I got a chance for the first time to hear Stephen Abrams.  He was actually at the Indiana Library Federation conference a few weeks prior, but I had conflicts for each of his session.  So, it was fun to actual hear some of his thoughts on the future of libraries.  Its a very hot topic not only in the public library realm, but also school libraries.  How do we need to adapt and change to be effective and relevant today (and in the future!)?

Arizona has a student book choice award called the Grand Canyon Award, so it was an honor to attend their luncheon.  I also had the opportunity to speak at the Teacher-Librarian division’s business meeting.  Jean Kilker and Kerrlita Westrick, co-chairs of the division, were wonderful hosts and it was great to share with them some of the many projects AASL is working on.

This was my last stop for 2011.  I have loved all my visits this fall to the various state conferences, and am looking forward to the few I visit in the spring.  But, it has been great to be home for a while and play catch-up on things around the house and at school.

It has been a lot of fun with the book discussion as we work to get ready for the AASL National Conference in Minneapolis!  Speaking of that…have you registered yet?  There are just a little less than 4 weeks before the end of the advanced rate pricing!

Starting August 15th we’ll start a weekly discussion on the AASL Conference Ning.  Click on groups and join The Shallows-Book Discussion group.    We’re going to take a chapter each week which should take us almost up to the AASL Conference!   I’ll post some discussion starters in a forum, but feel free to respond and ask your own questions, too!   I’m really looking forward to the conversation!  Then, we can continue the conversation on site in Minneapolis on Friday, October 28^th!

In The Shallows, Carr asks the question: “As we enjoy the Net’s bounties, are we sacrificing our ability to read and think deeply?” Carr then describes throughout the book how human thought has been shaped through the centuries by “tools of the mind” — from the alphabet, to maps, to the printing press, the clock and the computer. Our brains, the historical and scientific evidence reveals, change in response to our experiences. The technologies we use to find, store and share information can reroute our neural pathways.  A preview of “The Shallows” is available via the AASL conference website.

Here’s the link to the official press release about our book discussion here.

Many years ago, AASL began sending both the President-Elect and the Executive Director, Julie Walker, to this training together.  The design of the workshop provides for lots of talking, discussion, and sharing between the CEO and CSO.  While Julie has attended before, she told me that each new President-Elect has a different perspective and the conversations are always rich and useful.  There are still a few more months (thank goodness!) with Nancy Everhart as the President of AASL, so I have a little while to ponder and think how the training might be useful during my term!

There were all types of associations at this conference.  The group is kept small — 100-150 — so that you really get a chance to interact with the presenters and attendees.  AASL has had Paul Meyers come and work with us during out strategic planning several times since I’ve been on the board.  His insight has help guide AASL through some pretty heavy topics and come out with a plan and course of action.  So, to have three of the Tecker group leading it was pretty amazing!

In talking with other Past-Presidents, I had been told this was one of the best professional development sessions you’ll attend as President of AASL.  I certainly would have to agree.  For someone who is learning about our organization, you’ll find that much of how the board operates, deliberates, and make decisions is based off this training.  Sometimes with associations, you can come off and on the Board so fast you don’t really get an understanding of how and why it operates the way it does.  This training really is great for the President-Elect to really see there is research and thought behind how the organization operates.

I can only share my experiences, but in the years I’ve been on the Board I’ve seen a real focus on being strategic from the AASL.  We could spend a lot of time in managing the association, but we don’t.  Instead we focus most of our time on the big issues surround the field and how we as an organization can help move it forward.

My two days in Chicago this last week were amazing.  My hope is that I can use some of what I learned to help continue to move AASL and our field forward during my year as President.  I’m still kind of thinking through a “theme” for my year, but I keep coming back to this word – engaging!

• I want us to engage the AASL membership to get active and involved!
• I want us to engage our AASL leadership to help accomplish the work of the association and move AASL and the the field forward.
• I want us to engage in our schools to become leaders within our buildings.  We all have those teacher leaders in our buildings who are respected for what they do and how they do it!  I think as school librarians we should be right there at the top of that list!

But, I know that a lot of what I learned, I can take back and use in my school.  A lot of what I learned in how to work with people, how to thinking strategically, and how to evaluate our effectiveness can work at my school and school library just as well as it will work for AASL.  Anytime I talk with someone who asks why I’m involved in the profession I can give them two quick reasons:

• I feel obligated to give back to a field that has given so much to me.
• Every committee, meeting, conversation, interaction, etc. that I have had in working in AASL, I learn something new that I can transfer back to my day to day job.

So, I can hardly wait to see what all I have to learn in the months ahead.    I’m certain that with all the opportunities to work with many of you, I will be learning a lot!

Last week I had the pleasure to head down to Louisiana and spend a few days at the Louisiana Library Association.  The Louisiana Association of School Librarians is the state affiliate to American Association of School Librarians (AASL).  LASL is a division of the Louisiana Library Association.

One of my favorite parts of being President-Elect of AASL is that I get a chance to represent the association at some of the state conferences.  Many years ago the AASL Board votes to start a rotation so that the AASL President (President-Elects and Past-Presidents) would visit the various state conferences on a consistent basis.  Earlier this year I visited Nevada and the other state on my list this year was Louisiana!  The goal of the program was to help build and reinforce the connection between our affiliates with AASL.

The reason I enjoy it so much is the people.  Over the 2 1/2 days I was there, I got a chance to meet some amazing librarians doing some amazing things.  LASL is luckily to have quite a dedicated group at the helm of their organization.  They ran a wonderful conference.  I had the honor to present a couple of sessions – Engaging the Profession and 21st Century Skills are Elementary.  It was great to share some of the things AASL is working on.  Even more exciting is that we’ll be back in LA for ALA this summer in New Orleans.

Besides the time I was sharing in front of the group, I got time to sit back in the audience and enjoy of the session they offered.  There were some wonderful session such as Skyping with an Author and What to Read Next after  Percy Jackson with some great tech connections.   You can see some of the resources on the LASL wiki!  I also had the chance to attend their awards reception and the author luncheon with Wendelin Van Draanen who is an amazing presenter.

Carl Harvey and author Wendelin Van Draanen

But, as I said before the people are what makes these conference so wonderful.  The little chats and conversations in the hallways, before and after sessions, or at the meal functions were certainly the highlight for me.  I came back for ideas I can use in my own library as well as feedback for AASL, too.  I’d also like to thank LASL for the newest addition to my tie collection.  Its wonderful!  Thank you to all the great librarians in Louisiana for a great visit!  Looking forward to being back there in June!!!

This conference I’m sure will be full of new things we can do to expand our use of Destiny, but the program looks to go beyond that.  I have no doubt I’ll be coming back with ideas on how to make my library program even better!

I’ll be sharing a session called Curriculum, Collaboration and Library Connections.  We’ll be talking about our library branch – The Leveled Library!  Looking forward to sharing what we’ve accomplished at my school, but even more excited to see what I can learn from everyone else!

As with all conferences, my favorite part is going to be the people.  I know several good friends that are coming and I am soooo looking forwarding to spending time catching up.  I’m also looking forward to meeting new friends.  The conversations with old friends and new will make the conference experience even richer.

It’s going to be a great couple of days in the windy city this week!  I can hardly wait to get there!  If you aren’t able to make it to Chicago, check out the conference buzz or search the hashtag #fsc11 in Twitter.

AASL has started sending out a daily advocacy tips. From the simple idea of making sure there was a link to the library homepage from the main school page to setting up an advisory committee. Each day there is a little gems. Sometimes they are great reminders of things I keep meaning to do, but maybe haven’t quite the time. Sometimes they are ideas I hadn’t even thought of, and I start to wonder how that might work in my school. Every once in a while there is one that I know I’m doing!  It gives me that feeling of “I’m on the right track!”

If you are a member of AASL you can get these little tips emailed directly to your inbox – once a day, once a week, or once a month depending on your preference. You also have the option to get them as an email or text.  AASL also has been posting them on their Twitter.  So, lots of ways to get access to these wonderful ideas! If you have ideas that you think make great tips, make sure to share those with the AASL office. You might see them as a future tip down the road.

Past AIME Presidents, Leslie Preddy, Carl Harvey, Kim Carr, and Rick Jones

After missing the 2009 ILF conference because I was sick, I was glad for the chance to catch-up with my Indiana friends this year.  The 2010 Indiana Library Federation conference was full of good times and great opportunities for learning.  The Association for Indiana Media Educators (AIME) had some big changes with this year’s conference.  Formed in 1978, AIME was a combination of the Indiana School Librarians Association and the Indiana Association for Educational Communications and Technology.  At the ILF conference this week, AIME went through another change and renamed the organization to the Association of Indiana School Library Educators (AISLE).

We were also lucky enough to have a visit from the current AASL President, Dr. Nancy Everhart, who made a swing by Indianapolis on her way to continue visiting schools all across the country as part of her Vision Tour.  Nick Bruel came to accept his Young Hoosier Book Award for Bad Kitty.  He provided a hilarious speech sharing about where the characters came from in his books. The main event at the conference, however, was the performance

Past, Present, and Future AIME Presidents, Jill Youngblood, Vicki Builta, and Lael DuBois

from A.R.T. — Authors Readers Theatre.  The troupe included Avi, Richard Peck, Pam Munoz Ryan, and Sarah Weeks.  Performing as a group, they did Readers Theatre performances selected from the books they’ve written.  It was absolutely amazing!  For me, I got a chance to meet Sarah Weeks who will be coming back to Indiana in March for our annual author visit.  Our kids are going to love her!  But, as always my favorite part of any conference are the conversations – at lunch, in

A.R.T.-Richard Peck, Pam Munoz Ryan, Avi, and Sarah Weeks

the hallway, during a break, or in the vendor hall.  The time to share, to commiserate, to celebrate, and to learn from one another is so invaluable for school librarians.  Our world can be so isolating as we’re the only one that has our job in the school.  We need that opportunity to find others like us.  It helps us grow and develop as professionals to be even better for our students and staff.  Next year the ILF conference will be going back to Ft. Wayne.  Looking forward to it already!

From the wiki home page:

The objective of the College Readiness Dialogue is to provide an open, relaxed, and informal dialogue between high school and academic librarians on students’ college readiness (information skills).  How prepared are our high school seniors for college research?  What strengths do they take with them during this transition?  And, in what areas do they need support?  What can we do to help them achieve success?

On October 15, 2010 over 90 librarians from high schools and academic libraries from the greater Kansas City area met at Blue Valley High School in Stillwell, Kansas, to share ideas about preparing high school students for the experience of doing college-level research in academic libraries.

They are using the wiki to build and share resources from their meeting.  They want to keep the conversation going.  You can join the wiki to add things you might have to support their projcect!

Indianapolis Youth Literature Conference

Saturday, January 29^th, 2011
8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Indianapolis Marion County Public Library – Central Branch

It is time once again for the Indianapolis Youth Literature Conference for librarians, school media specialists and other adults who are interested in children’s and young adult literature. Scheduled speakers include Coretta Scott King award winners Brian Pinkney and Andrea Davis Pinkney and National Book award finalist Patricia McCormick. Many concurrent sessions will also be offered.  Library Education Units (LEUs) will be available for registered participants.

Please visit the website for schedules and registration information. Any questions can be directed to Carri Genovese at cluster@iupui.edu.

Space is limited, register now!