NC SCHOOL LIBRARY MEDIA ASSOCIATION

Well, friends, we made it to 2024! I don’t know how your 2023 went, but mine felt like I was trapped on the struggle bus as it rolled uncontrollably down a hill full of potholes, and if I’m being honest I still feel that way, but I’m so glad to be in a new year filled with new things! The one thing that always takes away that struggle bus feeling is being an active part of NCSLMA and I’m thrilled to be entering into my year as President-Elect. 

If you don’t know me, HI! I’m Faith Huff and I’m a middle school librarian in Gaston County. I’ve been in education since 2005 and in the library since 2016. I loved being a teacher, but being a school librarian is my happy place. Kristy was right when she said “Magic Happens Here” as she named our conference last year and I’m always excited to make magic and see the magic you are all creating in your own libraries. 

I want to take a moment to thank Kristy Sartain for her hard work as President Elect and planning the 2023 NCSLMA Conference. Along with the Conference Committee, Kristy did an amazing job and I am in awe of her and her team. I also want to thank her in advance for the millions of questions she’s already answered for me and all the ones still to come as we get ready for the 2024 NCSLMA Conference. Kristy and I met in 2020 as part of the NCSLMA Leadership Academy and it’s been a privilege to watch her grow as a librarian and as a leader. She’s the reason I finally felt brave enough to run for President-Elect because not only is she awesome, she created an NCSLMA Conference Committee! Knowing I have her support AND Heath Radford and his team behind me makes planning the next conference seem not only doable, but fun! 

The 2024 NCSLMA Conference will be held Oct. 3-4 in Greensboro at Koury Convention Center. We’re excited to try something new this year (at least new to me!) and are creating some unique experiences for you that can only be had at Koury. Not only are we shifting locations, we’re also hosting conferences for two full days on Thursday and Friday instead of moving into Saturday. We know from conference feedback over the last few years that this is something you have been wanting and we’re excited to see how it goes. Your feedback on anything we do is so valuable and we use it, so make 2024 the year you tell us what you think after anything we offer. NCSLMA serves you, and we can only serve you well if we know what you need! 

The transition to Koury has been a little rough so far. Due to some staffing changes at Koury, we’ve had some hiccups getting ahead like we were hoping. On January 23 we will be touring Koury Convention Center with our contacts as well as sitting down and finalizing all the details. We’ll be looking at all the rooms and deciding what locations will best serve us in the convention center, as well as talking about food and drinks and NCSLMA Jama and everything else that makes our conference one of my favorite things each year. NCSLMA Jama is leveling up this year…I cannot wait to tell you more! Hopefully in my next blog post if all goes well at our meeting!  

There is one thing I know for sure about conference….we have one of our guest speakers confirmed. I’m excited to announce that Amanda Jones will be speaking at our conference as well as signing copies of her new book, That Librarian: The Fight Against Book Banning in America which will release August 27th of this year.

Amanda has been awarded the Louisiana School Librarian of the Year (2020), Library Journal Mover & Shaker (2021), School Library Journal Librarian of the Year (2021), and that’s just the tip of the iceberg! She is as tough as she is kind and I tell her often that I’m not sure I could do what she’s done. She tells me I could and that all librarians could. I hope no one reading this ever has to find out, but knowing someone like Amanda has paved the way and literally wrote the book on it makes me feel a little better. Check out her website for more information about her and her school library’s website has been more than inspirational to me as I’ve definitely taken some of her ideas and put them into place in my own library. 

I’m looking forward to the year ahead and serving as your NCSLMA President-Elect. I intend to take this role, and my job, seriously, but never myself. Am I going to give 100% in this role? Yes. Am I going to have a blast doing it? Absolutely! Here’s to 2024!