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CHICAGO – Brittany Tignor, school librarian at Snow Hill High School in Show Hill, Maryland, is one of five school librarians from across the country receiving a 2020 American Association of School Librarians' (AASL) Inspire Collection Development Grant. Made possible by the generosity of AASL member Marina “Marney” Welmers, the grant program provides funds for public middle or high school libraries to update their existing collections to enhance student learning.

Tignor will use the grant funds to expand the Snow Hill audiobook collection, bolstering the general collection and supporting the Project Lit Community and Maryland Black Eye-Susan Award Voting programs. Many of the special education students enrolled at Snow Hill arrive unprepared for high school reading. Expanding the audiobook collection will allow students who are struggling readers to participate in classroom-required self-directed reading assignments and popular library programming. This includes the Project Lit and Black Eye-Susan programs, which have previously been accessible only to students who consider themselves “good” readers.

“Brittany Tignor’s project is designed to generate the participation of students receiving special education services in existing reading programs,” said AASL President Mary Keeling. “This noteworthy project will use audiobooks to improve access to text and story for this underserved population. A significant number of titles will be selected by the learners themselves. Bravo to Ms. Tignor for her innovative work to include and empower these learners."

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 is awarded annually.

“We received a record number of strong applications, but after careful review, the committee selected five recipients,” said Nicolle Mazzola, grant committee chair. “The awarded programs will use the grant funds in a multitude of ways to support their school communities. One school elicited feedback from a student advisory council to ensure that student voice and choice were represented in the growing collection, while another designed a program that would have students take ownership of their learning. The other three recipients are all working on growing their outdated and small collections to better represent the diversity in their school communities. The committee would like to once again thank Marney for continuing to support librarians with this grant. Her incredible generosity will have a lasting impact on these communities as they continue to build and grow their libraries.”

“Each of the grant projects demonstrates the importance of curation in today’s school libraries,” said Keeling. “The school librarians have identified a learning need and developed a plan to address it through their school library’s collection; these are highly personalized solutions to local needs. We are exceedingly grateful to Marney Welmers for her continued financial support of the grant program. Through her generosity, AASL can support this important work throughout our nation.”

The AASL award winners will be honored during a virtual AASL Awards Ceremony during the fall of 2020. The virtual ceremony will replace the live ceremony traditionally presented during the 91��ý Annual Conference. Out of concern for the health and safety of all members of the community, the 91��ý Executive Board felt it was important to cancel the 2020 conference taking place in Chicago. Details for the virtual ceremony will be shared as they are finalized.

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