Presenter: Name: Sarah Logan

Title: Teacher-Librarian
Organization/School: Skyridge Middle School/Camas SD

Program Description
The Washington Library Association’s School Library Division earned the ABC-CLIO Leadership grant for the Olympic Library Leadership Incubator project in 2024. OLLI is currently in its first year, and the program has been extremely impactful. This session aims to share our process with a wider audience in the hopes that states can replicate its success. We also want to share the lessons we’ve learned and how those could apply to any professional growth project being undertaken by school librarians.

This session would not only publicize AASL’s grant program and the successful implementation of a grant award, but it would also allow school library leaders to envision how they could access and utilize grant funds for future programs. Additionally, we hope to cover both some of the practical ways for getting started and some of the larger steps required to focus overarching program goals.

We also want to offer session participants the opportunity to join a community of practice aimed at creating and sustaining school library leadership programs across the country. This community of practice would maintain connection in the future to share ideas and brainstorm solutions to challenges along the way.

Learning Objectives
Session attendees will learn how to create a needs assessment for their state/area around leadership or professional growth programs for teacher-librarians (or any academic content area). There will be some nuts-and-bolts advice around how to assemble the team, identify goals, scaffold goals, obtain funding, promote and recruit programs, and make the best use out of meeting times. We will also cover ways to promote a growth mindset within participants, how to raise awareness and use of the advocacy ecosystem as part of leadership growth, creating opportunities to grow your own leadership skills as well as those of your colleagues, and how to differentiate the program for participants at different stages of their careers. A highlight of the session will be seeking grant funding, particularly ALA and AASL grants, to support their programs.

These lessons are directly applicable to any effort to create professional development programs across grade levels or curriculum areas.

We plan to invite all session attendees to join our School Library Leadership Program community of practice, an online community aimed to connect school library leaders from across the nation and world, focused on implementing and sustaining programs to foster leadership in school library professionals. This online community would be a place for members to share ideas, brainstorm solutions to challenges, and just support each other as we continue growing leadership among school librarians in our respective states/areas.

Program Outline
After introductions, our session will begin with an overview of OLLI and its initial implementation successes and challenges. This will include some video footage of participants and their thoughts on OLLI’s first year. (10 min)

Connecting to the goals we established for OLLI, we will then give attendees a framework for assessing the needs for a similar program in its community and establishing its goals. It is essential that anyone hoping to create a professional development program understand the needs of their community and their goals before starting. (15 min)

Once needs/goals are established, we will walk through some of the “nuts and bolts” planning lessons we have learned from OLLI, including how to assemble a team to put on the program, finding funding opportunities including ALA/AASL grants, and partnering with organizations such as their state libraries, their state board of education/office of instruction, or other library or education focused groups. We will continue information around implementation, including content and ongoing support, and sustaining the program, including how to ensure seamless transitions in leadership and ideas for sustainable funding. (15 min)

We will end the session by inviting participants and their networks to join our online School Library Leadership Programs Community of Practice. This online community will serve as a sounding board and support system for school library leaders from across the US as they strive to create and/or improve their school library leadership initiatives. We will also use this time as an opportunity to answer questions. (10 min)
The ABC’s of Leadership: Creating and Sustaining School Library Leadership Programs

Grade Level: Not grade specific

Session Strand: Leadership & Advocacy

Presenter
Sarah Logan

Sarah Logan is the Teacher-Librarian at Skyridge Middle School in Camas, Washington. She was the Washington Library Association School Library Division’s Elementary Teacher-Librarian of the Year award for 2024 and the WLA Board immediate past-President.

A passionate advocate for access to quality school library programs, Sarah is instrumental in the #K12Librarians4AllWA campaign, which seeks to increase the number of Teacher-Librarians in Washington’s K-12 public schools.

Sarah was the Teacher-Librarian at Dorothy Fox Elementary in Camas from 2015-2024. Prior to that, she was the Teacher-Librarian at Lynbrook High School in San Jose. She earned her MLIS from San Jose State University’s iSchool in 2012.

Mahlon Landis

Mahlon Landis is the librarian for McClure Middle School in Seattle, WA. She currently serves as the Chair of WLA's School Library Division and AASL's Delegate for Washington State. She received her MLIS from the University of Washington in 2021 and has previously worked for the King County Library System (WA), Pioneer Library System (OK), and Norman Public Schools (OK).

Mahlon started working in libraries as a teenager and feels fortunate to have found her passion so early in life. In her free time, she enjoys reading and collecting alternative manga from the 1950s-1980s.

Eryn Duffee

Eryn Duffee is a certified teacher-librarian at Edmonds Heights K–12, where she focuses on equity, media literacy, and student-centered learning. She serves as Vice President of the Washington Library Association, co-founded the Tennessee Library Ecosystem Coalition, and co-authored Strengthening Library Ecosystems (ALA, 2024). Her leadership has been recognized with the Library Journal Movers & Shakers Award (2023) and the WLA President’s Award (2025).

Elizabeth Roberts

Elizabeth Roberts is a teacher librarian with over 15 years of experience in international and public schools, serving both K–12 and K–5 communities. She has also worked as a district curriculum developer, supporting school librarians across her district. A past chair of the Washington Library Association’s School Library Division and current WLA board member, Elizabeth is an active advocate for school libraries and a frequent conference presenter.


Description: Level up your leadership skills and the skills of your colleagues by learning how to create a statewide school library leadership program for school librarians. Join members of the Washington Library Association’s School Library Division, winners of the 2024 AASL ABC-CLIO Leadership Grant, to learn how they implemented OLLI (The Olympic Library Leadership Incubator) in 2024-25. Gain tips on how to create a similar program in your state and ideas for how to improve existing programs. These lessons also apply to any professional development program you may wish to start. Participants will be invited to join an online Community of Practice focused around school library leadership and advocacy.