AASL’s Learning 4 Life
By Rocco Staino -- School Library Journal, 7/10/2008
Perhaps the title “Standards for the 21st-Century Learner” wasn’t sexy enough. But the committee in charge of implementing the American Association of School Librarians’ new learning standards have chosen a catchier nickname: Learning 4 Life.
The announcement was unveiled at the American Library Association’s (ALA) annual conference in Anaheim, CA, last week by Susan Ballard, chair of the committee and director of library media, and technology services at New Hampshire’s Londonderry School District.
Standards for the 21st-Century Learner was unveiled in October during the AASL conference in Reno, NV. What exactly are they? They outline "what a student has to know and be able to do, and what a library media program has to look like for the student to achieve that," says Julie Walker, AASL's executive director.
Ballard explains that in order for school librarians to promote the standards to other teachers, administrators, and the broader education community, a new marketing and branding initiative was necessary.
Learning 4 Life was selected as the subtitle for the standards, and the words “learning” and “life” were selected because the standards include skills that are necessary for children to become information literate and productive members of our society, says AASL. The number 4 was purposely selected to represent the four areas identified in the standards, as well as the four subtopics in each area.
AASL, a division of ALA, will also consider including ALA’s longstanding advocacy slogan “@ your library” to the standards’ subtitle making it Leaning 4 Life @ your library.
