On Friday, June 3, at 9 am CT, the American Association of School Librarians is participating in an US Department of Education listening session about school librarians and school libraries. You can listen to the conversation by following #essalibraries on Twitter–I’ll be live tweeting from @glibrarian.
What does that have to do with YALSA? A lot! Many of you are school librarians–serving teens in high schools and middle schools (I was a high school librarian for 12 years). Some of you are academic librarians who want to make sure your students come to you with the necessary information literacy skills to succeed in college (I’m now a community college librarian and I can tell what students come from high schools without librarians by the questions they ask me). Some of you work in public libraries and collaborate with your school librarians often, and you know how important they are to your teens.
Last year, YALSA members helped push for the inclusion of school library programs in the Every Student Succeeds Act. But even with this great document from ALA, there are still questions. See AASL President Leslie Preddy’s last blogpost for an update. I’m thrilled that Leslie reached out to YALSA to be involved in the conversation tomorrow. Don’t forget to follow #essalibraries tomorrow to see what happens during the listening session with the USDOE!
Sarah-
I am so pleased to have you join us Friday as we engage in this wonderful opportunity to speak to the USDOE on behalf of students, school libraries, and school librarians. We’re going to have a great time!
Leslie Preddy, AASL President