Toolkits

Developing Creative Collaborators, Flexible Partners, and Resilient Citizens

To help school librarians develop learners’ abilities to contribute to teams that can capitalize on a diversity of thinking and perspective, AASL tasked a 2024 ALA Emerging Leaders team with creating a guide for school librarians based on the Collaborate Shared Foundation in the National School Library Standards. This collection of activities and web resources, pushes school librarians, educators, and learners to build collaborative capacity in themselves and their learning communities. Working effectively in teams means being able to listen to, learn from, and share with others. Successful collaboration requires empathy and welcoming diverse perspectives. By inviting and fostering collaboration, school librarians embody the message that everybody is welcome in the school library.

An infographic, applied framework, and resource matrix further support application of these materials in professional development and instructional settings.

Developing Inquisitive Learners, Critical Thinkers, and Resourceful Citizens

To help school librarians develop inspired self-learners with physical and digital library spaces conducive to equitable inquiry, AASL tasked a 2023 ALA Emerging Leaders team with creating a guide for school librarians based on the Inquire Shared Foundation in the National School Library Standards. This collection of activities and web resources, pushes school librarians, educators, and learners to consider the importance of the process of inquiry. At the heart of the Inquire Shared Foundation is information literacy. Learners who can employ an inquiry process to solve problems begin to see authentic purposes for their questions, becoming more resourceful and adaptive citizens. An infographic, applied framework, and resource matrix further support application of these materials in professional development and instructional settings.

Developing Critical Curators Seeking Diverse Perspectives

To support school librarians as they strive to develop learners who critically curate their own resources and include multiple perspectives, AASL tasked a 2022 ALA Emerging Leaders team with developing a guide for school librarians based on the Curate Shared Foundation in the National School Library Standards. Using this collection of activities and web resources, school librarians will reflect and be inspired as they collaborate with other educators and design school libraries that are places of information access and knowledge sharing. Learners will practice gathering information from diverse perspectives, evaluating and organizing their findings, and reflecting on their understanding of the information. An infographic, applied framework, and resource matrix further support application of these materials in professional development and instructional settings.

Developing Reflective Explorers and Innovators

To guide school librarians in their work of inspiring future generations of explorers, AASL tasked a 2020 ALA Emerging Leaders team with developing a guide for school librarians based on the Explore Shared Foundation in the National School Library Standards. This collection of activities and web resources encourages learners and school librarians alike to develop personal curiosity, tinker and make, collaboratively solve problems, and iteratively respond to challenges in a growth mindset. An infographic and applied framework further support application of these materials in professional development and instructional settings.

Developing Inclusive Learners and Citizens

To aid school librarians in nurturing inclusive learning communities, AASL tasked a 2019 ALA Emerging Leaders team with developing a guide of reflection activities and resources based on the Include Shared Foundation in the National School Library Standards. Using the scenarios, activities, and resources in this guide, learners and school librarians alike can seek balanced perspectives, global learning, empathy, tolerance, and equity to support inclusive environments within and beyond the four walls of the school library. An infographic and applied framework further support application of these materials in professional development and instructional settings.

Defending Intellectual Freedom: LGBTQ+ Materials in School Libraries

Stemming from an Affiliate Assembly concern, the 2018 ALA Emerging Leaders team was charged with creating a guide for AASL to support school librarians in addressing challenges related to censorship and patron privacy issues, particularly with LGBTQ+ materials. More than just a collection of resources, this work uses the AASL Standards framework as scaffolding to help users explore LGBTQ+ materials and needs in their own communities. Use the accompanying infographic and applied framework in the guide to navigate the document more quickly depending on your specific question or need. Activities in each section make this a valuable tool for professional development. This guide is a great example to any practitioner about how they can use the AASL Standards as a lens to address ANY school library issue!

Open Educational Resources (OER) Toolkit

School librarians have observed open educational resources (OER) take root in higher education and have grappled with how to translate the OER movement to K–12 educational settings. The AASL OER Implementation Task Force’s charge was to position school librarians in OER efforts that will help extend their role as leaders within their schools, align with the AASL Standards, and provide professional development and make school libraries Future Ready. This toolkit can be used to help school librarians understand the process of curating and creating OER for their school, district, and/or state.

AASL Advocacy Toolkit

This advocacy toolkit provides a variety of materials to help school librarians and the stakeholders they work with understand the value of the school library, as well as the value of a school library staffed by a licensed school librarian. Resources in the toolkit provide school librarians with information they can use to build relationships with stakeholders in their communities to gain educated support for their programs.

Public Library and School Library Collaboration Toolkit

Created by the AASL/ALSC/YALSA Interdivisional Committee on School/Public Library Cooperation, the toolkit includes context and suggestions for creating partnerships of all sizes. It contains information on how to start and continue a public–school library collaboration, research that supports collaboration, examples of successful collaborations, and useful templates. Use this handout to promote the toolkit with colleagues and stakeholders.

Resource Guide for Underserved Student Populations

Inspired by a concern brought forth from the AASL Affiliate Assembly, and developed for AASL by the 2016 ALA Emerging Leaders class, this toolkit brings together a wealth of resources available to aid school librarians working with students in five underserved populations: children in foster care, homeless children, children of incarcerated parents, children of migrant workers, and children in non-traditional families. Use this bookmark and handout to share the guide with colleagues and stakeholders.

Pre-Service Toolkit for Principals and Teachers

Toolkit for Promoting School Library Programs

This toolkit includes strategies, practical tips and tools, key messages, inspirational stories, and much more to help school librarians promote the many ways they transform teaching and learning within schools, districts, and communities through their library programs.