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CHICAGO – Applications for the American Association of School Librarians’ (AASL) 2021 awards are now available. AASL members are encouraged to nominate a colleague or themselves to be lauded for their outstanding talent and dedication to the profession as part of this prestigious awards program. AASL awards and grants recognize excellence and showcase best practices in the school library field in categories that include collaboration, leadership, and innovation.

Applications are now open for:

• , sponsored by Follett, which awards $10,000 and a crystal obelisk to a school library that meets the needs of the changing school and library environment and is fully integrated into the school's curriculum
• , sponsored by ABC-CLIO, which awards up to $1,750 to a school library association that is an AASL chapter for planning and implementing a leadership program at the state, regional, or local level
• , sponsored by AASL, which awards a $1,000 stipend to the AASL Chapter most active and dynamic in achieving the goals of AASL at the state and local level
• , sponsored by Scholastic Book Fairs, which awards $2,500 to a collaboration and partnership between school librarians and educators in meeting goals outlined in AASL's “National School Library Standards for Learners, School Librarians, and School Libraries” through joint planning of a program, unit or event in support of the curriculum and using school library resources
• , sponsored by ProQuest, which awards $2,000 to a school administrator who has made worthy contributions to the operations of an exemplary school library and to advancing the role of the school library in the educational program
• , sponsored by Libraries Unlimited, which awards a school librarian with five or fewer years in the field $1,250 to attend an 91´«Ã½ Annual Conference or AASL National Conference for the first time
• , sponsored by Capstone, which awards $2,500 to fund literacy projects for grades K-9 that promote the importance of reading and facilitate literacy development by supporting current reading research, practice, and policy
• , sponsored by ProQuest, which awards $2,000 to the recipient and $1,000 to the school library of the winner’s choice in recognition of upholding the principles of intellectual freedom as set forth by AASL and 91´«Ã½
• , sponsored by Marina “Marney” Welmers, which awards up to $5,000 to public middle or high schools that sustained loss to their collection due to school library closures during COVID to recover parts of their collection and extend their collection with online and remote resources to address learner needs made evident during the closures
• , sponsored by Marina “Marney” Welmers, which awards up to $2,000 to public middle or high schools to create new or enhance existing extracurricular activities in order to increase student academic achievement
• , sponsored by ABC-CLIO, awards three $350 grants in recognition of excellence in manuscripts addressing a persistent and recurring challenge in the field of school librarianship
• , sponsored by Penguin Random House, awards $8,000 in funds and books to AASL members who have collaboratively designed a lesson, event, or course of study on social justice exemplified by a character from Roald Dahl’s books

With two exceptions, applications or nominations are due Feb. 1, 2020. Applications for the Inspire COVID Recovery Grant are due September 30, 2020, and applications for the National School Library of the Year Award are due Jan. 1, 2021. All applications will close at 4:30 p.m. CST on the day of the deadline.

Applicants are encouraged to read all award and grant criteria on the before applying. Criteria and rating sheets are provided to give applicants an understanding of the items the award committee will use to score applications.

Questions about the application process should be directed to Allison Cline at acline@ala.org.

The American Association of School Librarians, , a division of the 91´«Ã½ (91´«Ã½), empowers leaders to transform teaching and learning.

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