The other candidate was the amazing Ann Dutton Ewbanks. She is a very articulate and passionate voice for school libraries, so I was honored to be on the ballot with her. In the months that followed, we had the candidates forum at ALA Midwinter, as well as the chance to pass out some bookmarks and stickers! Besides a few posting on my Facebook page and a few emails sent to friends and colleagues, that was about all there was to campaigning.

Voting began in mid-March and ended on April 23rd. The results were announced on Friday. It was quite a day at school. Luckily the bulk of my day I had classes in working on research projects, so it gave me little time to wonder as I waited for the phone call. I have such an amazingly supportive school family. Teachers and staff came through all day, “Have you heard yet?” “Have they called?” “Make sure to tell us as soon as you hear.” About 2:30pm, the phone rang with Julie Walker, AASL Executive Director, on the other end to share with me that I had been elected the 2011-2012 AASL President.

I am so honored and humbled by the opportunity the members of AASL have given me. There are amazing leaders on the AASL Board and I’m excited about the chance to work with them to continue to move our association and profession forward. I’m sure in my three years I’ll serve (President-Elect, President, and Immediate Past President) there will be successes and challenges. I look forward to all of it because I know we have an amazing group of leaders, members, and staff who will help work through it all together.

I believe that life often presents us with a variety of opportunities. Some of them turn out better than others, but you never know what will happen until you say “yes!” I am so excited about this next adventure and glad I said “yes” when this opportunity came along. We all have a variety of circumstances in our professional and personal lives, but I hope when the next opportunity comes your way…you’ll consider saying “yes”, too. You never know where it might lead.

The day was filled with sharing and talking about the who, what, where, why, and how about our job.  We took a little time to talk about the gloom and doom of school funding in both our states, but for the most part we really tried to stay focused on discussing the craft of our field.

Over the years we’ve all developed some tricks and techniques that work in all our various roles.  From instruction to administration, we find ways to make our job easier.  We find ways to make our jobs more effective.  I know I get up everyday and think how can we move our program to the next level.

I’m a huge fan of networking and sharing.  As a matter of fact I met one of the colleagues from Michigan years ago when we were both leaders in our respective state associations.  We always talked about having a day just to share and learn from each other, and a few weeks back she emailed and asked to visit.   I replied back with a resounding yes.

I believe that conversations like the ones I had with my friends from Michigan are what helps us become better school librarians.  The chance to share our success (and failures), absorb new ideas from others, and just reflect a little bit on where we are and how far we come is so important.

There are lots of ways to do that – whether it be face to face like my visitors from Michigan or whether it be an online Skype™ conversation with another colleague.  These interactions are what help us to grow and develop as school library leaders.   We often get isolated in our jobs, and this is a way to make connections so we don’t feel so alone.

But, we need a place to start making those connections.  For me, it was my involvement with our state organization, AIME, and then our national organization, AASL, which led me to begin making those bridges and connections to colleagues all over the country.  The colleagues and network I’ve built will serve me well for many years to come.  They can support me in the time of need and help me celebrate in the time of successes. Its one of the reason I value those memberships in my professional organizations so much!!

The video clips from all the candidates’ speeches are posted online on ALA Connect. If you are a member of AASL, please do take the time to vote beginning March 16, 2010.

Thank you for the opportunity to run for AASL President.  I thought I would start out telling you a little about how I got in to this profession.  15 years ago a little flyer from Ball State University changed the course of my life.  It advertised a program for school media services.   I always knew growing up I wanted to be in some sort of field related to education.  When I was in high school and the district tech director wasn’t in the building, I was often the next person in line to be called if something went wrong.  Thinking I wanted the director’s job someday, I asked what kind of degrees she had.  The response – home economics!  I was pretty sure I wasn’t going to be following the path.   My job during high school was working at the Speedway Public Library, so when that flyer came from Ball State it sounded like that might be the right fit!

While I’m not sure I completely understood what I was getting myself into, I did quickly discover how this was the perfect profession for me.  When I was student teaching, my supervising teacher strongly encouraged me to join ALA/AASL and our state association, AIME.  She was from the generation where you joined because that was part of your responsibility in being a professional.   I dutifully listened and sent in my dues.  But it is so much more than just paying dues — it is about finding ways to contribute and be INVOLVED.

The opportunities for leadership in our state organization came around, as did the chance to serve AASL in a variety of capacities over the years such as chair of the Affiliate Assembly (did you know you could be elected when you were 1000 miles from the meeting?) or chairing the 2007 AASL Conference.  These chances to give back to the profession are something I value and treasure because they made me a better school librarian for my students and staff as well as helped refine my skills as a leader – skills that I can use as President of AASL to benefit you.

I believe and know that the future for our profession lies with INVOLVEMENT.   School librarians are leaders in teaching 21^st Century skills; yet, due to budget shortfalls, positions are being cut.  INVOLVEMENT begins in our schools by designing instruction and providing resources that meet the needs of our students and teachers and basing these resources on the AASL learning standards.   As leaders we need administrators to see us directly impacting student learning.  Being INVOLVED is convincing decision makers that school library programs are transparent in all curricular areas and are a good use of scarce dollars.  I believe we have to be INVOLVED in the profession, recruit new members, and show them how they can be actively INVOLVED in AASL. The future for our field is defined through professional involvement.  The more active members we have the larger voice AASL has to advocate for school libraries.  As a candidate for President of AASL I will continue to work on legislative initiatives and strengthen our profession by completing targeted concerns in the AASL strategic plan. These are unsettling times, but by being INVOLVED and working together, we can fulfill a vision where school libraries are a necessity in every district and every school.

When I leave here today, I’m going back to the 470 students and 40 staff members of North Elementary School and my day job as the library media specialists.   But I know that by being a part of the AASL community, I have a network of people I can rely on to help me in time of need, to share and brainstorm ideas, and celebrate the successes.  As AASL President, I want every school librarian to see the AASL community and say, “I have to be a part of that!”

So, since the last posting has been a little while, it seemed appropriate to catch-up after a most busy fall.  So, here are the highlights of the last few weeks.

* I am very excited to be a candidate for President of the American Association of School Librarians.  The election is this spring, so I encourage all AASL members to get out there and vote (vote for Sara Kelly Johns for ALA President, too!)!!  You can read more about my candidacy on my website or check out my Facebook group.

* The AASL conference this fall was a wonderful learning experience.  Keynotes danah boyd, James Patterson, and Marco Torres were amazing.  I still need to find some time to go back to my notes and process some of their messages.   As always it was a great time to meet with my colleagues, friends, and the vendors, too.

* I’ve been working as part of the Library Media Committee for the National Boards for Professional Teaching Standards.  I am in awe of the company I’m surrounded by in our meetings.  Each person brings such a unique perspective and opinion as we work to rewrite the Library Media standards to become National Board Certified Teacher.    We still have a couple of months to go before we’re done and I look forward to it.

* C.L.A.S.S. (Connected Learning Assures Students Success) has been a main part of my professional development for a long time now.  This month I presented/facilitated at their Related Arts Day and attended the Support Team Day.  The monthly e-Tools I write was just finished, too, so I’ve gotten to spend a lot of time with my C.L.A.S.S. friends.

* A few articles published as well as waiting anxiously for my copies of my new book which should arrive by years end.  The 21st Century Elementary Library Program is published by Linworth.

* Just last week I attend Peggy Sharp’s annual trip through Indianapolis to talk about the Best Books of 2009.  I wasn’t disappointed.  I got lots of great new ideas!

* School was a busy place, too, with three grade levels doing a major project.  We also use our PLCs to provide professional development for our teachers about wikis.

I make this list for a couple of reasons.

1. I’m getting older and it helps me to think back to remember what I’ve done, so I can reflect a bit on the accomplishments and see potential for improvements down the road.
2. It reminds me that there are opportunities abound.  We have to be willing and ready so that we can jump on those adventures and see where they take us.
3. I think it is amazing the interactions with people all of these events have brought.  I got a chance to meet in person many folks I know virtually.  There were people I knew and new people to meet.  Networking to me is so critically to our job because I think it helps us to broaden our thinking and perspective.  I sometimes need that little push there and these conversations help to create that.

I know I’ve used this phrase before in an article and probably in this blog if I went back and looked, but Barbara Pedersen from C.L.A.S.S. says it best, “As good as we are, we can always get better!”  This fall has been an amazing time in my professional career as there have been opportunities and changes for me to get even better!  I know that everything on my list this year will have an impact on what I do with students and teachers the rest of the year.  I can’t wait to see where the path will take me now!

I’m especially pleased to see our role as a leader highlighted in the new guidelines.  The last chapter, “Empowering Learning through Leadership” is short, but is so key.  School library media specialists must be seen as leaders in their schools and districts.  This perception is a critical piece to the success of a library media program.  As leaders we help set the direction and goals and in turn paint the picture of how libraries help schools reach those goals.

The other two main areas of the new guidelines are “Teaching for Learning” and “Building the Environment”.  The titles of these chapters succiently summarize the guidelines presented under them.  How do we make the library media program part of teaching and instruction and what kind of enviroment do our student (and staff) need for that learning to be successful.

I need more time to digest what I’ve read.  I need to reread it again.  But, my first reaction is these guidelines will serve us well.  I started my first job in 1998 when Information Power 2 was released.  Here we are 11 years later with a new document.  I think it takes the best of what we know and builds on its predecessors.  These new guidelines paint a picture of possibilities.  Now the real work begins…turning those paintings into realities.

My bags are packed and I’m ready to head to Oak Brook, Illinois for the AASL Fall Forum.   The topic is Assessment Part II.  Part I was two years ago out in Rhode Island and was absolutely excellent.  I hope the weekend ahead proves to be a great learning experience as well.   The Fall Forums are a great chance to network with folks from all over the country and are scheduled in the fall during years when there is not an AASL National Conference.

I’ll try to carve out some time to share my thoughts of the weekend.

While my final day in Anaheim was on Tuesday, it has taken me a few days of adjustment back home to get time to write.  On the last day at ALA, we began early with a connection with NECC in San Diego.  It was a great opportunity to connect with our library media colleagues at NECC.  It is such a shame that the two conference overlap so often forcing a choice.  There are so many learning opportunities at both, it is often hard to choose.  However, my duties with AASL this time made the decision for me.

Following the connection, we ran to the exhibit hall and participated in Virtual Library Legislative Day.  I contacted all of my representatives stressing to them the importance of the SKILLS Act as part of the NCLB reauthorization.  Final pass through of the exhibit hall gave me time to connect with some publishers.

The afternoon followed with my first AASL Board meeting serving as Member at Large.  The meeting focused on introducing us to the process and procedures as AASL President Ann Martin presided over her first meeting.

The last several days provided a wonderful opportunity to continue to be involved in the national organization for school librarians, connect with colleagues and friends, and interact with vendors.

Today, I spent more time in the exhibit hall and attended the AASL Awards Luncheon. I had the pleasure of serving on the National School Library Media Program of the Year Award (SLMPY) committee this year, so it was so exciting to see the winning schools receive their award. Simsbury High School in Simsbury, CT and Luella Elementary School in Henry County, Georgia were this year’s winner. Simsbury wowed us with their assured experiences and Luella had an amazing library where every child would feel welcomed and clamor to spend time!

DAY 2

Yesterday I kicked off the day with a run through the exhibit hall. We ran through about 1/3rd of the hall hitting various vendors and catching up with friends and colleagues.

From there I headed to the AASL President’s Program. The program was kicked off by awarding the Spokane Mom’s the Crystal Apple Award. Meeting these amazing women was a highlight. It was so exciting to see the passion they had to preserver and improve their school libraries in Washington. Wouldn’t it be great to see this grassroots effort happening in every state! Read more about their efforts at: http://www.fundourfuturewashington.org/

In the afternoon I presented along with the assistance of Jay Bansbach the AASL 101 session. This program gave newbies information about AASL and how to get involved. While the crowd was small, we were able to share information about AASL and spending time in individual conversations.

I had a little more time for exhibits after the session and was able to catch-up with several vendors.

I ended the day at the ALA Scholarship Bash at Disneyland. There were a lot of people, but we had a great time!

DAY 3

This morning was AASL Affiliate Assembly. This is my last meeting on the Executive Committee as I now cycle off following my term as Past-Chair. Affiliate Assembly is a wonderful forum for sharing concerns with the AASL Board and for AASL to share with the states all that is happening. AASL President, Sara Kelly Johns, AASL President-Elect, Ann Martin, and a whole host of AASL Committee Chairs provided insights and updates on to what is happening in our organization. We also discussed and voted on several concerns and commendations that will now be sent to the AASL Board to consider. It was a very productive meeting.

In the afternoon I shared a brief AASL 101 in the exhibit hall. It mostly became a one on one conversation with a library school student, but it was a great chance to share about the wonderful things AASL does as an organization.

I caught a little of the Demco Book Cart Drill Team competition before calling it a day!