AASL Key Concept Interview: Inquiry
School Librarian Interview on AASL Foundation “Inquiry” The fourth interview I conducted was with my Mrs. Faith Barber, another elementary school librarian within the Aiken County Public School District (ACPSD). She chose to reflect on the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) Framework foundational key competency “inquiry.” According to the AASL framework, “inquiry” is defined as “build[ing] new knowledge by inquiring, thinking critically, identifying problems, and developing strategies for solving problems” (AASL, 2018). Mrs. Barber chose this foundational standard because she believes it should be the heart of what we do as school librarians (F. Barber, via personal communication, November 19, 2021). Mrs. Barber gave me an example of how she has used inquiry with her first grade students. To give a little bit of background of Mrs. Barber’s schedule, she only sees first graders on a fixed schedule. Each week, she sees the same class for 45 minutes a...