AkASL will be putting together a presentation to help advocate for library positions and resources throughout the state. The presentation will be made available to share across the state. We need your photos, screenshots, and videos of wonderful things happening in your library. Anything that shows a positive impact on students is welcome. Before sending photos, please double check that all FERPA conditions are met.

Please send the following information with your photos and videos: 1) your name, 2) your position, 3) your library, and 4) a brief background for the photo or video. Please send your materials to your Region Rep or to Deborah Rinio at deborah.rinio@k12northstar.org by May 1. Please note, if your materials are too large to fit in an email, you are welcome to share them via Google Docs.

The information and application can be found here. Why should an Alaskan apply? First it is incredibly prestigious. $10,000 in award money (for up to three winners), and a chance to be on the cover of School Library Journal! Second, AASL pointed out that no one from the Northwest has ever won and they were begging for applications from our area. So this might be our year! And third, this would be amazingly great publicity for Alaska librarians at a time when library programs are being cut across the state. So please consider nominating yourself or someone else. If you have ideas of who would be a good nominee (including yourself, don’t be shy!) please email me or an AkASL board member. AkASL will do all we can to support any candidates.

There are several nationally certified librarians in our state who are very generous with their time and encouraging when helping National Board applicants.  A large percentage of Alaska librarians achieve certification on their first try due in part to the outstanding support from their fellow librarians.  Another wonderful resource we have in the state is the Jump Start course that helps applicants get started each June.  This course is held in Anchorage, is hosted by NEA-AK, and transportation, housing, and two meals a day are also covered.  Taking this course will demystify the process and get you on your way.  The course is now open for registration, but sign up soon, the spaces fill up quickly!  I highly recommend that anyone remotely considering the process take this course.  It will help you make up your mind, and is a very inexpensive and enjoyable two credits!

Although I don’t find out until Thanksgiving whether I am certified, I am happy to answer questions or refer you to someone who knows the answers!

• School librarian positions across the country are being cut.  This is a great proactive way to collect data to help you and everyone in the state advocate for the importance of school librarians!
• It will make you feel really good at the end of the day when you see hard proof of everything you do (and how much your students love you)!
• You will have amazing statistics to share with your administrator, fellow teachers, PTSA, students, and the school board!  Share the statistics in your newsletter or on your website.
• The students will be eager to do it. They love the library too and they will want to know what you find out. Share the results with them!
• It’s not hard, and it’s not much extra work. All the documents you will need are provided on this page below. Just run them off and add a camera. Voila!

To check our the State Library’s Snapshot Day page go here.

To get specific information on how to run a Snapshot Day program in your library, go here.

ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education) has great webinars on hot topics such as Project Based Learning, QR Codes in the Classroom, iPads and video.

AASL (American Association of School Librarians) has both the e-Academy and the L4L Webinars.

e-Academy upcoming classes include:

July 9 – August 3, 2012
Design for Understanding Meets the 21st Century School Librarian
Online registration
Registration form

July 16 – August 10, 2012
From 0 to 60: Implement eBooks in Your Library Program in 4 Weeks
Online registration
Registration form

July 16 – August 10, 2012
Making a Place, Making a Case for Read-Alouds:
A Powerful Teaching Tool for Literacy
Online registration
Registration form

Learning for Life Webinars  addressing the 21st Century Standards are archived, and still available.

• Skills & Content Standards
• Teaching Responsibilities
• Dispositions of the Exemplary School Librarian
• Information Literacy Self-Assessment Strategies
• Developing a Vision for Learning
• Teaching for Learning
• Building the Learning Environment
• Empowering Learning through Leadership

Apply today to attend one of the following national conferences:
See AkASL grants page

International Reading Association — April 29-May 2  Chicago !!
http://www.reading.org/convention.aspx

ALA June 21-26  Anaheim
http://www.ala.org/conferencesevents/

ISTE June 24-27  San Diego
http://www.iste.org/conference/ISTE-2012.aspx

How will new books help your library?

Tell your story and WIN!

Entry Form PDF RTF

Book Bonanza Brochure

Deadline April 30, 2012

See guidelines and criteria below.

Supported by Alaska School Library Association

and Barnes and Noble.

LS 591 3 credit class

For those of you getting your summer plans in order please plan on attending this year’s school librarian leadership academy. In partnership with the Alaska Association of School Librarians the Alaska State Library will put on this year’s academy August 6th – August 10th on the UAA campus. We will have travel assistance stipends available again this year.

The academy will run from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. each day, and will include a working lunch session. This three credit graduate level course is a great way to take care of recency credits, and even more importantly it is an opportunity to spend a focused week with colleagues from across the state and leaders in the library profession.

We have a number of exciting presenters in the wings including to our delight, national presenter Teri Lesesne of Making the Match: The Right Book for the Right Reader at the right time, Grades 4-12 fame.

As in past years, a percentage of the available seats to attend the academy will be reserved for school librarians outside of south central Alaska. I encourage anyone interested to submit their application of interest ASAP. Registration will be available online through UAA’s online registration system soon. Don’t delay contact at Jacque.peterson@alaska.gov for an application of interest.

Your input is needed for the next Alaska State Library 5 year plan.  This plan is important to all Alaska librarians as it provides the guidelines on how to spend State grant money, including funding for the wonderful Inter Library Cooperation Grants.

It’s EASY to review and submit comments on IdeaScale!! If you have not tried IdeaScale yet, you need to check it out.  I’m sure you will find a use for it in your school or library.

What trends will Alaska libraries need to address over the next five years? Look at ideas contributed by the Governor’s Advisory Council on Libraries, agree or disagree with the suggestions, post comments, or suggest other trends.

Simply go to: http://akstateplan.ideascale.com

• REGISTER in top right corner, and you are in.
• You can vote and comment on the ideas already posted.
• You can SUBMIT NEW IDEA via the golden button.
• We are gathering input through March 15.
• Later, you can return to this site  and review what others have said and add new ideas.