Celebrate School Library Month

By AASL SPVS on 02/28/2016 • ( 0 )

Your library supervisor or school administrator asks what you are doing to celebrate School Library Month. Panic immediately sets in – you have never heard of this. What should you do? Remain calm and read on.

What
“School Library Month is the American Association of School Librarians’ celebration of school librarians and their programs. Every April school librarians are encouraged to host activities to help their school and local community celebrate the essential role that strong school library programs play in transforming learning.”

Why
Advocacy, advocacy, advocacy

How to begin
First, go to the AASL Advocacy Site. There is information about School Library month and National Library Week, Banned Books week, Teen Read week, and other events.

Talk or reach out to other librarians through social media.

AASL help for School Library Month
Annually names a national spokesperson and creates a PSA supporting the importance of school libraries.

Provides complimentary web graphics and printable posters for the year’s theme.

Hosts free professional development webinars every Wednesday during April.

Advocacy at the state and local level
Contact your State Association or your library supervisor to find out if your governor issues a proclamation for School Library Month.

If not, the governor’s state site describes the proclamation request process.

Share the proclamation with your school board in late March or Early April.

Connect with your public library and schedule a library card sign up event.

Post activities that are going on in the public library.

Share scheduled events with local media.

Promotion and Marketing at the local and school level
Get support from school administration for an All School Reads or DEAR event.

Share library trivia, contest news, student recommendations, and student created book trailers, through school announcements.

Use virtual tools such as Skype to schedule virtual meetings with authors

Schedule a face to face visit from an author or illustrator.

Set up contests that encourage students to become independent users and frequent visitors to the library.

Design a Makerspace that promotes School Library Month.

Sponsor a book fair.

Ask book club members or volunteers to create promotional activities or materials.

Create book displays that promote intellectual freedom, reading for pleasure or that support the School Library Month theme.

Celebrate state reading awards; encourage voting and announce winners (if available)

Use social media to promote library events.

Sponsor a book swap for students and faculty

Sponsor a book drive. Collect gently used books and donate them to a designated shelter or charity.

If this is your first time promoting School Library Month, start small and have fun. Many of the activities can and should be implemented throughout the year. This is the perfect opportunity to begin advocating for your program. But, when April is over, you must continue the work you have started to show that libraries transform learning all year long.