2012 AASL Award Winners May 5, 2012

South Texas Independent School District (STISD) and the Hinsdale Township (Ill.) High School District 86 are the recipients of the 2012 National School Library Program of the Year (NSLPY) Award. The NSLPY recognizes school library programs that meet the needs of the changing school and library environment and are fully integrated into the school’s curriculum. Sponsored by Follett Library Resources, each recipient is recognized with a crystal obelisk and $10,000 for their school library program.

Sharon Coatney is the 2012 recipient of the AASL Distinguished Service Award. Established in 1978 and sponsored by Baker and Taylor, the award 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. Coatney was nominated by Linda Corey.

AASL President Carl Harvey has selected Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island as the recipient of the 2012 Crystal Apple. The honor is given at the discretion of the AASL president to an individual or group that has had a significant impact on school library programs and students.

Kristine Klopp’s project, “Square Off for Reading!,” is the 2012 recipient of the AASL Innovative Reading Grant. Sponsored by Capstone, this grant of $2,500 supports the planning and implementation of a unique and innovative program for children that motivates and encourages reading, especially with struggling readers.

The “EDSET Research Poster Session and Podcast Project” team from Albany High School in Albany, Calif., is the 2012 recipient of the AASL Collaborative School Library Award. The team – consisting of Sara Oremland, school librarian, Darren McNally, environmental science teacher, Corinne Berletti, history teacher, and Jessica Park, English teacher – works with junior and senior high school students participating in the school’s Environmental Design, Sciences, Engineering, and Technology (EDSET) academy.

Soliciting videos illustrating why the school library is (either physically or virtually) the place to be, the AASL “You Belong @ Your School Library” Student Video Contest Student winners will receive a $100 Amazon.com gift card and Mackin will provide their school library a prize of $500 in books. Winners of are:
Elementary School
Why We Love the Library!
Town School For Boys
San Francisco, Calif.
Middle School
Top Ten Tips for Library Fun
Harry F. Byrd Middle School
Richmond, Va.
High School
You Belong @ Your School Library
White Plains High School
Anniston, Ala.

The Iowa Association of School Librarians (IASL) and its program “Growing the Next Generation of Leaders: A Leadership Academy,” were named the winner of the 2012 AASL ABC-CLIO Leadership Grant. Established in 1986 and sponsored by ABC-CLIO, the grant of $1,750 is given to school library associations that are AASL affiliates for planning and implementing leadership programs at the state, regional or local levels.

Researchers Ann Dutton Ewbank from Arizona and Daniella Smith from Texas are the 2012 recipients of AASL Research Grant sponsored by Capstone. Established in 1993, AASL Research Grants are given to up to two school librarians, library educators or library information science or education professors to conduct innovative research aimed at measuring and evaluating the impact of school library programs on learning and education.

School librarians Sally Mays and Elizabeth Kahn are the recipients of the 2012 AASL Information Technology Pathfinder Award. Sponsored by Follett Software Company, the $1,500 award recognizes and honors two school librarians – one elementary and one secondary – for demonstrating vision and leadership through the use of information technology to build lifelong learners.

Alisa Auchmoedy-Finck, school librarian at the Marbletown Elementary School in Stone Ridge, N.Y., is the 2012 recipient of the AASL Frances Henne Award. Established in 1986, the $1,250 award, sponsored by ABC-CLIO, recognizes a school librarian with five years or less experience who demonstrates leadership qualities with students, teachers and administrators. As the award recipient, Auchmoedy-Finck has the opportunity to attend her first ALA Annual Conference.

Mat McRae, principal of Swan Valley high school in Saginaw, Mich., is the 2012 recipient of the AASL Distinguished School Administrators Award. McRae was nominated by school librarian Kay Wejrowski.