AASL's announces Frances Henne recipient
Contact: Melissa B. Jacobsen
AASL Communications Specialist
(312) 280-4381
NEWS
For Immediate Release
May 4, 2009
CHICAGO – The American Association of School Librarians (AASL) announced Jill Mantel, school library media specialist at Darby Creek Elementary School in Hilliard, Ohio, as the recipient of the 2009 Frances Henne Award. Mantel will receive the award at the AASL Awards Luncheon during the ALA 2009 Annual Conference in Chicago.
At Darby Creek Elementary, Mantel serves 570 students, grades kindergarten to fifth, as well as 55 staff members. Her primary goal is to increase student understanding of the state standards. Mantel said, "I don't teach library literacy in isolation, but rather in connection with the state standards in reading, writing, math, science and social studies."
With her award, Mantel hopes to attend the AASL National Conference and Exhibition in Charlotte, N.C., Nov. 5-8. While attending the conference, Mantel said her goal will be "…seeking new ways for the library media program to positively impact student achievement… I'm always looking for way to reinforce academic content standards and correlate library lessons with classroom instruction." However, she said that overall she would like to attend the national conference to learn to "make my school's library an effective center for student learning and enjoyment and truly the heart of our school."
In her letter of support for Mantel's application, Vicky L. Clark, principal at Darby Creek Elementary, said, "Mantel takes a leadership role in acquiring and evaluating informational resources in all formats. She works collaboratively with the parent teacher organization advocating for the library media program and creating the vision to lead us into the twenty-first century."
The AASL Awards Luncheon will be held from noon to 2 p.m. on Monday, July 13 during Annual Conference. The fee to attend is $59. Special guest speaker for the luncheon will be Barbara Kerley, award-winning author of several books including "Greetings from Planet Earth" and "What to do about Alice." For more information about this event and more AASL programs in Chicago, visit
http://www.ala.org/aasl/annual.
AASL's Frances Henne Award, sponsored by Greenwood Publishing Group, was established in 1986. The $1,250 award recognizes a school library media specialist with no more than five years of experience who demonstrates leadership qualities with students, teachers and administrators. Award recipients have the opportunity to attend an AASL conference or ALA Annual Conference for the first time and must be AASL personal members.
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.
