Barnett elected AASL president-elect
Contact: Melissa Jones
AASL Communications Specialist
(312) 280-4381
mjones@ala.org
NEWS
For Immediate Release
May 19, 2008
Barnett elected AASL president-elect
CHICAGO – Cassandra G. Barnett, school library media specialist at Fayetteville High School in Fayetteville, Ark., was elected president-elect of the American Association of School Librarians (AASL), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), in the 2008 elections. Barnett's term as president-elect starts in July 2008. She will assume the AASL presidency for the 2009-2010 term following the 2009 ALA Annual Conference in Chicago.
In the election, Barnett ran against Sylvia K. Norton, school library/technology planning coordinator at the Maine State Library.
Barnett will be leading the nation's only association for school library media professionals. Established in 1951, AASL has nearly 10,000 members. Its mission is to advocate excellence, facilitate change and develop leaders in the school library media field.
Barnett says, "We live in exciting and scary times for school library media programs. The new
Standards for the 21st-Century Learner offer guidance to school librarians in collaborating with teachers to engage students in learning situations that are meaningful and relevant. The learning environment of the library has expanded beyond the physical walls through access to Web-based informational resources.
“At the same time, school library media programs are threatened as districts trim their budgets by eliminating certified school library media specialist positions. It is our task to increase awareness of the link between a well-stocked school library with a qualified school library media specialist and improved student academic achievement. We must help the larger learning community realize that a dynamic school library media program is in the best interest of all."
As an AASL member since 1986, Barnett has served many roles. She has been chair of the AASL Bylaws & Organization Committee; member of the Learning Standards Indicators and Assessments Task Force; Learning Standards Rewrite Task Force co-chair; member of the NSLMPY Award Committee; AASL Publications Committee member; co-chair of the AASL National Conference 2003 committee; chair of AASL Non-Conference Year Programming Task Force; and Member-at-Large of the AASL Board of Directors.
Barnett obtained her Bachelor of Science in Education and later a Master of Science in Education/Instructional Resources from the University of Arkansas. She also holds certification in early childhood to young adult library media with the National Board of Professional Teachers. She has been honored with the Arkansas Library Association Rhetta Patrick Award for Outstanding Library Media Specialist of the Year in 2000 and was named Phi Delta Kappa's University of Arkansas Chapter's Outstanding School Library Media Specialist of the Year in 1989.
Complete AASL Election results are available on the Web site at
http://www.ala.org/aasl/elections.
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.
