Dr. Berger 
Better utilizing the strengths of librarians for student achievement
Audrey Church is the 2016-2017 President of the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) and an Associate Professor and Graduate Program Coordinator at Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia. She believes today’s school librarian is multi-integrated; acting as teacher, instructional partner, information specialist, library administrator, and instructional leader.
Audrey points to the difficulty librarians often have in getting their message out and improving their district-wide impact across multiple schools. As president of AASL, one of Audrey’s main initiatives is to educate principals about the value proposition that librarians bring to student learning and achievement.
Audrey believes that the library is sometimes the best-kept secret and most underutilized learning resource in schools and districts. If she gets her way, the secret will not only be shared but better implemented across all school districts improving the learning lives of students everywhere.
About
Audrey Church is an associate professor and graduate program coordinator at Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia. Audrey currently serves as the Educators of School Librarians Section (ESLS) representative to the AASL Board of Directors and has previously served as chair of the section. She has also been a member of the School Library Research editorial board and the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (formerly NCATE) coordinating committee and served as the AASL representative to the National Adolescent Literacy Coalition.
At a local level, Audrey has served as president and chair of the Virginia Association of School Librarians and as editor of its publication, VOICE. She has also served as president and secretary of the Virginia Educational Research Association and as chair of its dissertation award committee.
Prior to her position at Longwood University, Audrey was a school librarian in Lunenburg County (Virginia) Public Schools. She earned her Ph.D. in education in 2007 from Virginia Commonwealth University.
Follow Audrey Church on Twitter.
- Newsworks – Delaware’s endangered education species — the school librarian
- NBCDFW – School Librarians Embrace Technology — If the Budget Allows
- Boston Globe – School libraries take cues from bookstores to foster browsing, stimulate learning
EdCircuit Staff