Ann M. Martin elected AASL president 2008-2009

CHICAGO – Ann M. Martin, educational specialist in Library Information Service for the Henrico County Public Schools (Va.), was elected president-elect of the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) in the 2007 election.   Martin will serve as president-elect starting in July 2007, and will assume the AASL presidency at the end of the 2008 ALA Annual Conference in Anaheim, Calif.

Floyd C. Pentlin, an adjunct professor of library science at the University of Central Missouri, ran against Martin.

Martin will be leading the nation’s only association for school library media professionals. Established in 1951, AASL has nearly 10,000 members. Its mission is to advocate excellence, facilitate change, and develop leaders in the school library media field.

“I am so grateful to have the opportunity to serve in the top leadership position of AASL,” Martin said of her election.  “I am passionate about the fact that school library programs staffed by qualified library media specialists provide the structure to overcome obstacles to reading and information literacy skills.” 

Martin also expressed her appreciation for “the fact that although school libraries are varied and unique, all library programs led by library media specialists optimize learning by meshing multiple resources including print, technology, and web-based resources to provide meaningful learning of 21st century skills.  A library media specialist’s leadership in the school connects the curriculum to information and lifelong learning empowering students to become thinking participants in our global community.”

As an ALA member, Martin has held posts as director of Region IV (2003-05) and chair of the Awards Committee (2005).  Currently, Martin is a member of the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), the Supervisors Section of AASL, the Freedom to Read Foundation, the Virginia Society for Technology in Education, and the Virginia Educational Media Association.  She also has authored several publications on topics as varied as online cataloguing and award-winning school library programs.

Martin obtained her Bachelor of Science from Radford University (Virginia), and her Master of Arts in Education from The George Washington University (Washington, D.C.).  A host of awards and honors have been bestowed upon her for her academic and professional achievements.

Complete AASL Election results are available on the web site at http://www.ala.org/aasl/elections.

The American Association of School Librarians, www.aasl.org, a division of the American Library Association (ALA), promotes the improvement and extension of library media services in elementary and secondary schools as a means of strengthening the total education program.