91��ý

Rosemary Smith

Managing Director

Getting Better Foundation

rosemary.smith@gettingbetterfoundation.org

CHICAGO – The American Association of School Librarians (AASL) has partnered with the Getting Better Foundation (GBF) to share the award-winning documentary “Trust Me” with school librarians and their educator colleagues. The partnership is part of AASL’s ongoing commitment to advance the school librarian’s critical role as a media literacy educator and promote the role all librarians play in empowering their communities with information literacy. More information can be found at .

“Trust Me” is a feature documentary that explores manipulation and misinformation at the intersection of human nature and information technology. It explains how this intersection drives a need for media literacy and uses compelling human stories, facts, and experts to show empirical realities and the right way to consume media.

Between August 16 and October 31, 2021, library professionals can purchase an on-demand viewing of the full 90-minute documentary. 91��ý members will receive a 50 percent discount on the regular retail price of $12.99 as a benefit of the partnership. Proceeds from streaming sales will benefit AASL’s and GBF’s media literacy efforts.

“Using powerful, impossible-to-ignore stories, ‘Trust Me’ amplifies the need to help young people recognize the potentially devastating real-life consequences of media manipulation and the spread of misinformation,” said Joyce Valenza, associate professor at Rutgers University. “It also arms us with tools to engage in essential conversations with our students and colleagues, especially in the face of our current infodemic.”

In addition to making the film available to stream on-demand, educators can purchase a 14-day, one-year, or three-year license of the documentary to stream or host on their school library’s server. The license includes a discussion guide, written by the News Literacy Project, that breaks the film into 15 teachable segments. Licensing information can be found at .

A 60-minute version of the documentary will be screened during the AASL National Conference taking place October 21-23 in Salt Lake City. The complimentary screening will be followed by a ticketed event, “Dessert with the Director,” where attendees will have an exclusive opportunity to engage in conversation with Rosemary Smith, the Impact Producer of “Trust Me” and the managing director of the GBF. More information can be found at .

“’Trust Me’ opens up the vital conversation about the importance of understanding the media landscape that surrounds us,” said Michelle Ciulla-Lipkin, Executive Director of the National Association for Media Literacy Education. “As someone who works every day to create a media literate world, I am grateful for this film and its message about the importance of reflecting on the way media shapes the world we live in. It’s an incredibly important film at an incredibly important time. You will want to see this. Trust me.”

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

seeks to build trust through truth. People who trust one another are more likely to help one another. The more people help one another, the better our world will be.