News and Information

2025 Readers’ Choice Awards Results!

Each year thousands of students in K to 12th grades from across the state of Illinois vote to choose the best books in their level. AISLE presents the Readers’ Choice Award on their behalf. This year 84,176 students casted their vote for their favorite book. And the winners are…

The Monarch Award, a K-3 award, was won by There’s a Ghost in This House written by Oliver Jeffers with 12,229 votes, followed by Invasion of the Unicorns with 7,053 votes and Lou with 6,658 votes.

The Bluestem Award, a 3-5th grade award, went to Odder written by Katherine Applegate and Charles Santoso with 2,212 votes followed by Marshmallow & Jordan with 2,015 votes and Frizzy with 1,967 votes.

The Lincoln Award, a 9-12th grade award, was won by I’m Glad My Mom Died written by Jennette McCurdy with 164 votes, followed by The Princess and the Grilled Cheese Sandwich with 106 votes and Six Crimson Cranes with 74 votes.

To view our full announcements check out bit.ly/25RCWinners or our YouTube Playlist.

To view the voting results please click here.

2026 Readers’ Choice Awards

AISLE is proud to announce the 2026 Readers’ Choice Lists are here! The committees, made of school librarians and educators (as well as teens for the Lincoln) have spent the past year reading and evaluating the nominated books to narrow down from hundreds of possibilities to the final 20 books on each of these lists.  We hope you are just as excited!

2026 Monarch Award Master List

2026 Bluestem Award Master List

2026 Lincoln Award Master List







2025 ANNUAL CONFERENCE

Join us for our 2025 AISLE Conference, Sunday – Tuesday, October 5-7, 2025, at the iHotel Convention Center in Champaign, IL.

This year the theme is Libraries Build Connections. Click here to learn more about conference.

It’s All About Advocacy

Click here to explore tips and action plans with ready-to-go resources to assist you in advocating for your students, staff and library program. These ideas will highlight the value of school libraries and the library staff—stressing the importance of partnering, collaborating and communicating. See a snapshot of what advocacy should look like in your school library and why it is so crucial to maintain a thriving library program.

ISBE Excellence in Education Awards

The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) has announced honored more than 500 educators, administrators, and other school staff through its annual Those Who Excel & Teacher of the Year Awards. The awards celebrate the dedication, innovation, and impact of talented professionals in schools across Illinois. (See the full list of awardees.) Congratulations, Serena Poniatowski and Joanna Marek for being a part of that esteemed group!

Thank you for being members or followers of the Association of Illinois School Library Educators. School Librarians have one of the most versatile teaching roles in your school district. One of their many responsibilities is being an advocate for school libraries, and they cannot do this important work alone. Unfortunately, during the 2021-22 school year Illinois School Librarians reported book challenges, budget cuts, and position removals across our state. We cannot stand by in silence and let this trend continue!

The time is NOW to advocate for every child to have access to a library in their school. The time is NOW to advocate for a certified school librarian in every school library. Your colleagues need you. We need your voice. Make 2022-23 the year we come together as one organization to promote the importance of a certified school librarian to the stakeholders in each of our communities. We need our stakeholders to understand the necessity of a school librarian in EVERY Illinois school.

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AISLE & Member Library Highlights

Salt Creek Primary School: This amazing “The Hat” display was created by our former librarian Bobbie Kocim. Our students love it!

Woodland Middle School: Have you completed your Wordle today? Maybe these 5-letter titles from the Woodland Middle School collection can help?

Spring Ave Library: Originally a gym, the Spring Ave Library’s renovations of the space and the collection transformed it into the GEM of the building. Full of readers, books, and plants, our library is a lively place of growth, learning, and joy.