Nominate Your Favorite School Librarian September 23, 2009
Posted by Melissa Jacobsen in : Awards , add a commentContact: Megan Humphrey
Manager, Campaign for America’s Libraries
There’s Still Time to Nominate a School Librarians for 2009 I Love My Librarian Award
Nominations are still open for the 2009 Carnegie Corporation of New York/New York Times I Love My Librarian Award.
The award invites library users to recognize the accomplishments of librarians in public, school, college, community college and university libraries for their efforts to improve the lives of people in their community. Nominations will run through October 9 and are being accepted online at www.ilovelibraries.org/ilovemylibrarian.
Up to 10 librarians will be selected. Each will receive a $5,000 cash award, a plaque and a $500 travel stipend to attend an awards ceremony and reception in New York, hosted by The New York Times in December. In addition, a plaque will be given to each award winner’s library.
Each nominee must be a librarian with a master’s degree from a program accredited by the ALA in library and information studies or a master’s degree with a specialty in school library media from an educational unit accredited by the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education. Nominees must be currently working in the United States in a public library, a library at an accredited two- or four-year college or university or at an accredited K-12 school.
Nominees will be judged by a selection committee based on quality of service to library users, demonstrated knowledge of the library and its resources and commitment shown in helping library users.
In 2008, Carnegie Corporation of New York awarded the American Library Association (ALA) $489,000 to support the award, which will continue annually through 2012. The award continues in the tradition of one The New York Times presented from 2001 to 2006.
Last year, more than 3,200 library users nationwide nominated a librarian, and 10 librarians received the award. For more information on last year’s winners, visit ilovelibraries.org/ilovemylibrarian.
The award is administered by ALA’s Public Information Office and Campaign for America’s Libraries, ALA’s public awareness campaign that promotes the value of libraries and librarians.
Carnegie Corp. of New York was created by Andrew Carnegie in 1911 to promote “the advancement and diffusion of knowledge and understanding.” For more than 95 years, the foundation has carried out its founder’s vision of philanthropy by building on his two major concerns: international peace and advancing education and knowledge. Each year, the private grant-making foundation invests more than $100 million in nonprofit organizations to fulfill Mr. Carnegie’s mission, “to do real and permanent good in this world.”
The New York Times Company, a leading media company with 2008 revenues of $2.9 billion, includes The New York Times, the International Herald Tribune, The Boston Globe, 15 other daily newspapers, WQXR-FM and more than 50 Web sites, including NYTimes.com, Boston.com and About.com. The Company’s core purpose is to enhance society by creating, collecting and distributing high-quality news, information and entertainment.
Search Literacy via Google September 23, 2009
Posted by jhurd in : Check this out!, Technology , 3commentsGoogle is committed to helping teachers. Their latest iteration of that is the recent release of a search curriculum, including lesson plans, multimedia power point presentations and a webinar explaining how to teach search in the classroom.
The presentations can be viewed online or downloaded, and once downloaded they are editable should you, for example, decide you don’t need to teach your 8th graders how to search patents.
Tied to the ISTE technology standards the lessons are broken into three modules: understanding search engines, web search strategies and Google features. For obvious reasons, the modules all focus on the Google search engine; the tech-savvy librarian would want to add information on other search engines, web portals, etc.
Similarly, check any presentations for bits of information that may not be relevant to other search engines. For example, the “Search Toolbox” presentation states on slide six, “Quotations are rarely needed. Use them only when necessary.” Now, that is arguably true with Google or Yahoo, both of whom use AND as their default operator; Alta Vista, however, uses OR which could make quotation-less phrase searching more problematic.
Nevertheless, these are not only a good resource for librarians, but also a wonderful resource for classroom teachers who may not have access to trained library staff. They could also be used as catch-up tutorials for those students who missed class during your search strategies lesson. Best of all, as with all Google tools, the plans and presentations are free. It’s hard to beat that.
Conference registration deadlines loom September 22, 2009
Posted by Wendy Stephens in : Conferences , add a comment
- AASL divisional members have until October 6th to register at the advance rate of $290, a $50 savings over late or on-site registration.
- For attendees arriving in Charlotte on Wednesday or Thursday, almost all preconference workshops and symposia — including topics ranging from graphic novels to project-based learning to advocacy and law for school librarians — still have some availability.
- Tickets are still available to author events, which are fast becoming my own favorite part of conference, including Friday’s banquet with Laurie Halse Anderson and Sunday’s author breakfast with Linda Sue Park and Richard Peck.
- School librarians seeking course credit for AASL conference attendance have the opportunity to register through the University of Colorado – Denver ’s School of Education and Human Development. The number of credit hours available range from 0.5 to 2, with each credit hour representing a tuition cost of just $60 and 15 contact hours. Attendees must keep an attendance log and provide a personal reflection to meet course requirements.
Bundled Registration for ALA Midwinter Meeting and Annual Conference
- September is the only month for bundled registration for ALA Midwinter Meeting and Annual Conference. AASL divisional members pay $300 for registration for both conferences, representing a 20% savings over advance registration rates.
- Members who bundle will be able to make midwinter hotel reservations simultaneous with or after registration, giving them ‘first pick” at the ALA hotel conference hotel block.
- Special events ticketing will not be available until later, but can easily be added to your bundled registration.
Sign Up to Present at the AASL 2009 Bloggers’ Café September 20, 2009
Posted by bhamilton in : AASL2009 , add a commentAre you attending the 2009 AASL National Conference in Charlotte, NC? If so, please consider being part of the bloggers’ café!
What is a bloggers’ café?
Have something to share, but for whatever reason you are not scheduled for a concurrent session? Consider signing up to present your stuff at our Bloggers’ Café! Presentation equipment and Internet connection will be available.
Want to take a comfortable break from the conference hubbub? Stop by and listen as your colleagues share their ideas at the Bloggers’ Café.
Use the time to:
- Host a discussion
- Create a Birds of a Feather session
- Present your best ideas
- Expand on your Exploratorium poster
- Expand on your concurrent session
- Teach a skill
- Other?
Sign up now by visiting http://aaslbloggerscafe.wikispaces.com/.
Buffy Hamilton, School Library Media Specialist
Creekview High School
Canton, Georgia
Last Opportunity to Review IRA Standards for Reading Professionals September 15, 2009
Posted by Melissa Jacobsen in : Hot Topics, Standards , add a commentLast Opportunity to Review Draft Standards for Reading Professionals!
The revision of the Standards for Reading Professionals is coming to a close. The first draft open for public review was posted to the IRA Web site in November 2008.
Whether you reviewed the document at that time or not, you will be interested in seeing the changes incorporated in this second and final public draft.
- The Introduction has been expanded to include:
- Issues in reading education that influenced the work of the committee
- Definition of the terms English learners, all readers, and struggling readers
- Who uses the standards and how they are used to establish and evaluate advanced reading programs
- In addition to showing the standards in a matrix across roles with assumptions and references for each standard, this second draft includes a section for each individual role, its elements, and indicators.
The draft Standards 2010 is available for public review September 15-November 1, 2009, on IRA’s Web site at www.reading.org. Follow the link from the homepage. A brief survey is available for submitting comments.
In addition, Standards 2010 maintains the increased focus on candidate performance. The criteria in this document are performance based. This change was a response to shifts in the field of education toward a focus on the outcomes of learning rather than input and Standards 2010 affirms that shift. The standards will be available fall 2010.
Because these standards affect reading education nationally, comments are welcome!
For further information contact Gail Keating, Research and Policy Division, International Reading Association, 800 Barksdale Road, PO Box 8139, Newark, DE 19714-8139, USA. Telephone: 302-731-1600, ext. 226.
Twitter Challenge – Win a Free Book! September 15, 2009
Posted by Melissa Jacobsen in : AASL2009 , add a commentFrom Ernie Cox’s blog, Mediacentered…
“Do you twitter? Are you a tweet? As the AASL National Conference approaches (Nov. 5-8 in Charlotte, NC) it is a perfect time to open a new twitter account or dust off the one you’ve been meaning to use. This year’s AASL conference will have a robust virtual presence including updates from Twitter.”
AASL’s hash tag for its national conference is #aasl2009. Twitter posts can be labeled using hash tags. Hash tags function like an index for Twitter posts. Tweet about AASL’s National Conference using the hash tag #aasl2009.
Title I guidance from the USDOE September 10, 2009
Posted by Melissa Jacobsen in : ARRA, Hot Topics , add a commentThe ALA Washington Office has provided the following information.
The Dept of Education put out guidance on the second portion of the title I funds provided under ARRA:
http://www.ed.gov/policy/gen/leg/recovery/guidance/titlei-reform.pdf
G-13. May Title I, Part A ARRA funds be used to purchase library books for a Title I school?
In a Title I school operating a schoolwide program, Title I, Part A ARRA funds may be used to purchase library books if using the funds for that purpose is consistent with needs identified in the comprehensive needs assessment and articulated in the schoolwide plan. In addition, prior to
using Title I, Part A ARRA funds for this purpose, an LEA must ensure that the schoolwide school receives all the local or State funds to which it is entitled for the purpose of purchasing library books.
Given that library books are generally available to all students in a school, Title I, Part A ARRA funds may not be used to purchase library books for a Title I school operating a targeted assistance program. Such a school, however, might use Title I, Part A ARRA funds to purchase books that
would supplement the reading materials otherwise used with Title I participating students.
Bookless Libraries? September 5, 2009
Posted by bhamilton in : Hot Topics , 9commentsCushing Academy in Massachusetts has set off a firestorm with the decision to remove all print copies of books from its school library. James Tracy, headmaster of Cushing, says, “When I look at books, I see an outdated technology, like scrolls before books.”
Headmaster Tracy believes that the purchase of 18 eReaders and additional computers will meet the reading needs of their student body; others, however, do not share that optimism. The school is spending over $500,000 to create a “learning center” in place of a library; while the official name for this new conceptual space is not yet finalized, it will feature three large screen televisions, study carrels designed to facilitate laptop use, and a $50,000 coffee shop. It is not clear which school stakeholders other than Tracy were involved in this decision or how this decision was made other than Tracy’s concern that the books were taking up too much space for the current library facility.
In a May 14 speech to the Noble and Greenough School, Headmaster Tracy stated:
“I no longer see the point of maintaining this huge warehouse of underutilized space that we call a library. Better to free up that space while at the same time expanding by many orders of magnitude the school community’s access to information, literature, art, music via terminals that I term “Portals to Civilization.” Rather than libraries becoming obsolete, we can transform them into vibrant centers of learning, giving ready access to everything humans have achieved, from every civilization, across an ever-expanding universe of culture. At the same time, we can use the space now freed up from books to build convivial areas where students and teachers are encouraged to interact – yes, even talk – about ideas, so it becomes a place of interaction…”
Apparently, Headmaster Tracy doesn’t realize that school libraries are more than a “warehouse” and that they can indeed be places of authentic learning, interaction, and conversations; in fact, they already are in schools across our country! While I respect and applaud his desire to incorporate 21st century learning tools and to increase access to more books, Tracy lacks a fundamental understanding of how school libraries should function and that they can reflect all the qualities he desires without creating an “either/or ” situation on his campus. Why not weed outdated or little used titles and keep the print copies that are essential, popular, and supportive of the school curriculum while adding the ebook options instead of making ereading the only option?
What is especially troubling to me is the absence of any discussion in the article about the role school librarians play in cultivating information literacy skills. People like Headmaster Tracy assume that all one has to do is present access to the information, and that is enough. No mention is made in the Boston Globe article of who will facilitate this space or how this “learning center” will enhance students’ information literacy skills. If the certified school librarian is not to be leading this “learning center” how will students master the skills set forth in the AASL Standards for 21st Century Learners or NETS for Students ?
As you can imagine, the blogosphere is abuzz with debate over the pros and cons of this radical decision. Here are a few blog posts (and ensuing comments) to consider for reading:
- “There, I Said It: A Risky Blog Post”, Linda Braun on the YALSA blog
- “Books: An Outdated Technology?” from The Late Age of Print blog
- “Mistakes Were Made, Books Were Removed” by Jessamyn West at librarian.net
- “Can a School Library Be Replaced by E-Readers? Apparently, It Can” at Mashable
- “The Move to Digital” by Anne-Marie Gordon at Otter of Fate
- “Not the Battle We Need to Fight” by Lazygal at Killin’ Time Being Lazy
What are your thoughts on this issue? Please share your ideas here!
Buffy Hamilton
Teacher-Librarian
Creekview High School, Canton, GA
Peer Reviewers Needed for Broadband Technology Opportunities Program September 2, 2009
Posted by Melissa Jacobsen in : Check this out!, Opportunities , add a commentPlease Note: If you have applied or intend to apply, you cannot participate…
The following is a text-only press release from the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). An HTML version of this release can be viewed on the agency’s Web site at http://www.imls.gov/news/2009/082709.shtm.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 27, 2009
IMLS Press Contacts
202-653-4632
Jeannine Mjoseth
Mamie Bittner
Peer Reviewers Needed for Broadband Technology Opportunities Program
Washington, DC-The Institute of Museum and Library Services, in coordination with the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), encourages interested library and museum professionals to review grant applications for the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP). This $4.5 billion broadband grant program is funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), which seeks to bring universal broadband access to all Americans while creating jobs and stimulating the economy.
NTIA needs reviewers with relevant expertise, from diverse backgrounds, regions and experience in at least one of the following areas:
- Expertise in broadband deployment and infrastructure.
- Experience with personal computers, software, and local area networks.
- Experience in community technology and digital inclusion programs.
- Experience reviewing grant applications from nonprofit and public agencies.
- Expertise in education, health care, disability access, economic and workforce development, libraries, human and social services, and/or affordable housing.
- Experience with outreach to targeted populations, including youth, senior citizens, low income communities of color, Native Americans, immigrant communities, non-English speakers, and the disabled.
- Understanding of how broadband access enables communities to fully participate in the 21st century economy.
Reviewers will participate remotely and will not be required to attend any in-person meetings. A 90-minute training session/webinar will be provided for reviewers and repeated several times to allow for scheduling flexibility. Participants will review no more than 10 applications, each requiring 60 to 90 minutes, and participate in a 2-hour wrap-up conference call.
If you are interested, please send your resume to BTOPreviewer@ntia.doc.gov; reviewer training sessions will begin next week.
If you have additional questions, please call (888) 861-5509 or e-mail BTOPreviewer@ntia.doc.gov for further information.
____
About the Institute of Museum and Library Services
The Institute of Museum and Library Services is the primary source of federal support for the nation’s 123,000 libraries and 17,500 museums. The Institute’s mission is to create strong libraries and museums that connect people to information and ideas. The Institute works at the national level and in coordination with state and local organizations to sustain heritage, culture, and knowledge; enhance learning and innovation; and support professional development. To learn more about the Institute, please visit www.imls.gov.
