IASL Sponsorship Opportunities

About the International Association of School Librarianship (IASL)

The IASL is an international association run by volunteers, including academics, information consultants, teacher librarians and librarians, children’s authors and interested members of the international community. The association has members in over 80 countries and seeks to provide:

  • advice and support for teachers, librarians and parents in schools around the world, particularly in developing countries, to effectively develop children’s literacy and information literacy skills through school libraries;
  • access to a wide range of resources including policy documents, curriculum programs and collaborative projects such as GiggleIT, the School Libraries in Action series and the local materials database;
  • opportunities for members and interested parties to work together at the annual conference to increase our research and knowledge base through active sharing; and
  • opportunities for members to access professional development to increase skill levels to ensure children around the world have access to trained professionals so schools can graduate literate, lifelong learners.

Why bother with libraries? The 21st century information landscape

As citizens move into the 21st century, more and more information is being placed online. In many cases this information will only be available online. Current research is telling us several things:

  • Online users are poor navigators on the Web and rarely go past the first page. They also have great difficulty finding information again.
  • Being unable to find what you need online also applies to younger users as well as older members of the online community, ie. there are no digital natives or digital immigrants.
  • Literacy levels around the world are falling. Different kinds of literacy skills are also needed to be able to use online information effectively.
  • Libraries of all kinds, but particularly school libraries, have lost favour with the advent of the Internet.
  • A new set of skills is required to be able to use information available on the Internet. We also publish more now in print than at any other time in our history, so traditional literacy is still very important.

These points illustrate the importance of school libraries to effective teaching and learning in 21st century schools. Future citizens who are able to access information in order to participate in society, need to be literate and information literate in a rapidly evolving informational world that is very complex. Libraries provide the venue (physical and virtual) and teacher librarians provide the expertise to help teachers, students and school communities navigate this new world of information.

Why we need your help

Work done by the IASL is conducted by volunteers. These members run the organisation, provide educational resources, help members to organise conferences and professional development, provide awards for leadership and opportunities for members from developing countries to attend conferences, provide a Web portal for communication and access, a professional journal and newsletter, and travel extensively promoting school libraries and literacy around the world. They do this in their own time and at their own expense.

The organisation is currently funded through membership fees which are kept at an absolute minimum so anyone can join. Fees fund the IASL Web portal, publications and the Secretariat. The Association also manages sponsorship programs so wealthy schools can raise funds to help poorer schools, particularly those in developing countries where resources and education are scarce, to become members.

We need YOUR help to take literacy and lifelong learning opportunities to the children of the world through the provision of strong and well equipped school libraries. IASL does this by supporting teacher librarians and schools to make a difference, and providing programs and expertise to new and old professionals working in schools.

How can you help?

You can make a difference to children and school libraries worldwide by helping the IASL in a number of ways:

Sponsor a Project such as GiggleIT
The Giggle IT Project is free and involves school librarians, teachers and children from countries around the world collaborating to produce a series of publications, both digital and print versions, containing humorous stories and jokes that are specific to that particular country or to a culture within the country. The idea is to share a love of reading and writing, to develop literacy and an understanding of other cultures through laughter.

Sponsor Support-a-Member
$US1000 will provide membership for 30 individuals in schools in developing countries for 1 year and give them access to a wide range of resources provided by IASL.

Sponsor an Award
IASL offers a number of awards for research, exemplary practice, showing leadership and gift programs of resources for school libraries.

Sponsor an Event – This might be a regional conference, a keynote speaker at a conference or to assist a member from a developing nation to attend the international conference.

Become a Corporate Sponsor – This type of sponsorship means you will be supporting IASL at the highest level. There are 4 levels of corporate sponsorship. Corporate sponsors receive return sponsorship from IASL. This information is outlined below in the Corporate Sponsorship information.

Become a Friend of IASL – This type of sponsorship means you decide how much support you can afford.

Download the Corporate Sponsorship document [PDF format]

Last updated 23 December 2009 (KSB)