The New Trier High School Library Department received the Exemplary School Library Award from the Association of Illinois School Library Educators (AISLE) for the 25-28 school years. After a thorough and rigorous application process beginning last school year, New Trier is one of four schools honored, alongside Oak Forest High School, Oak-Lawn Hometown Middle School, and University High School. Library Department Chair Erika Immel and librarian Susan Peterson were given the award at the AISLE Conference in Champaign, Illinois on Oct. 6. 

This is the first year New Trier has won the award. The award recognizes libraries that have demonstrated exceptional partnership with students and classes, cultivate a welcoming environment, and participate in professional development, among other components. 

Library staff collaborated to compile images, data, plans, and anecdotal stories as proof of teaching research skills, information analysis, source evaluation, aspects of what AISLE was evaluating. Exceeding standards in these categories contributed to the high scoring and exemplary status of the library.

“Just like different subject areas that have different expectations for teachers to be doing and accomplishing when they’re teaching, school librarians also have those standards,” librarian Maricor Chang said. “And so, as a department, we worked on filling out the application and finding evidence of where we were doing these things in our program, and so it was pretty expansive.”

Additionally, sharing the perspectives of the entire library staff in completing the application guaranteed that the application would include the best and most representative evidence of their efforts in planning and instruction, learning environment, and leadership that they hoped to convey.

“We divided it up amongst the eight [librarians] which was really helpful because then it gave a lot of different information from various viewpoints,” Immel said. “It really incorporated all of the work that we’re doing across both campuses, giving anecdotal evidence from both Northfield and Winnetka instead of it just coming from my lens.” 

Providing sufficient information for the application and exemplary status went far beyond numbers and facts about the library. 

“It wasn’t enough to just be like, ‘yeah, we have 300 students in the library every day,’” Immel said. “You have to prove it.” 

In addition to requiring an application with ample evidence from librarians, AISLE required a separate application from administrators that corroborated their responses. 

“A huge thanks to Dr. Peter Tragos,” Immel said. “[He was] Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum Instruction when I approached him about this at the beginning of the year and said a big portion of this application requires an administrator to also put forth they are in fact doing all these things that they say that they’re doing, and so he was instrumental in this as well. We feel very grateful for his support and the evidence that he provided for us.”

According to a 2022 report from the International Literacy Association, only 61% of American school libraries have a full-time librarian. New Trier has eight, and four full-time support staff. This robust staff is exactly what Immel believes makes the library so special and effective.  

“We’re able to do more than just manage the space,” Immel said. “We’re embedded in classes, we’re working with teachers, we’re checking over NoodleTools projects and making sure that students are using information ethically and appropriately when they’re doing research…at other schools you can’t have that impact when there’s just like one or two people working in a library.”

Senior Chloe Shea said she was not surprised to learn that the library was recognized, as it is where she spends most of her free periods. She feels like it is always kept quiet and focused by librarians. She also attributes the library’s success to the various spaces it has for students to work in.

“It is such a diverse learning environment,” Shea said. “There is a silent study where people can choose to go in there and really focus and be in silence if that helps them, but there are also the study rooms where you can collaborate with other students if that is the way that you study best.”

The lifetimes of effort and collaboration by the librarians that led to the award has made the recognition rewarding for staff. 

“I know everyone works really hard and we have different strengths, so I think it’s really cool to see how all of our different strengths can come together and really showcase all the different things that we do for our students and for our New Trier community,” Chang said. “It’s wonderful.”