ALA's Sara Jaffarian Award Presents - Hands-On History: Bringing History Alive with Historical Artifacts
Transform your library into a vibrant hub of historical exploration! In this webinar, discover how to create and implement a Historical Artifact Footlocker program that captivates students and deepens their understanding of the past. Learn how curated artifacts can spark curiosity, foster critical thinking, and support historical inquiry through visual storytelling. This session will offer practical strategies to bring history to life and turn your space into a dynamic learning environment.
In this free 60-minute webinar, participants will hear from school librarians at Stone Bridge High School (VA), winner of ALA's 2025 Sara Jaffarian School Library Program Award for Exemplary Humanities Programming, as they discuss their winning program and share tips for school library professionals interested in developing a similar program.
Selected from a record-breaking number of applications, Stone Bridge High School is the second high school to win the Jaffarian Award. Before 2024, only school libraries serving K-8 were eligible.
The Historical Artifact Footlocker Program, begun at Stone Bridge High School by school librarians Laura Channing and Erin Curry, has grown into a county-wide initiative. Footlockers are available for loan to all 37 secondary schools in the district, reaching over 4,000 students in its first year.
The program provides hands-on learning through circulating footlockers containing artifacts from World War I, World War II and the Vietnam War. Designed for 6th–12th grade social studies classes, the footlockers connect to History and English curricula and are tied to the Virginia Department of Education curriculum standards.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this webinar, participants will learn how to:
- Design and curate your own artifact footlockers from different time periods that align with your social studies curricula
- Identify strategies for selecting, obtaining, and presenting artifacts to support historical inquiry and historical thinking skills
- Develop lesson plans to transform library spaces into interactive learning environments that promote curiosity and deeper understanding of history
Resources
Accommodations
This webinar will be presented online via Zoom. Closed captions will be enabled during the presentation, and we will email a copy of the slide deck to all registered attendees 48 hours before the presentation. The chat transcript and recording will be provided to all attendees within 48 hours of the webinar. If you need other reasonable accommodations, please reach out to us via email at publicprograms@ala.org by October 23, 2025. Requests made after that date may not be able to be accommodated.
Erin Curry, Librarian, Stone Bridge High School
With a Bachelors in History; Master’s in History; Master’s in Curriculum and Instruction, Secondary Social Studies Education; and Master’s in Library Science, Erin was a classroom social studies teacher for seven years before making the switch to the library. Here, her passion for history, research, teaching, and books naturally led to the creation of the Historical Artifact Footlocker program. Erin brings a blend of academic and hands-on experience to help students connect with the past in meaningful, engaging ways.
Laura Channing, Librarian, Stone Bridge High School
Laura has her B.A in History from the University of Richmond and her Master of Library Science from St. John’s University. As an undergraduate student, she worked in museums before pursing a career in Education. The Historical Artifact Footlocker program is the perfect blend on hands on history and education, combining her two passions.
