Welcome to the North Carolina School Library Media Association's Monthly newsletter!
Questions? Contact kenishasmith@ncslma.org
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Jenny Umbarger
NCSLMA President
2022-2023
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With School Library Month coming to an end, we hope you celebrated - and were celebrated - in a big way! We were appreciative to receive Governor Cooper’s proclamation (see copy linked here), and thank you to our Advocacy and Governance section for their work on making this happen. Spring is in full swing and while the exhaustion of this year is still a thing, I am also feeling a sense of rejuvenation seeing all of the budding and blooming of trees and flowers. This new growth extends into our own organization. We are pleased to announce the creation of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Section, led by co-chairs Michelle Burton and Ness Shortly. Michelle has been serving as chair of the DEI Special Committee created back in September of 2020. The NCSLMA Board was in agreement with Michelle and her committee that this should be a standing committee to continue to address DEI issues as they arise in the daily life of our organization and in the world at large and to facilitate professional development and learning opportunities relating to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Thank you for the work you have done and will continue to do! Laura Aldridge has moved from Membership Support Director to another new section within our organizational structure: AASL Delegate. As a state organization affiliated with AASL, we are required to have two delegates for the Chapter Assembly. Historically, NCSLMA’s President and Past President or President-Elect have served in this capacity. Having designated delegates will allow for a greater understanding of and involvement in the Chapter Assembly and allow the Presidents to focus more on our organization. Sarah Justice will join Laura as the second delegate in January when her term as Awards, Grants, and Scholarship Director ends. Welcome to new board members Shelly Cloninger, who has been appointed Membership Director, and Elizabeth Pickering, elected to fill the secretary vacancy through the end of 2022. Katie Moose has taken over as Brew Crew Coordinator, and earlier this year we announced Stephanie Powell as our new Advocacy Chair and Lori Munroe was elected to fill the vacancy of Piedmont East Director through December 2022. You can see a full NCSLMA Leadership Directory linked here. Thank you to all of the board members for taking on these new roles, and we look forward to continuing to grow!
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Jennifer AbelConference Chair, President Elect More information coming soon!
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Calling All Bloggers
NCSLMA has a small blog on our website. If you would like to contribute to it, please send submissions to kristysartain@ncslma.org. We're looking for news items, stories about your library, fun events you have had, etc. Pictures can be included and are welcomed. There are no minimum or maximum length requirements. Share some of the great things going on in your library!
Coastal Regions Update
Greetings Coastal Regions! Sara Levin and the Coastal Regional Advisory Committee would like to hear from you. Please complete this survey to help us plan how to best serve regions 1 & 2. We look forward to hearing from you. Thank you!
Check your emails!
Notification of proposal acceptances go out May 2. Make sure to check your e-mail! We are grateful for everyone who submitted a proposal and wish we could accept them all. Together, we make NCSLMA an amazing organization. 
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Updates to the NCSLMA Webpage
We've added a couple of items on the website that we wanted to make sure everyone knew about.
The first is a book challenge form. While this has been on the website for a while, we wanted to make it really easy to find, so it's now on the homepage. This form is for formal and informal challenges. It has been updated and the information you provide in it will help NCSLMA volunteers help you.
The second addition is a Google events calendar, along with an accompanying events submission form. NCSLMA members do a LOT and we want to help you tell the world about it. If you are hosting a regional event or a PD that is open to members, please submit the information so we can add it. The calendar also includes NCSLMA-specific events such as Awards Applications, Brew Crew, Conference Registration, Summer Learning Series, etc.
Better Together Grants Now Available
Better Together grants are available to K-12 NCSLMA member media coordinators (certified or provisional) in public or private schools, in partnership with classroom teachers, for innovative projects that foster the integration of media / information skills into the K-12 curriculum. The focus is on individual media coordinators and teachers rather than on district-wide projects. Up to three (3) one-year grants totaling $1,000 each will be awarded. Previous grant winners may re-apply after three years. Grant winners will be expected to present at the NCSLMA Conference. Due date is May 31, 2022.
Visit https://ncslma.wildapricot.org/Grants for more information and for the application. 
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Closing Keynote--2022 Conference
We are excited to announce that Dr. April Dawkins will be our closing keynote speaker for the 2022 NCSLMA Conference! We cannot wait to see all of you October 6-8. Make sure you follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook to stay up to date on everything NCSLMA.
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Advancement
Director: Faith Huff Advocacy
Director: Susan Sawin
Awards, Grants, Scholarships
Director: Sarah Justice
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Book Programs
Director: Stacy Hersey
G-Suites
Director: Cindy Sturdivant
Membership
Director: Laura Aldridge
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Regional Directors:
Lead: Robin Rhodes
Social Media
Director: Alicia Luke Website
Director: Kristy Sartain
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Member Spotlight
We'd like to continue the appreciation and the acknowledgement from School Library Month with a new Membership Spotlight feature which highlights some of our fantastic NCSLMA members. Meet our first member spotlights: Ashley Greene and Monet Hardison and follow them on social media.
Local Author Shares the Magic of Story Writing with Middle Schoolers
Hali Pyles, Media Specialist, Orange Middle School
Kenisha Smith, Media Specialist, AL Stanback Middle School
Three things about author’s visits:
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They are fun!
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Kids love meeting celebrities (Author’s are our celebrities)
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It sparks an excitement for reading!
Recently, two middle schools in Orange County, NC (AL Stanback Middle School and Orange Middle School) hosted local North Carolina author, Scott Reintgen. Scott Reintgen is the author of several MG and YA books including the series Nyxia which was featured on the 2021 Middle Grades Battle of the Books list. Reintgen delighted middle schoolers with his humorous stories about the writing process, how he perseveres after being told he had to rewrite one of his books, and how much he loves his new book, The Problem with Procephies. It was awesome for students to get an SEL lesson mixed in with promoting an enthusiasm for reading. Students had the opportunity to win signed copies of one of his books and pre-order their own personalized copy of The Problem with Procephies from local bookstore, Fly Leaf Books in Raleigh. If you have been hesitant to host an author’s visit, this is your sign to do so!
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The division of Digital Teaching and Learning (DTL) is excited to announce its new iteration of NCBOLD for this summer. Previously NCBOLD had been a virtual professional learning opportunity for public school educators throughout North Carolina.
Realizing the importance of high quality, face to face professional learning, DTL will offer an all day digital teaching and learning conference in each of the educational regions throughout our state. NCBOLD has recruited current, practicing educators with a proven track record of delivering high quality and innovative professional learning tied to the Digital Learning Competencies for both educators and administrators and the Digital Learning Standards for students. These NCBOLD ambassadors will create and execute innovative sessions that will allow practicing educators to effectively integrate digital teaching and learning in their classrooms. For the summer of 2022, NCBOLD will be hosted at the following locations. Registration will open later this spring for each region. Eastern Region:
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Monday, July 11: DF Walker Elementary School, Edenton-Chowan Public Schools (Northeast Region)
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Tuesday, July 12: Croatan High School, Carteret County Public Schools (Southeast Region)
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Wednesday, July 13: Hunt High School, Wilson County Schools, (North Central Region)
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Thursday, July 14: Lumberton High School, Public Schools of Robeson County (Sandhills Region)
Western Region:
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Monday, July 18: Central Wilkes Middle Schools, Wilkes County Schools (Northwest Region)
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Tuesday, July 19: Oak Grove High School, Davidson County Schools (Piedmont-Triad Region)
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Wednesday, July 20: Kannapolis Middle Schools, Kannapolis City Schools (Southwest Region)
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Thursday, July 21: Brevard High School, Transylvania County Schools (Western Region)
CONTRIBUTE TO THE NEXT NEWS & NOTES
Would you like to contribute to the next NCSLMA News & Notes?We want to hear from you! Do you have an upcoming multi-school or district event, were you recognized in some way, are you involved in the coolest collaboration, or did you contribute in some other spectacular way that shows the value of school libraries and librarians? We know you did! So we want to share the fabulous things school librarians are doing across the state! Please submit links to articles, published materials, and/or graphics to Kenisha Smith (kenishasmith@ncslma.org). Materials should be "copy and paste" ready. Submissions will be edited and published at the discretion of the NCSLMA News & Updates Editorial Team.
Submission Guidelines Document
© NC School Library Media Association | 151 NC Hwy 9 Ste B #188, Black Mountain, NC 28711 NCSLMA is a 501(c)6 non-profit organization (W-9)
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