The Little Pamphlet That Might
The American Association of School Librarians hopes a new mailer will persuade principals to stand by their libraries
Staff -- School Library Journal, 6/1/2000
Supported by a $25,000 grant from the Bound to Stay Bound Books Foundation, the pamphlet was mailed to principals in April, with an additional batch sent to most of AASL's 9,100 members in early May. (The pamphlet is available online at www.ala.org/aasl/pdf/principalsmanual.pdf or by sending a stamped, self-addressed No. 10 envelope to AASL Principal's Manual Brochure, 50 E. Huron St., Chicago, IL 60611.) Why the urge to educate principals? In some schools, says AASL board member Connie Mitchell, top administrators have a clear understanding of the importance of the library media program. "But there are other places," adds Mitchell, "where the principal just doesn't get it." AASL's colorful, quick-read creation is the brainchild of Gail Bush, a librarian on sabbatical from Maine West High School in Des Plaines, IL. The goal, explains Bush, was to take what is most important to AASL (such as the tenets found in Information Power: Building Partnerships for Learning [ALA, 1998]) and distill that into a shape that principals could cozy up to. Quite sensibly, Bush began the project by picking the brains of the target audience. She discovered, among other things, that the best time of year for principals to receive the brochure was April, when they were beginning to plan the next school year. Bush also got an earful of what school administrators most valued--such as an emphasis on student achievement--and, accordingly, placed those priorities smack-dab on the brochure's cover. She hopes all principals will take the brochure's pro-library message to heart.--Rick Margolis
At first glance, the American Association of School Librarians' (AASL) latest four-page pamphlet, "The Principal's Manual for Your School Library Media Program," looks like a simple set of operating instructions, the kind that accompanies a gizmo requiring some minor assembly. But don't let its innocuous appearance fool you. "The Manual" is on a mission that makes Tom Cruise's exploits seem like shooting fish in a barrel: AASL is out to convince every elementary- and middle-school principal in the nation--all 84,000 of them--that school libraries deserve their complete backing.
