The holiday season is upon us! This time of year seems to bring finances into focus, so I thought it was time to call on ABBA to grab your attention as I share three ways that AASL is taking care of you this holiday season. I hope you find these three tips helpful.

1. While I know you have downloaded the FREE Standards Framework for Learners from the standards portal already, I wanted to take a moment to remind all of you value shoppers out there that there is no limit to the number of copies of the National School Library Standards that an AASL member can purchase at the member price using the newly launched ALA Store. Be sure to click on the “Sign In” link in the upper right hand corner of the ALA Store. This incredible value that combines previous standalone publications into a single publication is now much easier to share across schools, districts, and states. If you use this “secret” method, all I ask is that you strongly encourage each book recipient to visit this site to invest in the bright future for the best profession I know.

2. Educators of school librarians, listen up! As soon as you confirm that you have adopted the National School Library Standards as a required text for your classes, ALA and AASL will offer each of your students a complimentary membership. This means your students are able to access the National School Library Standards at the member rate while enjoying the wonderful benefits of membership in the only national organization wholly committed to the school library profession! Contact aasl@ala.org today to start the adoption process for your Spring term students!

3. The generous sponsors of AASL awards and grants have made tens of thousands of dollars available to deserving educators across the country. The application deadline for these opportunities is February 1, 2018, unless otherwise noted.

• Collaborative School Library Award sponsored by Upstart – $2,500;
• Distinguished School Administrator Award sponsored by ProQuest – $2,000;
• Frances Henne Award sponsored by ABC-CLIO – $1,250;
• Intellectual Freedom Award sponsored by ProQuest – $2,000 to recipient AND $1,000 to the school library of the recipient’s choice;
• National School Library Program of the Year Award sponsored by Follett (deadline is January 1, 2018) – $10,000;
• Roald Dahl’s Miss Honey Social Justice Award sponsored by Penguin Random House – $2,000 to the librarian, up to $1,000 to attend the AASL awards program at ALA Annual in New Orleans, and a $5,000 book donation by Penguin Random House;
• ABC-CLIO Leadership Grant sponsored by ABC-CLIO – up to $1,750;
• Beyond Words: Dollar General School Library Relief Fund (deadline – within 36 months of the date of the disaster) – up to two $50,000 catastrophic grants annually along with smaller grants;
• Innovating Reading Grant sponsored by Capstone – $2,500;
• Inspire Collection Development Grant sponsored by Marina “Marney” Welmers – grants totaling $20,000 annually;
• Inspire Disaster Recovery Grant sponsored by Marina “Marney” Welmers (deadline – within 36 months of the date of the disaster) – grants totaling $30,000 annually;
• Inspire Special Event Grant sponsored by Marina “Marney” Welmers – grants totaling $10,000 annually;
• Libraries Ready to Code sponsored by Google (deadline passed) has already awarded over $500,000 in grants to 28 libraries across the United States; and
• The Ruth Toor Grant for Strong Public School Libraries sponsored by Jay Toor – $3,000 for project and $2,000 for school librarian and a community member to attended an AASL or ALA conference.

There are scores of amazing volunteers on standby to review your applications for these awards and grants. I hope you find these holiday finance tips to be helpful and that you can help me share these points far and wide. Thank you for continuing to serve your community and let’s work together to further strengthen school libraries in tomorrow’s learning landscape!

Author: Steven Yates

Steven Yates is an assistant professor and coordinator of the school library media certification program at the School of Library and Information Studies at the University of Alabama. He earned a doctor of philosophy in instructional leadership with an emphasis in instructional technology in 2017.

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