Let’s revitalize our guiding document for your everyday practice

By Cherity Pennington and Laura Hicks, AASL Standards Committee Co-Chairs on 11/13/2023 • ( 0 )

AASL Standards survey open November 6-20

Has it really been six years already? Six years since we first cracked the spines of our National School Library Standards for Learners, School Librarians, and School Libraries? My, how time flies! In the intervening years, many school districts and states have adopted or adapted the AASL Standards to drive their professional practice. We have attended webinars, conference sessions, workshops, and all-day trainings to help us understand the AASL Standards and how to best integrate them with our practice. Through all of that learning, we’re sure you have thoughts and advice on how to improve the presentation of the AASL Standards in the book.

As with any important project, an objective review and evaluation of the effectiveness of the product is necessary to drive improvement. Thus we are here, asking for your help with our National School Library Standards book. We need you to share those thoughts and advice with us so the published AASL Standards will continue to be an impactful resource that you will turn to again and again in your everyday practice.

While we on the AASL Standards Committee are not looking to change the structure and components of the AASL Standards frameworks, we do feel that a review of the focus of the National School Library Standards book is a timely undertaking. At the time that the AASL Standards were released, content was crafted to help school library professionals and stakeholders adapt to and integrate the standards with their learning communities. We would like to help to ensure AASL is continuing to provide educational leaders with content that strengthens further adoption of the standards and supports advocacy for the role of school librarians.

To that end, we are asking all of you to give us about 20 minutes of your time to complete a survey asking for your thoughts and impressions on the efficacy of the National School Library Standards book. It is critical we hear from you and your communities. Please visit standards.aasl.org/research for links to the surveys and more information. The survey is open from November 6 to November 20, so please click the link above and give us your thoughts and suggestions today.

Cherity Pennington and Laura Hicks,
AASL Standards Committee Co-Chairs, 2023-2025