KASL

ALA/AASL Midwinter Seattle Conference Summary - January 2013

ALA/AASL Midwinter Conference 27 January 2013 Affiliate Assembly

AASL President Susan Ballard shared her vision of the library of the future. A model school library will host three spaces for social, global, virtual active learning. Her bubbly personality and encouraging presentation are inspirational!

http://www.ala.org/aasl/aboutaasl/aaslgovernance/aaslpres/presidentspage

ALA/AASL Midwinter Conference 27 January 2013 Keynote Caroline Kennedy Notes:

Someone has to preach to the choir...or the choir may stop singing.

- Libraries continue to be intimate places of discovery and self exploration.

- The best books are the ones with notes in the margin, since they allow you to see through the eyes of another reader and learn what they thought was important.

- The hallmark of civilization is the preservation of knowledge and history...that's libraries.

- The importance of libraries is evidenced by the fact that in almost every war (especially Hitler in WWII), libraries are some of first buildings destroyed. Within the Patriot Act that was recently debated, some in the government wanted library circulation records to be opened allowing the government to see what people are reading and possibly plotting.

- 77,000,000 people in the United States used a public library in 2012.

- In difficult economic times, libraries are needed the most for people to stay in contact with the world, do research, apply for jobs, complete taxes, etc.

- After Hurricane Sandy, libraries were some of the first "businesses" that reopened. People were hungry for information.  Oddly, the only videos available after the storm were those that were checked out or overdue at the time of the hurricane!

- Libraries and librarians are some of the first institutions/people immigrants trust.

- Poetry can hook kids who aren't good/avid readers. Poems can capture a moment/thought and be very short in length.

- Most kids believe that if it's not online, it doesn't exist; therefore, libraries need to be highly visible online.

- "We are all leaders...We are all followers!"

Kennedy’s collection of poems entitled Poems to Learn by Heart is sold on Amazon.

The Seattle Times covered her presentation

 

 

http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2020229761_kennedybooksxml.html

 

Learn about the ALA Youth Media Awards @ http://www.ala.org/news/mediapresscenter/presskits/youthmediaawards/alayouthmediaawards 

Carmaine Ternes, President-Elect

AASL Commendation for Summer Institute

 

ALA/AASL Authors

Graphics Courtesy of Carmaine Ternes

ALA Conference Highlights

Greetings,
Attending the ALA/AASL Annual Conference was amazing! Presenters provided motivational, educational, and entertaining sessions.

Attached are links to the presentations I enjoyed.

Sincerely,
Carmaine Ternes
Emporia High School Librarian
3302 West 18th Ave.
Emporia, KS 66801
http://www.usd253.org/home/ehslib

ALA/AASL Annual Conference Anaheim - Summer 2012 http://alaannual.org/

The annual international conference included numerous celebrated authors, educators, and speakers covering various topics concerning: books, literacy, technology, Common Core Standards, social media, regional meetings, and successful practices. Videos are available @ http://www.americanlibrariesmagazine.org/ala12/videos 

8:00- 12:00 Friday – June 22 – Libraries in the Cloud

https://dougjohnson.wikispaces.com  - select the Workshop Resources tab for the presentation and support materials 

4:00-5:15 Friday – June 22 – Opening General Session – Rebecca MacKinnon – Freedom of Expression – First Amendment Rights - Consent of the Networked: The Worldwide Struggle for Internet Freedom

http://consentofthenetworked.com/author/rebeccamackinnon/ 

8:00-10:00 pm Friday – June 22 – AASL Affiliate Assembly http://www.ala.org/aasl/aboutaasl/affils 

8:00-10:00 Saturday – June 23 – When Worlds Collide: An AASL and Common Core Mash up - Librarians learned how the AASL Standards for the 21st-Century Learner and the Common Core State Standards align. http://ithsnyclibrary.wikispaces.com/Projects

http://www.ala.org/aasl/guidelinesandstandards/commoncorecrosswalk

10:00 – 10:30 Saturday, June 23  Best Websites for Teaching and Learning - Honored websites, tools, and resources of exceptional value to inquiry-based teaching and learning as embodied in the AASL’s' Standards for the 21st-Century Learner.

http://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/news/ala/aasl-announce-2012-best-websites-teaching-and-learning-ala-annual-conference-anaheim

10:30-12:00 Saturday, June 23 – Can’t Cover it up! How Social Media and Instant News Inform Contemporary Young Adults A generation exposed to online gossip, chat rooms, Twitter, and Facebook expect more from their reading experience. YA authors discussed how modern teens' use of social technologies has influenced the evolution of story arcs, plot pacing and character interaction.  Authors:  Geoff Herbach - Stupid Fast; Janet Gurtler – I’m Not Her;   Laura Roecker & Lisa Roecker -The Liar Society; Miranda Kenneally – Catching Jordan 

1:30-3:00 Saturday, June 23 - Spectacular Services for At-Risk Teens – YALSA – Participants learned how to identify at-risk populations, avoid stereotyping, and how to advocate, plan, design, and implement programs for these students. 

4:00-5:00 Saturday, June 23 – Being a Social Teen Advocate – YALSA – Create a Facebook fan page and incorporate tools like Twitter, Pinterest, and Google+ in order to connect with teens.  Although The Gutenberg Elegies: The Fate of Reading in an Electronic Age by Sven Birkets was published in 2006, we are sacrificing our literary culture due to the impact of technology on the experience of reading. Birkets examines how literature intimately shapes and nourishes the inner life.  The pros and cons of the impact of technology on today’s youth were presented.

8:00-10:00pm Saturday, June 23 – Scholarship Bash – The Rock Bottom Remainders perform their “It’s Past Our Bedtime Tour” - Nearly 2,200 people attended the group’s last concert and sang along with band members who livened the stage. Among those who performed were Stephen King, Amy Tan, Mitch Albom, Dave Barry, Matt Groening, and Scott Turow. “Paperback Writer” and “Proofreading Woman” were hilarious! Some of the popular songs can be found on youtube @ http://www.youtube.com/watchv=2jMJ0k2tSxE

The original uncensored band info is available @ http://www.youtube.com/watchv=eRg1SsUn7UA&feature=related 

8:00-12:00 Sunday, June 24 – AASL Affiliate Assembly – Members met at regional tables, discussed, and voted on the concerns and commendations. 

6:45-8:45pm Sunday, June 24 - Newberry Caldecott Awards Banquet featured Chris Raschka - A Ball for Daisy; Jack Gantos – Dead End in Norvelt; John Rocco – Blackout; and Lane Smith – Grandpa Green.  View the slideshow @ http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/slj/home/894883-312/slj_goes_to_the_2012.html.csp  Jack Gantos fondly recalled “Draw what I see, think what I feel, then write!” His tuxedo speech was presented as an obituary “Read in Peace!” 

8:30-9:30 Monday, June 25 - ALTAFF President’s Program with Dan Rather – This journalist revealed personal thoughts, highlighted important moments of his career, and discussed his memoir: Rather Outspoken: My Life in the News.

10:30-11:00 Monday, June 25 – Introducing Ghost Buddy: Zero to Hero with Henry Winkler and Lin Oliver – The authors of the Hank Zipzer and Ghost Buddy series shared the four principles of each book: laughter, friendship, unique characters, and heartfelt compassion. 

12:00-2:00 Monday, June 25 - The AASL Awards Luncheon highlighted best practices in school library programming. Through collaboration, leadership, national involvement, upholding the principles of the profession, and innovative programming, each person or program being honored has made a significant contribution to the school library profession. The luncheon was a celebration of school librarians that have modeled excellence. 

Updates and comments have been posted to the annual session including the "ALSC and YALSA Joint Presidents’ Program: The Digital Lives of Tweens and Young Teens." You can see Stephen's notes @ http://www.slideshare.net/stephenabram1/yalsa2012. Dr. Poris's slides contained proprietary materials and will not be posted.

AASL Affiliate Assembly, Dallas 2012

Gwen Lehman, President Elect; and Juanita Jamison, President

This meeting focused on advocacy and the importance of contacting your legislators along with an emphasis on local advocacy.  Some specific examples included inviting your school board members to the library and enlisting the support of your parent organizations or developing your own friends of the library.  If you’re really ambitious, you might start your own save the library campaign.

We also received a list of website resources from the AASL Intellectual Freedom Committee:

Freedom to Read Foundation 

Position Statement on Labeling Books with Reading Levels (approved July 2011) 

Essential Links:  Intellectual Freedom, Filtering, Censorship, Ethical Issues 

AASL Blog 

Banned Websites Awareness Day, September 25, 2012 

Choose Privacy Week, May 1-7, 2012 – 

Finally, reminders were given regarding:

AASL Standards for the 21^st Century Learner Lesson Plan Database

AASL Electronic Discussion List

AASL 2012 Fall Forum 

AASL School Library Month Promotion 

Information Provided by Gwen Lehman
Technology Integration Specialist
Larned, KS 67550
Tech Tidbits blog

Online Learning Opportunities for School Librarians from AASL

KASL Leadership

Gwen Lehman, President-Elect, and Juanita Jameson, President, at AASL Affiliate Assembly, ALA 2011 in New Orleans

Greetings Region IX Affiliates!

Affiliate Assembly met this week in New Orleans and states represented from Region IX were Colorado (Yvonne Miller and JoAnn Conlon), Kansas (Juanita Jameson and Gwen Lehman), and Nebraska (Carrie Turner).  Meetings of the Affiliate Assembly (AA) were held on Friday evening and Sunday morning.

There were eight commendations submitted from all regions with seven being approved to be sent to the AASL Executive Board for final approval.  A total of 14 statements of concern were originally submitted to the AA Executive Board with seven given to the AA for their approval.  Of those, six were approved by AA to be sent to the AASL Executive Board for final approval.  As soon as those actions are taken by the AASL Executive Board, I will post those Statements of Commendation and Statements of Concern which are given final approval.

Elections for AA Chair-Elect resulted in Pam Renfrow, Region IV, being elected. Devona Pendergrass, Region VI, was elected Recording Secretary.

Be sure to participate in the newly established Lesson Plan Database : Standards for the 21st-Century Learner.  This is an exciting tool that allows people to submit and use lessons plans.  These plans will go through a review process before being published so the end result will be a database of the highest quality.  There is a lesson plan template for those interested in contributing lesson plans, and  everyone should want to utilize this Learning4Life tool.  Participants are not limited to AASL members.  Please go to http://aasl.jesandco.org to view lesson plans or to register to contribute lesson plans.

Information on the upcoming 2011 AASL Conference being held in Minneapolis, MN October 27 - 30 is now available.  The "Turning the Page" preliminary program is available with 140 concurrent sessions being offered. In addition, there will be a orientation for first-time attendees, an Exploratorium, and the Closing Celebration will be held at the Nicollet Island Paviliion.  The "One Book One Conference" will highlight The Shallows:  What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains by Nicolas Carr.  There will be a discussion forum which will  be attended by the author.

Because this is lengthy, I will post more information at a later date.  Enjoy the rest of your summer!

Sincerely,

Linda A. Roberts

Region IX Director

School Libraries Count!

“School Libraries Count!” study now open
AASL announced the launch of the fifth year of its longitudinal study, “School Libraries Count!”, which gathers basic data about the status of school library programs across the country. The division will use this information to develop advocacy tools to support school library programs at the local, state, and national levels. The last day to complete the survey is March 18....
AASL, Jan. 10

AASL 2010 School Libraries Count! survey

According to the results from the AASL 2010 School Libraries Count! survey (PDF file), the educational resources of students in high-poverty schools have been most affected by last year’s economic downturn. Overall survey results show that school expenditures on information resources were approximately $12,260 in 2010, compared to $13,525 last year. However, average spending on information resources in high-poverty schools decreased 25%, or $3,557, on average compared to 2009 survey results....
AASL, Oct. 13