Allison Mackley

Allison Mackley is a resident of Hummelstown, PA.  She enjoys living on the Swatara Creek with her husband, Dale, and their two cats. Allison is a National Board Certified Teacher Librarian and Instructional Technology Coach at the Hershey High School Library in Derry Township School District. She began her career in education in 1993 as a middle school English teacher and found her love of libraries through collaboration with the school librarian.

After spending three years as a steering committee member and mentor for the Pennsylvania Department of Education’s Governor’s Institute for Reading and Information Literacy, Allison was convinced that she should pursue her degree in Library, Media and Information Services from the University of Pittsburgh. She will be enjoying her twelfth year as a high school librarian during the 2018 – 2019 school year.

Allison is actively involved at the local and state levels to promote library program services, professional learning networks, future ready teaching and learning and teacher leadership. She was appointed to the Governor’s Advisory Council on Library Development in 2014.  In addition, Allison is the current President of the Pennsylvania School Librarians Association (PSLA). She began her experience with PSLA as a member of the Learning and Media committee, which published the association’s journal. Before taking her place on the Board, she also served as the Teaching and Learning co-chair.  Allison is most proud of the work she accomplished with PSLA colleagues on the following LSTA grant projects that were completed through collaboration with the University of Pittsburgh School Library Certification Program:

• Writing and Development Team – Model Curriculum for Pennsylvania School Library Programs
• Writing and Development Team – Librarian’s Guide to Success in the PDE Educator Effectiveness System
• Coach – Emerging Leaders Academy for School Librarians

Allison serves on the American Association of School Librarians Standards implementation team, as well as the positions of AASL Standards Crosswalk liaison and Region 2 Representative. She co-presented the preconference session, Limitless Learning with the AASL National School Library Standards at the Pennsylvania School Librarians Association conference to introduce the new standards to over 200 librarians across the state.

Allison was a 2017 Pennsylvania Teacher of the Year finalist and has received several other honors including the Pennsylvania Library Association Best Practices Award and a Pennsylvania Library Association Certificate of Merit for Leadership. She was also honored to be one of forty librarians across the nation selected from a highly competitive pool to participate in the inaugural 2013 American Library Association Leadership Institute: Leading to the Future, a four-day immersive leadership development program. In addition, she was a participant in the 2010 Pennsylvania Library Association Academy of Leadership Studies (PALS).

Allison’s interests reach beyond the library. She graduated from Penn State University with an undergraduate degree in Secondary English Education and has several degrees and certificates including an M.Ed. Administration from the University of Scranton, an MLIS from the University of Pittsburgh, an M.A. in Writing from Northeastern University, a Virtual Online Teaching (VOLT) Certificate from the University of Pennsylvania, and a PDE Online Instruction Program PK-12 Teaching Endorsement. In 2010, she was part of a team of teachers and administrators who participated in the Harvard University Redesigning High Schools for Improved Instruction. This institute experience stretched her current teaching practices and was the foundation of her leadership beliefs.

Some of her most recent interests and presentations include rethinking professional learning to support innovation, digital citizenship and best practices in online teaching and learning. Since the time she was in the English classroom, she has always kept student voice, choice and responsibility at the forefront of her teaching philosophy. She runs a Leadership Institute, a club for ninth through twelfth grade students, in which the students help to make decisions about the library environment and culture.  This past year, she was one of the faculty advisors for the inaugural TEDxYouth Hershey event, which was a student-run event highlighting the theme of “community.” For the past twenty-five years, she has also coached middle school field hockey.

A selection of Allison’s additional accomplishments and projects include the following:

• Steering Committee – Pennsylvania Library Association PA Forward Initiative
• Co-founder and Steering Committee – PaLA PA Forward Information Literacy Summit
• Member and Presenter – Pennsylvania Library Association Academy of Leadership Studies (PALS) Planning Team
• Member – Pennsylvania Library Association Academy of Leadership Studies (PALS) Work Group on Educator Evaluation
• Member – PaLA Legislative Committee
• Co-chair – PA Forward Information Literacy Team
• Presented at AASL, ISTE, iNACOL, PETE&C, PASCD, PSLA, PaLA Teaching, Learning and Technology Roundtable, PDE SAS Institute, net, and Derry Township School District

Allison is strongly committed to the AASL National School Library Standards Common Beliefs that are central to the school library profession:

• The school library is a unique and essential part of a learning community.
• Qualified school librarians lead effective school libraries.
• Learners should be prepared for college, career, and life.
• Reading is the core of personal and academic competency.
• Intellectual freedom is every learner’s right.
• Information technologies must be appropriately integrated and equitably available.

Allison tries to listen to her inner voice to keep balance and inspire her direction in life. In all she does, she keeps community, compassion, and curiosity at heart.

You can find Allison on twitter at @amackley and connect with her on linkedin at https://www.linkedin.com/in/allisonmackley/.

Each month, a member of the GAC will be profiled in the Compendium. Learn about the Governor’s Advisory Council.