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ALA and Books July 9, 2007

Posted by Laura Pearle in : ALA2007 , add a comment

As Alice points out, part of our mission is to “prepare students for life-long learning, informed decision-making, a love of reading, and the use of information technologies.”

Most of us go to ALA (or AASL) for the book stuff, but we rarely talk about what we’ve seen/done. How many stood in line for an author signing? Grabbed posters and ARCs? I was one of them. YALSA had a great session, “Teens Read”, with Laurie Halse Anderson, Alyson Noel, Cecily Von Ziegesar and Sherman Alexie. The common thread from them was the while technology has changed (from sitting by the phone and passing notes in class to cell phones and texting, for example), being a teen hasn’t. It’s still, as Ms. Noel said, about the Firsts: first love, first, kiss, first date, first steps into adulthood. In their own way, these authors all address that.

Ms. Anderson pointed out that our task, as librarians, is to bring books to students; she mentioned that many students haven’t read a book for “fun” since fourth grade (how many of us have had the experience of the student complaining about the assigned book because it’s dark/serious/work/boring/meant to teach a lesson?) so she sees it as her job to remedy that. One area that needs exploring is the internet - where so many of our students feel anonymous and safe (they aren’t really, as we well know). Ms. Noel’s books show the darker side, the “culture of mean” that can pervade MySpace.

Ms. Von Ziegesar’s books are about the students she grew up with - the Upper East Side private school world she came from. Yet, somehow, many girls, from all over, read them and identify with the characters and dilemmas.

If you can get Mr. Alexie to speak, do so. His tales of being an Indian immigrant to our white country and finding that he belongs to many different tribes, and what this experience means are both hysterical and poignant. Students will love hearing from him and may feel part of a group in a way they never thought they would.

Another important note: audiobooks (or playaways) are books. Students today are more aural, and “reading” by hearing is still getting the text. It’s also good for those students that are not the visual learner, the dyslexic, etc..

(posted by Laura Pearle)

The Disposable Librarian July 8, 2007

Posted by admin in : Hot Topics , 15 comments

It is that time of the year again…librarians are retiring or moving on to another job and not being replaced. In some cases, school district administrators are making difficult and dreaded decisions to cut valued professional school library positions. These are lamented budget-driven decisions to eliminate instruction and vital services. There are administrators who are sadly shaking their heads and admitting that this is unsound. However, in too many cases, the outgoing librarian has made the decision easy. Eliminating the position is a no-brainer. Schools are about educating students and these librarians are about The Library and The Collection or hiding until they can retire. We all know these librarians…the people that will not be missed or replaced when they retire or move on to another job. These are the library stuff people…the Disposable Librarians.

Occasionally, other professionals quietly refer to negative impact of Disposable Librarians with the Walt Kelly quote, “We have met the enemy and he is us.” These are the people who are more about collections and things than education or people. They are the people who would not dream of writing a lesson plan or teaching a lesson; who would never bend a circulation policy: who focus on collections instead of students; and think of teachers as troublesome annoyances that will interfere with library operations if permitted…after all they are the librarian, not a teacher.

How do you recognize the Disposable Librarian?

How many of us will be stretched across multiple buildings to fill a “void” being left by yet another Disposable Librarian? With her leaving, are her building administrators crying out who will teach their students? NO! They are asking, “Who will process books,” while the principals who work with Teacher-Librairans are fighting to keep them TEACHING, and in one building.

Ultimately, this is not about lost library positions. After all, who needs Disposable Librarians? Students, teachers and schools do not need them. This is about speaking up for students…they need Teacher Librarians. It is now time for all of us to stand up for students. We need to speak up and yell, “Stop it!” to the Disposable Librarians.

We can start by being clear to would be Disposable Librarians in library schools that ours is an education profession that is about working with teachers to serve and teach students in order to prepare students for the future.

As for the Disposable Librarians that are currently occupying school libraries, being a collection person is not acceptable. It is time to be an educator and an integral part of the educational process.

(The above has been posted on behalf of all Teacher-Librarians working with Disposable Librarians. If you’re not sure which you are…)

Meet AASL July 7, 2007

Posted by Laura Pearle in : Community , add a comment

Introducing Debbie Abilock, Editor of Knowledge Quest and Gayle Bogel, Associate Editor for Knowledge Quest on the Web

1.What is Knowledge Quest?

Knowledge Quest (KQ) is the official publication of AASL, with a print circulation of over 10,000 school librarians and educators. KQWeb is the online edition of Knowledge Quest, with expanded articles, original content and selected reprints from the print edition.

2. How does KQ/KQW fit into AASL? (and ALA?)
KQ/ KQW are visible voices of AASL/ALA to members and non-members. We focus on school librarians whose needs and interests, while unique, also have some commonalities with librarians in other settings.

3. What is the mission of KQ/KQW?
Knowledge Quest offers substantive information to assist building-level library media specialists, supervisors, library educators, and other decision makers concerned with the development of school library media programs and services. Articles address the integration of theory and practice in school librarianship and new developments in education, learning theory, and relevant disciplines.

4. What 2-3 things would you like KQ/KQW to accomplish in 07-08?

5. What would you like to see KQ/KQW be like?


6. How do I get involved?
Write to Debbie Abilock (kq@abilock.net) and Gayle Bogel (gbogel@gmail.com) describing your professional and personal passions - what you love, what you care about, what you’re doing, what you’d like to try.

Is there a theme you’d like KQ to consider?
Are you interested in researching resources for a theme?
Want to review professional resources?
Would you like to peer review, edit or create Web-ready manuscripts?
Would you like to write an article or series of columns?

Affiliate Assembly at Annual July 5, 2007

Posted by charvey in : ALA2007 , 2 comments

The Affiliate Assembly met twice during Annual in DC. The meetings focused on an opportunity for state organizations to share concerns and commendations with the AASL Board. Friday night the group worked on editing the concerns, and they were voted on Sunday morning. Concerns topics ranged from Web 2.0 to Reading. The AASL Board will consider these concerns and report back to the Affiliate Assembly at Midwinter. The Affiliate Assembly provides a communicate route between state level organizations and the national level.

The Affiliate Assembly also had a spotlight presentation by Julie Walker and some of the states involved in the 21st Century Skills endeavor.

Congratulations to Irene Kwidzinski who was elected Chair-Elect. Leslie Foreman was elected Recording Secretary. Jay Bansbach will be the Chair.

Last, but certainly not least, this was the 30th Anniversary of the Affiliate Assembly. Thanks to AASL for providing us cake on Friday night to celebrate!

Posted by Carl Harvey