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Integrating Social Media as Authoritative Information into Research Pathfinders July 1, 2009

Posted by bhamilton in : Hot Topics , 1 comment so far

The role of social media in reporting the events in Iran in recent weeks has highlighted the increasing role of emerging sources of authority and provides some authentic opportunities to engage in rich conversations with students and teachers about evaluation of information sources.   We are hearing more dialogue and a call for school districts to relax filter restrictions so that students may access social media resources like podcasts, blogs, Twitter, and YouTube.   Even mainstream media like CBS News and Time magazine are recognizing the role that social media networks like YouTube/CitizenTube and Twitter are playing in the reporting of news events and how that reporting is impacting the world event itself.  Clay Shirky illustrates this idea with razor sharp clarity in his TED Talk about the impact of social media on world events.

As we forge this brave new world of social scholarship, students and teachers will look to us for guidance in selecting and evaluating social media as valid sources of information.   In recent months, I have increasingly turned to nontraditional sources of information to use in conjunction with traditional authoritative sources to provide students a balanced research pathfinder.

Podcasts can provide valuable and timely information about a research topic.   The Library of Congress just announced this past Tuesday the debut of their iTunesU site which includes videos and podcasts.   I have also found that most podcasts I find in iTunes are available on the web with a RSS feed you can use so that if students are unable to access iTunes at school, then they can still access the podcasts via the web.    Here are some example of pathfinders I’ve created that utilize podcasts:

In the collaborative research pathfinder I’m designing with Dr. Robert Fernekes, Associate Professor and Information Services Librarian at Georgia Southern University, we created an entire tab of podcasts for our Business studies pathfinder page. By searching the Business Podcasts at iTunes, I was able to find podcasts to use; in the pathfinder, we elected to use the web-based feed for the podcasts rather than the specific iTunes links since not all students may have iTunes installed on their computers, but you can  easily include the link iTunes link if desired.  Even if you don’t link to the iTunes version of the podcast, iTunes is a great “search engine” for finding popular and quality podcasts in a particular topic.  iTunesU is also a great resource for quality podcasts (and videocasts, too)—I encourage you to explore the quality resources available.

Blogs can be another source of information and rich dialogue.  Although many blogs do have an obvious bias, a wealth of blogs reflect the thoughts, analysis, and reflections of experts in the field.  Just as we teach students to evaluate print and web resources, we can also scaffold students’ skills in evaluating social media.  This rubric and set of evaluation questions from Joyce Valenza provide librarians the teaching tools to evaluate the validity of the information in a blog.  Here are two examples  in which I incorporated blogs as valid sources of information:

Twitter has received an incredible amount of attention lately for its role in the Iran Elections and protests of 2009.  Thanks to other librarians and educators in my personal learning network as well as The Washington Post, Mashable, and Read Write Web, I incorporated Twitter feeds from reputable journalists such as Ann Curry (NBC) and Lara Setrakian (ABC)  into my Iran Elections/Protests pathfinder; I also incorporated a Twitter feed from Tehran Bureau as well as a RSS feed for a saved search of the Twitter hashtag #Iranelection.  In our Business Resources pathfinder, Dr. Fernekes and I included Twitter RSS feeds from reputable publications such as Wall Street Journal as well as media outlets such as CNN Money.  Earlier this year, I included a Twitter feed from CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta the CDC Twitter account as part of my Swine Flu pathfinder.

Video is becoming an increasingly important medium and can be a great “hook” to get students’ interest in a topic.  I have used YouTube videos and videos from sources such as CNN,  CBS News, and ABC News  in pathfinders on Iran, Piracy and Somalia, Paris travel, Swine Flu,  Gun Control , Threats to Brazil’s Rain Forests ,  the Peanut Butter-Salmonella recall, and White House and Congress 2.0.  Videos are an essential source of information in my bookmarks  for my Veterans’ Issues research pathfinder.

I also included a saved video search of videos as well as a RSS feed from the CitizenTube video blog in my Iran Elections pathfinder.   In our Business Resources pathfinder, we have included video feed from MSNBC and a feed for the videocasts from The Economist.

Google Map mashups are another exciting new medium for illustrating information.  In my Iran Election/Protests 2009 pathfinder, I included a Google Maps  mashup featuring embassies accepting injured protesters.  My Swine Flu pathfinder includes a striking Google Maps mashup that illustrates the number of confirmed Swine flu/H1Ni1 cases.  For more ideas and resources on how to find and integrate Google Maps mashups into your research pathfinders, check out my bookmarks on Google Maps mashups.

As social scholarship continues to evolve, I feel it is imperative librarians tap into the power of social media and social networks for accessing, organizing, sharing, creating, and embedding information.  The use of social media as authoritative information reflects one of the common beliefs of the AASL Standards for 21st Century Learners:

The definition of information literacy has become more complex as esources and technologies have changed.  Information literacy has progressed from the simple definition of using reference resources to find information.   Multiple literacies, including digital, visual, textual, and technological, have now joined information literacy as crucial skills for this century.

Although these Social Networking Literacy Competencies are geared toward public and academic librarians, I feel they are competencies we must master as school librarians to prepare our students to be skilled lifelong learners in what is now an ever shifting landscape of information.  By incorporating social media and social networks as sources of information and as tools for learning, we can help our students master skill 4.1.7, “Use social networks and information tools to gather and share information.”

By using both traditional and emerging sources of authoritative information, we can provide our students a broader menu of information sources for exploration and to ignite learning through research.  If you are interested in more readings on social scholarship, please check out my bookmarked resources. If you have examples of how you are using social media as an information source in your research pathfinders, please post them here to expand our concept how we can integrate social media as an authoritative information source.

Buffy Hamilton, School Library Media Specialist
Creekview High School
Canton, GA

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Marketing Your School Library June 29, 2009

Posted by jfreeman in : Advocacy , add a comment

During the summer weeks we often have time to think more about the “big picture” ideas, instead of the everyday details.  One such idea to consider is marketing for our school libraries.  Public and academic libraries have budgets and staff to design and carry out marketing plans, but there are useful ideas for school librarians found in articles and blogs about library marketing.

Library Marketing: Thinking Outside the Book is a recently discontinued (but still available) blog written by Jill Stover, with marketing ideas which can be adapted to school libraries.  Relevant topics include creativity, statistics, advocacy, and trends.

Contrary to popular perception, promotional activities (advertising, public relations, etc.), are not always about convincing people to buy the latest and greatest [fill in the blank]. Often, promotion objectives include changing attitudes and behaviors.

Telling the Library Story Toolkit from the State Library of Iowa encourages libraries to share their libraries using the key elements of storytelling.

The Telling the Library Story Tool Kit was jointly developed by the Iowa Library Service Areas and the State Library of Iowa to assist Iowa libraries in explaining and demonstrating the value of their services in order to increase use of and support for libraries.

The ‘M’ Word: Marketing Libraries by Kathy Dempsey and Kathy Dowd introduces the idea of marketing to librarians using their own experiences.

We also discussed that annoying question, “why do we still need libraries when we have the internet?” and I suggested some snappy comebacks for you to fire at those who dared ask.

Please add your own marketing resources and ideas in the comments.

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Primary Sources: Alive, Well, & Digitized June 20, 2009

Posted by wstephens in : Check this out! , 1 comment so far

While many students are content with the first few hits from Google, there remain curricula and events that demand more intensive research and resource analysis. National History Day coordinators said 600,000 students from the 50 states and other, further-flung locales such as Department of Defense schools and Guam, participate in preliminary county, regional, and state history competitions.

Though the research manifests itself in a range of final products - from traditional research papers and tri-fold exhibits to performance, documentary, and web design - the National History Day coordinators emphasize quality inquiry at every level. Students are expected to engage with texts and images to draw their own conclusions from archival materials. The top two student projects from each state qualified for the national competition at the campus of the University of Maryland at College Park, June 14-28, 2009, with events webcast on http://www.history.com/classroom.

Thanks to digitizing and online archiving, it has never been easier for school librarians to locate and share primary resources; freely web-accessible databases have become a persistent quality option when materials budgets evaporate. Unlike Google’s Life photo archive, many digital archives are part of the deeper web. The resources not accessible via search engine may require some training and practice to fully master various retrieval capabilities, teacher resources, and lesson plans. Leading the way in digitization is the Library of Congress with its http://www.myloc.gov personal interface. LC offers excellent summer educator workshops in Washington and usually has a booth for demonstrations and training at NECC, ALA, and AASL conferences. Like the resources, the training is often provided free, and web-based training is often available.

Another valuable source for primary documents related to American history is the Gilder-Lehrman Institute. Valuable state and local resources exist for most areas of the country, as well. In this state, the Encyclopedia of Alabama, recognized this year by Library Journal as one of the “Best of Free Reference”, offers a list of other state and topical online repositories. Another project, the Alabama Mosaic, encourages creation as well as use of its resources, even providing the requisite software for school librarians to participate in digitizing images and documents to preserve the state’s historical and cultural heritage.

Best of all, helping classroom teachers identify appropriate resources and craft quality research experiences from materials that are freely accessible foregrounds the school librarian as a instructional partner. Collaborating with teachers to tailor assignments to meet curricular objectives, especially when optimizing the use of free materials, ensures that the library media specialist remains a visible and proactive member of the school community.

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Today Show Segment Relevant for SLMP June 11, 2009

Posted by Melissa Jacobsen in : Advocacy, Check this out! , add a comment

This morning the Today Show ran a segment on the important role libraries play during the recession, using data and resources provided by the ALA and public libraries:

 

Libraries lend a hand in tough times

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/31237988#31237988

 

The ALA Public Information Office worked with the Today Show on this segment and has followed up to encourage NBC affiliates to take up the story locally. But you can help extend the reach of this positive story in several ways:

 

1)      Include the Today Show link on your library Web site

 

2)      Reach out to your local media this week with your local story (particularly NBC affiliates), complemented by national data from the ALA. Two key data points from the Today Show were: 73% of public libraries report they provide the only free access to the Internet in their communities. This rises to 83 percent for rural libraries: http://tinyurl.com/mupmzd and www.ala.org/plinternetfunding . Also, 68 percent of Americans have a library card: http://tinyurl.com/9ewpcc.

 

3)      Take advantage of free ALA resources to help tell your story to media, elected officials and funders:

Job-Seeking in U.S. Public Libraries

http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/ors/plftas/Issues%20brief-jobs.pdf

Using data from the Public Library Funding & Technology Access Study, the issues brief discusses the range of library resources available to job seekers and the challenges to maintaining these services. Additional briefing reports are at: http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/ors/plftas/Issues_Briefs.cfm. Get a free copy of the PDF by emailing Larra Clark at lclark@ala.org.

 

Advocating in a Tough Economy Toolkit

http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/advocacy/advocacyuniversity/toolkit/index.cfm

Get tips, tools and messages that work.

 

Get the word out!

 

For questions or support around media outreach, please contact Macey Morales, mmorales@ala.org, or Jennifer Petersen, jpetersen@ala.org, in the ALA Public Information Office.

For questions or support around advocacy tools, please contact Marci Merola, mmerola@ala.org, or Jaclyn Finneke, jfinneke@ala.org.

For questions or support around statistics and research, please contact Denise Davis, dmdavis@ala.org, or Larra Clark at lclark@ala.org.

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AASL Webinar - April 22 - Dispositions in Action June 8, 2009

Posted by jjones in : Check this out! , add a comment

The AASL Webinars held during the month of April on the Standards for the 21st-Century Learner provided a great opportunity to understand and apply the standards—the skills, dispositions in action, responsibilities, and self-assessment strategies– to our everyday work as school librarians.
The topic on April 22 was dispositions. Although dispositions have been a topic in educational literature since the 1960s, these have entered the radar of American school librarians with the release in 2007 of the AASL Standards for the 21st-Century Learner.
The complexity of this topic is evidenced by the questions raised by approximately 45 participants (school library supervisors, school librarians, and faculty) who attended the Webinar. During this Webinar several concerns about dispositions were expressed that mirror those in the literature. The four concerns expressed by Webinar attendees about dispositions are: (1) What is the meaning of dispositions? (2) What do dispositions look like? (3) How are dispositions acquired? (4) How are dispositions assessed?
The answer to the first question is pretty clear cut. Dispositions are basically observable behaviors that one applies to achieve a particular goal. Dispositions are a behavior we choose (think of it as a behavior of choice).
So much discussion about dispositions is still needed to answer the other three questions brought up at this Webinar. Although there is work to be done, I must say that including dispositions in our new AASL Standards makes sense and recognizes the importance of helping students to acquire meaningful and necessary behaviors such as flexibility, persistence, employing a critical stance, and demonstrating teamwork that are needed to thrive in what Thomas L. Friedman terms a “flat world.”
Gail Bush and I will be presenting a session at AASL on dispositions and we hope you can join us to continue the discussion about dispositions—what they look like, how they are acquired, and how they are assessed.

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Where Do We Go From Here? May 29, 2009

Posted by abranyon in : Check this out! , 2comments

As school librarians we are in the enviable position of seeing the whole school as an integral unit. Although each department has its own goals, SOLs, and curriculum, each department contributes to the entire school program to create a comprehensive education for its population. This year I had the task of coordinating a school-wide unit on the election. I was apprehensive at first but as the unit began to take shape in my mind and in reality, I became increasingly more excited. The English classes did debates and topical issues which involved using the library for research and learning about databases. We also watched presidential debates from United Streaming and modeled our debates after these videos including appropriate dress. The history classes researched the candidates and the historical aspects of the election process which again included research and databases. The math classes created graphs showing the democratic and republican states, the science classes looked at the weather and temperature from the first inauguration to today and made predictions, the physical ed classes studied basketball (Obama’s favorite sport), the art classes made campaign posters and bumper stickers, and the technology department made a voting booth and a time capsule for us to store all our projects at the school-wide assembly. The assembly was a wonderful culminating activity where each department presented an object which epitomized their department’s work and placed it in the time capsule to be opened in twenty years. Having realized what a wonderful and beneficial experience that was, it is now time to begin thinking about what to do next year. Perhaps a book and the author as a project that has elements of math and science in it. Another thought is to incorporate a GPS system into classroom lessons to help students find characters in books, themselves, our people, etc. in time and place. Any ideas for me? I know there is a wealth of knowledge and experience out there! Here are a few suggestions if you have never done a school wide project before.

1. Pick a project that will give valuable, real-life scenarios to many subject areas that will support state-wide SOLs and reinforce classroom instruction.

2. Get your principal on board. Ms. Perera, at Elko Middle School, was invaluable to us in the library as we began our planning and implementation. Her insights into the school as a whole and the strengths each department could lend to the project were essential in creating a project that was memorable. Her action pictures from the inauguration itself will be interesting to see again in 20 years.

3. Get your staff on board. Offer incentives, offer to spearhead the lessons in the library on research, include them in the planning and implementation of the project. Attend department meetings and brainstorm with them about who they can be a integral part of the whole project.

4. Be available and flexible. You have the whole plan in your head. Share, share, share with your staff and be prepared to change your schedules, change your plans, and incorporate new and improved visions which may emerge as you collaborate with your colleagues.

I hope to hear from you about ideas for next year and ways you will collaborate or have collaborated with your staff on a school-wide project.

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Summertime: How Do You Learn and Play? May 26, 2009

Posted by bhamilton in : Check this out! , 3comments

For most of us school librarians, the academic school year is akin to riding a roller coaster—some exhilarating highs, some heart-dropping lows—but always a grand adventure!  As we prepare to get off this year’s ride and prepare for the next, summer provides the perfect opportunity to take time to reflect and revisit your program’s activities of the last year and look ahead to the dreams and goals of 2009-10.    You finally have that much coveted time to nurture yourself, to meander down whatever learning paths you choose without worry of time or other commitments tugging at your mind.   The window of opportunity and gift of time that we all crave during the 180 days of frenetic activity is now open and beckoning you!

In the spirit of Helene Blowers’ 23 Things model, I have devised my own list of 23 Things I want to do this summer through formal and more informal means:

  1. Delve into MySpace and create a presence there for my media center.  While I am happy with our Unquiet Library Facebook page, I want to try and be in as many places where my students are dwelling.  Perhaps you might pick a Web 2.0 technology to explore and/or build for your library—last year’s School Library Journal “All Together Now”  Learning 2.0 is a great starting point for wading into the Library 2.0 waters.  Don’t feel like you have to master the application—just relish the thrill and flow of discovery.
  2. Engage in some late spring/early summer cleaning of my Google Reader account—just as we weed our library collections, I know I need to re-evaluate my reading  materials in my Google Reader account so that I can maximize the power of this personal learning network element without feeling overwhelmed.  It is also a time to consider new additions to this “library” of information that feeds my passion and creativity.
  3. Catch up on some of the nonfiction and fiction reading I have wanted to do the last year.   While I tend to stay somewhat busy during the summer, the hours don’t seem to suck me in like a whirlpool as they do during the normal school year, so I can adopt a reading schedule that fits my natural Circadian rhythms.
  4. Use this time to delve deeply into a learning theory or information literacy model.   As part of my Media 21 Capstone project, I will be looking through the lens of connectivism to frame information literacy and new media literacy learning experiences.   Summer is the perfect time to fine tune my collaborative planning with my teacher in this project and for us to think deeply without being pulled in one hundred different directions.
  5. Use the gift of time to plan ahead for all those special activities/weeks during the school year like National Poetry Month, Banned Books Week, and Teen Read Week.
  6. Catch up on any loose cataloging ends—this is a task I never seem to enjoy for some reason, but quiet time in the library truly helps my concentration for this job and helps me to even enjoy it ever so slightly!
  7. Re-evaluate how I am integrating the AASL Standards for the 21st Century Learner into my collaborative lessons.  This is also a time to brainstorm ways to make these standards more familiar to my teachers and to better show how these standards relate to the state curriculum performance standards.
  8. Re-read and savor favorite blog posts and journal articles from the past year.
  9. Develop some concrete strategies for better assessing the effectiveness of my library program and the tools I use as part of my library program.   I have become painfully aware in the last year that assessment is an area of weakness for me, and I want to improve in this critical area.
  10. Attend a conference in person or virtually this summer!  While I sadly will be unable to attend ALA or NECC this summer, I know I can still participate virtually through other mediums, such as Ning, and of course, through my Twitter network.
  11. Plan your 2009-10 conference schedule now!  With economic constraints, we are all being forced to make difficult choices, but now is the time to think about which conferences you want to attend and what you hope to get out of those conferences.  Better yet, consider applying to present at a conference, especially one that might be outside your comfort zone.    As we try to advocate for what we do as school library media specialists, we need to take our message to educators and librarians outside our circle.  Some of the most amazing partnerships I am now enjoying have come out of two conferences that were not geared toward school librarians—I am glad that I can learn from and with other peers in addition to my wonderful family of school librarians!
  12. Continue working on next year’s “wish” lists—while funding is extremely tight, we never know what windfalls or grants we may receive, so we want to continue our best practice of having those consideration files ready in whatever format works best for you.  Summer gives me the opportunity to really read those book and digital resource reviews without feeling as though I am just grazing.
  13. Ask a vendor for a free trial to a database and spend some time exploring its features.  Most vendors are more than willing to offer you an extended free trial to “test drive” that a resource that you may be considering for the future.  Better yet, consider hosting a summer soiree for teachers to come into the library and test drive that free trial—the offer of air conditioning and a treat, such as ice cream, might draw more people than you think!  Include your students, too, if possible—they are the ones who are the ultimate judge of whether a resource rocks their world!
  14. Work on some of those video tutorials you’ve been meaning to do all year but just never had the time!  I tend to be slow when I am producing screencasts, so summer is perfect for me to create the video tutorials without the shadow of time creeping over my shoulder.
  15. Take a professional learning development course face to face or via the web.  Many districts and groups offer free classes or weekly discussions/interviews with innovators and leaders in learning, such as The Future of Education.  Don’t forget the AASL Learning4Life webinars!  I am also taking a course on how to use my new set of Qwizdoms and to design lessons to use these tools to facilitate information literacy.
  16. Use the free time of summer to create “welcome back” goody bags for your faculty.  Include candy, magnets, pencils, or little notepads from your favorite vendors to promote your databases or online materials.  I have found that most vendors are more than willing to send free promotional items or literature to tuck into your goody bags!
  17. Explore emerging sources of authoritative information.  In the last year, I have started integrating more YouTube videos, videos from major news outlets,  podcasts from a variety of sources, and Google Books into my research pathfinders.  I want to continue my exploration of emerging sources of social scholarship this summer to provide a full spectrum of information sources to our students.
  18. Continue cultivating my personal learning network:  Facebook, Twitter, delicious, Ning, diigo, Flickr—these are all essential elements of my PLN.   When I first started using Google Reader, I focused on RSS feeds from favorite blogs, but now I include RSS feeds for favorite Twitter friends and shared items via Google Reader from friends.
  19. Find more effective ways to help my teachers explore and feel more comfortable with Web 2.0 apps, new media, and social networks for use in the classroom and for personal/professional use.
  20. Take time to take stock of my accomplishments with the library program while looking at ideas that may not have worked.    I think it is important to celebrate successes, and it is equally important to figure out why an idea may not have worked so that you can approach a problem or challenge more effectively.
  21. Do a better job of actively participating as a commenter/commentator on blogs—I am often guilty of being a lurker and pondering on a blog post for days but not sharing those thoughts on the blog.  The comments and dialogue are frequently as rich as the actual post, and I want to be a more active and better participant.
  22. Mine the data I have collected this past year about my library program, both quantitative and qualitative.  Sometimes distance allows me to better analyze data and consider the meanings behind that data.  We do this all the time as graduate students but tend to neglect that skill once we leave graduate school—data analysis is another area for improvement for me!
  23. Brainstorm ways to continue to create an engaging library environment that meets the needs of all students whether they are there to read, use technology, or simply find a calm environment.  We were described as a “home away from home” in this year’s yearbook—but I want to continue to reach out to students who may not yet know what we have to offer and find ways to bring in students of all backgrounds and interests.

What would you put on your Summer 23 Things list?  Share your ideas!

Buffy Hamilton, Teacher-Librarian
Creekview High School

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The Wider World & the Library Ecosystem May 22, 2009

Posted by wstephens in : Check this out! , 5comments

It is the time of the school year when high school librarians, like teachers, are simultaneously the most proud and the most anxious. As the band strikes up Elgar, we can’t help but wonder. Have we inculcated our college-bound seniors against the temptations of cut-and-paste and other digitally mediated forms of intellectual dishonesty? Have we managed to pass along the requisite media and online information literacy skills ALL of our students will need to function in a flat and networked society?

The end-of-the-year crisis of conscience evokes what current ALA president James Rettig’s discussion of what he calls the library ecosystem , mentioned on the blog earlier this month – the whole idea that all libraries are interrelated and their future viablity is interdependent to a degree we may not even perceive. After all, it is to our university counterparts to whom we send our best and brightest. How can we pull together to make sure students have the skills they need to be successful?

At the school where I teach, around half this spring’s graduating seniors will enroll in college this fall, but only a fraction of those will return for a second semester or another year of higher education. Could retention be improved by better awareness and utilization of university support services, including the campus library and online resources? It doesn’t seem like library research or even orientation is de rigeur for today’s incoming college students. This week, I asked two former students, both high school library regulars in their day, about their experiences with the libraries at local community and four-year colleges. One student said his teacher took him to the college library once, to visit the computer lab to type a paper. Another said he hadn’t used the library, but he had used library services in the form of EBSCOhost databases. The bibliographic instruction was provided by his course instructor and database resources were posted to their courseware, so he hadn’t realilzed he was actually “using the library.”

ALA, through ACRL, has a collaborative cross-division platform for discussing these issues. The INFOLIT discussion list and that group’s open lunches at the annual conferences provide a space to brainstorm about how our collaborative relationships can best serve our students.

Those university librarians are excited about working with high school media specialists to ease that transition. Perhaps it is our local college and university librarians who should visit our seniors these last few weeks of their high school careers, introducing themselves and their services and roles in the college. As resource-sharing becomes more imperative as budgets are slashed, it is important to remember that our information professionals are, like our collections, an investment in their academic success about which students need to be made fully aware.

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Second Life: Advocacy with Administrators May 19, 2009

Posted by jfreeman in : Advocacy, Professional Development, Technology , add a comment

Dear AASL Members:

Please plan to attend our last learning community meeting of the school year in Second Life on Tues, May 19th at 8pm ET/7pm CT/6pm MT/5pm PT. Let’s come together to discuss powerful ways to influence administrators to support our library programs!  We will be on the ALA Main Stage at http://slurl.com/secondlife/ALA%20Island/127/102/29.   If you are new to Second Life, see http://blogs.cuip.net/dlis/attend-our-librarian-meetings for instructions on how to join.  This time, we will focus on the important issue of successful advocacy for our library media programs with our administrators. Our guest facilitators will be Marla W. McGhee and Barbara A. Jansen, authors of the book “The Principal’s Guide to a Powerful Library Media Program.”   We will be giving away a copy of the book to one lucky winner!

Forging Powerful Partnerships for Student Success

“Principals, assistant principals and central office staff seldom learn about library media centers or the role of teacher-librarians in their preparation programs.  However, decisions administrators make can either enhance or inhibit the work of librarians and the effectiveness of the school library.  This session will focus on how to approach educational leaders to communicate the importance a quality library media program can make in the learning life of a school.”

See you in-world!

Lisa E. Perez

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Enhancing Learning with ARRA Funding Webinar May 17, 2009

Posted by jfreeman in : AASL News, Advocacy, Hot Topics, Opportunities , add a comment

WEBCAST NAME: Stimulate this Library! Accessing American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Funding

SPONSORED BY: School Library Journal,, Capstone Publishers, Follett Library Resources and ALA Washington Office

EVENT DATE: Tuesday, May 19, 2009 – 3:30 PM Eastern Daylight Time; 60 Minutes

Click to register today for “Stimulate Your Library!”

You’ve no doubt heard about the economic stimulus package. And now you’re probably wondering how you can get your hands on some of the funds. With passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), a considerable amount of money has started to flow from Congress to the states. And the good news is that there are many opportunities for school libraries to benefit.

Although there are funds that media specialists can take advantage of, for the most part, local and state superintendents will decide how to allocate that money. It’s extremely important that school librarians and their supporters lobby hard for their piece of the funding.

Want to increase your chances of receiving some of this unprecedented level of funding? Join our panel of education, social policy, and library advocacy experts for this 60-minute Webcast to learn how to identify eligible projects—which include new tech initiatives, renovations or newly constructed buildings, and partnerships with Title I programs.

Panelists:
Emily Sheketoff, Associate Executive Director, ALA Washington Office

Vic Klatt, Vice President, Van Scoyoc Associates

Ann Martin, President, American Association of School Librarians; Educational Specialist for Library Information Services for the Henrico County Public Schools, Richmond, Virginia

Moderator:
Dodie Ownes, Editor, SLJTeen

Click to register today for “Stimulate Your Library!”

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