School Library Advocates Need ilovelibraries.org

By Dorcas Hand 

www.ilovelibraries.org is an initiative of the American Library Association with the vision to keep America informed about what’s happening in today’s libraries. The home page offers links to current articles of interest for various kinds of libraries, but schools are the top of the page. ALA is determined to lead readers deeper into the site for information, videos and links to more.

Currently, a piece about a Pittsburgh (PA) area school district that has cut back on library staff leads the website sits beside a link to School Libraries Make the Difference, which offers pages about Student Achievement, College and Career Readiness, Lifelong Learners and Student Success Endangered as well as How Can I Get Involved and some FAQs. The FAQs are really great – things like “Why do we still need libraries when we have the internet?” and “Why do we need a school librarian?”

You might even want to join AASL to have direct access to even more resources, beyond the ones open to the public.

So we’ll keep today’s post very short – spread the word to all the advocates on your campus about www.ilovelibraries.org, and use the ideas with the folks who are not yet on your list of supporters. You already read this Texas blog – take the hint to look farther afield, and take full advantage of this free support tool. There are resources beyond Texas that can help us.

TEXLINE, a TXLA Goldmine

by Susi Grissom

NOTE: This blog manager is a day late for Library Virtual Action Day - but this post serves as a reminder that it is NEVER too late to contact your legislators about school libraries. They always need your enthusiastic support, as well as stories that illustrate in student terms the impact of our work.

In mid-January, Gloria Meraz, Director of Communications for TLA, distributed to all TLA members one of her famous TEXLINE updates,  packed with information about library issues that will be impacted by the current Legislative Session (http://www.txla.org/sites/tla/files/Advocate/Texline%20298.pdf). TASL TALKS would like to highlight the parts of this treasure trove of legislative detail that pertain specifically to school librarians, so that you and your colleagues can help with Texas library advocacy efforts.

• Sharing Digital Content – this is one of the two big “asks” for this legislative session.  TLA is requesting $6.4 million to building digital collections through TexQuest (K-12 public schools and TexShare (pubic and college libraries).  Anyone who has used the TexQuest resources this year knows what powerful learning tools this digital content provides.  Find details about this issue at: http://www.txla.org/sites/tla/files/Advocate/84th_Library_Budget_Issues.pdf
• Advocacy Tools to Use – in an effort to equip school librarians to effectively work with decision-makers, Gloria has provided a toolkit chock full of resources.  These include a 1-page handout of talking points to help us make our case on budget issues; a representative locator to help us easily find our  legislators; a TLA Advocacy Primer that contains an impressive list of how-to’s that beginning through the most experienced advocates will find helpful.
• TLA Pre-Conference information -- a special opportunity open to anyone interested in honing their advocacy skills is Storming the Capitol – a TLA PreConference.  With training provided in the morning and lunch included in the event registration, participants will visit the Capitol in teams on Tuesday, April 14, to meet with legislators about identified library issues. Badges of honor will be awarded for use throughout the TLA conference!
• Library Virtual Action Day -- put the previously mentioned advocacy tools to work on Thursday, February 12, by participating in TLA’s Library Virtual Action Day.  Gloria outlines a number of doable, concrete tasks that you and your colleagues can complete to focus on library support in Austin and in your community.   
• School Librarian Certification and State Standards –  in the recent TEXLINE Gloria outlines recent state-level activity concerning school librarians, including a  letter from TASL leadership to the State Board of Educator Certification (SBEC) on school librarian certification and the Texas State Library and Archives Commission’s work to begin the process of updating school library state standards.

Many thanks to Gloria for her continued work on behalf of school librarians and for her effort to educate us on advocacy steps we can implement to strengthen school libraries in the state of Texas. Let’s get to work!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Connecting Texas to National Advocacy Issues: ALA District Dispatch

by Susi Parks Grissom

 Librarians interested in advocacy issues at the national level will find a great resource in the American Library Association’s Washington Office’s newly redesigned blog, the DISTRICT DISPATCH. The DISPATCH focuses on federal legislation and policy updates that pertain to all types of libraries, including school.  Found at http://www.districtdispatch.org, the blog’s homepage features the daily post, plus links to recent posts in the areas of telecommunications, copyright, privacy & surveillance, and webinars on a variety of advocacy topics.  Readers can easily access past articles on a wide range of topics – including school libraries, digital literacy, and e-books – from a comprehensive listing in a right-hand frame.

Education/School Libraries is a major category under the Issues tab at the top of the blog’s homepage.  This webpage contains information on the Elementary and Secondary Education Act as it pertains to school libraries with talking points, as well as links to other education and school library news.  The Take Action tab provides links to help in navigating the ALA Legislative Action Center resources, as well as tools to locate a librarian’s elected officials.  The Resources link under this tab leads to a treasure chest of advocacy training tools, including Advocacy University, with its listing of comprehensive school library advocacy resources.  Other tabs provide extensive resources on legislation, events in Washington, and national policy publications.

With a new Congress beginning its work in Washington, The DISTRICT DISPATCH makes it easy for school librarians in Texas to connect to the national legislative scene.  Subscribe to this informative advocacy tool at http://cqrcengage.com/ala/app/register?0&m=20147 to keep current on national issues, policies, news, and opportunities that impact our Texas school libraries.

Susi Parks Grissom is TASL Legislative/Advocacy Committee Co-Chair