A few years ago, the AASL Member Engagement Committee was seeking a way to bring school librarians together to learn and grow in areas they feel passionate about. That’s where the idea of the Communities of Practice (CoPs) began. The idea was that the communities would be member driven and would evolve based on member needs.

As someone who was a member of that committee when the CoPs were established, I can say that they never quite took off in the way that was hoped for when they began despite the best efforts of various committee members over the years.

As school librarians and educators, we know that sometimes the best laid plans don’t always go as we intended. We are experts at reflection and pivoting and looking at things from new angles. And, that is exactly what the Member Engagement Committee asked the AASL Board of Directors to do in relation to the Communities of Practice. 

During one of the final board meetings for the 2023-24 AASL Board of Directors, we discussed the request from the Member Engagement Committee to sunset the Communities of Practice. As a Board, we decided to grant their request for several reasons, but mostly because we see the AASL Member Forum as the one stop shop for folks who want to ask questions, seek advice, or share information they’ve found useful in their own practice. This way members can have just one place to go to instead of potentially six if they were looking to connect about topics of interest, plus it reaches a larger group of their colleagues.

Beginning August 1, the CoPs will be removed from ALA Connect. In the meantime, they will still be available if you want to gather anything that has been shared there previously. Moving forward we encourage you to use the general AASL Member Forum for current and future communications so that you can reach a wide audience. As a member, you are automatically added the the AASL Member Forum, but you will not receive messages from there until you log into ALA Connect for the first time.

The AASL Member Forum in ALA Connect can be one of the most valuable tools you have at your fingertips. If you’ve never really interacted with the AASL Member Forum before, this is your nudge to start doing so! This closed community is only for AASL members, so you know your connections will be with people passionate about school libraries.

Bottom line, we truly are #StrongerTogether, and the AASL Member Forum is one of the best ways to learn, connect, share, and grow together.