Choose Your Own (Professional) Adventure

By Shannon DeSantis Gile & Ann Schuster on 04/01/2022 • ( 0 )

The AASL Member Engagement Committee is excited to invite members to join the association’s new Communities of Practice!

“Communities of Practice are groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly. Motivations for convening a community of practice are many, but at the most fundamental level, a group of people come together driven by a shared learning need. By engaging each other over time in collective learning, they develop a bond that in turn fuels the production of resources to influence their own practices.” (AASL Policy #Q:1)

Members will have the option to join as many of the five communities they feel passionate about. The topics for each community of practice were decided based on a survey sent to members last year and approved by the AASL Board.

Information Literacy Instruction – this community focuses on instruction to help learners engage in creative and critical thinking about research and information resources, facilitating learners’ development as knowledge creators, lifelong learners, and participants in academic and scholarly activity.
Teacher Collaboration – this community focuses on school librarian and classroom educator collaboration strategies, project ideas, and outcomes.
Literature/Reading Promotion – this community focuses on both ‘advertising’ within the school community as well as reading promotion for every learner in the school community.
Digital and Technology Tools – this community focused on digital and technology tools for use in the school library, to advise and incorporate into classroom instruction, and for learner application.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion – this community focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion through the school library covering collection development and learner initiatives as well as with the profession.

The main objective of these communities is to gather with members looking to learn and share around the same topics. There will be a liaison from the Membership Engagement Committee to help get communities started. Each community will have the flexibility to function as it sees fit. The only requirement for each Community of Practice is to hold an annual meeting. Communities can engage in a range of activities from: discussions in ALA Connect, monthly virtual meetups, book clubs, or guest speakers. Think of it as a Choose Your Own (Professional) Adventure.

The Membership Engagement Committee is excited to kick off these Communities of Practice with AASL Members and hopes you will join one or more that suits your professional needs.

2021-2022 Member Engagement Committee

Shannon DeSantis Gile, Co-Chair
Ann Schuster, Co-Chair
Jen Gilbert
Matthew King
Angela Mullins
Janice Newsum
Courtney Pentland
Beth Raff
Jillian Rudes