NSLA News - December 2017: New AASL Standards

The New Standards for Library are finally here. The new National School Library Standards were introduced at the AASL Conference in Phoenix. The National School Library Standards for Learners, School Librarians and School Libraries replaces the former AASL Standards for the 21st Century Learner, Standards in Action and Empowering Learners.

The National School Library Standards will help school librarians develop plans to meet the needs of today’s learners with standards that will update and improve library lessons to reflect the current learning environment and best professional practices for an effective school library. 

As stated in the “National School Library Standards”, the new standards include:

• Common Beliefs statement reflects current learning environments and professional practices for effective school libraries.
  
• The standards framework features five shared components- Shared foundations, Key Commitments, Domains, Competencies and Alignments, all which are designed to reflect each other.
  
• It includes a sections dedicated to assessment and evaluation, and provides examples on how to develop your own tools to align your school and district models align with the new AASL standards.
  
• It provides scenarios for various types of school library professionals and demonstrates techniques and practices for implementing.
  
• Included in the book is a glossary of terms, useful verbs, and a list of evident as well as other appendices. 

The American Association of School Librarians standards include foundations and key commitments have six shared foundations:  Inquire, Include, Collaborate, Curate, Explore, and Engage.  Each of the shared foundations are broken into three to five competencies for each learning category or domain, which include, Think, Create, Share and Grow.  The Competencies are measurable statements that describe the knowledge and skills that are necessary for learners and school librarians. 
 
At the AASL Conference in Phoenix, Affiliate Assembly members participated in a two day workshop about the standards.  Included in the conference were many sessions about implementing the standards, as well as ideas to present the new standards to our local organizations.   NSLA is in the process of planning ways to inform and involve members in the implementation of the New National School Library Standards.

​Betty Meyer, AASL Liaison