Over $50,000 available through 2007 AASL awards

Contact: Kathy Agarwal
Communications Specialist
312-280-4381

kagarwal@ala.org

For Immediate Release
Contact: September 12, 2006

Over $50,000 available through 2007 AASL awards

CHICAGO - Over $50,000 is available through the annual awards program from the American Association of School Librarians (AASL), a division of the American Library Association (ALA).
Thirteen awards, grants and scholarships recognize and support outstanding contributions to the field by our members in a variety of categories, including leadership, reading, information technology, and distinguished service.
Applications are now available for download from the AASL website
www.aasl.org.

"We invite all AASL members to learn about the available awards, grants, and scholarships.
By applying, they can share their successes and best practices with the wider school library media community," said AASL President Cyndi Phillip.

AASL 2007 awards include:

  • AASL Collaborative School Library Media Award, $2,500, sponsored by the Sagebrush Corporation, recognizes and encourages collaboration and partnerships between school library media specialists and teachers in meeting goals outlined in
    Information Power: Building
    Partnerships for Learning through joint planning of a program, unit or event in support of the curriculum and using media center resources.

  • The AASL/Highsmith Research grant, sponsored by The Highsmith Co., Inc., was established in 1993 to conduct innovative research aimed at measuring and evaluating the impact of school library media programs on learning and education.
    The monetary award is up to $5,000, based on research expenses.

  • ABC-CLIO Leadership Grant, sponsored by ABC-CLIO, is given to school library media associations that are AASL affiliates for planning and implementing leadership programs at the state, regional, or local levels.
    Monetary award is up to $1,750.

  • The Distinguished Service Award, $3,000, sponsored by Baker & Taylor, award recognizes an individual member of the library profession who has, over a significant period of time, made an outstanding national contribution to school librarianship and school library development.

  • The Distinguished School Administrator Award, $2,000, sponsored by SIRS/ProQuest, is given to a school administrator who has made worthy contributions to the operations of an exemplary school library media center and to advancing the role of the school library media center in the educational program.

  • The Frances Henne Award, $1,250, sponsored by Greenwood Publishing Group, is given to a school library media specialist with five or fewer years in the field, to attend an American Library Association (ALA) Annual Conference or AASL National Conference for the first time.

  • The Information Technology Pathfinder Award recognizes and honors a school library media specialist demonstrating vision and leadership through the use of information technology to build lifelong learners.
    There are two categories: Elementary and Secondary.
    Sponsored by Follett Software Company, the award gives $1,000 to the school library media specialist and $500 to the library.

  • The new Innovative Reading Grant, sponsored by Coughlan Publishing (Capstone Press, Compass Books, Picture Window Books, Stone Arch Books and Red Brick Learning), is designed to fund literacy projects for grades K-9th that promote the importance of reading and facilitate literacy development by supporting current reading research, practice and policy.
    Monetary award is $2,500.

  • The Intellectual Freedom Award, $2,000 to the recipient and $1,000 to the media center of the recipient's choice, sponsored by ProQuest, is given for upholding the principles of intellectual freedom as set forth by AASL and the American Library Association.

  • The National School Library Media Program of the Year (NSLMPY) Award is sponsored by Follett Library Resources.
    The award recognizes school districts and single schools for exemplary school library media programs that are fully integrated into the school's curriculum. Winners receive a crystal obelisk and $10,000 each, in two categories (one District award and two Single school).

  • The School Librarian's Workshop Scholarship, is awarded to a full-time graduate student (at an ALA-accredited library school program or in a school library media program that meets the ALA curriculum guidelines for the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education) preparing to become a school library media specialist at the preschool, elementary, or secondary level.
    The $3,000 scholarship is donated by Jay W. Toor, president of Library Learning Resources.

Applications and detailed information about each award is now available on the AASL Web site
http://www.ala.org/aasl/awards.

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.