Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

K-8 School Libraries Invited to Apply for $5,000 Award

  • By Yvonne Marquez
  • 02/12/20

The American Library Association (ALA) Public Programs Office announced applications are now open for the 2020 Sara Jaffarian School Library Program Award for Exemplary Humanities Programming. The $5,000 award recognizes outstanding school programming in libraries that serve kindergarten to 8th grade students. Applications for the award will be accepted until May 4, 2020.

Nominated humanities program can be focused on a wide range of subject areas including social studies, poetry, drama, art, music, language arts, foreign language, and culture. Nominated programs must have taken place during the current 2019-2020 school year. The programs should be led and coordinated by the school librarian and should be focused on broadening student perspectives.

The award, established in 2006, is named after the late Sara Jaffarian, a school librarian and longtime member of ALA. It is presented annually by the ALA Public Programs Office in cooperation with the American Association of School Librarians (AASL).

For more information on award guidelines and a list of previous winners, visit www.ala.org/jaffarian.

About the Author

Yvonne Marquez is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. She can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • California School District Completes Elementary School Modernization

    The San Diego Unified School District in San Diego, Calif., recently held a ribbon-cutting for a whole-site modernization of Pacific Beach Elementary School, according to local news. The school first opened with one building in 1930 and added six more between 1938 and 1957.

  • DFW-Area District Opens New Replacement Middle School

    The Eagle Mountain-Saginaw Independent School District near Fort Worth, Texas, recently held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new replacement middle school campus, according to a news release. The new facility for Wayside Middle School, originally established in 1964, was built on the site of the former district administration building and funded through Bond Proposition A in 2023.

  • Children walking along bright school corridor with motion blur

    How Next-Gen Design Is Reshaping the Student Experience

    The environments where students learn play a crucial role in shaping their growth in and out of the classroom. By centering design on well-being, flexibility, and purpose, districts can ensure their facilities remain vibrant community assets for many years to come.

  • How a Portable Sink Helped an Art Classroom Run More Smoothly

    Classroom design decisions can have outsized effects on instructional time and safety at schools juggling mismatched infrastructure, strict budgets, and crowded schedules — particularly in the arts. Between spilled paint and dirty brushes, art classes run smoother with a sink in the studio. But many schools don’t have a sink in every art classroom.