School Library Month is the American Association of School Librarians' celebration of school librarians and school libraries. Every April school librarians are encouraged to host activities to help their school and local community celebrate the essential role that strong school libraries play in transforming learning. The AASL efforts for a national School Library Month were spearheaded by Lucille Thomas, chair of the School Library Media Month Committee. Thomas was appointed by President Judy King in 1983. Their work came to fruition on April 1, 1985, when AASL officials, local and national dignitaries got the first School Library Month off to a rousing start with a ceremony on the west steps of the U.S. Capitol.
The Mount Baker School District would like to thank our School Librarians and Library Para-educators for their continued dedication to promoting reading in our schools.
The following is excerpted and adapted from "AASL Celebrates First National School Library Media Month," which appeared in the Spring 1985 issue of School Library Media Quarterly (p. 83-84).
The AASL efforts for a national School Library Month were spearheaded by Lucille Thomas, chair of the School Library Media Month Committee. Thomas was appointed by President Judy King in 1983.
Thomas and her committee gathered ideas from previous state and local celebrations for school libraries, and compiled a fifty-two-page handbook for the first national observance. In April 1985, members of the committee were Edna Bayliss, Elsie Brainard, Winona Jones, Elizabeth Kenneson, Elinor McCloskey, and Virginia Moore.
The theme of the first national observance of School Library Month was "Where Learning Never Ends: The School Library Media Center."
AASL officials, local and national dignitaries got the month off to a rousing start on April 1, 1985 with a ceremony on the west steps of the U.S. Capitol. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-N.Y.) delivered the keynote address. Moynihan told the school librarians in the audience, "I want to thank you for what you do. I hope you know how important your work is. You change lives for the better. You touch people while they can still be touched."
In 2010, the name of the celebration was changed to School Library Month after the Board of Directors voted to readopt the professional title school librarian, from the former school library media specialist.
Source: American Association for School Librarians. School Library Month, https://www.ala.org/aasl/advocacy/slm. Accesses 31 March 2023.