ALA/AASL Election – Supervisors Section

By Frances Reeve on 03/12/2015 • ( 0 )

The 2015 ALA/AASL Election is quickly approaching. As many were not able to attend the AASL Candidates Forum at Midwinter, we wanted to use this public forum as an opportunity to introduce the candidates running for AASL offices. Each candidate was given the opportunity to respond to this question: If elected, what will you do to advance AASL’s new mission to empower leaders to transform teaching and learning? Read their responses and vote beginning March 24. Today we hear from:

Cassandra Barnett, Candidate for Supervisors Section (SPVS) Chair-Elect
Lori Donovan, Candidate for Supervisors Section (SPVS) Chair-Elect
Suzanna Panter, Candidate for Supervisors Section (SPVS) Secretary
Mary Woodard, Candidate for Supervisors Section (SPVS) Secretary

From Lori Donovan, Candidate for Supervisors Section (SPVS) Chair-Elect
If elected, as chair elect of the Supervisors’ Section, I would work with the AASL Board and AASL Affiliate Assembly to help support librarian supervisors to help librarians across their districts to provide communication and resources from AASL to them. I also believe that as a supervisor I have a pulse of what is going on every day in school libraries to share back with AASL Board and its Affiliate Assembly and will be able to communicate that effectively to both entities.

As chair-elect, I will work with the chair to best design programs to better help support supervisors better help and support librarians in their districts both at ALA Midwinter and Annual meetings but also through ALA Connect. We can create a means on the AASL Essential links page to provide a means to create and share information that supports all libraries and school librarians. As chair-elect, I would also work to advocate for school librarians and libraries across not only my state but other states as well. Working with the advocacy committee and other members of the ALA advocacy office, I would help others become the voice of school libraries.

As more school districts and school libraries cease to exist, it is important to make sure that every way we can support libraries and librarians is key to making a difference in transforming teaching and learning.

From Suzanna Panter, Candidate for Supervisors Section (SPVS) Secretary
As a district-level school library supervisor, I often feel like I’m on an island. I must empower my librarians to lead the transformation of teaching and learning, but how? Some days I feel lost in the education circus. However, I have found a home with colleagues that understand, the supervisors section of AASL. The supervisors section has been rejuvenated with new members and ideas. It’s a place where supervisors work to support each other and further the goals of the AASL. Through dialog with my peers in this section, I learn to be a better leader for my librarians. The supervisors section does great work for our organization and the profession.

Communication from an organization is important. Without constant updates, members forget our goals and question why they pay dues. This section needs to be better at communicating the great work we do to advance the mission of AASL. Many supervisors cannot attend meetings at conferences, but want to know how we work at the national level to support our librarians. There are AASL members that do not know about our section or activities at all. It is important to let all members know about our section so we can gain participants and support.

If elected as the secretary of the supervisors section of the AASL, I will make communication with members a priority. I will use social media, emails, and ALA connect to let members know what we are working on and how they can help. I will make an effort to reach out to members outside our section and use other AASL avenues to advocate for our school districts. It’s not just the conference minutes that need distributing, but the work we do each and every day. Together, we can empower leaders to transform teaching and learning.

From Mary Woodard, Candidate for Supervisors Section (SPVS) Secretary
My name is Mary Woodard and I am running for the position of Secretary of the AASL Supervisors Section. I am the Director of Library Services for a school district in the Dallas area. We have 39,000 students on 46 campuses and each campus has a certified school librarian! If you want to know more, you can check out my biography on the AASL ballot because that’s not what this post is for.

In this post, I will share what I would do as Secretary of the Supervisors Section to advance AASL’s new mission to empower leaders to transform teaching and learning. I want you to know that I believe wholeheartedly in this mission. School libraries are all about teaching and learning. School librarians are teachers first. In the school library, traditional librarian tasks of managing the books must take a backseat to tasks that increase student learning.

As a school library program supervisor, I believe that we have much influence regarding how library programs are implemented at the campus level. My position as a school district administrator also gives me a big picture perspective that allows me to combine library best practice with education best practice to help campus librarians develop programs that really delivers instructionally.

As an officer of the Supervisors section, I would work with members of the section to identify barriers to the implementation of AASL’s vision, then identify things campus librarians could do to break down those barriers. I would use my knowledge of the “big picture” in education and libraries to talk with other leaders about how librarians help increase student achievement. I would encourage development of a vision for library programs based on AASL’s work on 21st century library programs that could be implemented on the campus level.