AASL National Conference 2019

The bi-annual national conference of the American Association of School Librarians was held in Louisville, Kentucky from November 14-16, 2019. The conference provided opportunity to hear from well-received speakers and to learn from colleagues in the profession. Nebraska was well represented as several of our state librarians had presentations during the conference. One of the primary themes of the conference was centered around the new school library standards. If you have not taken the time to review them, make a point to do so soon.

The AASL Learning Library is available at https://aasl.digitellinc.com/aasl/conferences/31/view
The Learning Library offers recordings of 62 sessions from the conference. You can find sessions about advocacy, gaming, collaboration, and media literacy – just to name a few. The AASL Learning Library is free for members and is $199 for non-members. 

During the conference, AASL launched a new state-level leader collaborative. The AASL School Leader Collaborative will included administrators and school librarians. It is a two-year initiative to engage with administrators who are vital to the success of school librarians. The panel includes seven administrators – superintendents and principals from across the county. A group of state-level school librarian leaders will serve as a point of contact to initiate the activities developed by the collaborative. Goals for this initiative are to develop active ambassadors for school libraries and to become a catalyst for sustained change. Watch for more news about this initiative in the months to come.

Dr. Kim Gangwish
AASL Liaison