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CHICAGO – The American Association of School Librarians (AASL) has developed a to its newest tool, "A Planning Guide for Empowering Learners." Advanced ordering is now available for the tool, which is expected to launch in mid-August.

"A Planning Guide for Empowering Learners" is a program evaluation, planning, implementation and advocacy tool that will ensure school library program planners go beyond the basics to provide goals, priorities, criteria and general principles for establishing effective library programs. The guide includes a revised "School Library Program Rubric," a tool that allows school librarians to assess their program on 16 different sets of criteria.

AASL joined with Britannica Digital Learning to co-publish the online, interactive school library program planning module. As a complement to AASL's "Empowering Learners: Guidelines for School Library Programs," the tool will change school library program development and implementation, saving time and delivering data.

AASL encourages school librarians to view the video and attend an AASL chat session scheduled for 4:30 p.m. CDT Aug. 4 to ask questions about the planning module. The session will last one hour and will be moderated by Lisa Perez. The session can be accessed by visiting and entering the access code aaslintro842010. Watch the for additional learning opportunities happening in August and September.

Britannica Digital Learning is a division of Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. a leader in education publishing whose products can be found in many media, from the Internet to wireless devices to books. A pioneer in electronic publishing since the early 1980s, the company markets a variety of encyclopedias and other reference works, curriculum products for schools, language-study courses and other learning products, many of which are available online at . Britannica is active on Twitter and Facebook. The company makes its headquarters in Chicago.

"A Planning Guide for Empowering Learners" provides another tool for Learning4Life (L4L), , the American Association of School Librarians' national implementation plan created to support states, school systems and individual schools preparing to implement the AASL "Standards for the 21st-Century Learner" and "Empowering Learners: Guidelines for School Library Programs."

The American Association of School Librarians, , a division of the 91´«Ã½ (91´«Ã½), promotes the improvement and extension of library services in elementary and secondary schools as a means of strengthening the total education program. Its mission is to advocate excellence, facilitate change and develop leaders in the school library field.