December 2022
Eshaya Draper

DISTRICT – The New Jersey Association of School Librarians (NJASL) named Gabrielle Casieri of Lawrence Intermediate School as a recipient of the Ruth Toor Outstanding Media Specialist Award at its annual NJASL Fall Conference. 

NJASL’s Ruth Toor Outstanding Library Media Specialist Award honors a certified New Jersey school library media specialist who is currently working full-time in a public, private or parochial school. Through individual and sustained effort, they have made outstanding contributions to the operation of effective school library media services and to advancing the role of the school library media center in the total educational program. The award will be presented at the Annual NJASL Fall Conference.

Gabrielle Casieri is in her 12th year as a school library media specialist at Lawrence Intermediate School. She is passionate about connecting students and staff with books they love to foster lifelong literacy. She is a steady advocate of information literacy skills and standards at the district and state levels. 

In 2019, Casieri won the American Association of School Librarians' (AASL) Past President Grant. This grant awarded $2,500 for planning and executing activities focused on the implementation of AASL's National School Library Standards. 

Casieri has been an active member of NJASL since 2012 and is currently serving as the Chair of the Standards Subcommittee. If she is not reading, you might find her running, competing in a triathlon, or advocating for mental health for everyone.