Newton School Library Coordinator Receives Lifetime Achievement Award

NEWTON, MA – The Massachusetts School Library Association has named Newton Public Schools' K-12 Coordinator of Library and Media Services Chris Swerling winner of the 2017 Lifetime Achievement Award.

The award recognizes Swerling's "commitment to the service of students and 21st century learning" and her efforts toward the advancement of school libraries.

"Chris Swerling has devoted herself to students and library teachers over the course of her 40-plus year career," Jennifer Reed, library teacher at Mason-Rice School, said in a statement. "As the Library Coordinator for the Newton Public Schools for the past decade, she has built an outstanding library team. Ms. Swerling has been a tireless advocate for the library program. She has been the voice at the administrative level to show the value of qualified and certified school library teachers."

Reed and several other NPS library teachers coordinated the nomination process.

Swerling will receive her award on May 7 at the MSLA Awards Banquet in Hyannis. The awards dinner is part of the 2017 conference, "Beyond the Binding."

Image submitted by MSLA