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CHICAGO – Eleven schools from across the country have been awarded American Association of School Librarians' (AASL) Inspire Grants. Made possible by the generosity of AASL member Marina “Marney” Welmers, the Inspire Grant program provides funds for public middle or high school libraries to update their existing collections or plan a special event to enhance student learning.

The Inspire Collection Development Grant provides funds to extend, update, and diversify a school’s book, online, subscription and/or software collections to improve student achievement. Public school libraries may apply for up to $5,000, and up to $20,000 per year will be awarded annually. The 2018 recipients include:

• Carolyn Bushey, I.C. Norcom High School, Portsmouth, Virginia.
• LeAnn Dowty, Kingsbury Middle School, Memphis, Tennessee.
• Cynthia Johnson, Longleaf Middle School, Columbia, South Carolina
• Shannon Knowlton, Poplar Middle School, Poplar, Montana
• Samantha Marker, Samuel M. Ridgway Middle School, Edgewater Park, New Jersey
• Stacy Udo, Olympia High School, Olympia, Washington

The Inspire Special Event Grant provides up to $2,000 in funding to a school library looking to engage students with school library resources and promote reading, books, literacy and authors. The funds can be used to create a new or enhance an existing extracurricular activity that will increase student achievement. A total of $10,000 will be distributed to schools annually. The 2018 recipients include:

• Kelly DeLeon, Sussex Central High School, Georgetown, Delaware
• Claudine Dixon, Greece Arcadia High School, Rochester, New York
• Michelyne Gray, Cherry Creek High School, Greenwood Village, Colorado
• Justine Kay, Benjamin Franklin Intermediate School, Daly City, California
• Jeff Treistman, Denny International Middle School, Seattle, Washington

The AASL award winners will be honored at the AASL Awards Ceremony & President’s Program during the 2018 91��ý Annual Conference in New Orleans. The ceremony will be held from 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. on Saturday, June 23. All are welcome to celebrate the accomplishments of their peers during this recognition event.

The American Association of School Librarians , a division of the 91��ý (91��ý), empowers leaders to transform teaching and learning.