School Libr*: A Review of Published Research Articles from 2019

In 2019 the American Association of School Librarians adopted a strategic plan with three goals, including "AASL advances research that informs school librarian practice." Members of the 2020 Community of Scholars Committee undertook this study to pilot an annual aggregation and systematic review of research related to school librarian practice. The AASL Strategic Plan (2019) also included five core values: learning; innovation; equity, diversity, and inclusion; intellectual freedom; and collaboration. This review also explores how published research in 2019 reflects the core values. A scoping literature review and the search string "school libr*" were employed to provide a broad sweep of potential studies. Fifty-nine studies were identified as "in scope" and were categorized using the AASL core values. Of the 59 articles published, 24 applied to the core value of learning; 14 to innovation; nine to collaboration; three to intellectual freedom; two to equity, diversity, and inclusion; and seven to a category of "other." Subsequent systematic annual reviews of published research in the field should serve to not only document patterns and trends but also to provide guidance or inspiration to practitioners and to the faculty who prepare practitioners.