic information centers can benefit from the resources each Knowledge Quest provides. In addition to discussion on theory and practice in school librarianship, the journal articles also address new developments in education, learning theory, and other relevant disciplines.”

For more information about Knowledge Quest and highlights from its most current issue, visit http://www.ala.org/aasl/knowledgequest.html.

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