East Media Specialist Kathy Lester Elected President Of American Association Of School Librarians

Press release from Plymouth-Canton Schools:

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, East Middle School Media Specialist Kathy Lester has worked to ensure that the students she serves have the best learning experience possible, whether they were in person, or learning from home.

Now, the veteran librarian's passion for helping students will be felt nationwide after Lester was elected the 2022-2023 president of the American Association of School Librarians (AASL). Lester will serve as president-elect during 2021-2022 under AASL President Jennisen Lucas.

"Kathy Lester's election as AASL president is a tremendous honor in her field, and all of us at P-CCS congratulate her on her achievement," P-CCS Executive Director of Communications and Marketing Nick Brandon said. "The passion and talent she brings to her work has benefitted East students for years, and we're excited that she will be able to share that passion with librarians and media specialists nationwide."

Lester is a past member of the AASL Board of Directors and currently serves on the AASL Practice Committee and the ASCD Task Force. Lester is also currently a member of the ALA Committee on Library Advocacy and the ALA Ecosystem Subcommittee.

At the state level, she has served as the president, advocacy chair, and institute chairperson for the Michigan Association for Media in Education (MAME). She is currently a member of the association’s board and a member of its MIself in Books committee. In 2020, Lester was awarded MAME’s Citation of Excellence and the Margaret Grazier Award for Contribution to the Profession.

Upon learning of her election, Lester told the AASL: “I am truly honored to have been elected to serve the profession that I love. In the last year, I have been so impressed and inspired by school librarians across the nation who have translated their practices to support their school communities both within and beyond the school library walls. I look forward to working together with all AASL members, the AASL Board, Chapters, Sections, staff, partner organizations, and stakeholders to continue to support our school communities and advance our profession. Our collaborative work to build equitable, diverse, and inclusive school libraries and to develop empathetic critical thinkers is now more important than ever. Together we can work toward equitable access to effective school libraries and AASL's vision statement: ‘every school librarian is a leader; every learner has a school librarian.’”

This press release was produced by the Plymouth-Canton Schools>. The views expressed here are the author’s own.