MASL Endorses Steven Yates for ALA President

As an affiliate of the American Association of School Librarians (AASL), it is important that we keep you up to date with what is happening in the American Library Association (ALA) and in AASL. In case you have not been following the Twitter posts and the Knowledge Quest blog in recent weeks, voting begins tomorrow for a new host of leaders in the ALA and AASL community. MASL urges you to take the time to exercise ability to vote as a member of AASL and ALA.  Being involved in civic life, whether voting for local officials, our next president, or the executive board of ALA demonstrates that as a member of the library profession you understand the importance of voter and civic literacy.

            In the running for ALA President-Elect are Steven Yates and Patty Wong.  MASL hosted a webinar in February where both candidates were able to present their platforms and answer questions posed by the audience.  In case you missed the opportunity to attend live, the recording of the webinar can be found here. While both candidates bring an immense amount of knowledge, background, and expertise to the table, MASL is supporting Steven Yates for President-Elect.  Mr. Yates has a background in school librarianship and we feel he will be the best candidate to bring about change and ensure that school librarians feel seen, heard, and included in the larger body that is the American Library Association.  Mr. Yates is the immediate Past President of AASL and has a long list of involvement in the organization.

            In the running for AASL President-Elect are Jennisen Lucas and Phoebe Warmack. We encourage our MASL members to read more about their platforms in the Knowledge Quest blog post where both Ms. Lucas and Ms. Warmack offer a response to a question asked of them by AASL. You can find that post here.

            Finally, we have two members of MASL running for office at the national level. Ms. Laura Hicks who is the specialist at the Maryland State Department of Education is running for Director-at-Large A.  You can see her video response and read her blog post here.   Ms. Jennifer Sturge, who is the President-Elect of MASL is running for Supervisor’s Chair of AASL.  View her video and response here.

            Voting begins March 9.  To quote AASL Past President Steven Yates “School librarians are a critical part of the American library ecosystem and voting in our association election is a clear way to demonstrate our voice, our power, and our fervent desire for the strongest future for school libraries.”

            In our more local MASL elections, nominations are sought for positions moving forward.  If you know a school librarian who would like to take a larger leadership role in our state association, please nominate them for a position. Nominations are due March 14. 

 

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