AASL to offer disaster preparedness workshop in D.C.

Contact: Kathy Agarwal

Communications Specialist

312-280-4381

kagarwal@ala.org

For Immediate Release

March 23, 2007

AASL to offer disaster preparedness workshop in D.C.

CHICAGO – The American Association of School Librarians (AASL), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), will offer a workshop addressing disaster preparedness during the ALA Annual Conference in Washington, D.C. in June.

The preconference workshop “Disaster Preparedness for School Library Media Specialists,” will be held on Friday, June 22, 2007, 8 a.m. – noon. Beyond Words: the Dollar General school library relief fund is sponsoring the event.

Terrence Young, a Beyond Words Grant recipient, will lead a panel of school library media specialists in a discussion of disaster preparedness. Participants will gain insight into disaster planning as the experts share their experiences, successes and lessons learned. The workshop will address the ups and downs of disaster recovery as it applies to the school library media specialist and the media program. Attendees will discover the differences of planning and recovery for public and independent schools and will be able to use the knowledge and experience gained to devise a plan for their school in the event of a disaster.

This workshop is made possible as part of the Beyond Words: the Dollar General school library relief fund. Registration is complimentary, but space is limited, so registration is required.

In addition to the disaster preparedness workshop, AASL will host a variety of educational programs and exciting special events during the ALA Annual Conference in Washington, D.C. this summer. To learn more, see http://www.ala.org/aasl/annual.

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.