Develop a stronger relationship with the Qatari community and expand our involvement with Qatar’s educational aspirations while being true to our mission, vision, and identity.
| What is it that librarians at ASD do to promote student reading? That was the question Hind, an ASD graduate who now works for the SEC, brought to us. We hosted a group of local librarians who came to learn about our elementary program, exploring the program we present, integration of skills, and collaboration with teachers. We also shared our policies for children borrowing items and provided time for them to ask questions and explore the primary titles in our collection. |  |
No Matter What (Mahma Kan) by Thanks to our Arabic teachers, our Arabic book collection has been increasing. The ES and MS teachers have selected numerous, appropriate titles for our students and found sources for us to purchase the books. The Arabic Mothers Association helped catalog over 80 titles for the MS library, and has expressed an interest in helping us locate other materials to add to our collections.
Tumblebooks, one of our library subscriptions, has also added some Arabic titles to their collection.
Al Intissar Ala Abu Derya by 
Qatar Reads is a local organization with a focus to promote literacy and 21st centruy skills through the professional development of teachers in Qatar. Two of our librarians are members of the Qatar Reads executive board. This year over 300 teachers participated in the two Teachers Teaching Teachers professional development workshops. Julia Johnsons visit to Doha was also sponsored through the organization.
Linda and Kathy presented a workshop entitled "Using Goodreads in the Language Arts/English Classroom" at the fall Qatar Reads Teachers Teaching Teachers.
The ASD High School Library has established an Inter-Library-Loan partnership with Georgetown School of Foreign Service Library in Qatar. This offers ASD students, targeted to the IB program the opportunity to borrow books from the SFS Library for short term research assignments. We’ve had several IB students this year take advantage of the partnership.
Although Qatar National Library doesn't have a physical building yet, they have a strong collection of online resources. The ASD Libraries have assisted 115 faculty and parents in obtaining library cards for QLN! Patrons are excited to used both the vast collection of academic resources as well as access to books via Overdrive and magazines on Zinio.
Intentional Parenting by 
Living Parallel Lives in Qatar by ASD parents and others Dr. Yvonne Sum and Trine Ljungstrom both had book talks and signings arranged through the ASD libraries this year.
Naomi's sessions with the parents and students were quite powerful and a particular source of pride to the students from the region. Naomi shared stories of her Palestinian roots and her thoughts on the humanity of all.
Gift of the Sands by | Qatar Reads brought Julia Johnson back to Doha. Julia is the author of the Pearl Diver and other titles about the Middle East. She shared a fascinating picture of the region’s history brought alive through her books, storytelling, and fascinating relics of an age long gone |  |
The Case of the Crooked Campaign| Doha International Children’s Book Festival sponsored a number of authors and poets from around the world. We were able to invite Mara Rockliff, author of the Milo and Jazz series, to visit ASD. Mara shared examples, tips, and stories about editing and writing with our students. |  |
The Information Literacy Network of the Gulf includes librarians and educators in the Arabian Gulf region and beyond who use this informal network for sharing information on information literacy to help students find, use, and evaluate information for academic success and lifelong learning. In November Kathy and Linda presented a workshop to Qatar Librarians on using LibGuides to promote information literacy in secondary schools. Kathy presented this workshop again at the regional conference in Muscat, Oman in February.
In September Kathy presented at workshop at the THIMUN Leadership Conference. The "Be an Expert Researcher" workshop was well attended and the supporting LibGuide continues to be viewed.