The Alabama School Librarian Journal Winter 2011

The Alabama School Librarian is a combined association newsletter and peer-reviewed (refereed) journal published by the Alabama School Library Association (ASLA). It is devoted solely to the field of school libraries and technology as related to school libraries.

Contact Information: Carolyn Jo Starkey, Editor alabamaschoollibrariansubmission@yahoo.com

The Alabama School Librarian Journal and Newsletter of the Alabama School Library Association

L to R: Dr. Everhart, AASL president; Shelley Dorrill, library aide; Shannon Bogert, librarian; and Raquel Payne, principal.

Featured Story (page 4-5): AASL President Visits Alabama’s Paul W. Bryant High School Library on First Stop of Vision Tour Winter 2010

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LeeAnna Mills ASLA President-Elect Librarian, Northside Middle School

The Alabama School Librarian Journal and Newsletter of the Alabama School Library Association

Greetings from the President (Elect) I have the privilege of welcoming you to the new newsletter/journal on behalf of our President who is temporarily out of the country as she and her family has added a new member from Uganda. We wish them well!

I hope all of you are well into your school year and looking for ways to be creative and to provide quality programming with little or no money. Hopefully, many of you got to take advantage of the free professional development at Expo as well as renewed your membership to ASLA. Please take a moment to reach out to all the school librarians you know and encourage them to join our organization. As our numbers

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increase, our voice will be stronger as we work to advocate for our jobs and for funding to be restored.

Our voices have already been heard as many of our members served on a committee to adapt the EDUCATEAlabama standards to better reflect our jobs and responsibilities. I also hope that you have participated in our Second Annual Alabama School Libraries Week. Please share your stories with your local newspapers, local and district websites , ALMO and be sure to send photos to our website, www.alasla.org as well.

By now you have heard that because of the dire money situation we are not having a mid-

winter conference this year.

We are enlisting your opinions in a survey so that we can better plan conferences to address our membership’s needs. WE NEED YOUR INPUT! Please take a moment to complete the short survey located at https:// www.surveymonkey.com/s/ ASLA_Conference_Survey_2010.

We will leave the survey open until December 1. We are certainly going to have our Summer Conference but need your input to be able to plan the best conference possible that will suit your professional development needs. In the meantime, I wish you all a productive and successful school year!

LeeAnna The Alabama School Librarian

Suzy Spiceland ASLA Past President Librarian, Constantine Elementary School and Anniston Middle School

The Alabama School Librarian Journal and Newsletter of the Alabama School Library Association

ASLA: A National Award-Winning Organization ASLA is the winner of national award! Last year, we applied for and received the ABCCLIO Leadership Grant that is given by the American Library Association every year. This award is given to school library associations for planning and implementing leadership programs at the state, regional, or local levels.

ASLA won $1,750 for the work we have done with our New Librarians Workshop. At this workshop, ASLA strives to help new school librarians thrive in their educational and professional communities. We bring

Winter 2010

media specialists with three years of experience or less to a workshop planned just for them. Growth opportunities abound in the areas of net-

brary/media organizations.

We encourage fellowship and fun, along with work, so that our library family becomes more close-knit. Our membership grows automatically, since membership is included as a perk of attending the workshop.

We offer this workshop FREE to 25 new librarians and library students.

Thank you ABC-CLIO and ALA for deeming this workshop worthy of national recognition!

working, professional development, and leadership, as we aim to mold these new colleagues into active participants in local, state, and national li-

Past-President Suzy Spiceland accepts the ABC-CLIO Leadership Award for the Alabama School Library Association.

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Featured Story Shannon Bogert and Shelley Dorrill Librarian and Library Aide, Paul W. Bryant High School Library

The Alabama School Librarian Journal and Newsletter of the Alabama School Library Association

Paul W. Bryant High School Library: Imagine discovering that the hard work you pour into your library program will be recognized by a body of your peers!

That is what happened in May of 2010, when we first learned that the Paul W. Bryant High School Library had been named “Outstanding School Library in Alabama” by the Alabama School Library Association. With this honor, we discovered that we would be the first stop of the American Association of School Librarians’ (AASL) Vision Tour of exemplary school libraries.

The Vision Tour is AASL President Nancy Everhart’s national tour promoting the importance of school libraries by featuring outstanding school 4

library programs. To qualify for this distinction, the following guidelines had to be met: the school librarian is fully certified and a member of AASL; the facility and activities are engaging and visually stimulating; the school library makes the most of the resources available; the school administration agrees to a site visit with media coverage; and appropriate permissions are obtained which include photos, video, and potential research.

We were very excited to be able to showcase our Stampede to Read Program, a comprehensive library media program that focuses on high interest programming for all students, from the non-reader to the ad-

vanced reader. The program features the following: multiple, ongoing book clubs (for atrisk students who have been suspended at least once, for Hispanic students, an urban fiction club, and genre of the month club); monthly multimedia programming for all students; celebrations of all ALA and AASL events; in-school collaboration with faculty; community collaboration with academic and public libraries; gaming events; and parent workshops.

On Monday, September 13, we met Dr. Everhart for dinner and discussion of our program.

It was very exciting to hear her enthusiasm for school libraries and her plans to champion the The Alabama School Librarian

The Alabama School Librarian Journal and Newsletter of the Alabama School Library Association

First Stop in the AASL Vision Tour importance of certified school librarians. We were thrilled to know that we would be part of her plan to showcase to the general public what effective school libraries can offer students and communities.

The next day, we celebrated our role in our school through a ceremony held in our library.

Administrators, teachers, students, and public librarians shared the multiple ways that the library has impacted our school. A Bryant Library Productions video presented the Stampede to Read Program and its many components. Finally, Dr. Everhart bestowed us with a certificate of distinction. (The plaque will arrive soon.) A re-

Winter 2010

ception sponsored by our PTSA and friends of Bryant followed.

School board members, our superintendent, our fellow Tuscaloosa City School librarians, partners from the University of Alabama and the Tuscaloosa Public Library, teachers, students, family and friends attended. We were pleased to be featured on several news broadcasts as well.

The Stampede to Read program is a result of our desire to reach all students, from the non-reader to the reader.

Through three years of reflection and evolution, the program has firmly established the library as a hub of learning.

Being recognized as curriculum

leaders by our school community is encouraging, but being recognized as leaders in our profession by our peers is profound. We look forward to collaborating with our library community as we all aspire to greater success!

NOTE: Shannon was presented with ASLA’s Carrie C. Robinson Award at the 2010 Summer Conference. This award honors an Alabama librarian who provides an innovative, creative, and exceptional library program for children or young adults. Membership in ASLA, service to the organization, educational background and degrees earned are not criteria for this award. The award is based solely on the quality of an individual's library program.

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AnnaLisa Crews ASLA Intellectual Freedom Chair, Webmaster, & Learning 4 Life Coordinator Librarian, Homewood High School

The Alabama School Librarian Journal and Newsletter of the Alabama School Library Association

Planning Guide for Empowering Learners The American Association of School Librarians has recently released A Planning Guide for Empowering Learners, “a program evaluation, planning, implementation and advocacy tool that will ensure school library program planners go beyond the basics to provide goals, priorities, criteria, and general principles for establishing effective library programs.”

The program includes ways to evaluate your existing program as well as ways to develop action plans and chart progress.

Britannica Digital Learning is a co-publisher for this interactive planning module. The module can be used to help us all implement AASL’s standards for the 21st Century Learner while “saving time and delivering data.”

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An individual subscription is $40/year with renewals at $20/ year. For AASL members the price is $36/year and $18/year to renew.

For more information, please go to: http:// www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/ aasl/guidelinesandstandards/ planningguide/ planningguide.cfm For a trial subscription, go to:

ASLA Website Please check our website, www.alasla.org, for information about membership, legislative advocacy, national board certification, upcoming events, and more! Also, please consider submitting photos and stories about what is going on in your library! We would love to feature your program on our website. For more information please contact Annalisa Crews, webmaster, at acrews@homewood.k12.al.us.

www.info.eb.com/aasl.

To purchase your copy of Empowering Learners: Guidelines for School Library Programs, visit the ALA bookstore at http:// www.alastore.ala.org/ detail.aspx?id=2682.

The Alabama School Librarian

Meg Brooke EDUCATEAlabama Committee Member Librarian, Shades Valley High School / Jefferson County International Baccalaureate High School

The Alabama School Librarian Journal and Newsletter of the Alabama School Library Association

EDUCATEAlabama for Librarians Great News! Colleagues from across the state have been working on the Alabama Continuum of Teacher Development’s EDUCATEAlabama, the state’s new assessment tool.

The first assessments created were for classroom teachers, and the questions in the selfassessment related as such to teachers.

When EDUCATEAlabama was first introduced, there was feedback from school librarians asking that EDUCATEAlabama recognize the roles that make a school librarian’s job different.

It is commendable that the DOE recognized this difference and asked professionals in the field for help in working on the assessment.

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The committee included Dion Staton, Linda Sears, Ed Land, Sadie Denson, Debbie Turner, Holley Tullis, LeeAnna Mills, Suzy Spiceland, Carolyn Starkey, Kelly Jordan, Delfreda Coleman, Nicole Fields, Jane Smith, Thelma Jones, Meg Brooke, Michelle Wilson, Terry Atchison, Barbara Bowling, Steven Yates and Tywanna Burton. Members were divided into working groups for the five core standards that will be used to evaluate all teachers: Content Knowledge, Teaching and Learning, Literacy, Diversity, and Professionalism.

The various groups looked at indicators for Pre-service and Beginning, Emerging, Applying, Integrating and Inno-

vating categories and worded them to be school library specific. Some changes made in the various categories were indicative of the roles that school librarians have which differ from classroom teachers. The process was repeated with the large group looking at what the smaller groups had done, and much discussion followed.

Lastly, the wording was finalized in the draft form.

Our goal as the committee was to represent YOU the Alabama School Librarians and come up with an evaluative tool that will be a measurement for us to use to selfassess as well as use in a formative assessment with our administrators.

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June Chandler ASLA Board Member Librarian, Fairview High School

The Alabama School Librarian Journal and Newsletter of the Alabama School Library Association

2nd Annual Alabama School Libraries Week October 4-8, 2010! Our 2nd Annual Alabama School Libraries Week Event! How did you celebrate Alabama School Libraries Week?

Tell us your stories! Send us your pictures! We'd love to know how you celebrated this event with your school and community.

Did you get a notice printed in the newspaper or post a story online with one of the news channels?

Were you able to advocate for your school library program? How did you engage parents, students, and faculty?

Please share your success stories with us and we'll share them with others! Send us an email along with some digital photographs to Annalisa Crews (acrews@homewood.k12.al.us) with ASLW in the subject line.

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We want to share what great things you were able to do that promoted your library media program. Even if your event had to happen a week or so later, or earlier, due to calendar scheduling issues. There is no deadline for sharing your activities or events with us at your Alabama School Library Association website!

As your ASLA officers and board members, we know that our schedules and calendars do not all always coincide and that you may need to exercise some control over when you celebrate ASLW locally. The main goal is to take the time to promote your program and advocate for school libraries!

We want to shine the "spotlight" on school libraries and show how Learning4LifeStarts@your library! worked for you and your school.

Publicity Committee As the publicity committee chairman, I'd like to invite anyone who is interested in helping promote Alabama school libraries and librarians to email me at jchandler@ccboe.org with your contact information. We particularly need individuals who might have contacts with major news outlets (newspapers, tv news channels, radio, etc.) to become involved with the publicity committee. It would be wonderful to have individuals who could represent a segment of the state geographically so we could expose as many areas as possible to our news, events, programs, and organization member benefits.

If you are interested, or know of someone who might be, please email me contact information as soon as possible. I will contact you with our goals and plans.

The Alabama School Librarian

Molly Bates President, ASLA District 1 Librarian, Russellville Middle School

The Alabama School Librarian Journal and Newsletter of the Alabama School Library Association

ASLA District 1 is a busy district!

Each November ASLA District 1 hosts a conference that provides professional development and an opportunity for collaboration for our library media specialists. We are fortunate to meet at the Richard’s Center in Florence which has a computer lab and an auditorium. Our past conferences have featured local authors, colleagues, state department personnel, and vendors. Each year our library media specialists look forward to visiting The Learning Tree’s booth and purchasing books.

This year Barry Wiginton from Technology in Motion will present two sessions on Free Interactive Web Resources, one for elementary and one for secondary library media specialists.

We are very excited to have two authors presenting this year!

Winter 2010

Judith Glenn a very inspirational, motivational, enthusiastic speaker and author of Manassas, Please Slow Down. Manassas is a third grader that is always in trouble.

Finally, one day someone notices his talent. Judith acknowledges the challenges of teaching students with exceptionalities and sheds a positive light on Manassas and children with ADD/ADHD. Judith teaches second grade at Sun Valley Elementary in Birmingham.

Presenting to our secondary library media specialists will be former Shoals resident Jennie Miller Helderman. Jennie’s assignment was to write a magazine article about poverty in Alabama.

Her magazine article quickly grew into the book, as the sycamore grows, the true story of “abuse, loss, redemption, and hope.” As

the sycamore grows is the story of Russellville resident Ginger McNeil Stone. Ginger escaped an abusive marriage and a husband who forced them to live in a cabin hidden deep in the woods, without electricity or phone. Two years earlier Ginger saw a billboard for Safeplace and memorized the number where she and her boys finally found shelter and safety. Ginger is now a court advocate employed by Safeplace. Ginger and Jennie will present to the secondary library media specialists.

If your district is not actively involved in ASLA, or if you are not actively involved in your ASLA district, get involved. ASLA provides an invaluable avenue for collaboration, support, professional development, and lifelong friendships.

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June Chandler ASLA Board Member Librarian, Fairview High School

The Alabama School Librarian Journal and Newsletter of the Alabama School Library Association

Online Donation Program: What??? No money for your library??? Are you looking for a way to get books for your library?

fair that many of us have hosted in our libraries and they are usually a lot of work!

Instead, Funds4Books offers

Well, this might be a solution for you.

There is a program by Mackin Educational Resources (http:// www.mackin.com/) that offers a new tool to host something like an "online book fair" called Funds4Books.

Now, you need to know that Funds4Books is not an actual book fair in which a parent purchases an actual book for his/her child and helps raise money for the library. That is a typical book

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an "online donation program" so that donations are made to the school library that are then used by the librarian to pur-

chase books or materials from Mackin. For about every $15.00 donated a library book can be purchased! The Funds4Books program offers a customizable fund raising goal along with other customizable options for any school library K-12. It is a very simple program!

After signing up with Mackin and being approved, the company gives your school library a donation web page that tracks the donations made to your library program. At the end of the donation period (4, 6, 12 weeks-or however long), 100% of the funds donated are then used by the librarian to purchase library The Alabama School Librarian

What???

No money for your library???

Are you looking for a way to get books for your library?

The Alabama School Librarian Journal and Newsletter of the Alabama School Library Association

Book Fair Fund-Raising materials for the school library.

There is no overhead or hidden cost in fees to use the program!

All of the money donated goes directly into the school library.

Mackin offers a full range of resources for building the web page and for promotional materials. They are also a full service company that provides a full-range of services, from free shipping and marc records to the "Nation’s Largest AgeAppropriate PK-12 Selection (s)", with hundreds of publishers to provide you with high quality library materials for your needs. This is a relatively new program, but already it has proven to be very Winter 2010

successful for a number of schools who have utilized this feature!

I decided to use

Funds4Books as a way to "kickoff" Alabama School Libraries Week for my school and am

running my donation program for 6 weeks to end in November. I have my web page up and ready to receive donations.

This is a low cost way to get your community involved in supporting your school library. If online donations are not appropriate for some families, there is a way for them to make a donation by check/cash and have it mailed to Mackin and in turn, Mackin will update the web page with the manual donation. This is truly an innovated way to do fundraising! Go to Mackin's web site and check out Funds4Books, it might be a way for you to easily raise money for your collection!

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June Chandler ASLA Board Member Librarian, Fairview High School

The Alabama School Librarian Journal and Newsletter of the Alabama School Library Association

2010 AL LIBRARY EXPO and EXHIBITORS TOUR Once again school librarians across the state were afforded a great opportunity for professional development (correct that), FREE professional development, provided by the Alabama Library Expo Officers, Board, and hard-working vendors. They had an outstanding line-up of presenters this year with three wonderful authors and motivators. This group of dedicated professionals (who value school library programs and librarians) orchestrated a great conference with outstanding workshops and vendor exhibits that repeated five times across the state! This annual EXPO event makes it geographically easy for librarians to attend a session relatively close to where he/she teaches and approximately 886 of us attended EXPO this year: Mobile 133; Montgomery 252; Bessemer 292; Scottsboro 125; and Tuscumbia 84.

The out-going EXPO President,

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Mr. David Burrow, explained why the EXPO web page had difficulties and that they would be building it again from scratch. Hopefully, the web site will be up soon to promote the EXPO event for next school year. The organization's President for 2011 will be Mr. Benny Bliss of Title Books. Thank you AL Expo for a wonderful conference and we look forward to another event next year!

Ms. Carolyn B. Yoder presented a workshop highlighting the use of historical works to engage students in American history. History is fascinating when related not as a series of facts to memorize, but though the use of personal stories of real people and events.

She previewed a number of books that use primary sources to engage the reader into the world of history from the perspective of a real person. These types of books make history come alive as we see how those who lived before were

so much like you and me. Children can relate to these historical stories and then want to read and learn more. The books and stories she shared with us were excellent!

What a great way to model reading about history in your library or classroom!

Mr. Ted M. Dunagan made a great impression with his "life lessons" we all gleaned from his story of how he became an author.

As he related to us at Expo how he became interested in writing and how he eventually became a successful author, we were impressed by his determination and spirit. When he spoke of the teacher librarian who took his self -published book and sent it to a publisher with a post-it note attached ("This book is much better than most published books I have on my shelves--what is wrong with you people?"), as the act that finally got him a book deal, the room roared with laughter that

The Alabama School Librarian

Herman Moore Lamp 2010 Awards of Exceptional Service Mobile: Jana Barber—Baker High School; Anne Pickens—Monroe Academy; Patricia Sullivan— Rockwell Elementary School; Debbie Turner—Dodge Elementary School.

Montgomery: Rebecca Brown—Anniston High School; Jennifer Dempsey—Wrights Mill Road Elem; Carrie Hagood—Brantley Elementary School; Sylvia (Chris) Powell—Peter Crump Elementary.

Birmingham: Sheikla Blount—Columbiana Middle School; Marcia A. (Marcie) Irvin-Northridge High School; Sarah Phillips—West End Elementary School; Suzanne Spiceland—Constantine Elem.

School.

Scottsboro: Melissa P. Mitchell —Fyffe High School; Judy Prickett—Thurston T Nelson Elementary; Lisa Richards—John S. Jones Elementary School; Darel Veal—Hazel Green High School.

Tuscumbia: Lawanda Cagle—Hamilton Elementary School; Larry Carlisle-A P Brewer High School; Linda Goodwin—Forest Hills Elementary School; Patricia A. Moore-Phil Campbell Elementary.

The Alabama School Librarian Journal and Newsletter of the Alabama School Library Association

2010 AL LIBRARY EXPO and EXHIBITORS TOUR left many of us with the feeling of goose pimples down our arms. His debut novel, A Yellow Watermelon, was a heart-warming story that depicts a number of true events from his childhood. And the excerpt he read aloud and shared with us from the sequel, left us anxious to find out what happened! The explanation of the title and the metaphor it describes of his debut novel inspired many a librarian to rush out after the presentation and purchase a copy of the book, and its sequel, for his/her library.

Dr. Michael Shoulders is the perfect motivator for both adults and students! The author of a number of children's books, he knows how to invigorate an audience and motivate them to "R-E-A -D" by singing to the tune of a pop classic "YMCA"! Dr. Shoulders reminded us of our importance as educators and the impact we can have in the lives of our students.

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His program, "Reading IS Magic" is truly magical and inspiring. His enthusiasm is contagious and was a wonderful ending at Bessemer to a great day of inspiring programs offered by Expo!

EXPO Awards! The day would not be complete without mentioning all the librarians who were acknowledged with the the "Herman Moore LAMP Award of Exceptional Service to Alabama Libraries". This award is solely conducted and supported by the Alabama Library Expo Officers and Board, and it is their tribute of excellence to those librarians who are chosen to receive this honor. Just four librarians from each of the five sections across the state are recognized, along with one individual in the state receiving the President's Award. This year's Expo President, Mr. David Burrow, presented the 2010 President's Award to Ms. Sadie Denson, of Birmingham City Schools.

Thank you Expo Officers, Board, and vendors for acknowledging the contributions of these school librarians!

Special Thank You! The Alabama School Library Association (ASLA) would like to publicly thank the AL EXPO Officers and Board for the opportunity to address the body of librarians attending each session. Even though we do not host the EXPO event, we appreciate so much being afforded the opportunity to address the group about issues facing us in the state, news about our organization, and the opportunity for librarians across the state to join ASLA. The vendors that contribute to AL LIBRARY EXPO deserve our gratitude and praise.

I don't know of another business organization in any state that does so much to support school libraries as this organization.

Thank you AL EXPO!

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Ann Marie Pipkin Long-time ASLA member and officer Librarian, Alabama School of Fine Arts

The Alabama School Librarian Journal and Newsletter of the Alabama School Library Association

The A, B, C’s of a Selfish Librarian Have you ever thought of yourself as a selfish librarian?

Take a good look at yourself and your career. Your program will only be as good as you are.

Don’t sacrifice yourself for responsibilities that don’t advance your program or your career.

In Linda Langford’s article in Teacher Librarian, she calls this “proper selfishness.” This is the type of selfishness that feeds the “greater hunger [of] nourishing others through nourishing ourselves” instead of the “lesser hunger” of serving our community’s immediate needs.

Look at the list below and see if these A, B, C ‘s can guide you toward making choices that will advance your career and make you and your library 14

program the best that it can be.

just starting

Apply for scholarships and

Give workshops on anything

grants -- both for your own professional development and for your program

and everything to anyone and everyone

Be passionate Contribute to your professional organizations -- volunteer to be on your school, state, national committees

Develop your philosophy for

Have a support system Investigate yearly your salary options and the different library positions that are available

Jump start your career by us-

your teaching style and your program -- write it down

ing your summers for professional development not for teaching summer school

Experiment with the newest

Keep your resume up to date

treads

Focus on getting certified in as many areas as possible – your education hasn’t stopped; it’s

Learn what is in your collection and what your immediate resources are – be able to talk about them in depth

The Alabama School Librarian

Have you ever thought of yourself as a selfish librarian?

The Alabama School Librarian Journal and Newsletter of the Alabama School Library Association

The A, B, C’s of a Selfish Librarian Market yourself Network in your community, school, professional organizations -- get to know your secretaries and custodians as well as your principal and other colleagues

Promote your program -communicate your program to your community, staff and parents.

Quit making excuses and write those articles for your professional journals

Remember that you are going to retire some day -- leave all doors open

Seek leadership roles in your community, school, profession-

Winter 2010

al organizations

Zero in on what works and

Technology is important; stay

what doesn’t for both your career and your program

up to date on the newest and the latest

Use the summers for additional revenue opportunities that will add to your resume

Value your peers and grab those coattails; be nice to those on your way up the professional ladder

Weigh in on professional issues with your local, state and national legislators -- advocate

Xeroxing is NOT your job un-

According to Ayn Rand, selfishness is a virtue. Therefore, not only will you be a good librarian but a virtuous one as well. And along the way, you will foster a program that reflects who and what you are. What could be better?

Reference: Langford, Linda. "Proper selfishness: hallmark of a professional learning community."

Teacher Librarian 31.1 (2003): 19+. General OneFile. Web. 21 Sept. 2010.

less it advances your program

You are a teacher…don’t forget it

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Tywanna Burton ASLA Membership Chair and National Board Advisor Librarian, Vestavia Hills Elementary School West

The Alabama School Librarian Journal and Newsletter of the Alabama School Library Association

2010 National Board Library Media Certified Teachers The Alabama School Librarians’ Association Library Media Mentor Group is please to announce the names of school librarians who participated in the Alabama School Library Association study group and achieved National Board Certification in Library Media. We congratulate the following persons:

Barbara Bowling

Paula Burch

Glenda Davis

Terri Elder

Mary Foy

Kerra Middleton

Dana Mims

Jenni Pang

Lesa Parker

Marnie Utz

These librarians provided clear/convincing evidence that they are accomplished teachers/librarians who work daily to improve student learning. The Alabama School Librarian’s Association has sponsored this mentoring group since 2002. For more information, please contact Tywanna Burton at burtontb@vestavia.k12.al.us.

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The Alabama School Librarian

Odds and Ends The Alabama School Librarian Journal and Newsletter of the Alabama School Library Association

ALEX Training and Podcast Camp Sixteen of the forty participants chosen to participate in this past summer’s ALEX Training and Podcasting camp were school librarians, acknowledgement of our role as technology leaders and trainers for our schools. Training was held at Lake Guntersville resort, with one day devoted to becoming a certified ALEX/Thinkfinity trainer and two days to learn how to produce podcasts. Visit ALEX 360 Gallery, http://alex.state.al.us/ staticfiles/podcasts.php and check out all the amazing podcasts that are available for all to use.

Submitted by: LeeAnna Mills

Winter 2010

New Book by Alabama Author Louise Gambrell

Red Angels Why is the newest angel in the heavenly choir so unhappy? Find out how she makes an important change with the help of the smallest and most joyful angel in the group. Red Angels is a colorful poem about transformation.

“Imagination takes wing in Louise Gambrell's inspiring book about a little angel who's not afraid to speak her mind. If you think of angels as dignified heavenly beings, you'll see them in a new light once you read Louise Gambrell's delightful book about a down-to-earth little cherub

with plenty of spirit. This wonderful little book reminds us that no one--not even angels-should be afraid to go against the crowd. Children will love it --and adults will love reading it to them. Author Louise Gambrell deserves her own halo for creating this enchanting book about an outspoken angel who's not afraid to be different.”

—-Donna Wade Cornelius Author of Outdoor Alabama: A Comprehensive Guide to Fun and Adventure in Alabama the Beautiful Submitted by: Neilann Thomas

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Peer-Reviewed Article Wendy S. Stephens Librarian, Buckhorn High School Library

The Alabama School Librarian Journal and Newsletter of the Alabama School Library Association

The Library of Congress’s Curated Collection: Whether you’re in a classroom with a single workstation or a one-to-one computing environment, the Library of Congress’s curated collection of themed resources, lesson planning tools, and professional development modules can support the successful integration of this unequaled collection of documents, images, texts, and film into your school’s curriculum.

And for teachers and librarians working with the Teaching American History grant programs or preparing students for the Document-Based Question portions of the Advanced Placement exams, getting students to critically approach primary sources is a vital component of devel18

oping the analytic skills those programs emphasize. I wanted to share some strategies for identifying and using those resources in your library media program.

The Library of Congress Teachers Page collocates lesson plans and high quality digitized resources to support inquiry

projects for students of all ages, complete with lesson planning guides and printable fill-in forms to guide student work.

The overall excellence of the resources could punctuate for your learners the difference between archival digital resources and those on the open web, but getting to those treasures requires some strategizing. While the resources available from the Library of Congress website represent some of the richest primary sources around, the collections have been created over time and in different ways that limit the efficacy of keyword searching.

Instead of searching, I rec-

The Alabama School Librarian

Whether you’re in a classroom with a single workstation or a one-to-one computing environment, the Library of Congress’s curated collection of themed resources, lesson planning tools, and professional development modules can support the successful integration of this unequaled collection of documents, images, texts, and film into your school’s curriculum.

The Alabama School Librarian Journal and Newsletter of the Alabama School Library Association

An Unparalleled Resource for Educators ommend browsing the collections linked from the Teachers’ Page like directories, with an eye on your school’s course of study. The Primary Source Sets and Themed Resources in particular offer resource collections that have been carefully curated with classroom use in mind and offer a range of selected materials on specific topics, with persistent links you can embed in webpages or output as printable PDFs.

etry

The Primary Source Sets make it easy to set up your own exhibits, virtually or on paper, to re-create a gallery experience. Among my favorites:

Themed Resources: Holidays

Primary Source Sets: Alabama Primary Source Sets: Found Po-

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Primary Source Sets: Baseball Themed Resources link to cross-curricular lesson plans, online exhibitions, and related primary sources documents to support longer units of study.

Among my favorites: Themed Resources: Hispanic Americans Themed Resources: Geography Themed Resources: Flight

Themed Resources: Immigration Themed Resources: Labor Themed Resources: Native Americans Themed Resources: Nature

Themed Resources: War and Peace Themed Resources: Women’s History And while Library of Congress digital resources can support almost all areas of instruction – Ansel Adams’ photography of Japanese Internment Camps can offer another dimension to a study of Ken Mochizuki’s Baseball Saved Us or Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston’s Farewell to Manzanar, as the WPA Dust Bowl photography brings Karen Hesse’s Out of the Dust to life. But I wanted to showcase the ample resources supporting to the Alabama State Course of Study for Social Studies.

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Peer-Reviewed Article Wendy S. Stephens Librarian, Buckhorn High School Library

The Alabama School Librarian Journal and Newsletter of the Alabama School Library Association

LC Resources Aligned with Social Studies Course Of Study th

9 Grade World History Primary Source Sets: Hispanic Exploration 10th Grade World United States History to 1877 Primary Source Sets: Jamestown Primary Source Sets: Colonial America Primary Source Sets: Constitution Primary Source Sets: Thanksgiving Primary Source Sets: Lewis and Clark Primary Source Sets: Abraham Lincoln Themed Resources: Abraham Lincoln Themed Resources: The Civil War Themed Resources: Civil War Music Primary Source Sets: Westward Expansion

Continued from page 19 What do you do with the resources once you find them? Museumbox allows you to create a “case of curiosities” for student investigations, or for students to assemble their own virtual exhibits. Witness the Jamestown exhibit below, which was designed to help students determine whether or not a resource was a primary source as well as extending student knowledge about the history of that English colony.

11th Grade World United States history from 1877 to present Primary Source Set: Dust Bowl Migration Primary Source Sets: Dust Bowl Migration Primary Source Sets: Japanese Interment Primary Source Sets: Veterans’ History Project Primary Source Sets: Civil Rights Themed Resources: Civil Rights 12th Grade Economics Themed Resources: Advertising 12th Grade Government Themed Resources: Civics Themed Resources: Elections Themed Resources: Political Cartoons

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Each square in Museumbox offers six surfaces for documents, images, links, or text annotations. For this project,

The Alabama School Librarian

As one of the Library’s Teaching with Primary Sources mentors, I would be happy to help librarians in our state brainstorm ways to help students remix, mash up and make our national heritage their own.

The Alabama School Librarian Journal and Newsletter of the Alabama School Library Association

we used the metadata from the LC site as additional information to help students determine whether documents were primary or secondary in nature, and if the depiction between the Colonial and New World contact had changed over time.

We used the caption to provide the persistent link back to the resource on the LC site.

Not only can you help your students learn the inquiry process with primary sources, the Library makes it easy for you to train your faculty on best practices using Build-and-Deliver modules to customize professional development based on needs and the time frame allotted for your next workshop.

Also self-paced professional development modules offer you, your students and faculty all a step-by-step introduction to Library of Congress resources, a copyright refresher, and cartographic and photographic analysis.

As one of the Library’s Teaching with Primary Sources mentors, I would be happy to help librarians in our state brainstorm ways to help students remix, mash up and make our national heritage their own.

Winter 2010

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Instructions for Authors Carolyn J. Starkey Editor, The Alabama School Librarian

The Alabama School Librarian Journal and Newsletter of the Alabama School Library Association

The Alabama School Librarian: ABOUT THE ALABAMA SCHOOL LIBRARIAN The Alabama School Librarian is a combined association newsletter and peer-reviewed (refereed) journal published by the Alabama School Library Association (ASLA). It is devoted solely to the field of school libraries and technology as related to school libraries. Although all submissions are welcome, those that clearly focus on issues and topics related to Alabama school libraries have publication priority. The Alabama School Librarian is published digitally four times per academic year and is sent electronically to all members of the Alabama School Library Association and supporters of Alabama school libraries.

AUDIENCE Readers of the Alabama School Librarian are primarily school li-

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brarians and/or technology specialists. Other readers include university faculty members, vendors, and supporters of Alabama school library programs.

CONTENTS OF THE ALABAMA SCHOOL LIBRARIAN The contents of the Alabama School Librarian falls into three categories: (1) Association News Includes articles, newsbriefs, program descriptions, activity suggestions, and reviews of ASLA events and Alabama school library program activities. Articles for this section will undergo General Editorial Staff review only.

(2) Libraries and Librarianship Articles Includes general articles on library and technology topics. Articles for this section will undergo

General Editorial Staff review only.

(3) Scholarly Referred Articles Includes research studies, learned essays, professional papers, literature reviews, literature/book critiques, and other professional topics. Submissions for this section will undergo a blind review by at least two members of the Academic Editorial Board.

MANUSCRIPT FORMAT Manuscripts for General Editorial Staff Review [(1) and (2) above] have no length limitations but should be submitted in 12-point Calibri font with a .doc or .docx file extension. A title page with author’s name, affiliation, address, and a short professional biographical sketch should be included. An author photo should be submitted as a .jpeg attachment. Pages

The Alabama School Librarian

Authors Wanted!

The Alabama School Librarian Journal and Newsletter of the Alabama School Library Association

Instructions for Authors should be numbered. Authors are responsible for obtaining releases from all persons appearing in submitted photos. Authors are also responsible for obtaining releases for all copyrighted material included within submissions.

Manuscripts for Academic Editorial Review should follow the format guidelines as in (1). Additionally, the author should meet these elements: Author name should not appear on manuscript pages other than the title page.

Original tables and figures should be placed on a separate sheet at the end of the manuscript and notations for proper placement of tables and figures should appear in the text.

Manuscripts should reflect APA, 5th edition styling.

Winter 2010

SUBMITTING THE MANUSCRIPT Articles and accompanying materials should be submitted electronically in a .doc or .docx format to Carolyn Starkey at alabamaschoollibrariansubmission@ yahoo.com. If the author would like a blind review for a scholarly submission, this should be noted in the submission email. Manuscripts submitted to the Alabama School Librarian should not be under review at another publication.

REVIEW PROCESS Each manuscript will receive appropriate review for the type of submission. Usually, authors should expect to hear the results within two to eight weeks, depending on the type of submission.

PUBLICATION OF ARTICLES The Alabama School Librarian assumes that accepted manuscripts have not been published previously in any other journals and/or books. Manuscripts accepted for publication may be edited for clarity, accuracy, readability, and publication style. Publication usually occurs within 6 months of acceptance.

DEADLINES Article Deadlines for Issues FALL BACK TO SCHOOL ISSUE Deadline: July 1.

WINTER ISSUE Deadline: October 1.

SPRING ISSUE Deadline: February 1.

SUMMER PRE-CONVENTION ISSUE: May 1.

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Alabama School Library Association http://www.alasla.org

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The Alabama School Librarian