It took a year of meticulous work from Evergreen Park Community High School librarian Tina Ward and principal Bill Sanderson, but the effort has paid off as the school’s Learning Resource Center earned the Association of Illinois School Library Educators Exemplary School Library Award.
The term of the award is 3 years, so Evergreen Park will hold the library award until at least 2025, the same year that this year’s sophomores will graduate. Established in 2018, it recognizes school libraries for exemplifying teaching standards approved by the Illinois State Board of Education.
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“We’re extremely proud of the facility we provided for our students, which was created with community, student and staff input,” said Sanderson, who also is an assistant superintendent with the district.
Evergreen Park is one of just six school library programs to receive such accolades.
The only other area schools to also receive the award were High Point School in Orland Park, Oak Lawn Community High School and Oak Lawn-Hometown Middle School.
“There were a whole bunch of AISLE standards that you had to prove,” Ward said. “It was a very lengthy process. There were four components to each one and the beautiful part about it was it showed us everything that we are doing here.”
The award comes almost three years after the LRC was upgraded before a grand reopening in September 2019. The complete renovation was the facility’s first update since its initial construction in 1971.
“I think this award serves as a reminder of how lucky we are at Evergreen Park,” Ward said. “We’ve continued to evolve and do great things. We have a very cool partnership with the Evergreen Park Public Library and I’m very passionate about my job and my students.”
Evergreen Park Community’s Learning Resource Center strives to provide an inviting, dynamic learning environment, as well as services that support and enhance teaching, literacy and learning, according to a news release from EPCHS announcing the award.
“We have a well functioning, diverse and energetic space that we are lucky to be a part of,” Ward said. “We recognize that we have something special. All of the hard work is worth it.”
C.R. Walker is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.