Defining Our Mission
Library media specialists, for the most part, have long held the mission of helping students
become lifelong learners (American Association of School Librarians & the Association for
Educational Communications and Technology, 1998). Not only do many of us possess the
“inner calling” of this mission, but we as professionals are directed to enable students to use
skills and resources for a lifetime of information seeking. The AASL Standards for the 21st-Century
Learner state that in order “to become independent learners, students must gain not only the
skills but also the disposition to use those skills, along with an understanding of their own
responsibilities and self-assessment strategies” (p.2).