2018 AASL Social Media Superstars: Social Justice Defender


Review all of the 2018 AASL Social Media Superstar Finalists here.


Anita Cellucci

Anita Cellucci

Anita Cellucci is the Librarian at Westborough High School in Westborough, Massachusetts. Anita has an active presence on social media where she posts, speaks, and writes as the #EmpatheticLibrarian. She advises the joint public/school Teen Advisory as well as a Poetry/Spoken Word team that participates in the MassLEAP Louder than a Bomb spoken word festival annually. Anita is currently the Past President of the Massachusetts School Library Association, and a co-recipient of the SLJ/Scholastic School Librarian of the Year Finalist award. She is collaborating with Harvard Graduate School of Education/Making Caring Common Empathy project. Her nominator notes that she “inspires many librarians to become “humble warriors” like herself.” She consistently shines a light on issues and people that need a voice in our society today, all the while showing how libraries can make an impact on these issues and in these lives. 

Twitter  |  Facebook  |  Instagram


Jennifer LaGarde

Jennifer LaGarde

Jennifer LaGarde is a lifelong educator and learner who currently presents all over the country, writes regularly for professional publications, consults and collaborates with other librarians and educators, and has initiated programs such as #30SECONDBOOKTALK and #2jennsbookclub. Jennifer’s nominator says that Jennifer “shares inspiration, wisdom, and new ideas with the entire school library community on a non-stop basis on Twitter, her blog, Facebook groups and more. She has incredible empathy for at-risk students and regularly offers ideas and calls to action for the library’s essential role in serving students in poverty. Her voice is always one of passion and compassion. She challenges us to rethink old ideas whenever they interfere with the prime goal of serving and educating our students.”

Website  |  Twitter  |  Instagram  |  Facebook


Elissa Malespina

Elissa Malespina

Elissa Malespina, a New Jersey Teacher Librarian at Somerville Middle School, uses her social media presence to stand up and speak out for her students, teachers and community, as well as all librarians and libraries everywhere. She shares regularly through social media, writing articles and presenting at all levels in the library and education world. In 2013, her library was awarded with the Jean Harris School Progressive Library Program of the year by the New Jersey Association of School Librarians. She was also recognized by the International Society of Technology Educators with the Make IT Happen Award and named as one of the 2016 PBS Learning Media Local Digital Innovators. A 2014 Bammy award recipient from the Academy of Education Arts and Science, Elissa Malespina’s expertise and sharing continue to propel her as a leader in school librarianship.

@elissamalespina  |  Facebook  |  Website

Author: Cathy Jo Nelson, Social Media Recognition Chair



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