New State Library Standards Update

We are moving ever closer to having our new Texas State Library Standards ready to roll!  At the time of this posting, our proposed document is with the Texas Education Agency (TEA) and we eagerly await their comments and approval.

Much progress has been made since our first State Standards Revision Steering Committee meeting in November 2015. Creating vision and mission statements were the first challenges for the committee. We knew these needed to be strong statements, making the case for the necessity of certified professional librarians in schools to impact student achievement.

VISION: Texas school libraries are essential interactive collaborative learning environments, ever evolving to provide equitable physical and virtual access to ideas, information, and learning tools for the entire school community.

MISSION: Certified librarians and trained staff nurture a culture of literacy and inquiry throughout the school community. An integral part of instructional teams, librarians collaborate with teachers on curriculum design and delivery.  They maintain a professionally developed collection of print and digital materials and assist learners in locating resources that match their academic and personal interests. Librarians model and teach information literacy and digital citizenship, empowering learners to make ethical, informed choices in an increasingly complex and evolving global environment.

Once the vision and mission statements were in place, they were our guideposts in creating the core values, upon which the standards’ strands and dimensions have been built.

Core Values:

• School libraries are essential, safe, and inviting centers for teaching and learning.
• School libraries support reading for learning and pleasure which are essential skills for college and career readiness and for life.
• School libraries provide access to information for inquiry including the pursuit, creation, and sharing of knowledge, and support for both student and professional learning.
• School libraries promote information literacy requiring targeted instruction to efficiently locate, accurately evaluate, ethically use, and clearly communicate information in various formats.
• School libraries are vital technology centers, providing access to devices and online resources, supporting personalized learning, and teaching digital literacy including privacy, safety, etiquette, creative credit, cyberbullying, and creating a positive digital footprint.
• School libraries are effective when staffed by full-time, certified school librarians at every school, supported by trained paraprofessionals.

Subcommittees were appointed and worked tirelessly to create and flesh out each of the six strands and an appendix with additional data collection measures.  Upon completion, these documents were sent to outside experts in the field for comments and revision suggestions.  

It is important to note that the new state library standards create standards of practice librarians use to teach our content, much like the TEKS are used by classroom teachers to teach their content.

The co-chairs (Donna Kearley and I), along with Liz Philippi from TSLAC, pored over the documents taking into consideration the suggested revisions for both wording and format. This document was presented at TLA in April 2017 and then was posted for public comments for a period of 4 weeks.

Once again the team worked to update the document with the suggestions before presenting it at TASLA (Texas Association of School Library Administrators) in June. Comments were recorded and taken into consideration as the team once again worked to continue to shape the document.

Finally, this latest ideation was presented at TLA’s Annual Assembly.  Comments and suggestions were once again taken into consideration as the group prepared the document for final editing and formatting before being sent to the Texas Education Agency (TEA).

Once we have the green light from TEA, the document will be sent to the State Board of Education (SBOE) for approval.  We are hopeful that the document will move from “proposed standards” to “approved standards” before the start of the 2018-2019 academic year.

The proposed standards can be found on the TSLAC website by following this link.

posted by Sonja Schulz

Postcards Persuade

by Dorcas Hand, TASLTalks Editorial Board

While I was in Chicago at the ALA conference, I attended a rally at the Illinois state House – people, carrying signs, talking about what mattered to us in a place where others could hear. If they listened.

  

But the most brilliant element to me was the postcards.

             

As we look at the Texas Legislature’s Special Session in our rear-view mirror - and think we can ignore them a while - I’d like to propose exactly the opposite. Find a postcard template you like online and make yourself a series of postcards to send your local legislators about exciting things happening in your library as the year goes along. Help them feel warm and fuzzy about school libraries. Help them understand how strong school libraries support many literacies and academic achievement, even test scores. Persuade them that the teaching you lead in the library is every bit as important as what happens in the classroom; repeat several times over the year.

Use pictures of project outlines, colorful student projects (without names, of course), creative bulletin boards or online displays – anything that brings attention to the fact that you are leading your campus to stronger student growth. You can show students working without ever showing a face. You can reflect diversity, too. Get creative. Or ask your students to draw the images that reflect why they think your library is important every day.

IMHO, the biggest challenge is making the initial template – so I’ll give you one for the front and one for the back. Or download another from the all-powerful internet… You just mark your calendar to send a postcard to all your legislators ever 2-3 weeks all year. You can print a few copies of each card, even pre-load the addresses… Card stock, or pre-cut postcard stock, is easy and pretty cheap.

Just remember – postcards persuade!

Discussion question: What do you want to feature first? What project do you think will make your legislator feel great about your library program???

Texas Library Leaders

Written by Jacqueline Higginbotham, Middle School Media Specialist in New Caney ISD, TxASL Talks Editorial Board.

It’s August in Texas. The dog days of Texas are coming to an end. Educators, students, and parents are preparing for another great year of school (and some have even already started). Parents are cramming down the school supply aisles trying to check the last few items off their school supply list. Teachers are making multiple trips to the teacher supply stores and librarians are planning and preparing to make sure they get books into the hands of all their students. As an educator myself, I love this time of year. It’s a fresh start. A clean slate. Whatever didn’t get done last year fuels me to be better this year! As we prepare for the upcoming year, we often reflect on how we spent our summer days and set goals to the year ahead.

Every summer, the Texas Library Association spends four fabulous days with Texas  librarians as part of their TALL Texans Leadership Development Institute. 25 librarians from across the state and different library types are selected to participate in the institute each year. Led by Jack Siggins & Maureen Sullivan, these librarians learn about themselves and how to make a greater impact on their community through their jobs as librarians. They work with mentors, reflect on how they can be better, and set goals that they want to complete over the next year. During these 4 days all of the participants and leaders form long-lasting bonds that will help them to continue to grow over the coming years.

It is a true honor to be selected to participate in the TALL Texan Leadership Development Institute. And most graduates are proud to call themselves a TALL Texan! It is a badge of honor! The 2017 TALL Texans Class is made up of the following librarians. You can expect to hear from some of these folks this year:

Katherine Adelberg, Library Development, Texas State Library, Austin

Yolanda Botello, Youth Services, Mansfield Public Library

Rory Elliott, Collections Merchandising, Texas State University, San Marcos

Jacob Galindo, Library Instruction, University of Texas El Paso

Allyssa Guzman, Digital Scholarship, University of Texas at Austin

Chad Hetterley, Technical Services, Desoto Public Library

Claire Hogg, Central High School, San Angelo ISD

Janna Hoglund, Octavia Fields Branch, Harris County Public Library, Humble

Jennifer Jimenez, Reference, Del Mar College, Corpus Christi

Linda Kay, Ridgeview Middle School, Round Rock ISD

Bethni King, Children's Services, Georgetown Public Library

Laura Magana, Richland High School, Birdville ISD, North Richland Hills

Maurine Nichols, Technical Services, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston

Elizabeth Ponder, Instruction & Information Services, East Texas Baptist University, Marshall

Sara Pope, Children's Services, Houston Public Library

Danny Ramos, Padron Elementary School, Austin ISD

Alexia Riggs, Dean of Libraries, Howard Payne University, Brownwood

Lorraine Roussin, Judson High School, Judson ISD, Converse

Mellissa Sanchez, Highlands Elementary School, Fort Bend ISD, Sugar Land

Joanna Stone, Parr Library, Plano Public Libraries

Valerie Tagoe, Wilson High School, Dallas ISD

Theresa Tongio Holden, Director, Palestine Public Library

Beth Vizzini, Circulation, West Texas A&M University, Canyon

Hillary Volkmann, Black Elementary School, Aldine ISD, Houston

As the Incoming Chair for the TALL Texans round table, I would love to encourage you to apply to be part of the 2018 class! You may have to apply more than once -- I did! Many applicants do not get in on their first try, but a teacher once told me, “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again!” I am so glad I did not give up! It really was a highlight of my career. Here are a few things you can do to learn more:

• Check out the TxLA TALL Texans page.
• Begin your application when it opens on October, 1st. It is due January 26, 2018. Reach out to former TALL Texans for help (I would love to hear from you, but you can also find a list of former TALLs on the TxLA webpage. You can also reach out to Ted Wanner at TxLA and he will be happy to help you).
• Join the TALL Texans Round Table. Did you know you don’t have to be a graduate of the TALL Texans to belong to our RT? If you are interested in learning more, joining the RT is a GREAT place to start!