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.

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 last week I got to thinking about our dinner meetings, but in a little bit bigger picture.  I had a few thoughts after our meals….

1.)  Most of the time our group includes folks at different grade level configurations.  But, I think what I find the most interesting is that each one of us operates our programs differently.  The program we’ve created is based on the needs of students and teachers.  We’ve assessed how the library media program can be such a vital part of the school, and then worked to implement that plan.  One of the things I’ve noticed is school districts continue to move to “we all have to be the same” which I often think of as the “cookie cutter” approach.  I obviously have very strong ideas about what I think an elementary school library program should be.  I’m typically not very bashful when it comes to sharing how we do things and why.  I guess so much so that our music teacher once bought me a sign that said, “I’m not a control freak, I just happen to know what is best for everyone!”  To be honest, I’ve probably had that feeling, too.  But, my aha this week was that while what I do works for my building, but if I had to move to another building I might have to really adjust the program based on the students needs.  No matter what I do, I’m never going to have the same program as a friend of mine in the district.  Our personalities, our principals, our staffs, and our kids are just totally different…and that’s ok.  The important thing is we took the fundamental elements of the library program and then made those work for our schools.

2.) One of the most valuable parts of our meetings is the sharing and swapping and networking.  There are so many ideas floating around and we steal from each other all the time.  Even being different levels, we tend to be able to see adaptations we can make as necessary.  We also need that opportunity to vent a little and no one really understands your problems like another librarian does.  Our library friends are just too important to not make sure we stay connected!

3.) People ask the return on the money they pay to belong to national and state professional organizations.  I can’t begin to put a price tag on the friendships I’ve developed.  I don’t know that without belonging to our state organization, that I ever would have had a reason to meet any of the talented librarians I had dinner with last week.  Our initial connection was our work in the organization and from there it led to some of my most cherished friendships.  I can’t even begin to equate the value into a dollar amount.  It is just one more reason why I think those membership dollars are well spent.

So now we wait a little while and then we schedule another time for dinner again.  Until then I may just be stuck making my own dinner at home.  Guess that would be one more benefit to our get togethers – I don’t have to cook!

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!!