Hawaii Association of School Librarians Spring Workshop: Empowering Literacy Through Illustration Don’t forget to register for our spring workshop, which will take place online on Saturday, April 27. The workshop will celebrate and explore the importance of illustration and will include a panel presentation with local graphic novelists Chris Carvalho, Gabrielle Ahulii, and Jon Murakami as well as presentations from your librarian colleagues. We’ll also be holding our annual business meeting including award and scholarship announcements and an important vote on changes to our bylaws. Members attend for free! Register now at https://bit.ly/hasl24 Advocating for Student Access to School Librarians and Libraries The declining numbers of school library programs led by licensed school librarians across the state of Hawaii is not news but is cause for concern. Currently, student access to school libraries managed by licensed school librarians is dismally inequitable, with only 24% of HIDOE schools staffed with licensed school librarians. The majority of these schools (54) are on Oʻahu and only 9 schools on all other islands have library programs managed by highly qualified school librarians. To begin to address this decline, HASL has been working in collaboration with the Hawaii Library Association’s Advocacy Committee to draft and pass HCR188. This resolution affirms the legislature's belief in the value of school library programs led by licensed school librarians. Read the full text of the resolution on our website. The resolution was passed unanimously by the House Education Committee and we’re waiting to see if a hearing will be scheduled with the House Committee on Finance. We urge our members as well as public school parents, students, and community members to reach out their representatives to voice their support for this resolution and for student access to school libraries and school librarians. (Pictured above, Jessica Hogan, Carina Chernisky, Dr. Violet Harada, Sunny Pai, Meera Garud)
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