From the American Library Association
The American Association of School Librarians (AASL) has released the results of its last survey in a series of surveys capturing the state of school libraries during pandemic school closures. Launched in the spring of 2020, AASL’s surveys have shown the school librarian’s integral role in uncertain circumstances. Results are available at www.ala.org/aasl/snapshot.
The survey results established school librarians as essential in helping and often leading the efforts of their educator colleagues to transition to remote teaching and learning. Respondents noted that their role in their school district or building increased during the current school year. Some of the increase in responsibilities included leading more professional development, teaching more classes, assisting classroom teachers with technology, and curating digital tools and other online resources.
Regarding practices, respondents indicated they were doing more technology troubleshooting, e-book promotion, virtual professional development, and step-by-step instructional material for use of online tools and databases.
As school systems plan the 2021-2022 school year, survey results are a powerful advocacy tool to be used in discussions with administrators to show the critical contributions of school librarians in transforming teaching and learning. They show the critical need for a dedicated school library budget with added support for continuing education for school librarians.
The American Association of School Librarians, a division of the American Library Association (ALA), empowers leaders to transform teaching and learning.