Home > Blog > Applications Open For The 2017…

On Our Radar

Applications Open For The 2017 AASL Awards Program

CHICAGO, IL — Applications for the American Association of School Librarians’ (AASL) 2017 awards season are now available. AASL members are encouraged to nominate a colleague or themselves to be lauded for their outstanding talent and dedication to the profession as part of this prestigious program. AASL awards and grants recognize excellence and showcase best practices in the school library field in categories that include collaboration, leadership and innovation.

Applications are now open for:

  • the National School Library Program of the Year Award, $10,000 and a crystal obelisk, sponsored by Follett, recognizes a school library program that meets the needs of the changing school and library environment and are fully integrated into the school’s curriculum;

  • the Distinguished Service Award, $3,000, sponsored by Baker & Taylor, which recognizes an individual member of the library profession who has, over a significant period of time, made an outstanding national contribution to school librarianship and school library development;

  • the ABC-CLIO Leadership Grant, up to $1,750, sponsored by ABC-CLIO, which is given to school library associations that are AASL affiliates for planning and implementing leadership programs at the state, regional or local levels;

  • the Collaborative School Library Award, $2,500, sponsored by Upstart, which recognizes and encourages collaboration and partnerships between school librarians and teachers in meeting goals outlined in “Empowering Learners: Guidelines for School Library Programs” through joint planning of a program, unit or event in support of the curriculum and using media center resources;

  • the Distinguished School Administrator Award, $2,000, sponsored by ProQuest, which is given to a school administrator who has made worthy contributions to the operations of an exemplary school library and to advancing the role of the school library in the educational program;

  • the Frances Henne Award, $1,250, sponsored by ABC-CLIO, which enables a school librarian with five or fewer years in the field to attend an ALA Annual Conference or AASL National Conference for the first time;

  • the Innovative Reading Grant, $2,500, sponsored by Capstone, is designed to fund literacy projects for grades K-9 that promote the importance of reading and facilitate literacy development by supporting current reading research, practice and policy;

  • the Intellectual Freedom Award, $2,000 to the winner and $1,000 to the school library of the winner’s choice, sponsored by ProQuest, which is given for upholding the principles of intellectual freedom as set forth by AASL and the ALA;

  • the Inspire Collection Development Grant, up to $5,000 per award, sponsored by Marina “Marney” Welmers, provides funding for public middle or high schools to extend, update, and diversify their book, online, subscription and/or software collections in order to realize sustainable improvement in student achievement;

  • the Inspire Special Event Grant, up to $2,000 per award, sponsored by Marina “Marney” Welmers, provides funding for public middle or high schools to create new or enhance existing extracurricular activities in order to increase student academic achievement;

  • the Roald Dahl’s Miss Honey Social Justice Award, $2,000, a $5,000 book donation from and up to $1,000 in reimbursement towards travel and housing to attend the AASL awards presentation at the ALA Annual Conference; sponsored by Penguin Random House, the award recognizes AASL members who have collaboratively designed a lesson, event, or course of study on social justice exemplified by a character from Roald Dahl’s books;

  • The Ruth Toor Grant for Strong Public School Libraries, $3,000 for project implementation and $2,000 for both the school librarian and school official (or volunteer parent) to attend the AASL national conference or the ALA Annual Conference; sponsored by Jay Toor, provides funding support for the creation and implementation of a local public awareness/marketing campaign that promotes and positions their school library as a necessary resource in the community.

Applications for the National School Library Program of the Year are due Jan. 1, 2017. All other applications or nominations are due Feb. 1, 2017. All applications will close at 4:30 p.m. CST on the day of the deadline.

Applicants are encouraged to read all award and grant criteria on the AASL website before applying. Rating sheets are provided to give applicants an understanding of the items the award committee will use to base their scores. Questions about the application process should be directed to Shannon Carter at scarter@ala.org.

The American Association of School Librarians, www.aasl.org, a division of the American Library Association (ALA), empowers leaders to transform teaching and learning.

Back to Top