Oceanside CA— El Camino High School is one of six recipients of the 2017 American Association of School Librarians’ (AASL) Inspire Collection Development Grant. Made possible by the generosity of AASL member Marina “Marney” Welmers, the Inspire grants provide funds for public middle or high school libraries to update their existing collections.
“El Camino High School has a busy library program,” said Floyd Pentlin, grant committee chair. “Unfortunately, the average age of the entire book collection is 22-years-old, and the non-fiction books alone average 28 years old. This aging and relatively small collection is stretched to serve a student population of 3,000. The Inspire grant funds will jump-start the effort to not only update the collection but also to make the collection more relevant to student needs.”
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.
“The committee reviewed multiple grant applications all, with detailed plans to invigorate their school library collections,” adds Pentlin. “Making it difficult for the committee to decide was the fact that the applications were extremely well written and all presented compelling arguments for funding.”
The AASL award winners and grant recipients will be honored at the AASL Awards Ceremony & President’s Program during the 2017 ALA Annual Conference in Chicago. The ceremony will be held from 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. on Saturday, June 24. All are welcome to celebrate the accomplishments of their peers during this recognition event.
The American Association of School Librarians www.aasl.org, a division of the American Library Association (ALA), empowers leaders to transform teaching and learning.