AASL selects seven school administrators to serve on its School Leader Collaborative

CHICAGO – The American Association of School Librarians (AASL) has selected seven school administrators to serve on its AASL School Leader Collaborative. The “AASL School Leader Collaborative: Administrators & School Librarians Transforming Teaching and Learning” is a two-year initiative that aims to strengthen AASL’s collaboration with school administrators. This initiative champions the school librarian’s integral role in teaching and learning. Support for the initiative is provided by OverDrive Education.

Members of the collaborative include:

• Shawn Arnold, superintendent, Valdez City Schools, Valdez, Alaska
  Nominated by Pamela Verfaillie
• Sean Doherty, superintendent, School District of Clayton, St. Louis, Missouri
  Nominated by Victoria Jones
• April Grace, superintendent, Shawnee Public Schools, Shawnee, Oklahoma
  Nominated by Cherity Pennington
• Kelly Gustafson, principal, Pine-Richland School District, Wexford, Pennsylvania
  Nominated by M.E. Shenefiel
• Joel Hoag, principal, Franklin Special School District, Franklin, Tennessee
  Nominated by Dinah Wade
• Kim Patterson, principal, Grossmont Union High School District, El Cajon, California
  Nominated by Anthony Devine
• Melita Walker, principal, Columbia Public Schools, Columbia, Missouri
  Nominated by Kerry Townsend

“We had an outstanding field of candidates for the AASL School Leader Collaborative,” said AASL President Mary Keeling. “The individuals we selected have demonstrated strong support for school libraries and school librarians through their commitment to full staffing, budgets for materials, and integration of the school library throughout the school and district. Our school leaders come from all over the United States and represent small, large, rural, and urban districts. Several are poised to lead at the state and national level, and one has already distinguished herself as a state-level advocate for school libraries. We are grateful to OverDrive Education for making it possible for us to work with and learn from this group of administrators.”

The AASL School Leader Collaborative will serve as active ambassadors for school libraries. AASL leaders and K-12 administrators will convene to garner advocacy for school librarians that can be implemented at building, district, state, and national levels. Administrators will provide feedback, messaging, and advice on strategies to be taken by AASL. This sustained dialogue will deepen understanding of the school librarian’s and administrator’s powerful roles for impacting teaching, learning, and school culture. 

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

About OverDrive Education – a division of OverDrive
OverDrive Education is the leading global digital reading platform for K-12, offering the industry’s largest catalog of eBooks, audiobooks and streaming video. As a 100% digital company serving 43,000 libraries and schools worldwide, OverDrive combines technology with content to support learning and reading in the classroom, library and home on all major devices, including iOS®, Android, Chromebook, and Kindle® (US only). Founded in 1986, OverDrive and OverDrive Education are based in Cleveland, Ohio USA, and owned by Tokyo-based Rakuten.