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!

The Power of Community

by Shirley Robinson, TLA Executive Director

The days leading up to March 11 were some of the most stress-filled I’ve ever experienced professionally in my 25-year nonprofit and association management career. Our incredible TLA staff were in full-on two weeks out from conference hustle-mode. Concerns over the threat of COVID-19 and what its impact could be to our conference were looming with dozens of calls and emails a day from members, exhibitors, and suppliers. When we ultimately made the decision with our Executive Board to cancel the conference that morning of the 11th, it was a relief that we had made the very painful but correct decision to protect the health and safety of our members and their communities. Ultimately, that same day the City of Houston banned all large events and the rest of the State and nation were all facing similar decisions. It was a time of uncertainty and shared commiseration of loss and mourning as we began the journey of the unknown.

Today, just a little more than four weeks later, the TLA Executive Board, membership, and staff are excited to be launching our first ever Virtual Conference. We’ll have more than 40 hours of pre-recorded content, live sessions and chat rooms for members to interact on April 21- 22, with even more fun surprises to come throughout the summer with an expanded learning series! A good quarter of the programs are targeted to our school library community with many more that may pique an interest you didn’t know you had. We’re thrilled that many registered attendees have chosen to convert their conference registration over to the Virtual meeting where they’ll receive many more hours of CE than they could have in a face-to-face conference. We’re also excited to see many members registering from far reaches of the state (and even some out of state) that haven’t previously been able to make the trip for time or budgetary reasons. If you know a school librarian who hasn’t attended TLA before please encourage them to register at https://txla.org/annual-conference/attend/schedule/.

Since joining TLA in early January I’ve already come to know and love the resiliency and spirit of collaboration of our library members. Even in my interview process I could see that the level of engagement and support of the association comes from an incredibly passionate and active base of members. This is a unique attribute that you don’t always find in associations, and it was exciting to see and has been even more exciting to experience. As we all navigate through the next few months, this resiliency will be a hallmark that not only helps the association to survive but we will thrive and grow through these lessons of innovation and creativity.

I can’t wait to meet more members from our school library community in the coming months. As a Mom, I thank you for the tremendous work you’re doing to support our educators and students, and as TLA’s Executive Director, I thank you for all you do to enrich this association. I am here for you – just a phone call or email away.

Shirley

Shirley Robinson, CAE
Executive Director
Texas Library Association

You Are Essential

by Kristi Starr, librarian at Coronado High School in Lubbock ISD, TASL chair

Only a few short weeks ago I was looking forward to April 1. It was to follow an amazing week of learning, connecting, and reconnecting at the Texas Library Association conference in Houston. It was a day when I anticipated commencing planning for 2021. The April 1 I woke up to, however, is one that no jokester would have ever predicted.

Friends, we are working in challenging times. The world to which we had grown accustomed has been turned upside down. You know it, your teachers know it, your students know it … everyone knows it. For many of us, it’s like working with one arm tied behind your back. You can do part of your job, but something critical is missing. Maybe it’s the people. It could be the books. Or the makerspaces. Even a reliable internet connection. Regardless, let me remind you of one thing.

You are essential.

• Librarians are essential to providing stability for students through storytimes and booktalks. They’re simply online now rather than face to face.
• Librarians are essential for curating resources for teachers and students. We aren’t throwing together lists and links, rather we are thoughtfully gathering and sharing a variety of resources and ideas. 
• Librarians are essential for technology support. We are answering emails, conducting office hours, picking up the phone to assist our colleagues and students when they need a new tool or aren’t quite sure how to do a certain task on a device. 
• Librarians are essential as collaborators. Whether it’s working with departments that we’ve never before worked with or collaborating on projects and websites with librarians across our districts, we are showing the value of teamwork and new perspectives. 

TASL and TLA are here to support you. We know times are crazy. We know it’s a challenge. But we’re here for you. And we all need to be there for each other. Session proposals and volunteer requests will come, and we’ll meet again in 2021 in San Antonio when we Celebrate Differences; Empower Voices.

Because today is April 1, it’s time to share our monthly advocacy statement. We have a slight departure from the planned statement, however. Thanks to Brooke King, TASL Talks editor, we have changed this month’s tweet to “Did you know that full-time certified librarians are supporting teachers and students virtually by ________?” Fill in the blank with what you’re doing. Be sure to tag #TxASLTalks #txlege and #TxASL You might mention @TxLA and your district and anyone else who needs to see this message. If you aren’t on Twitter, take it to Facebook or Instagram. Let’s get our stories out there. You are essential. 

Image source

One last thought. We owe a debt of gratitude to Nancy Jo Lambert who is rolling off the TASL executive board and to Richelle O’Neil as she assumes the role of past chair. I have officially taken on duties of TASL chair and welcome Jill Bellomy as chair-elect. Thank you, Nancy Jo and Richelle, for your leadership. Thanks also to Lisa Zinkie who has served the past two years as TASL secretary. We appreciate you, Lisa, and welcome Linda Kay into that office. We appreciate our councilors Nicole Cruz and Jenn Hampton who represent TASL both at the state and national levels. A heartfelt round of thanks goes to Brandi Dawson and all those others who served on ProCo for the 2020 conference, and to Dr. Leah Mann who co-chaired the programming committee. To all of you who spent time preparing presentations, serving on committees, planning events - we feel your disappointment, and while we were unable to enjoy the fruits of your efforts, we commend you on a job well done. Finally, to the TLA staff for all the hours and continued work on the virtual conference, we express deep gratitude.

With the past in mind, and with a foot in the present, we look to the future. And it’s bright, y’all. It’s bright.