The Heart of the School
Library Media Services, Georgia Department of Education
Volume 2, Issue 2 / February 2021
February Focus: Professional Learning
THIS MONTH: Our Second Statewide Virtual Meeting will be on February 24
Click the time desired to register for the session you wish to attend. Attendance is limited to 300 participants per session. Please be sure to type your work email address correctly to ensure you receive the meeting link.
Black History Month Resources
Virtual Networking Session
The third virtual networking session will be held on Thursday, February 11, from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. The topic for this session will be Professional Learning. The link will be sent to the listserv the day before. To join the DOE Media listserv, send a blank email to this address: join-doemedia@list.doe.k12.ga.us.
We have tried different session times for the first three networking sessions. After this session, we will conduct a survey to determine what time works for the majority of people for future sessions.
The session will be recorded and posted on the Library Media Services webpage when available.
Georgia Peach Book Award Nominees Announced
DECATUR, GA—Members of the Georgia Peach Book Award for Teen Readers have chosen the 2021-2022 Award Nominees. Each year, a committee of current Georgia high school media specialists/public library youth services staff reads widely to choose a list of 20 nominated titles. Beginning on May 1, 2021, teens will choose books from the following list to read and rate. The books that earn the most teen votes will become the Peach Award Winner and Honor Books.
The purpose of the Georgia Peach Book Award for Teen Readers is to highlight and promote the best current young adult literature for Georgia high school age students, to encourage teens to read, and to promote the development of cooperative school and public library services for young adults.
The Nominees for the 2021-2022 Award are as follows:
10 Blind Dates by Ashley Elston
Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas
Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo
Flamer by Mike Curato
Furia by Yamile Saied Méndez
Golden Arm by Carl Deuker
A Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson
How We Became Wicked by Alexander Yates
I'll Be the One by Lyla Lee
If These Wings Could Fly by Kyrie McCauley
It Came From the Sky by Chelsea Sedoti
The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Let Me Hear a Rhyme by Tiffany D. Jackson
Punching the Air by Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam
Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko
Skyhunter by Marie Lu
Tweet Cute by Emma Lord
The Voting Booth by Brandy Colbert
What I Carry by Jennifer Longo
You Should See Me In a Crown by Leah Johnson
Voting for the current 2020-2021 list is still ongoing and will remain open through Sunday, February 28, 2021. Teens may vote for their favorites at georgiapeachaward.org. The Winner and two Honor Books from the 2019-2020 list will be announced in March of 2021.
Fran Weaver & Lori Hoover
Chairs, Georgia Peach Award for Teen Readers
2021-2022 List
Digital Learning Day is February 25
Celebrating its tenth anniversary, Digital Learning Day has become #DLDay—an online celebration where educators share great ideas, amazing stories, and promising practices through social media and within their own schools and communities. Thousands of local events, interactive activities, and lessons mark the importance of innovation in schools and remind district leaders that every day should be a digital learning day in public school classrooms.
Learn more about #DLDay activities here.
News from the Library of Congress
The Library of Congress announced a new, multiyear initiative to connect more deeply with Black, Hispanic, Indigenous and other minority communities by expanding its collections, using technology to enable storytelling and offering more internship and fellowship opportunities, supported by a $15 million investment from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
The new initiative, Of the People: Widening the Path, creates new opportunities for more Americans to engage with the Library and add their perspectives to the Library’s collections, allowing the national library to share a more inclusive American story. This work will expand the Library’s efforts to ensure that a diversity of experiences is reflected in our historical record and inform how we use those materials to understand our past.
SLDS Training
February 11, 2021, 3:45 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. - SLDS Lexile for Library Media
February 22, 2021, 3:45 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. - SLDS TRL for Library Media
March 2, 2021, 9:00 a.m. - 9:45 a.m. - SLDS Lexile for Library Media (repeat of 2/11/21 session)
March 3, 2021, 9:00 a.m. - 9:45 a.m. - SLDS TRL for Library Media (repeat of 2/22/21 session)
NOTE: You can also access SLDS training modules on the PL tab in SLDS.
AASL Learning Library
The AASL Learning Library includes free access to a webinar entitled Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: The School Library and Me in the Global Learning Community. The session addresses specific inclusive actions to create a comfortable space for all learners and considers how collections, instructional plans, summer reading, policies, and other programming decisions can be used.
One of our own, Michelle Easley from Fulton County Schools, is one of the speakers in this webinar!
Join Library Journal for the 2021 LJ Summit!
GaDOE Community - Library Media Specialists Group
Detailed Instructions for Joining Community
1. Go to community.gadoe.org and create an account using your RESA or district issued email. Use your work email as your user name. Your account (district email only) will be approved within 24 hours Monday-Friday.
2. After waiting about 24 hours (you will not receive an approval email), sign in, then create and complete your user profile.
3. Explore the content in the menu to the left of the site. Please be sure to check out the Terms of Service for Community in the menu. All information in Community is subject to Open Records, records retention, and FERPA guidelines.
4. Join the Library Media Specialists group (this will also add you to the forum).
CoffeeEDU
Contact Me
Email: dhinckley@doe.k12.ga.us
Website: https://www.gadoe.org/Curriculum-Instruction-and-Assessment/Curriculum-and-Instruction/Pages/Library-Media-Services.aspx
Phone: 470.230.5137