A New Home for a New Edition: Welcome to the Relaunched AASL Standards Web Portal

It’s been nearly a year since the second edition of the National School Library Standards launched at our conference in St. Louis. That is hard for us to believe; it feels like it was just yesterday! As exciting as the launch was and as amazing as the new edition is and continues to be, we are beyond thrilled to invite you into another exciting development: the new AASL Standards Portal is live!

Think of it as a new home for the standards.

And, just like any new home, there is a lot to explore. There are rooms to wander into, things to discover, and probably a few places where you’ll want to settle in and stay awhile. We know you are all busy, though, so we thought we’d make it a little easier to get started.

Here are a few of our favorite places to begin.

First Glance

Let’s start with the newly refreshed landing page.

When you arrive, you’ll see a “Get Started” button, followed by featured resources and all six of the Shared Foundations, neatly packaged and ready to explore. You’ll also find curated areas designed specifically for different members of our school library community: school librarians, administrators, learners and families, and other educators.

In other words, wherever you are coming from, there’s a place for you to begin.

Get Started

One of the things we really love about the new portal is that you can start where you are.

The standards are for anyone, no matter where they are in their journey or what role they play in supporting school libraries.

One of the things we really love about the new portal is that you can start where you are.

Are you a new school librarian trying to figure out where to begin? We’ve got you.

Have you been working with the standards for years and are looking for a new entry point? We’ve got you, too.

Are you an administrator or educational leader who wants to better understand how the standards connect to your school community? There’s a place for you here as well.

And there’s something else we love: the portal really showcases why our competency-based standards matter. The standards aren’t a document to read and put on a shelf. They are a framework for thinking about what learners need, what school librarians do, and how we can work together to support our communities.

The Content Library (We’d Spend Hours Here!)

Now, this is a place where we could easily spend hours.

We’ve been around long enough to remember searching and digging through the old content library to find exactly what we needed. Under the “Resources” menu, the new Content Library makes that process much easier. Materials have been streamlined, each is accompanied by a brief description, and they can be filtered by what you are trying to do: learn more, teach, present at a conference, etc.

 

Need something to share with your faculty or administrators? Check out the resources in the “Advocate” tab.

Looking for something to help with evaluation? There’s a place for that, too.

We love that the new portal isn’t just a place to read about the standards. It’s a place to do something with them.

Who Doesn’t Love History?

If you’ve got a bit of time (and are a history lover like we are), check out the amazing history of the standards that has been put together on the portal. Under the “About” dropdown, select “Standards History” and prepare to go back in time. No, we don’t have a DeLorean, but there is an amazing timeline that takes us from 1914 (can you believe it?) to the present day.

It’s fascinating to see how our profession and our standards have grown, morphed, and changed over the years. And, perhaps more importantly, it gives us some perspective on where we are today.

So, How Did We Get Here?

This new home for the standards grew out of the question: How could we make it easier for our community to find what they need and make the most of the standards?

In 2024, AASL began working with student teams from the University of Michigan School of Information (UMSI) through its Client Engagement Program. As part of the User Experience (UX) Capstone course, one team took a close look at our existing standards portal, talking with school librarians and AASL members and watching as they navigated the site, completed tasks, and shared what worked and what didn’t.

Their insights helped shape many of the changes you’ll find in the relaunched portal. Other UMSI teams also helped AASL think through projects that became the History and Research pages on the new site.

Working with these students has been a wonderful capacity builder for AASL. We’ve learned so much from their expertise, fresh perspectives, and thoughtful questions, and are incredibly grateful for the UMSI partnership and for all the students who helped us make this new home for the standards more useful, welcoming, and connected to the needs of our community.

Come On In!

There is a lot to discover in the new AASL Standards Portal, and we certainly don’t expect you to explore it all in one sitting. In fact, that’s part of what we love about it. You can come in with a specific need, find what you’re looking for, and head back out. Or, you can wander a little.

Start with the “Get Started” guide. Browse the Shared Foundations. Explore the “Content Library.” Take a trip through the history of our profession. See what catches your eye.

Whether you are brand new to the standards, returning to them after some time away, or looking for something specific to support your work, we hope this new home gives you a welcoming place to begin…and a place you’ll want to return to again and again.

Come in. Look around. Make yourself at home.