Library science is an enormous field, home to every interest you could imagine! This means that there are many organizations out there for you to join, in order to connect with other people who share your professional interests.
So even if you work alone in your library, there are other people out there doing work similar to yours! Each week we will highlight a different library association for you to learn more about, and depending on your work, potentially join! You can also check out our page dedicated to Library Associations.
A majority of our members at CMLE are school library people, so listen up, because this is the organization for you!
According to their website, “The American Association of School Librarians (AASL) is the only national professional membership organization focused on school librarians and the school library community”
AASL is a division of the American Library Association and serves members all around the world. Their mission is “empowering leaders to transform teaching and learning” and you can read their current strategic plan here. AASL has “supported the profession for over 60 years and understands the current realities and evolving dynamics of your professional environment and is positioned to help members achieve universal recognition of school librarians as indispensable educational leaders.”
The AASL website is a great resource to use if you work in a school library. It contains information regarding ESSA, the Best Apps and Websites of 2017 (make sure you are following our series on these), national standards, as well as advocacy tools.
Learn more about membership in AASL here. Some features include:
- A subscription to Knowledge Quest, AASL’s official journal published bimonthly September through June.
- Complimentary access to AASL member-only webinars.
- A nationally recognized voice that ensures and advocates for the highest quality school library professional and program through learning standards, program guidelines, and standards for professional preparation.
- Lobbying efforts by the ALA Washington (DC) Office to ensure school librarians are included in educational initiatives, funding, and legislation.
- Direct access to the ALA Office of Intellectual Freedom including counseling on issues such as book challenges, access, and privacy.
In this library, the furniture and shelving is not only size-appropriate for the audience they are trying to serve, but cute and colorful! (I love the way these round chairs look – enticing to kids!)
Colorful items are a key component in any cheerful library, especially in one serving younger patrons. These cute and colorful drawers are separated for different age groups, filled with activities to do after the students have finished their work. Puzzles, games, and things to color are part of the offerings – all easily sorted and accessible.
Shelves filled with nice-looking books make their contents enticing! The books are carefully labeled, to show patrons the different qualities of the books they may want to read. Books left on the shelves are not doing patrons any good, so this kind of marketing is great to see! (See that collection of blue Hardy Boys books? My brother and I read all of them, and seeing them in any library always makes me happy!)
Installing seating right at the point of material availability is a great idea! Give patrons the chance to be so entranced by the books they are finding, that they sink into a chair to look through them. Displaying popular or interesting books at eye level is another great way to be sure they are easily found by patrons.
Again, thinking about usability is key for patrons of any age. The descriptions of the Dewey numbers make a system that is incomprehensible to our patrons more understandable. I love to see these kinds of signs! If patrons understand the groupings of our materials, and know where to find things, they are more likely to take materials home with them – which is our goal! (Libraries do not collect items for ourselves – they are for our patrons to use.)
In addition to the cute (and useful!) furniture in this library, they have a regular display spotlighting authors! The books were flying off the shelves here – always great to see. Displaying materials draws the interest of patrons this way is always valuable for patrons – and the more they use materials, the better everyone does!
And of course, libraries are so much more than just books now! We are information centers, with all kinds of information literacy and resources for our patrons to use as they learn! 
I love this feature that I’m seeing in more libraries: a self-check system. In this library, patrons can return books themselves. This frees up staff time to focus on providing more in-person service to patrons; and it gives patrons a better understanding of one aspect of library operations, and another opportunity to practice their technology skills! When they go to a public library, they are likely to have a chance to self-check books; so this practice will be valuable.
And fundamentally libraries are here to provide instruction and assistance for their communities! We are information professionals, and here to help our communities access materials of all types. So this dedicated instructional location is not only really cute – but so important in providing quality service!
Last summer, the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) announced their Best Apps for Teaching and Learning 2017. The apps encourage qualities such as creativity and collaboration, and encourage discovery and curiosity.
This summer, the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) announced their Best Apps for Teaching and Learning 2017. The apps encourage qualities such as creativity and collaboration, and encourage discovery and curiosity.
Last summer, the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) announced their Best Apps for Teaching and Learning 2017. The apps encourage qualities such as creativity and collaboration, and encourage discovery and curiosity.