Florida Media Quarterly
Fall 2017 Volume 43 No. 2
FMQ Disclaimer:
Florida Media Quarterly is the official publication of the Florida Association for Media in Education, Inc., and is published at least four times annually: Fall, Winter, Spring, and Summer. Interested persons are invited to submit material for publication. For special information on articles and advertising, visit our website at www.floridamediaed.org. Text submitted becomes the property of FMQ and is not returned. FMQ is not responsible for the accuracy of material, including references, tables, etc., and for obtaining necessary releases. The opinions expressed in Florida Media Quarterly are those of the authors and not necessarily those of FAME. Articles are the property of the authors indicated, and any use rights must be sought from the author. FAME is not responsible for the accuracy of text submitted; contributors are responsible for the reproduced for non-commercial purposes provided full acknowledgements are given and FAME is notified. All members of FAME have access to the FMQ via the webpage of the FAME website at www.floridamediaed.org.
Nancy Mijangos, FMQ Editor
Kathy Lancaster, FMQ Contributing Editor
A Letter from our President
We have so much to celebrate, as FAME is in a very good place right now, thanks to our dedicated servant leaders who volunteer many hours to keep our organization running smoothly; who use our funds wisely; who reach out to those in need; who advocate for our role and profession; who run our reading programs; who manage to plan amazingly fun and informative conferences that energize and excite us for the coming year; who keep in touch with ALA and AASL to keep us informed; who award scholarships to deserving members, principals, and administrators; and so much more! We are also proud to say that the #LarryBodkin incident has ended with a verdict that he serve 18 months in prison for embezzling funds from us and several organizations. Our financial situation has improved each year since that awful time in our history. With so many amazing stories that were shared during #FAME17, I am proud to say we are a professional organization filled with talent, passion, and grit. We weather storms, learn from our mistakes, take leaps of faith, are willing to take the lead, help others, and the list goes on and on. I am so very proud and humbled to be learning right alongside each of you!
One of my goals this year is for FAME to follow through with our areas of focus in the Strategic Plan. Advocacy is one of them. FAME has forged partnerships with Florida Library Association (FLA) and EveryLibrary. Both have been extremely open to working with us since we have common goals and interests. Another area that falls under this umbrella is Intellectual Freedom. I am saddened to say that schools and District across our nation are still banning books in 2017. Some of you got to meet one Florida media specialist during our closing session at #FAME17 who has championed this fight. Her segment from the closing session will soon be posted to our YouTube channel.
Membership is another area of the Strategic Plan that we will tackle. We have about 500 members, but we all know that there are many more media specialists in Florida than that. I charge each of you to ADVOCATE for our organization. Find at least one or two other media specialists who have not joined our group and convince them of why they should. I am also tasking our Regional Board members to reach out in their areas to get the word out there. Think of how much we more we could accomplish with the financial backing of more members; the sky’s the limit! This goes hand-in-hand with Communication. Our Committee on Communication stays on top of events and shares via social media, as well as keeps members informed via our website and email blasts
Professional development and communication are both necessary as we continue to evolve in our ever-changing role as media specialists; we want your input. If you haven’t already responded to the survey link they added to our last email blast, please do; it will also be added to our FAME website. #FAMEChat is hosted on Twitter the first Monday of the month at 7, so be ready to participate next week. This year PD will be posted to our YouTube Channel by the third Thursday of each month starting this month. Bringing back regional meetings is something members have expressed an interest in, and we are listening. It is always beneficial for our well-being to visit with, learn from, have time to collaborate with, and get reenergized. Talk about exciting, the AASL standards are
something to behold. If you haven’t had a chance to take a look at them, there’s an app, online events via social media, and webinars hosted by AASL. Looking forward to sharing the resources I received as Florida’s affiliate at the Standards Workshop.
#FAME18 will be here before we know it. Our theme is The Future is Now: Innovate. Communicate. Resonate. Let’s all think about what this means to us; what we are already doing; and how it all relates to being a Future Ready Librarian. There is amazing talent in our organization. We need to let others in our schools, Districts, State, and Country see that FAME members taking charge to be what we need to be and do what needs to be done to help our students in any way we can; are flexible, adaptable, and get the job done.
As we move into this New Year, think about reaching out to your administrator and asking them, “What keeps you up at night?” Come up with a plan of attack and set up a meeting to discuss all that you can do to help alleviate some of their worries. If you don’t already do so, think about reaching out to each of your teachers, students, parents, and community members to see what their needs are as you plan your lessons and programs. We are here to lead, support, and serve, so let’s keep our community front and center as we do so. This is going to be a year filled with growth.
Hoping that each of you finds peace this holiday season as you enjoy time with family and friends; remember loved ones who may no longer be with us; reflect on all that you’ve accomplished throughout 2017; and set your goals for 2018.
Andrea Parisi
FAME President 2017-18
http://www.ala.org/aasl/sites/ala.org.aasl/files/content/guidelinesandstandards/learningstandards/AASL_LearningStandards.pdf
Reflections on #FAME17
by John Long and Debra Svec
John Long, Technology Program Specialist, Palm Beach County School District
Deb Svec, Library Media Specialist at Palm Beach Gardens High School
It is hard to believe but #FAME17 has come and gone. This year’s conference theme was Tell Your Story: Your Library’s Fantastic Journey which was all about telling your story. As librarians it is important to remember the mission you have to foster a love of reading for students, develop their creativity skills to learn with purpose, as well as use their love of technology to use for learning. Not to mention building collaboration with teachers and supporting school administration. This is why the school library is the hub or “digital” hub of the campus. This year’s theme is all about focusing that vision through your story because learning is telling a story.
But just like any good book, this one had an amazing preface with five workshops with a record number 147 attendance learning to hone their story telling skills from “Fighting Fake News” to “New Media Specialist” not to mention the MakerSpace, Video Production Tools, and Authoring 101. Librarians draw strength from fellow authors and this year’s conference had 19 authors with many participating in the very popular Author Speed Dating with over 202 registered for the event. This conference would not be possible without the support of the Exhibitors and Sponsors. The opening of the marketplace/ Exhibit Hall was a big hit with nearly sold out Exhibit Hall with 60 exhibitors with 12 sponsors. Please express the gratitude for FAME’s success by supporting these exhibitors. The amazing keynote speaker Kevin Honeycutt was very gracious and conducted an impromptu Digital Hub karaoke night which rocked the Exhibit Hall at the end.
This year’s conference was fashioned as book from the opening chapter of our keynote session from amazing educator Kevin Honeycutt with words of wisdom like LTLTL or Learn to Love to Learn who addressed over 723 registrants of this year’s conference. This year’s sessions were based on feedback from the membership and focusing all on how to tell library media specialist stories. This year’s themes were Telling Your Story through Digital Citizenship, Telling Your Story through Digital Literacy, Telling Your Story through Literacy, and Telling Your Story through Vision. With an amazing 133 presenters and co-presenters delivering 112 presentations throughout the conference, a vast amount of experience was shared which you can discover resources from the conference web site, just look under the agenda under presentations. You can even email the presenters as well. Thursday ended with the Grand Ball of Imagination (President’s Reception) and the ever popular Storytellers Games & Delights otherwise known as Late Night Library Games.
Friday was a very power day with the Leadership Breakfast for 150 librarians and administrators focusing on crafting leadership to grow library media programs. Then the brain child of FAME President Elizabeth Zdrodowski (2016-2017) was the author’s panel focusing on diversity through writing with “The Craft and Writing Process to Tell Everyone’s Story” which was very well attended. The closing chapter was inspiration listening to the story of a librarian’s journey through a book challenge in Dixie County to our closing speakers Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely sharing the importance of sharing your story and everyone has a story to tell.
If one message was clear, everyone has a story and it is up to the library media specialist to tell the story of how to make a difference for your students. It was a great privilege for #FAME17 Conference Committee to create such an amazing conference and their work should be congratulated as they did an amazing job. Build a community, share your story, and make a difference or in other words “Book Differently.”
FAME17 Committee
Kevin Honeycutt and Elizabeth Zdrodowski
Kevin Honeycutt's Keynote Address
President's Reception
2017 Power School Libraries
Karaoke Night in the Exhibit Hall
Did your Library Suffer Damage as a Result of Hurricane Irma?
We wanted to make sure that we have not missed anyone who may have suffered damages to their school library during Hurricane Irma.
If this pertains to you, and you haven’t already completed this Google form https://tinyurl.com/FAMEIrmaStatus, please do so within the next week so that the information could be shared with folks who might be able to assist.
Intellectual Freedom Issue
by Lindsey Whittington, Co-Chair, FAME Intellectual Freedom Committee
According to the American Library Association, Intellectual Freedom is defined as “the right of every individual to both seek and receive information from all points of view without restriction. It provides for free access to all expressions of ideas through which any and all sides of a question, cause, or movement may be explored.” In September, a directive was issued by the Superintendent of Dixie County, Florida that threatened the very nature of intellectual freedom. The words of the directive are as follows: “As of September 8, 2017, no instructional materials (textbooks, library books, classroom novels, etc.) purchased and/or used by the school district shall contain any profanity, cursing, or inappropriate subject matter. This directive reflects the values of the Superintendent, School Board, and the community.” This directive essentially banned the reading and even housing of library books, textbooks, and other instructional materials that are currently being used in Dixie District Schools.
As you know, the importance of reading is that one can learn about the past in order to not repeat the same mistakes in the future. Much of history isn’t pleasant; it is wrought with racism, gender inequality, and violence. You will be hard pressed to find a single textbook, novel, or work of classical literature that doesn’t touch on one of these sensitive topics. However, isn’t the point of education to teach students how to think, not what to think? If we shy away from subjects that are uncomfortable or censor texts that may use offensive language that are historically accurate, we are doing a disservice to our students because we are not doing our jobs to prepare them for the real world. In order to be subordinate to this directive, the district would have to remove all of Shakespeare, anything dealing with the Holocaust, classics dealing with racism such as To Kill A Mockingbird and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and even must remove the Bible, because it uses instances of adultery, murder, and deceit in order to convey its moral lessons. Ironically, this directive was issued just weeks before “Banned Books Week” which is celebrated by the American Library Association’s Office of Intellectual Freedom and supported by schools and libraries across the country. This week stresses the importance of exposing students to challenging materials in order to engage them in meaningful conversations, teach them moral lessons, and ultimately empower students with the ability to think for themselves. The solution here is not to ban these books, but rather to use these books properly in order to do our jobs as teachers and raise the next generation of independent thinkers.
In this case, Dixie School District violated their own challenged materials policy. There was no public hearing regarding the challenged text in question. There was a committee that that met and unanimously decided to continue teaching the book A Lesson Before Dying that initially prompted the challenge; however, the result of this unanimous decision was that the directive was issued the following day. As library media specialist, English department head, and president of Dixie County’s teachers’ union, I fought against this draconian directive. Courageous students and I spoke out at the schoolboard meeting and passionately asked that he rescind this policy. A “literary blitz” ensued in which the school board members and superintendent were bombarded with letters by organizations from across the country, including one by former FAME President Elizabeth Zdrodowski who stated, “If we expect students to grow into well-rounded, empathetic, intelligent, and creative adults who can contribute to our society in healthy ways, we must not smother their exposure to great literature, diverse ideas, and various forms of expression.” The union filed a grievance for the violation of academic freedom and the failure to comply with existing school board policy. The superintendent denied the grievance so the union then filed a cease a desist to the policy. The superintendent responded and agreed to work with the union to create a committee that will oversee curriculum materials. On November 1st, the school board members shot down the superintendent’s proposal to modify the existing challenge and instructional materials policies and instead took the power of creating the curriculum committee away from the superintendent. This is a victory for not only intellectual freedom, but also for the students and teachers of Dixie County. This incident has prompted the school board members to take a more active role in not simply passing the superintendent’s policies, but instead to carefully studying proposed documents and consider their potential ramifications for students before they are voted into effect.
Sunshine State Authors Featured in Orange County Libraries
Kelly Barnhill kicks off the 2017-18 Sunshine State Author Series with a reading at Winter Garden Branch Library
by Mira Tanna, Assistant Manager, Technology & Education Center, Orange County Library System
In 2016-17, the Orange County Library System received a grant from the Florida Division of Cultural Affairs to start the Sunshine State Author Series, which brings writers whose books have appeared on the Sunshine State Young Readers Award or Florida Teens Read list to Orange County for readings, author talks, book signings and writing workshops. Now in its second year, the 2017-18 Sunshine State Author Series features Kelly Barnhill (October 18-20), James Ponti (November – December), Sharon Robinson (January 25-26), Jeff Zentner (March 27-28), Sarah Weeks (April 25-26) and Carmen Agra Deedy (June 7). Event dates are subject to change. For a complete listing of events, please go towww.ocls.info/sunshineseries.
The series aims to support the Sunshine State Young Readers Award and Florida Teens Read programs by providing opportunities for students to meet their favorite authors either in a school-based setting or an after school or evening program. By bringing writers to Central Florida, the Library hopes to inspire students to read for enjoyment; to encourage deep, critical reading by allowing students to test their understanding of a book by posing questions directly to the author; to inspire young writers and provide them with tools to improve their craft through writing workshops; to support the SSYRA and Florida Teens Read programs sponsored by FAME; to increase exposure to books featuring characters with diverse backgrounds to promote cross-cultural understanding; to encourage families to read together for pleasure; and to promote the use of libraries by students in Orange County schools. The Orange County Library System selects writers to participate in the series based on name recognition, literary excellence, ability to foster cross cultural understanding, availability and their appearance on an SSYRA/FTR list.
In its first year, the series reached a total of 2,863 people, including 1,652 school-based youth and 328 non-school based youth, who heard an author at one of 17 events in Orange County. The featured authors included Sharon Draper, whose book, Out of My Mind, was a Sunshine State favorite. A New York Times bestseller, Out of My Mind is about an eleven year old girl with cerebral palsy who has a photographic memory but is unable to talk. Draper also discussed her bookStella By Starlight, which was in part inspired by Eatonville native Zora Neale Hurston. National Book Award finalist Jason Reynolds and co-author Brendan Kiely discussed All American Boys, which helped teen audiences reach a deeper understanding of race, police brutality and the power of social media. Jackson Pearce delighted young audiences with her whimsical creatures and flights of fancy in Pip Bartlett’s Guide to Magical Creatures.
Teachers appreciated the opportunities their students had to interact with these writers. One teacher said: “Having an author be more than a printed name on the cover of a book, seeing them as flesh and blood figures and real people inspires students.” Another one commented that she appreciated “being able to have my students connect with authors. I feel that without programs like this, my students wouldn’t have nearly as many chances to meet authors of books they read. This program benefits them on many levels, academically and personally. My students thoroughly enjoyed meeting Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely.” For the school-based events, students were selected to introduce the writers, which provide a leadership opportunity for a motivated reader. Students who introduced writers were given a signed copy of the author’s book as a keepsake and their picture taken with the author.
This year, the Orange County Library System has expanded our partnership with the City of Orlando and [mayor.ocls.info]Mayor Buddy’s Book Club to provide free copies of books (while supplies last) for club members. Mayor Buddy’s Book Club members will be reading The Girl Who Drank the Moon, Framed!, The Hero Two Doors Down and Save Me a Seat. Club members will have opportunities to meet the authors, get their books signed, make crafts related to the book’s theme and test their knowledge of the book with a trivia contest. The club is geared towards students ages 9-15 and meets in community centers and libraries in Orlando. Students can register for the club at mayor.ocls.info.
The Sunshine State Author Series is a prime example of how public libraries, public schools and local governments can work together to promote literature and the love of reading among our youth. We hope you’ll join us and meet your favorite Sunshine State author this year! For information on all of the featured writers and events, go to www.ocls.info/sunshineseries.
Mel Fisher Maritime Traveling Pop-up Museum
by Kathy Lancaster, Ph.D.
Marathon High School library recently finished sharing the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum traveling pop-up exhibit “Connections—Florida and Cuba” with students in grades 6-12. The presentation met with great success at our school. The connections between Florida and Cuba were clear and interesting, and I believe each student found an intriguing aspect of the exhibit. Most of the scheduled classes (primarily grades 6 and 8 U.S. History and middle and high school Spanish) spent two class periods with the exhibit; other classes came for a single class period. New this year, QR codes added interactivity and technology in the form of short videos that served as a good introduction to each of the eight panels. The students were also highly interested in supplementary materials that I provided related to Mel Fisher and his salvaging company, Treasure Salvors, including the research involved in locating suitable shipwrecks for salvage; thebounty of Nuestra Senora de Atocha, a Spanish galleon carrying a cargo of New World treasure to King Philip IV of Spain and the bounty of the remaining Atocha sections still at sea; and the legal proceedings over ownership that arose between Fisher’s company and the State of Florida after the discovery.
The exhibit is free and spaces are still available. I would highly recommend scheduling this free exhibit for your school library. See the information and contact listed below.
A Question of Copyright
by Gary H. Becker, Copyright Law Consultant
Q. There is a poem circulating on the Internet in time for Veteran’s Day. It can be accessed on many sites, including blogs and Pinterest. Some sites schools having used the poem in Veteran's Day programs. The poem is entitled “Veteran”, copyrighted 2004 by Lynne Carey. I have attempted to ask permission on Facebook and from the blogger who last blogged the poem back in 2009. No response yet. My principal asked me to obtain permission. I am the media specialist at my school. I am wondering if I need permission. I feel like I could legally do this. She would like to print it and put it in the bulletins for our Veteran's day program. Is it ok to do this as long as we receive no money and the author’s name and copyright date are included?
A. I have visited a number of sites that have utilized the poem, but I am not able to find an original source that would indicate that the author has granted permission for others to use her poem. The fact that it has been used on a number of sites doesn't automatically mean that these uses were legal, although I would assume that if the author knew the copying was taking place, they would have challenged such use if they had a concern.
Since the poem is under Copyright protection, the two ways in which it could legally be used would be either by obtaining prior permission or by applying the Fair Use criteria to its use and being willing to stand up to a challenge, if one occurred, using Fair Use as the argument for defense.
As an agreed upon interpretation of Fair Use between publishers, authors and educators, related to printed works, there exists the Photocopying Guidelines. This would permit reproducing an entire poem, of 250 words or less, for the purpose of teaching and instruction. The intent was to provide a classroom teacher with the privilege of making such copies for all of the students they teach. A media specialist, who generally teaches all students in a school, has the privilege to make copies for all the students they would teach, as does the classroom teacher.
You have indicated the desire is to place the poem on bulletins for your Veteran's Day Program, which I assume is being held at your school. If this is construed as a direct, instructional activity for all, most, some students, the instructional privilege of Fair Use would apply. If the bulletins are for parents or outside attendees, your administration could still decide if they would want to rely on general Fair Use, and its criteria (which you can find in my book and from many, on-line sources). If the administration feels that the proposed use meets the criteria, they could then decide if they wish to go ahead with the use of the poem. Fair Use is a local, judgment call and I do not provide responses indicating a particular use is permissible or not under Fair Use.
A “Question of Copyright” is an ongoing column authored by Gary H. Becker, national Copyright law consultant and retired, public school system, technology administrator.