AASL President's Program

Sara Kelly Johns, current president of AASL, opened the program by presenting AASL's Crystal Apple Award to the "Spokane Moms", a group of mothers who took their outrage about the lack of funding for school libraries to the state legislature and were successful in achieving $4 million in first-ever state level support for Washington school libraries.

Incoming president Ann Martin thanked attendees for all that they do and spoke about the theme of her upcoming presidency - leadership - and urged members to follow the example of the Spokane Moms by carrying our mission and vision to everyone we meet.

Illustrating how AASL is working to meet its "BHAG" (Big Hairy Audacious Goal) "to achieve universal recognition of school library media specialists as indispensable educational leaders,” Sara returned to the podium to report on what has been happening in the organization during the past year. She thanked everyone who contacted legislators to ask them to support of school libraries. The year started with the AASL conference in Reno where the new Standards for the 21-st Century Learner were unveiled and the results of the first longitudinal study on school libraries were released. The Digital Institute and e-Academy were launched to provide professional development using 21st-century tools. April brought the revival of School Library Media Month, with online materials for planning local observances. AASL now offers licensed institutes - full-day educational workshops available for use anywhere in the country - on advocacy, collaborative leadership, and reading and the secondary school library media specialist. Planning has been completed for the AASL Fall Forum on Assessment, taking place in Oak Brook, IL next October. The Promotions and Marketing Committee are developing PR, marketing and advocacy tools.

The keynote speaker was Susan Patron, author of The Higher Power of Lucky, the children's book that raised controversy because it included the word "scrotum". Why did she use that word? Patron explained that it was done intentionally as a vehicle for Lucky to demonstrate the trust in an adult she needed to build in order to be able to ask the meaning of the word. She ended by thanking librarians for speaking up to defend the 1st Amendment rights of children.

Following Susan's talk, panelists Cassandra Barnett, AASL President-Elect and high school librarian from Fayetteville, Arkansas, David Levithan, author of controversial books and a member of the American Association of Publishers Freedom to Read Committee, and Katherine Byers, an elementary school library media specialist from LaCrosse, Wisconsin discussed their experiences with censorship. Katherine described a book challenge in her school (she did not name the title because she has been asked by the reconsideration committee not to) and how she hopes to engage her superintendent, who had the book removed from the shelves, in a conversation about intellectual freedom.

Cassandra had the support of the AASL Intellectual Freedom Committee to respond to a challenge by a group of parents who tried to have 57 titles removed from her library's collection. All but one of the books dealt with sex or sexual identity. She read a poignant letter from a former student who spoke about how access to one of Levithan's books helped that depressed, suicidal teen. Cassandra asserts that "We can't let people who are afraid dictate what students need. They need to have these choices."

David Levithan spoke from the author's and publishers' point of view. "Why should the person who is offended have more choice than the person who wants to read the book?" He challenged adults who provide literature for children and young adults to fight our own fear - not the voices attacking us from without - but the voices from within that make authors, publishers, librarians, and teachers pull back if they think someone might object to a book. "Be loud; be unafraid."