Tatanisha Love receives AASL Inspire Special Event Grant

CHICAGO – Tatanisha Love, school librarian at Loch Raven Technical Academy in Towson, Maryland, is one of six school librarians from across the country receiving a 2020 American Association of School Librarians’ (AASL) Inspire Special Event Grant. Made possible by the generosity of AASL member Marina “Marney” Welmers, the grant program provides funds for public middle or high school libraries to plan a special event to enhance student learning.

With the funds, Love will run a summer reading project with 60 selected students. As part of #LRTAbefriends initiative, students will receive free copies of Jerry Craft’s award-winning graphic novel, “New Kid.” During the summer, students will read the book, attend book club meetings, and plan #LRTAbefriends presentations. Students will create a poster, video, song, or another form of media to express how people can befriend and be a friend to others, and presentations will be shared during National Bullying Prevention Month. Also during October, Love hopes Craft will visit the school to discuss the book and the student work.

“Tatanisha Love has designed a project to combat ‘summer slide’ and engage learners in her community over the summer, culminating in an anti-bullying event in October,” said AASL President Mary Keeling. “Better yet, the use of Jerry Kraft’s ‘New Kid’ promises to build empathy and awareness of what it means to be a friend and ally.”

The Inspire Special Event Grant provides up to $2,000 in funding to a school library looking to engage students with school library resources and promote reading, books, literacy, and authors. The funds can be used to create a new or enhance an existing extracurricular activity that will increase student achievement. A total of $10,000 is distributed to schools annually.

“The committee was extremely impressed with the quality of the applications and their contributions towards engaging and empowering students,” said Rebecca Gordon, grant committee chair. “The grant recipients have showcased how the chosen events and programming will help schools foster community, collaboration, and creativity. These grants will allow the selected schools’ learning communities to create a culture of reading and lifelong learning.”

“I’m thrilled that so many of the grant projects address issues of social justice, racial healing, and service learning,” said Keeling. “Through these grants, learners will be empowered to make a difference in their own communities and the world. AASL is exceedingly grateful to Marney Welmers for her continued financial support of the grant program. Her gifts celebrate the impact school librarians have on learners and school culture.”

The AASL award winners will be honored during a virtual AASL Awards Ceremony during the fall of 2020. The virtual ceremony will replace the live ceremony traditionally presented during the ALA Annual Conference. Out of concern for the health and safety of all members of the community, the ALA Executive Board felt it was important to cancel the 2020 conference taking place in Chicago. Details for the virtual ceremony will be shared as they are finalized. 

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