Meet the New PSLA President Allison Burrell It’s a “non-‐stop” day. That’s how Allison Burrell describes being a full-‐time librarian, wife and mom of two active kids ages 10 and 12. She is now adding another element to her busy days as the newly elected president of the Pennsylvania School Librarians Association (PSLA). On July 1, Allison became the president of PSLA, taking over for Michael Nailor, who completed his two-‐year term. Allison is the K-‐12 librarian for the Southern Columbia Area School District in Catawissa, Pennsylvania. Her responsibilities as a librarian include helping students with their book selections, understanding reading materials, and assisting students and staff with literacy, research, and computer skills. Allison, who instructs one class after another without the assistance of an aide, says she never has a dull moment as she works hard to effectively implement the model curriculum that she helped to develop at the state level. Allison is also a key component of the school’s “Child Study Team” which helps students who are struggling academically. With the rest of the team, she assists teachers develop a plan of action to help the students succeed academically. While she was earning her Master’s in Library Sciences degree at Mansfield University, Allison’s professors encouraged her to engage in a “professional development organization” in her desired field and Allison found her niche in PSLA. Being active in PSLA and rising first to the position of vice-‐president and now to the position of president have helped Allison develop and define a clear vision of where she plans to lead PSLA into the next year. As part of her vision, Allison wants PSLA to be a “one-‐stop shop,” offering information that librarians can utilize. She wants the organization to be a leading resource curator for the librarian community. Technology, in particular the Internet, has added to the range of support school librarians need to provide for their students and staff. As technology evolves, librarians must advance their own understanding of new technology in order to effectively educate and support students and teachers. “Information is coming at us so fast that today’s librarians need to support students and teachers as they navigate through the information flow using new technologies,” Allison said.
Allison realizes that librarians who are unable to attend the annual conference and workshop hosted by PSLA are missing the opportunity to engage in face-‐to-‐face communication with other librarians and PSLA members. Therefore, Allison plans to “improve communication continuously and find new ways throughout the year to help librarians obtain information to become more effective and successful in their specialty.” Another goal Allison envisions for the organization is to educate policymakers on what it means to be a 21st century librarian. “Today’s librarian is not someone who simply sits behind a desk and checks books in and out,” Allison said. Allison believes librarians need to become better advocates in order to educate policymakers and gain additional funding and staffing. Librarians must inform policymakers of the exciting things happening in libraries across the state. “If people don’t see or hear what librarians do, our communities won’t see the need for funding or staffing,” Allison said. “We must learn to tell our story better.” Allison has a broad vision but knows she cannot do it alone. She plans to rely on the committee structure and PSLA members to help achieve her organizational goals. Together, she feels that PSLA can do even more to support Pennsylvania school librarians in their quest to develop students who are information literate and truly transform teaching and learning.
