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CHICAGO – Becky Calzada and Hannah Byrd Little will seek the 2024-2025 AASL presidential term during the 2023 ¾«¶«´«Ã½ (ALA) election. The full slate of AASL candidates can be found at .

Calzada is currently the District Library Coordinator in Leander Independent School District in Leander, Texas. She was selected for the Spring 2022 cohort of the ¾«¶«´«Ã½Policy Corp and previously served on the ¾«¶«´«Ã½intellectual Freedom Committee. She served on the AASL Board of Directors from 2016-2022 and has written for Knowledge Quest. A past-chair of the Texas Association of School Librarians (TASL), Calzada currently serves on the Texas Library Association Legislative Committee. She is a co-founding member of #FReadom Fighters, a grassroots effort led by four Texas librarians to fight censorship, provide a supportive space for librarians, and offer resources for anyone wanting to advocate for intellectual freedom.

“I am humbled and honored to stand as a candidate for AASL President-Elect. My past service on the AASL Board and within the Texas Library Association has given me pivotal opportunities to become a strong advocate and flexible leader,” said Calzada. “If elected, I will tell the story of all that is occurring in our school libraries and the school librarians working strategically, tirelessly, and passionately on behalf of their school communities. Each and every day, school librarians embody and live out the AASL Standards via the work they plan and lead with all learners within their schools. I want to share the celebrations happening in school libraries and advocate for any challenges school librarians everywhere face today.”

Little is the Library Director at The Webb School in Bell Buckle, Tennessee. She is the current chair of the AASL Independent School Section. In addition to writing articles and serving as a content expert for the print edition of Knowledge Quest, she has written for the KQ blog for seven years. Little was the AASL 2019 Social Media Superstar for Sensational Student Voice and her school library was a finalist for the National School Library Program of the Year Award in 2014. At the state level, she served as the 2012 president of the Tennessee Association of School Librarians (TASL). Little has continued her support over the years for TASL by presenting summer professional development and conference presentations and participating in the necessary work of championing intellectual freedom.

"It is a great honor to be nominated for this critical role for school librarians. As excited as I am, I know that being AASL President will be tough for many reasons. A pressing concern is our industry's struggle to ensure all schools have a librarian. Another primary concern is that we are experiencing an all-time high in book challenges, and many school librarians across the country are faced with defending intellectual freedom almost daily. Our students deserve school libraries staffed with qualified librarians, and our readers need to see themselves in books. Whether elected or not, I will continue to work with AASL to advocate for school librarians to be recognized as vital and respected professionals. And I hope to offer encouragement, research, and resources for our members experiencing challenges."

Voting for the 2023 elections will open on March 13, 2023 and close on April 5, 2023. The AASL Bylaws allow for any current AASL member to run for an elected office through petition. Any AASL member who wishes to place their name on the ballot as a petition candidate should refer to .

The American Association of School Librarians (AASL), , a division of the ¾«¶«´«Ã½ (ALA) empowers leaders to transform teaching and learning.