About Us
The primary goal of ACSL is to be a united and professional voice to advocate for a stronger future for school libraries and school library staff in Australia in the interests of improved learning and wellbeing outcomes for children and young people.
ACSL is committed to the goal of universal access for Australian students to well-resourced school libraries with qualified and supported staff.
The committee meets four times a year, with one of the meetings being face-to-face.
ACSL may engage in the following activities to achieve its purpose:
a. Development of policy and research around school libraries.
b. Sharing information and expertise around initiatives, issues, challenges, and opportunities for school libraries.
c. Developing policy positions on key issues for school libraries which can be presented in statements, standards, and submissions.
d. Communication of agreed key messages to the members’ school library networks.
e. Advocacy to government, policy bodies and other relevant stakeholders.
f. Enabling partnerships with Australian governments, corporate or not-for-profit organisations.
History of ACSL
ACSL (or as it was previously known as the ‘School Library Coalition’) was formed following a meeting at ALIA House in Canberra in 2015 involving all the bodies that represent those working in school libraries in Australia. At this meeting, those attending agreed to form a coalition dedicated to raising awareness of school libraries across all sectors and thus engage in promotion and support for school libraries and the staff working in them. The coalition agreed to meet four times per year and collaborate on issues of national importance to school libraries.
At a face-to-face meeting in Sydney in May 2023, it was agreed that the coalition be henceforth known as the ‘Australian Coalition for School Libraries’.
