Spotlight

Resource Guides

The American Association of School Librarians (AASL) offers Web-based resource guides on many topics of interest to library media specialists that you will find under Professional Tools ---> Resource Guides on their menu. The URL for AASL Resource Guides for School Library Media Program Development is www.ala.org/aasl/resources.

Becoming an advocate for school library media programs, with an ability to clearly articulate the value of both programs and library media specialists, has become an essential role (and sometimes a means of survival) for today’s LMS. Therefore, in this issue of the Educators Spotlight Digest, we are . . .

Shining the Spotlight on . . .
AASL Resource Guide: Public Relations

While you will find a rich set of resources under Advocacy/Public Relations/Marketing, our particular favorite is AASL’s Advocacy Toolkit, “a collection of ready-to-use tools to conduct an advocacy campaign for school library media programs.” Some of the items in the Toolkit include a variety of newspaper articles, a sample letter to the editor, and the text of ALA’s resolution: “School Libraries and Librarians are Critical to Educational Success.” There is also a series of “talking points” that can be used in advocacy efforts, such as parent information, bulleted research findings on the link between school libraries and student achievement, and statistics on school library media specialists (Did you know that the state with the best LMS-student ratio is Montana? Do you know which state has the worst LMS-student ratio?) There are a number of other useful resources under this guide, as well, so be sure to check them out.

Shining the Spotlight on . . . AASL Resource Guide: Public Relations

Shining the Spotlight on . . .
AASL Resource Guide: Public Relations