Paul Allison, as Project Director for Writing Partners and tech liaison for both the New York City Writing Project (NYCWP) and the National Writing Project (NWP), has built a number of innovative, collaborative, and technology-rich educational projects focused on writing, teacher professional development, and digital literacy. His most influential work includes designing and leading the Youth Voices platform and network, developing Writing Partners (an AI-supported initiative), and co-producing Teachers Teaching Teachers, an open webcast for educators.

Allison will be co-presenting Entangled in the Ineffable: What Do We Need to Learn for Now and in the Future?

Barbara Stripling, Professor Emerita at Syracuse University, has held positions as a school librarian and district library director in Fayetteville, Arkansas; Library Power director in Chattanooga, Tennessee; director of school libraries for New York City; and Associate Professor in the iSchool at Syracuse University. She is currently a core team member of the Philadelphia Alliance to Restore School Librarians (PARSL). Stripling is past-president of the American Library Association, the American Association of School Librarians, the New York Library Association, and the Freedom to Read Foundation.

Barb has created the Stripling Model of Inquiry, written or edited numerous publications, and developed and published a re-imagined Empire State Information Fluency Continuum, a PK-12 continuum of skills that librarians teach to empower students to be lifelong learners. Stripling has continued that work by developing Portraits of Engaged and Empowered Learners at grades 2, 5, 8, and 12, in collaboration with NYC librarians. Stripling has recently co-authored a book with Darryl Toerien on inquiry-based teaching and learning entitled Teaching Inquiry as Conversation: Bringing Wonder to Life (in press).

Presentation Title: Teaching Inquiry as Conversation 

Inquiry is an educational and moral imperative for school libraries. Effective implementation of inquiry-based teaching and learning requires attention to four levels of context, from teaching skills and attitudes to individual students, to educating the whole child through inquiry, to building a whole-school inquiry culture, and finally to the role of inquiry in the broader realm of liberal education. This session will provide a brief overview of those four levels of context and snapshots of interactive, conversation-based strategies for addressing each.

Susan D. Ballard, MS, BA, in a career spanning 50 years, has served as a middle school librarian, district supervisor, adjunct professor, and lecturer in various school librarian preparation programs and as an independent consultant. She is the co-author (with Sara Kelly Johns) of Elevating the School Library: Building Positive Perceptions through Brand Behavior.  Among various awards, she was recently honored to be named the AASL Distinguished Service Award recipient for 2025

Presentation Title: Development of a Consensus Model of School Librarian Collaboration: A Delphi Study

This session presents findings from a Delphi study conducted with experts in the field to develop a contemporary, scaffolded model of collaboration. The research identifies key levels of collaboration, from autonomous access to fully integrated schoolwide collaboration, and illustrates the dispositions and environmental conditions necessary. Attendees will explore the finalized model, consider implications for their own practice, and explore how the findings can inform professional learning and advocacy.

Rachel Small, EdD, MEd, BA, has been an educator for over 23 years. Her experience ranges from a classroom teacher, curriculum coordinator/ literacy coach, education and social media consultant, adjunct university instructor, as well as an elementary and middle school librarian. She is currently the teacher librarian at Pine Glen Elementary School in Burlington, Massachusetts.  

Small will be co-presenting Development of a Consensus Model of School Librarian Collaboration: A Delphi Study.