Happy winter to NCSLMA members!
One of my goals as president was to start a monthly newsletter for 2019. Well, I started out behind, but finally! Here is edition 1 for 2019. If you know of something or someone you'd like for me to highlight, please let me know.
NCSLMA Elections: NCSLMA election time is right around the corner. Each year, we elect two regional directors. This year we will elect Piedmont West and Coastal directors. President Elect is voted on each year. Election information will be coming out this spring for May elections.
Want to volunteer for NCSLMA? We also have many committee opportunities for those of you who would like to become involved at the state level. Just fill out this form.
#NCSLMA19 .Connect . Create . Curate. Shout out to Laura Long, our 2019 President Elect/Conference Chair! She is working hard behind the scenes to make sure we have the best conference EVER! You will want to make sure that you are at the Benton Convention Center October 2-4 to network, meet Peter Reynolds, and see all the creative ways that school librarians meet stakeholder needs! If you'd like to help with this year's conference, contact Laura at lauralong@nclsma.org .
Coming soon:
- Updated & revamped website with a new look and a place to host our own forums
- Leadership Academy information
- Spring regional workshops dates and topics
- More info on #NCSLMA19
AASL Affiliate Assembly
Brene Duggins, Laura Long, and I just got back from ALA Midwinter in Seattle where we represented NCSLMA at AASL’s Affiliate Assembly. Brene Duggins is currently serving as the AASL Affiliate Assembly's President which gives her a seat on the AASL Board. We are very proud of her service at the national level. I'm serving as the Region 4 Representative.
It was exciting to see other NCSLMA members Chelsea Brantley, Kevin Washburn, and Alan Bailey at conference.
Chelsea Brantley is NCSLMA’s Social Media Committee Chair and serves on the EBSCO Conference Sponsorship Awards Committee. She’s currently looking for committee members, so if you are interested, please contact her at chelseabrantley@ncslma.org.
Kevin Washburn is our Division Director for Education. His section includes library and technology standards (state & national), mentoring development, and webinars. Kevin has served on the Rainbow Project Book List, ALSC Grant Committee, and Frederick G. Kilgour Award (LITA/OCLC). Kevin will be on the next ballot for the Newbery Committee.
Alan Bailey is NCSLMA’s liaison with our sister organization NC Library Association (NCLA). Alan serves nationally as the Chair-Elect for the Coretta Scott King Book Awards Executive Board.
If you are a member of NCSLMA and serve on an ALA or AASL committee, please let me know. I'd love to highlight your work.
Strategic Planning: Brene and I spent Friday working with a team of AASL staff, board members, and volunteers laying the groundwork for an updated strategic plan to guide AASL for the next few years. This fantastic team also included April Dawkins (NCSLMA's Intellectual Freedom Chair) and Heather Moorefield-Lang (our Grants Chair). Brene continued that work with the AASL Board on Saturday. The strategic plan should be completed by the next affiliate assembly meeting which is at Annual.
Commendations and concerns: Do you know of a group that is doing extraordinary things to promote libraries or reading? Please email me the details so we can include them in our commendation recommendations. Likewise, if you have a suggestion that would help to improve the way that AASL supports us as school librarians, email me that too. We have short turn around on concerns, so send that email ASAP.
ALA/AASL elections: Elections run from March 11 to April 3. Please vote! AASL had a small percentage of its membership vote in the last election.
In addition, we have several AASL members running for ALA council. Thirty-four councilors will be elected in 2019, which means you get to vote for 34 people!
AASL members running:
- John Eric Byrnes
- Kathy Carroll
- Bitsy Griffin
- Carl A. Harvey, II
- Andrea Q. Jamison
- Sara Kelly Johns
- Maricar Laudato
- Christine Hl. Lopez
- James (Jim) G. Neal
- Brenda Pruitt-Annisette
- Deborah Rinio
- Brenda S. Sprinkle
- Ann K. Symons
- Joyce Valenza
Please consider voting for all these people to make sure that school libraries are well represented in ALA's Council.
AASL in Louisville, KY - 2019 You can register now and pay later. What a great deal! Not only can you register now and pay later, register before February 11, and receive $100 off with AASL100.
Need another incentive? A complimentary registration is included for every administrator that attends with their registered school librarian! If you are hesitant to approach your administrator for
Never been to AASL before? There's an extra incentive for you! Bound To Stay Bound and NCSLMA both have grants for first time attendees. BTSB's grant can be found on the convention website. Stay tuned for more information on NCSLMA's grant.
Have questions? Our board directory is a great place to start to know who to contact for your particular questions. Please note that the old email addresses that began with NCSLMA and ended with @gmail.com are not longer in use.
School librarians = school leaders! How will you lead today?
Warm regards,
Bitsy Griffin
President, NCSLMA
#NCSLMA19 .Connect . Create . Curate.
bitsygriffin@ncslma.org
