OASL (Oregon Association of School Libraries)

09/08/2026

Just a little over a month away, the best professional development opportunity for school library staff in the PNW! Registration is open: https://sites.google.com/oasl.olaweb.org/oasl-2026/home?authuser=0

09/03/2026

“I want students to read for fun and to have that become a lifelong practice so that when they leave here, it’s just part of your life,” Battle says. “It doesn’t have to be solely academic.”

Faced with massive budget cuts, PPS librarians invent their own extracurricular book clubs.

08/10/2026

The State Library of Oregon Jobline is a compilation of currently open library-related job postings both in Oregon and out of state. Right now, there are school library vacancies posted for both Reynolds School District and Medford! https://oregonstatelibraryjobline.com

08/08/2026

What is our role in the schools, and specifically libraries, to help prevent this outcome? => "Put the two bodies of evidence together, the real-time disengagement we can already measure under AI and the structural [brain] loss we know follows from disengagement in every other setting, and the conclusion is hard to avoid: a life steadily outsourced to AI is a life of less cognitive effort, and less effort, sustained over decades, is how brains grow smaller and dimmer rather than sharper."

The body became a luxury good that the rich bought their way out of the damage. The brain is next, and it comes with no scale, no fix, and no warning light.

08/05/2026

Introducing your 2026-27 OASL Board!

08/03/2026

The Library Dads: Books, Bonding, and Brotherhood => What a great idea! 📚The gentleman who started this in Georgia went from weekly library visits with his young daughter to a group of 10 and now to a reach of over 1,200. And guess what his grandma did for a living? She was a school librarian. 💗 Mr. Arnold gets it: "People often confuse teaching children to want to read with teaching them how to read." His goal is to develop lifelong readers.

Meet "Library Dads."Subscribe to WHAS11 for exclusive content: ht...

06/28/2026

A great overview! Shared purpose, different (though overlapping) audience and outcomes.

Did you know?

It's easy to think school libraries and public libraries do the same thing—they both inspire a love of reading and learning. While they share many values, each has a distinct role.

School libraries partner with educators to support classroom instruction and help students build the knowledge, critical thinking, and information literacy skills they need to succeed in school—and beyond. School library staff are often instructors as well, teaching information literacy directly to students while fostering independent reading.

As students continue their education in college, academic libraries expand this support by providing access to specialized research resources, scholarly collections, and services that advance teaching, learning, workforce readiness, and faculty research. Librarians in academic libraries are often faculty members, teaching information literacy courses, engaging in student research assistance as subject matter experts, and conducting their own research and writing for professional publications.

Public libraries serve their entire community, welcoming people of all ages and backgrounds. They offer books, technology, lifelong learning opportunities, workforce and small business resources, early literacy support, creative programming, and spaces to connect, explore, and grow. Public libraries often partner with local schools and school libraries, but their mission is to serve the diverse needs and interests of everyone in their community.

Different libraries. Shared purpose. Helping people discover, learn, and thrive throughout every stage of life.

06/01/2026

Nominating someone is easy! Email [email protected] with the following information:

Nomination Details:

1. Nominee’s name and contact information
2. Award category (classified staff; teacher-librarian at the elementary, secondary, or district level; administrator)
3. Why they deserve recognition – How do they support students, collaborate with teachers, or lead within their building or district? Please provide specific examples. See the rubrics below to assist in your nomination. Please keep nominations to 250 words or fewer. 250 is a strict maximum, please. No photos needed.
4. Names and email addresses of their administrator and two co-workers who may be willing to write a recommendation. Letters are not required at this time, just the names and contact for people who are willing to write one later!
5. OASL/OLA Membership. Nominees must be current members (or join) to qualify. And yes, self-nominations are encouraged!

Deadline:
Submit nominations by June 12, 2026, for best consideration. See awards rubrics below to assist you with your nomination(s). Winners will be honored at the OASL annual conference on October 10, 2026.

05/20/2026

“Springfield High School is celebrating a record-breaking year for its library.

The combination of the statewide electronic devices ban and SHS's focus on creating a culture of literacy has resulted in an all-time record high number of books checked out from the library. Though the literacy effort is school-wide, SHS highlights the efforts of their Language Arts team and library manager Dani Schneider as the driving forces behind engaging students in the library. You may remember that Schneider was recognized in October by the Oregon Association of School Libraries as their Classified Library Employee of the Year.

Read more, including heartfelt letters from students on their relationship with reading, in SHS's newsroom:”

https://shs.springfield.k12.or.us/news/news-detail/~board/springfield-high-school-news/post/springfield-high-school-breaks-library-record-as-reading-culture-thrives

Springfield High School is celebrating a record-breaking year for its library.

The combination of the statewide electronic devices ban and SHS’s focus on creating a culture of literacy has resulted in an all-time record high number of books checked out from the library. Though the literacy effort is school-wide, SHS highlights the efforts of their Language Arts team and library manager Dani Schneider as the driving forces behind engaging students in the library. You may remember that Schneider was recognized in October by the Oregon Association of School Libraries as their Classified Library Employee of the Year.

Read more, including heartfelt letters from students on their relationship with reading, in SHS’s newsroom: https://bit.ly/4dBE9K5

Springfield High Millers - Springfield, Oregon

05/19/2026

Great video overview! Access the full school library resolution in the comments. Thanks, Oregon PTA, for understanding and advocating for the value and role of strong school library programs, including having both licensed and classified staff.