Sheri Downer, coordinator of the Educational Media and Technology Program in the Auburn University College of Education has recently been re-appointed by the Alabama Commission on Higher Education to serve on the Alabama Virtual Library Council.  She has also been elected to the position of chair-elect for 2008-2009.

Since FY1999-2000, the state has appropriated funding for the Alabama Virtual Library.  The Alabama Virtual Library (AVL) provides all students, teachers and citizens of the State of Alabama with online access to essential library and information resources. It is primarily a group of online databases that have magazine, journal and newspaper articles for research.

Through the AVL, an equitable core of information sources are available to every student and citizen in Alabama, raising the level of excellence in schools and communities across the state.  The Alabama Virtual Library has become a national example of excellence for statewide educational information sharing and has become the foundation for development of several other statewide systems.  The project is managed by a governing council with representatives from the Alabama Department of Education, Alabama College System, Alabama Council on Higher Education, Alabama Public Library Service and Alabama Supercomputer Authority which also hosts the AVL server.