Let Your Leadership Voice Shine
The OELMA/Follett School Solutions Outstanding School Librarian Award has been part of the OELMA awards tradition for eighteen years. Being nominated for the award signifies the respect that a colleague/colleagues have for the school librarian. The award honors a school librarian who has distinguished themselves through developing an exemplary school library program that incorporates the Ohio Library Guidelines for Librarians (2021) strands: equity, literacies, partnerships, and quality schools.
One of the most important trademarks, if you will, of the Outstanding School Librarian Award is its emphasis on leading beyond the library. What does leading beyond the school library mean? According to the Ohio Library Guidelines for Librarians, leading beyond the library incorporates the following:
1. Participate in setting the school district’s mission, vision and strategic plan for digital learning.
2. Foster a culture of collaboration and innovation to empower teachers and learners.
3. Model and promote the use of personal and professional learning networks.
4. Encourage families and other members of the community to participate in school library activities.
5. Build and advocate strong relationships with stakeholders who recognize and support an effective school library.
6. Reinforce the role of the school library and librarian as informational and technological resources to maximize learning.
7. Participate in district, building and department or grade-level curriculum development and assessment on a regular basis.
8. Participate in state and national organizations. 
9. Develop a library strategic plan that achieves a dynamic school library program and includes a mission, vision, measurable goals, operational management procedures, instructional strategies and an evaluation component.
The Awards Committee is not expecting the nominee to have ticked all the boxes because we all have lives outside the school library and our patrons. As you think about what leadership looks like; however, the verbs - participate, foster, model, encourage, build/advocate, reinforce, and develop - are all significant in the school library leadership lexicon. This is how we lead!
So you might be asking who are some of the past OELMA/Follett School Solutions Outstanding School Librarians? You can visit the OELMA website and click on the Professional Recognition tab for a historical list of all the OELMA scholarship and awards recipients - but here is the list of Ohio’s Outstanding School Librarians since 2005:
Please nominate by 11:59 p.m. April 1, 2024. If you have questions, please reach out to the Awards Committee. Mor information about this award and others may be found https://oelma.org/Awards.
The 2024 Awards Committee
Casaundra Bronner
Heidi Fletcher
Lisa Gallagher
Kris Konik
Cheryl Lorson
Susan Yutzey
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