U.S. school libraries, public or private, that serve children in any combination of grades K-12 are eligible, provided a state-certified librarian staffs the library. Libraries are encouraged to self-nominate. Nominated programs must have occurred during the current school year (2024-2025).
The award intends to recognize humanities programs that expand student horizons beyond “basic education.” A humanities program can focus on many subject areas, including but not limited to social studies, poetry, drama, art, music, language arts, foreign languages and culture. Programs should focus on broadening perspectives and helping students understand the wider world and their place in it. The humanities program should be initiated and coordinated by the school librarian and exemplify the role of library programming in advancing the overall education goals of the school.
Nominations for the 2025 Sara Jaffarian School Library Program Award will be accepted until May 1, 2025.
Recent Jaffarian Award-winners have included:
Freedom Walk, a program at Tom C. Clark High School in San Antonio, Texas, centered on the freedom to read and engaged the school community in understanding students' fundamental rights to access diverse information and literature in their school library.
Growing Readers, Growing Leaders, a program that prepared students to be “Bi-literate, Bi-Cultural, and Bi-Lingual” as it transitions into a Spanish Immersion Magnet elementary school.
Empathizing with Teens in Trauma: An Exploration of the Terezin Ghetto/Camp, a program where students researched the artwork, poetry and music created by teenagers in the Theresienstadt/TerezĂn Nazi concentration camp during World War II.
Named after the late Sara Jaffarian, a school librarian and longtime ALA member, ALA’s Jaffarian Award was established in 2006 to recognize and promote excellence in humanities programming in elementary and middle school libraries. In 2024, the award expanded eligibility to high school libraries. It is presented annually by the ALA Public Programs Office in cooperation with the American Association of School Librarians (AASL).
The award is selected by a committee comprising members of the ALA Public and Cultural Programs Advisory Committee (PCPAC), AASL and the Association for Library Services to Children (ALSC).
Funding for the Jaffarian Award is provided by ALA’s Cultural Communities Fund (CCF). To contribute to CCF, visit www.ala.org/ccf.