Looking Ahead: Words from Texas Association of School Librarians Chair 2021-22

by Jill Bellomy, TASL Chair 2021-22, Librarian, Highland Park Middle School Library and Lead Librarian, Highland Park ISD

We did it! We made it to the summer after one incredibly trying school year. Last August, did you wonder how we would make it through the first semester yet alone the year? I certainly did. Yet here we are! Throughout the months, we were challenged and stretched. We learned and grew. We creatively met the needs of our students and staff in brand new ways. We served as technology troubleshooters daily. We helped teachers discover different ways to engage students in person and online. We ran our homes while also focusing on the needs of our schools. We kept kids reading and learning. We have so much to be proud of, school librarians!

That said, our experiences looked very different from school to school. Many of us could perform the essential functions of a circulating library, but not much else. Some operated full curbside service to get books to large numbers of remote learners. Others could not even circulate materials as administrators called us to serve other duties. Some welcomed students back into their spaces, and others were never able to do so. Most felt they existed in survival mode, facing challenge after challenge and just trying to get to the finish line.

Whatever your situation, TASL recognizes that you endured a year like no other. We want to support you as you look ahead. We hope to help all our members take the necessary steps toward running engaging library programs that are again the hub of the school. To move from surviving to thriving!

TASL will continue to strive toward our mission of promoting library services and librarianship in Texas school libraries. We will pursue that in many ways that include connection, advocacy, and professional development. These are more important now than ever!

CONNECTION.

We encourage you to reconnect with colleagues in your area and across the state to form and grow your PLNs.

• Thank you to the many members who volunteered for TASL Committees!
  You will form new connections and will help us do the vital work of the division. If you missed the chance to volunteer this time, watch for another opportunity to assist in the spring.
• To stay up on the latest, be sure to follow @TxASL on Twitter (if you aren’t already.) Heather Hornor and our exceptional Social Media Team
  keep us in the know, and the TASL members are constantly posting innovative ideas. So follow for inspiration and new connections!
• Watch for an exciting new online community coming soon to TLA. This community will replace the listservs and will allow members to engage in more dynamic, meaningful conversation. Some TLA members are beta testing the platform this week, and it looks very promising.

ADVOCACY. 

TASL continually promotes librarians as valued teachers and leaders on our campuses, advocates for strong school libraries at the state level, and fosters advocacy skills in our membership.

• You will find advocacy resources curated for you on the TASL website. Bookmark these to help you stay proactive in your efforts!

• Brooke King and the TASL Legislative and Advocacy Committee do an excellent job of providing additional resources throughout the year. For example, last year’s School Library Bingo was fun and effective.

• One meaningful way we advocate each year is by presenting and exhibiting at the PTA Launch Annual Conference. This year’s conference is July 30 - August 1 at The Gaylord Texan, Grapevine. Watch for a chance to sign up to work a shift (or two!) at the TASL booth. Serving at this conference is a great way to champion school libraries and to sharpen your advocacy skills!

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT. 

We provide professional learning at conference and throughout the year to help our members grow in the many roles we play in our schools.

• We are already hard at work planning for TLA Annual Conference 2022! This year’s theme is perfect: Recover. Rebalance. Reconnect. Start making plans to attend April 25-28 in Fort Worth in person, if you can!
• Thank you to all who submitted proposals.  There are many innovative submissions!  We will be in touch as we evaluate the submissions and select the best learning opportunities for our members. 
• Watch for more learning offerings from Lakeisha Branch and the TASL Membership Committee in the months to come.

Echoing the sentiments of our TLA President Dan Burgard, it is now time to take a much-needed breath. You deserve some self-care after serving so many for so long. Rest, recharge and reflect over the upcoming weeks. If you think of ways TASL can help you or have ideas to strengthen our division, please share at https://bit.ly/TASLfeedback or reach out to me at jillbellomy at gmail dot com.

This year, we rose to the challenge before us, gathered strength and knowledge from each other, and persevered. Now, we can take the lessons learned and move forward stronger than ever. With smoother waters and sunnier skies ahead, the future is bright, school librarians!

TLA 2021: Celebrate Differences, Empower Voices

by Kristi Starr, TASL chair 2020-2021, librarian at Coronado High School, Lubbock ISD

 

The 2021 Texas Library Association conference is rapidly approaching, and I hope you’ve decided to attend. Though things look different from our usual beloved conference, we still have many opportunities to connect and interact. Thanks to an early decision on the part of the Programming Committee co-chairs, TLA executive board, and TLA staff, we've had ample time to plan a wonderful online conference. I can’t give enough props to ProCo co-chairs Valerie Prilop and Melanie Scales, TLA president Christina Gola, ProCo/TASL liaison Ann Vyoral, and of course the amazing staff at TLA for all their work. 

I’m excited about what you’re going to experience next week. We have a variety of sessions: live, simulive with live chat, simulive with live Q&A after, and on-demand. Live sessions offer exactly what their name implies. The simulive sessions are pre-recorded but provide either a live chat with the presenter(s) during the session or a live Q&A with the presenter(s) immediately following the recording. On-demand sessions may be viewed at any time. ALL sessions will be available to watch through June 22. 

If you’ve registered for the conference, look for an email on Monday, April 19, that contains your log-in credentials and provides more information about the conference and platform. If you have more questions, check out the conference FAQ page at any time. We invite you to follow along and contribute to online conversations using the Twitter hashtag #txla21 Also be sure to check out the conference schedule in the winter edition of the Texas Library Journal. 

TASL is featuring two speakers who are new to TLA - Michelle Easley and Julie Stivers.

https://www.michelleeasley.com/meet-michelle

Michelle is the founder of Positive Push Press, a publishing and consulting company. She is an experienced librarian and accomplished library leader both in Georgia and at the national level. I first heard Michelle when she served as a powerful voice on AASL past president Mary Keeling’s Task Force on Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion. We are fortunate to have her join us this year for two sessions - “Open Your Virtual Doors” (Friday, 1:45) and “Disrupt Inequity With Your School Library Program” (Friday, 4:00). Michelle is also the author of Increase Diversity in School Library Collections and Programs. Find out more about Michelle at https://www.michelleeasley.com/

https://www.libraryjournal.com/?detailStory
=julie-stivers-movers-shakers-2019-change-agents

Julie Stivers is the librarian at Mount Vernon Middle School in Raleigh, NC, part of the Wake County Public School System. Attending Julie's presentation at the 2019 AASL conference in Louisville, KY, was one of my highlights. Julie is a champion of inclusion and student voice and authored Include, one of six volumes in AASL’s Shared Foundation Series. She was named one of Library Journal’s 2019 Movers and Shakers. Julie’s TLA sessions are “Auditing Our School Library Space & Program With an Equity Lens” (Saturday, 10:15) and “Equity: Moving Beyond Intention to Inclusive Practice” (Thursday, 3:00). You can find Julie and her campus library program at https://mtvernonlibrary.weebly.com/

The other live TASL sessions are

• “Advocate This, Not That” with Stacy Cameron, Brandi Dawson, and Emma McDonald (Thursday, 10:15)
• “Letters About Literature: Student Engagement and Inclusion” with Rebekah Manley and Abby Harrison (Friday, 1:45)

Simulive sessions with live Q&A at the end of the presentations are

• “LGBTQ+ Advocacy in the Library and in The Classroom” with Heather Hornor, Mahoganie Gaston, and Camille Stafford (Thursday, 1:45)
• “Windows and Mirrors: Mexican American Literature for Youth with the Rivera Book Award” with David Bowles, Xelena Gonzalez, Dr. Sandra Murillo-Sutterby, and Priscilla Delgado (Thursday, 4:15)
• Digital Playgrounds for MS and HS: Using Choice” with Claire Hogg and Angie Pidgeon (Friday, 10:15)
• “Library 24/7/365: How to Promote Your Program to Families at Home” with Brooke Corso, Keris Christie-Law, Tracy Frey, Paige Miller (Saturday, 10:15)
• “Science and Library Collaboration for a Curriculum-Aligned Makerspace” with D’Anne Mosby and Rhia Johnson (Saturday, 1:45)

We have many more familiar names and faces as well as some Texas school librarians presenting for the first time at TLA. Whether new or familiar, I’m quite confident you’re going to find amazing content. Additionally, you’ll have access to ALL conference content until June 22, so you won’t be limited in the number of sessions you can attend. Be sure to check out the TASL sessions, but don’t forget the Young Adult Round Table (YART) and Children’s Round Table (CRT) programming, Programming Committee sessions, and so many more.

I look forward to “seeing” you at #txla21 and face-to-face in 2022 in Fort Worth where we will embrace the aptly-worded theme “Recover, Rebalance, Reconnect.”

Now We Need to Promote Libraries More Than Ever

by Brooke King, Librarian at Atascocita Middle School, Humble ISD, TASL Legislative & Advocacy

The "Let's Promote Libraries!" social media campaign is more important than ever this year as we show how librarians support learning no matter what the school environment looks like.

This social media campaign encourages school librarians to show off what happens in their school libraries to stakeholders. The campaign began with the TxASL Legislative & Advocacy Committee with the hopes of encouraging school librarians to promote themselves, their programs, and their instruction. TxASL is continuing the campaign this school year as we chart into librarianship like we have never seen before.

Each month’s topic is still framed as a question organized around the revised Texas Library Standards. It begins with, “Did you know that school libraries…,” followed by one of the standards. I’m certain the standards may look a little different this year in how they are approached, but that will just show how innovative librarians are.

We will still tweet on the 1st of each month, and I will try my best to remember to tweet reminders! You can post on any social media outlet or even send an email to a stakeholder. We want to focus on local stakeholders first, and then at the state and national levels. This year is also important because we are approaching a legislative year in our state in 2021. We always want to be as proactive as possible.

Please use #TxASLTalks so it is easy for all of us school librarians to find and help share our messages. Then use #Txlege to share our message of the important role school libraries have with students and learning with our state legislators.

It’s easy to participate!

Step 1: Look at the current month’s question.

Step 2: Snap a photo and write your message showing how your library shows that standard.

Step 3: Post your message and photo on any/all platforms of social media.

Step 4: Be sure to use the hashtags #TxASLTalks and #Txlege along with other key hashtags.

Step 5: Repost/retweet/share


There are two infographics to guide you. One explains the full campaign. The other shows only the monthly topics.

Thank you for participating in this campaign and advocating for the work librarians do that contributes to the success of students and schools!

Lunch & Learn Webinars

by Brandi Rosales-Dawson, Library Systems Administrator in Richardson ISD, and Stacy Cameron, Coordinator of Library Services in Frisco ISD

The Texas Association of School Librarians (TASL) Lunch & Learn webinars are back for another year with timely topics including scheduling, collaboration, communication, programming, and more. The webinars began last year after the TASL executive board saw a need for additional professional learning specifically for Texas school librarians, since not all school librarians are able to attend the annual TxLA conference. Through the support of former TLA Executive Director Dana Braccia, TASL Lunch & Learn webinars were created in a weekend and launched in December of 2018. 

We knew we wanted the series designed around Texas educators presenting the content for several reasons. First, we have amazing school librarians across this state doing great things on their campus, and we want to highlight and lift up their hard work so others can learn and implement those ideas. Second, presenters need to be accessible to those attending or watching the recording. While there is value in seeing national speakers present, we want an attendee to feel they could contact a presenter for additional tips and tricks as they move through their own implementation. Lastly, as we know school librarianship can make us feel like islands, and this is one way to help school librarians connect with each other across the state. 

During the initial year, presenters were selected by word of mouth and their online reputation for innovative implementations on their campus. The Lunch & Learn webinars were such a hit last year with the average registration for each webinar being about 80 and live attendees around 25. This year we opened it up to any Texas librarian/educator who wants to share library programming implementations or instructional practices they are doing on their campus and/or with their community. At this time we are still looking for presenters to fill weekly webinar offerings through the end of the year. If you have a great programming or lesson you would like to present, please fill out the following form so we can get you on the schedule. 

Webinars are free to all TASL members, but registration is required. Each webinar lasts only 30 minutes, but if you’re unable to attend live, you can access the recording once it has concluded. 

To register for a September webinar, click here. 

September 4 - Flexible Scheduling in the Elementary Library

September 11 - Library Ambassador Customer Service Program

September 18 - Upgrade Your Secondary School Library

September 25 - Level Up Your Staff Newsletter

For future webinars, keep an eye on your inbox for emails from TASL or you can find registration links on the Texas Library Association website! 

Teacher Day @ TLA - Take your collaboration to the next level!

By Jennifer Eckert, Library Specialist in Northside ISD, San Antonio

Collaboration with teachers is a large part of any school librarian’s job. We are always looking for ways to inspire our teachers to collaborate with us and utilize the library. Let that inspiration come from facilitating an experience at this year’s TLA Annual Conference!

Our annual conference – made up of books, authors, technology integration, makerspaces, curriculum connections, and supportive librarians – is the stuff of teachers’ dreams. Connect with your teachers, encourage their innovation, inspire them to greater collaboration, and impact their instruction by inviting your teachers to join you at this years’ Teacher Day @ TLA!

Teacher Day @ TLA, which will take place on Wednesday, April 17, 2019, provides classroom teachers with the opportunity to experience a special one-day event during the TLA conference, comprised of speakers, activities, and pricing designed just for them.

This is your chance to inspire your teachers! You, as a sponsoring school librarian, will play a crucial role by identifying interested teachers, helping them secure permission and funding for their attendance, guiding them through the registration process, and ensuring our guest teachers have a positive experience.

The planning has begun for a fun, interactive day for the teachers who attend, as well as the librarians who sponsor them. Participants are welcome to stay for the full conference. Now is the time for interested librarians to:


a) identify motivated classroom teachers and


b) start to lay the groundwork for conference attendance and travel funding.


The focus of this program is for classroom teachers who experience a TLA conference to return to their districts as library advocates and collaborators - or perhaps become librarians themselves. Details and application information about Teacher Day @ TLA, an event that has become an annual highlight, can be found at http://www.txla.org/teacher-day. Don’t miss this opportunity to increase collaboration on your campus!

This is Us

by Nancy Jo Lambert, High School Librarian in Frisco ISD, TASL Chair

Do you watch the show This Is Us? I love this show. The Pearson family is amazing! I feel like I am a part of their loving, often dysfunctional, but beautiful family. (If you aren’t watching this show, I would highly recommend it!) This summer I had the pleasure of hearing Joyce Valenza keynote the ISTE Librarians Network Breakfast in Chicago. She chose This is Us as the theme for her talk. As she weaved her presentation in and out of the show, she chronicled her journey as a librarian in a humorous, touching, and poignant keynote (linked here). She emphasized that our librarian groups are like a family. They change and grow over time; we have moments of triumph and setbacks, but ultimately we are here to support one another and share in this journey of librarianship together.

Her message inspired me to reflect on my own journey thus far in school librarianship and the impact that professional library organizations have had on me. As an active member of several organizations (ALA, AASL, ISTE, TCEA, TLA, & TASL) I can say without a doubt that the educator and librarian I am today is a direct result of my participation and service to these groups.

The Texas Association of School Librarians (TASL) is an organization that I passionately serve. The purpose of TASL is to promote library services and librarianship in school libraries in Texas and to cooperate in the promotion of general and joint enterprises with the Texas Library Association. With more than 4500 members, TASL strives to meet the unique needs of school librarians forming ties with librarians throughout the state.

TASL and TLA feel like a family to me. Being part of this family has brought so much to my librarian life. I want to encourage all Texas School Librarians to join TLA and TASL and become part of our family. If you are already a member of TASL, but your membership doesn’t feel like a This Is Us experience, I want to encourage you to get involved! We have tons of opportunities for you to get involved and serve.

TASL Website: http://txla.org/groups/TASL


TASL Advocacy: http://txla.org/groups/TASL-Advocacy


TASL Volunteer form: https://goo.gl/OM3Wkm


TASL Committees http://tinyurl.com/TASLcommittees


TASL Committee Appointments


TASL Google+ Community


TASL Advocates for you! Did you know...



TASL advocates for librarians as teachers who are essential components of a robust educational system. We actively share emerging information and technology with the legislative, administrative, and learning communities.

TASL advocates to the state legislature and other decision-makers on behalf of school libraries.

TASL uses the division's awards to increase understanding beyond the library community of the integral role school libraries play in the successful education of the state's children.