Planning for October 2010? Check this out:

KelownaFresh

2010 BCTLA Conference
October 21-22, 2010

The Central Okanagan Teacher Librarians' Association (COTLA) is proud to be sponsoring the 2010 British Columbia Teacher-Librarians' Association (BCTLA) conference, October 21-22. The conference will be hosted at Kelowna Secondary School (1079 Raymer Avenue, Kelowna).

In addition to a comprehensive conference itinerary and social events, there will be three keynote addresses:

Dr. Jamie McKenzie will outline the exciting new roles of the 21st centure teacher-librarian and talk about the stance, attitude and strategies required to turn challenge into opportunity.

Well known television personality, Dr. Art Hister, will talk about taking care of your health so that you can live with more energy, more happiness, and less stress.

The "Disruptive Innovators" Donna DesRoches and Carlene Walter will discuss how social media has redefined the role or the teacher-librarian.

With 31 distinct sessions covering everything from 21st century libraries and technologies to the art of writing and the culture of reading, the conference promises to be of interest to a wide range of teaching professionals.

For more information on the conference, its sessions, and registration procedures, visit the KelownaFresh conference site .

October on the Move

Professionally, we have so much to do in October, what with DEAR (the annual BCTLA promotion of Drop Everything and Read), the BCTLA Champions of Literacy Conference in Richmond, and putting our school library programs on track.

The Bookmark (last print copy, celebrating fifty years of publication) has gone to press. Copies will be distributed at next week's BCTLA Chapter Councillors' meeting in Richmond. The Bookmark is now an online FREE publication to serve our members' needs. But we are finding remarkable benefits to having a universal presence as well. More on this issue is available on The Virtual Bookmark. Thanks to our fantastic editors Angie MacRitchie and Al Smith, hard at work to meet your needs in the Okanagan.

There's more going on in October:

• TLs are gathering parents as Friends, then inviting them and colleagues to the October 27 evening meeting at Tupper. Friends Of the School Library (FOSL) will be co-hosting an event for parents, educators, and anyone interested in school libraries and literacy. Please consider attending as it is bound to be interesting.
  
  

  Topic: Issues in Reading and Learning for Boys
  Presenter: Dhanook Singh, Secondary Teacher, VSB
  Tuesday, October 27, 2009, 7 PM
  Tupper Secondary School, 419 East 24th Avenue
  



• TLs, also, are considering how to attend the after-school symposium event at UBC's Ike Barber on October 26. Videogames, Virtual Worlds, and Real Learning. You may attend virtually as well.


• I am working on a workshop for the 2009 Richmond BCTLA conference, Champions of Literacy, with Pat from Gladstone; our topic is Plagiarism, and we ask, are we missing the mark? More information and registration for the conference, including its kick-off event at the new Richmond speed-skating Oval are found here.


• A small group of Vancouver TLs will be off to the Legislature in Victoria for National School Library Day, October 26, including me.


• There is a first meeting for the new mentorship model planning team this week. Next we will be asking for names of those new and nearly new TLs seeking mentors.


• SLRCCC (School Library Resource Centre Consultative Committee) meets on Monday morning. A 20-page report on the state of school libraries in relation to the strategic directions set out by The Haycock Report has been prepared and submitted for consideration by SLRCCC.


• Thirty TOCs will receive training in two sessions this week: Horizon and Daily Operations of the School Library.


• Promotion needed NOW! Your attendance is invited to the YSL online course on School Library Design. Contact me for information about BCTLA participation.

Check this out: Human books, you ask?

Parkland's librarian presents human books by Jeff Bell of The Times-Colonist, October 8, 2008. Shared via AddThis

And Meredyth is into vampire books. For her reviews, read the Late Literacy blog (link found in the sidebar).

Generally, despite the pace, all is well, legs are often better but weekends are imperative to recovering capacity, and I must say that I do look forward to November!

Maryann is back on Monday. Bless her!

There's Never Nothing to Do with School Libraries

This Weekend, It's Word on the Street

WOTS: Sunday at Library Square, 11 am to 5 pm. This is a wonderful annual Fall event where you can check out new titles, award-winning authors and spoken-word artists, book bargains, and more ... all for FREE. Who's there? Check here.

Fall Book Harvest, October 16

North Vancouver City Library's Annual Fall Book Harvest brings CWILLBC authors and illustrators, new titles, book prizes, displays, and the chance to meet children's favorites. 1:30 to 3:30 pm, 120 West 14th, North Vancouver.

Vancouver Children's Literature Roundtable Fall Breakfast

Saturday, October 17: University Golf Club, 8:30 Registration: This year, meet Gregory Maguire, author of more than a dozen novels for children -- and Wicked for adults.

BCTLA Conference: Champions of Literacy

October 22-23: Richmond Olympic Oval and Richmond Secondary School. Keynote speaker: none other than Roch Carrier; a national treasure and a champion of Canadian culture. As a Canadian writer, he touched our hearts with books like La Guerre, Yes Sir! He was a director of the Canadian Council for the Arts from 1994 to 1997 and served as National Librarian of Canada from 1997 to 2004. Carrier is an ardent supporter of libraries and children's literacy.

The Thursday night wine and cheese will be at the Legacy Suite of the spectacular Richmond Olympic Oval so you can catch the Olympic excitement! Take a tour of this inspiring and innovative building and meet the Olympic Mascots! This year's themes are Imagination, Inspiration, and Information! Click on Venues or Presenters to get more details.
The main conference is being hosted by Richmond Secondary School, located at 7171 Minoru Blvd., Richmond BC, V6Y1Z3. There'll be exciting workshops, inspiring speakers and great literacy displays from a variety of vendors.

Register now!

DEAR, October 26

On Monday evening this week, Vancouver school trustees supported by District Management, unanimously supported a motion to endorse the annual Drop Everything and Read campaign in which, on October 26 National School Library Day, whole school communities drop everything and read for 20 minutes.

Under the guidance of BCTLA VP (Advocacy) Karen Lindsay, the BCTLA Executive successfully promoted this initiative to celebrate National School Library Day and were honoured nationally with the CASL/Angela Thacker Memorial Award. You should have received your poster for this year's event; it features a photo by BCTLA Exec member Al Smith from Kelowna.

Ideas for the celebration are wonderfully diverse. Last year's event featured prominent Vancouverites, authors, and school board officials reading to children. Then-Education Minister Shirley Bond got into the act as well, dropping what she was doing to read.

The support of our Trustees and District Management Team ensures our district's participation in this high-profile literacy promotion event. Many of our schools already have a daily sustained silent reading component. An added "celebration" of reading for National School Library Day, along with a vision that one day, all British Columbians -- all Canadians -- will "drop everything and read" to honour the importance of both school libraries and the importance of free voluntary reading remains before us. Ideally, all would include this reading daily as the research is clear: reading improves with reading and makes a significant difference in student success. For more, read Stephen Krashen, guru of free voluntary reading, in School Library Journal, 2006.

This event coincides with the IASL proclamation in 2008 that October is International School Library Month. This year's theme mirrors the 2009 Conference in Padua: School Libraries - The Big Picture.

Thanks, Jane, Val, et al, for your on-going and ready support. Let's get planning for the celebrations at schools and other education centres ....

Multivendor Display, November 4-5

Start planning for a half-day to peruse books from our various vendors at the Firefighters' Hall at Metrotown in Burnaby. Mark this on your calendar. New TLs are encouraged not to book for the first morning and to plan as well to attend Maryann's Selection and Acquisition workshop scheduled for the venue.

November 14-21, Canadian Children's Book Week

The Grade 1 (along with the children in their classes) TD Book Giveaway takes place during the TD-sponsored week, so plan now for this event. The books should be arriving in your schools this week. You can order kits. Check your numbers.

QUICK READINGS of INTEREST

Pass this blog or readings along to your administrator and/or staff and/or parents.

South African Children Push for School Libraries

Read about The New York Times article about the march of school children to remedy a failing school system for the least priviliged young citizens. “We want more information and knowledge,” said one young marcher for Equal Education who learns in an environment where access to school libraries and the desperate need for building repairs constrains students' learning.

Place Priority on Teaching Internet Skills

Kids may be more Internet savvy than ever before, but their ability to perform online research and evaluate Web sites remains weak. How can parents and teachers help? Read this.

Literacy Accountability in a New-Media Age

Paul Barnwell, in Education Week (September 22, 2009), points to the limitations of assessments that are "stuck on a notion of literacy that does not reflect the reality of our time." Our focus on testing students' understanding of print materials ignores the reality that they learn from new media and need to be able to read and think critically about text in relation to multimodal formats, that skills they develop can be transferred to understanding text in traditional formats, and that this is about empowering students. Writes Barnwell, "Unleashing and teaching media skills results in student empowerment. This is scary to some, who are comfortable sorting students by their ability to perform traditional literacy tasks.These same students might be effective media consumers and producers, but not according to our current accountability system."

At The End of the Week

I believe I am about to return to a life of normalcy. I am on my first day off today since mid-August. This weekend was the BCTLA Executive where we welcomed new members Michele and Chris, both of whom are perfect "fits" for this wonderful group.

This week as well some of us gathered to say farewell to the retiring "super" Chris Kelly; he has always been a wonderful participant in and supporter of our programs. Who can forget his readings about love at last year's Winter Tonic. I thanked him for "the party," as his leadership has been uplifting, thoughtful, and thought-provoking.

Meeting Reminders: We hope to see lots of you at

• Kerrisdale on Wednesday this week for TL Studio 1 (the season opener)
• Hamber on Thursday at 4 pm for the AGM of the VTLA
• for secondary TLs, the first meeting is on Monday, October 5, 4 pm, Hamber.

See you there!

Big Things Happening ...

In the news this week --

Budget Finalized --
Cuts Mostly Away from Schools and Classrooms
Learning Services Loses
Consultants, Release Time, and Supplies
Computer Talks Under Way in Schools
Databases to be Axed

What more? We TLs who held hard to the gunwales began to breathe a little easier. Thanks are due to hard-working parents and visionary Trustees, as well as administrators, union leaders, and Management in retaining what we in school libraries know to be an important piece in learning for 21st Century students. Early reports are that school libraries are valued and staffing has been sustained here. There are echoes heard from other school districts that this has not been the case for them.

Then --

NEWS FLASH: A SUPER-RETIREMENT

Whenever I run into our Superintendent, not often but usually in the elevator, I ask, as of a captain, if everything is under control. I am always reassured that, indeed this is the case, yes, the mother-ship is moving forward in capable hands. All systems ahead, The Navigation Team is steering the course straight and true.

I have liked being able to use the analogy of seamanship and navigation, these fitting The Man. I have felt, guided as we have been by a reader of charts and books and maps for education, that from the beginning this voyage would be safe and interesting and planned with the skill of a seaman, yet still offer a sense of adventure in plying the familiar waters. It has suited me better than sports analogies.

I am hopeful our next Navigator will have as great a capacity to read an audience, a context, and a book and to pull the pieces together in ways that make us keen to row together on the journey through the educational seas, sometimes choppy, sometimes calm, but inevitably always a source of inspiration.


On Inquiry, Updates, and Events

From The Critical Thinking Consortium, a book launch of Cyber-bullying by Dr Shaheen Shariff, May 19, 5:30 to 9:00 pm, Vancouver Sun Reading Room:

• We have one more TL Inquiry session and an Inquiry Showcase Event on June 3 here in Room 400 after school. Filming, animoto-ing, writing, mentoring ... all kinds of things are under way. Here's our Inquiry Wiki, should you want to keep up with us as we seek answers to how to identify and share best practices in the field and in the district.
  
• May Updates "The Final Chapter" are also under way. Lovely setting at Kingsford-Smith, Ms Kelly convening. Thanks to the First 9 TLs who came to this season's trial-run. There was interest in the emerging Infolit Benchmarks Project (very much in draft stages).


• Thanks to Kam and Gwen for the Q&A Tea for New TLs at Fleming this last week as well.
  
• VTLA Dinner -- save Monday, June 8, on your calendar. Check for the flyer.
  
• New look for BCTLA Online
  
• Summer Institutes of interest at UBC: EPLT is offering
  
  Interactive White Boards (August 13-17 at Livingstone) -- This is both a Summer Institute (July 13 & 14) & 3-credit course (July 13 - 17) for both beginning and advanced users of Smartboards. Teachers will work on developing literacies, lessons, and learning strategies that can be used in the first weeks of school.
  
  Digital Literacy -- The Use and Benefits of Social Media in the Classroom (July 20-24, 2009; 10:00 am - 3:00 pm; UBC Campus Ponderosa F103) -- 4 day-long workshops to learn how and when to use collaborative tools for writing, discussion, and research.
  
• Courses for Teacher-librarianship >>> check out the programs and options >>> and more on Coquitlam's SD43 TL Courses which has "public" face so we can all access it. Thanks, Heather.
  
• See also the new TLSpecial Wiki page, Conferences Near and Far, for information on international and local professional development opportunities, including details of the Fall BCTLA Conference in Richmond, Olympically themed "Champions of Literacy" with its opening reception to be held with mascots at The Oval.

INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL LIBRARY SCENE

If you are considering the Italian Grand Tour in conjunction with the 38th Annual IASL Conference for School Libraries around the world to be held in Padua in the late part of the summer:

Here is some updated information on the IASL Workshop Day, Monday, August 31, to be held in Padua , as per attachment of conference package options, sent earlier in the week:

• Dr Carol Kuhlthau and Dr Ross Todd from Rutgers are offering a day-long session (2 workshops) entitled Guided Inquiry. As an IASL member, I will pay $100 CDN (instead of the non-member $185 for the day), that price to include lunch, coffee breaks, materials and certificate of attendance. The Workshops are limited to 50 registrants. I'm keen on framing my Italian certificate.
  
• We here in Canada are IASL Zone A (developed countries) and membership dues enable IASL to promote and support school libraries in developing countries. If you personally join, membership is $60 CDN. Your Association or District can join as well, and name three people who can have the privileges of membership, for $115 CDN. To join, check here.
  

For your information as well, the 75th Annual IFLA Conference is being held August 23-27 in Milan, Italy! That's too much for me but some hardier souls might like to take this in as well. World Library and Information Congress: 75th IFLA General Conference and Assembly "Libraries create futures: Building on cultural heritage" / 23-27 August 2009 / Milan, Italy.

Set an example: Read today

BY JANET STEFFENHAGEN VANCOUVER SUN
The Vancouver Sun
27 Oct 2008

Drop everything and read. That’s what librarians are asking British Columbians to do today at 11 a.m. to mark National School Library Day and deliver a strong signal to children about the importance of literacy. “The message it sends could be so...read more...

_______________________





The BCTLA Conference this weekend in Victoria was fantastic. Michele's thank-you speech was inspiring and would make each one of you proud that she is ONE OF OURS! I have to say, after many years of attending these, I heard not one single complaint about any aspect of this year's conference.

The three fantastic workshops I attended, after a session with the book and resource exhibitors, included Karen Lindsay on reading (the same Karen quoted in the newspaper this morning), Dr Barbara McNeil from U of Regina (on engagement and reading with some of our most reluctant), and Susan Juby of Alice, I Think fame (on being retrieved from the edges by a teacher-librarian who recognized in Susan a young woman with a spark of writing brilliance -- she is now Victoria Public Library's "pet writer"!).

The weather, food, accommodations, and company were also amazing. In other delightful aspects of my weekend, including getting caught in Victoria's annual Zombie March, I must thank Gwen and Sylvia for their help in promoting "promoting the new EBSCO-and-World Book multisector database bundle" -- on very short notice at the BCTLA Chapter Councillors' meeting on Saturday! It is very clear that Gwen loves eLibrary and the Culturegrams as well, and Sylvia uses World Book the most.

DEAR

Speaking of Gwen, our first DEAR report has just come in! Look who's reading today with Moberly students. Gwen emailed:

Wally Oppal just became a Friend of the School Library this morning. He also read a book on Divali to a Gr 5 class and talked about the importance of reading every ay. In fact hw suggested they read a novel every two weeks. He will observe DEAR.

Here's news from the mother-ship: Many of our colleagues arrived this morning to find a chocolate bar (thanks, Pat P, for this initiative) from Charlie's that has an attached reminder of National School Library Day and DEAR at 11 am; the chocolate bar reads: sChOOL Libraries -- The Heart (heart-shape) of Literacy. See the word COOL in "school"? I read A Whole New Mind by Daniel Pink, a book I have Sylvia to thank for ... I have tried several times to find it at Chapters.

Here's ESL Betty on the 4th floor preparing to read The Navigator of New York.

This afternoon, Deb Martel, VBE Aboriginal Administrator, and I headed off to the Coalition-sponsored afternoon celebration of Literacy and School Libraries at Carson Graham in North Vancouver. The Honourable Steven Point spoke to students about the importance of reading. Asked by one what reading had made a difference in his life, His Honour quipped, "Mad Magazine"! In a more serious tone, he talked about the gift of a book that influenced his decision to pursue a career in Law; he was given The Story of My Life by Clarence Darrow. Thanks to CG TL Jennifer Teiche and FN Educator Brad Baker for their organizing of this event. The Catering Class had prepared a wonderful spread. Exhibits included carving in progress and displays of an upcoming play written in-house and aboriginal "reads" from picture books to novels and non-fiction. I also enjoyed the afternoon of chatting with CG administrators Steve Garland and Ray Bodnaruk, as well as North Van TLs Felicity Eadon, Shelagh Martin, and Marilyn Aldworth ... oh, and commenting on the really good food with His Honour. What a treat to be invited.

From the Carson Graham website:

“This is a wonderful opportunity for so many of our students to meet such an inspiring and accomplished person,” says Jennifer Tieche, learning resource/teacher-librarian at Carson Graham. “The Lieutenant Governor embodies the pursuit of learning and appreciation of literature we encourage with our students.”

“We are grateful for this opportunity to showcase the importance of high-quality school library programs,” says Kathryn Shoemaker, chair of the B.C. Coalition for School Libraries. “National School Library Day honours the connection between student success and the essential work of school libraries to promote the freedom to read, foster inquiry and further knowledge.”

DEAR Press Release Today:

PRINCE GEORGE - Education Minister Shirley Bond celebrated National School Library Day Oct. 27 by taking part in the Drop Everything and Read challenge, issued by the B.C. Teacher-Librarians' Association.

"Our family loves to read and has always made it a priority. I am happy to 'drop everything and read' to celebrate national school library day," said Bond. "I have also invited my colleagues around the province to do the same thing."

B.C.'s teacher-librarians challenged everyone in the province to Drop Everything and Read for 20 minutes at 11 a.m. today.... "It's about encouraging young people to read and value literacy," said Karen Lindsay, vice-president of the B.C. Teacher-Librarians' Association. "Studies clearly show that daily silent reading improves vocabulary, spelling, comprehension and much more."

"It is also important to say thank you to teacher-librarians and other educators who work so hard to ensure our students develop a love of reading and excellent literacy skills," said Bond.

Hope you enjoyed today ... and, as DEAR unfolded at the VSB, there was great excitement all across the province as word spread about new ways this initiative was developed or promoted in BC. DEAR has really taken off this year, and we want to hear what your school has done to celebrate National School Library Day. You can report your school's activity using the comment function below (that would be the best use of this Web 2.0 tool) or email me!

Virtual Reading

The Spring 2008 issue of The Bookmark, all 46 pages of it, is now available online. Here's what you can read about during your prep block:

• the October BCTLA PSA conference that will be held in Victoria on October 23-4 ("Mission: Literacy / Teachers and Teacher-Librarians: Not-so-secret Agents of Change"); workshop presenters will include such noted "literacy experts" as Susan Juby, Sarah Ellis, Sylvia Olsen, Diane Swanson, and Jennifer Branch.
  
• retiring Okanagan TL Kay Treadgold's reflections on nearly thirty years of changes in our field from the early days of card catalogues as the primary tool for inventory to automation, from filmstrips and 16 mm film as the newest resources in educational technology to internet, videostreamiong, and a world of electronic resources, from the days of the Readers Guide to Periodical Literature to microfiche to online databases and the new focus on teaching for critical examination of information sources, ethical use, and effective search strategies, and from the despair of seeing the erosion of TL services to a note of appreciation for the enthusiastic new crowd coming into the field
  
• what's happening with the Library 2020 initiative -- read Heather Daly's column "In circulation"
  
• how to get a job teaching in an international school -- read the message from Evelyn on how she retired from being a TL in Vernon, having got her next job in Dubai
  
• where the courses you need for TL'ship are being offered
  
• other conferences further afield this summer, such as the IASL conference in Berkeley, and during the fall, why not attend Calgary's Kaleidoscope?
  
• how to advocate for your program and support advocacy through your local specialist association, the VTLA
  
• the educational oportunities identifed by Al Smith in the Web 2.0 application iTunes which he is finding useful for storing homework, podcasts, TV, as well as music and audio content, and for working with Google Tools, email, content management, blogging ... mind-boggling!
  
• John Goldsmith's latest thoughts on social bookmarking and his substantial collection of New on the Net sites that span pedagogy and curriculum and many pages of this issue
  
• Greg Smith's Top Ten Social Studies sites, times two, as this April and May lists are both here
  
• Stew Savard's recommended titles for Science Fiction and Fantasy acquisitions
  
• the online directory of lessons and units created by teachers and TLs, called "The Lesson Vault," including Lynn Turner's project Renaissance Idol and Karen Lindsay's InfoTech 101 ICT lessons for grades 7 to 9
  
• how one district turned its failed TL PSA conference (we were on strike, if you recall) into literacy success with an author visit program
  
• edited book reviews, always a Bookmark feature, compiled by Pat Parker and Carolyn Cutt, noting that there is a call for more reviewers on page 37
  
• Al Smith's factoids about the world we live and work in

Further readings?

• Try the 27th annual survey of our working and learning conditions, also online.
  
• This came from Alan at Maquinna: How We Read Online
  
• Thanks, Val, for this post to the BCTLA Forum: The 2008 Kids and Family Reading Report: Kids age 5-17 believe technology will supplement -- not replace -- book reading and say they will always want to read books printed on paper; tweens and teens who participate in online activities are more likely to read books for fun daily.
  
• If you are looking for one more item to add to your collection for September, try Free Spirit: Stories of You, Me and BC by Gerald Truscott. Val H. bought it last week and showed me; she's right, it is fascinating. It comes with a DVD of BC tourism travelogues from the 1950s and 1960s. Appropriate for Grade 3 to adult.