Bookmark
November 2018
President's Message
My fellow NJASL members,
November continues to be a busy month for NJASL. Just as the animals build up their storage reserves anticipating the long, dark winter, NJASL works hard to prepare its members for the upcoming months. Jill Mills, and her conference committee, are gearing up for the Fall Conference taking place on Dec. 2-4. Mary Moyer is working closely with the advocacy team to support school library positions in New Jersey. On November 8, I testified at the NJEA Teacher Convention in Atlantic City to ask Commissioner Repollent what the NJ State Department of Education is doing to strengthen the administrative code regulation for school librarians.
In other news, Mahwah is restricting their elementary students from checking out books every week. Jen Park has been a strong advocate for reversing this decision, and is empowering others to speak out. On November 1 and 14, many library advocates petitioned the Mahwah Board of Education to review this decision. A full press release can be read on Patch, and we are happy to report that the Mahwah Superintendent has agreed to review this situation in January.
I look forward to seeing everyone at the Fall Conference, where we can celebrate all of our efforts, and learn together.
Christina Cucci
President of NJASL 2018-2019
Mahwah BOE
Mahwah parent Jen Park speaks out against a harsh decision to restrict library book borrowing at the Mahwah elementary schools. Jen Park is the Assistant Librarian for Access and Outreach Services, St. Mary’s College, and a concerned Mahwah parent.
Photo Credit: Christina Cucci
NJASL President Christina Cucci
asking a question to Commissioner Repollent at NJEA Convention
Photo Credit: Mary Moyer
Mahwah testimony
NJASL member, Tom Vranesich, advocates for greater access to books for Mahwah students.
Photo Credit: Christina Cucci
Important News and Information
IMPORTANT: Attention ALL MEMBERS
Members-
NJASL's mailing address has changed. Please send our new address to your business office so that your purchase orders for membership and conference are sent to the correct location.
The Value of NJASL Membership (created by Betsy Quinn!)
NJASL Discussion Group Reminder
~Kay Baggs
Attention All Members!
Our NJASL Discussion Group is now hosted by Google Groups. Our focus will remain the same, to engage, share and learn from each other, and to advocate for School Library Media Specialists especially in the state of New Jersey. You can email njasl-members@njasl.org to request membership, or you can email me at edl@njasl.org to add you to our new list.
Keep in mind that you can edit your Google Group settings to not receive emails daily! Look for the post including directions from Arielle in our NJASL Google Group!
Congratulations to our Award Winners!!!!
Barnes and Noble Book Fair at NJASL
by Fran King
Barnes and Noble will again be providing author books at the NJASL Conference this year. We will have titles from Candace Fleming, Eric Rohmann, Shannon Miller and Wendy Mass. In addition, we will have titles from authors on the Alley.
Your educators' discount will be extended to purchases at the Bookfair at Ocean Place. Our in-store book fair dates are December 1st through December 4th.
If you are not able to attend the conference, you may use the attached voucher online. Online orders will be credited to NJASL from December 1st through December 4th.
Go to BN.COM/BOOKFAIRS to shop online and enter the Voucher number. (Voucher can be found below)
Any purchase on these days will get credited to NJASL. Just make sure you use the voucher code. Books make great gifts for the holidays and you’ll help NJASL out too.
Look for Barnes and Noble in the Vendors Hall.
Conference is coming up fast!!
Be sure to check the website www.njasl.org/FallConf for more information, including the session schedule.
This year we are using Sched as our conference platform and we continue to build the site with all things NJASL Conference! Check it out here - https://njasl2018fallconference.sched.com/
See you in a few days!!!
NJASL Legislative Consultant
- Mary Moyer Stubbs
Library Legislative Updates - November 2018
NJASL Advocacy Efforts
Mahwah School District
NJASL along with NJLA and ALA has been working with this group of parents regarding the Mahwah school district book circulation policy.
News Articles:
Videos
Freehold Regional High School District
This district with six high schools and over 10,000 has only one full-time school library media specialist. NJASL’s Letter to District Administrators
Union Township School District
NJASL has been working closely with NJLA, ALA and the Union Twp Education Association along with members of the community to ask the district to reinstate the four eliminated positions. NJASL attended the November 20 school board meeting and presented this letter to the superintendent and school board.
Eliminated Positions - Other Districts
NJASL will be creating a google form to post on the NJASL website to enable members to post information on schools where districts will be eliminating positions. NJASL hopes to become more proactive in their advocacy efforts before positions are eliminated.
NJEA Convention Updates: State Board of Education Session
The State Board of Education always has a session of Q&A at the NJEA Convention and this year they were joined by the Commissioner of Education. During the Q&A, President Christina Cucci presented a question (which drew applause from the audience). The Commissioner's answer to her question was that he hadn't given any thought to what was happening in school libraries and staffing was a local control issue. He referred this question to a DOE staff member, Diana Pasculii.
Christina's question: Since 2007-2008, there has been a 20% decrease in the number of certified school library media specialists in schools. Although, the research is clear that students who have access to library resources and to certified school library media specialists have increased academic success including better ELA scores on standardized tests, many school districts are still choosing to eliminate certified school librarians. Districts are choosing to replace certified staff for which there is also administrative code and regulations with not-certified titles like teacher-coaches, STEM teachers, etc. What can the State Board of Education and the Department of Education do to strength the administrative code and regulations related to school library media specialists?
However, after Christina's question - there were two more questions related to school libraries.
2nd question - from a school librarian at New Brunswick - I did not get her name.
Her question related to having a dedicated staff member at the NJ DOE. She wanted to know if there are plans to have a DOE staff member assigned to school library media specialists.
I'm sure that the DOE staff at this time has no memory of Jean Harris or the other staff members before her. Again - question referred to DOE staff member, Diana Pascuili.
3rd question - from Ann Marie Shannon (Union Twp. Education Association President)
She questioned why the regulation for school libraries isn't stronger. She challenged the idea that the number of SLMS is a local control issue.
NJASL will follow-up with the NJ Department of Education.
Legislative Updates
A 132 Information Literacy Bill
Good news - A132 has another sponsor, Assemblywoman Carol Murphy.
If you live or work in her district, please take a minute to say "thank you" to her.
Phone: 856-735-5334 Email: aswmurphy@njleg.org
Carol Murphy (LD7) (Burlington) Beverly, Bordentown, Bordentown Township, Burlington, Burlington Township, Cinnaminson, Delanco, Delran, Edgewater Park, Fieldsboro, Florence, Moorestown, Mount Laurel, Palmyra, Riverside, Riverton, Willingboro
For information and a list of sponsors related to A132/S2933 (Information Literacy Bill) and A1995/S2934 (Ratio of SLMS to Students Bill), visit the NJASL Library Legislation webpage, http://www.njasl.org/Library-Legislation
Other Articles of Interest
Poverty, Working Poor, Internet Access and Equity
More than 1.2 million New Jersey households, or 38.5 percent of all, either lived in poverty or fit the definition of working poor in 2016 as they did not have enough income to cover such simple needs as housing, food, transportation, healthcare and taxes. The United Way of Northern New Jersey, which has been comparing the cost of living to income in New Jersey and other states for several years, calls the latter group of people ALICE — Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed. Article
Children and Hunger
16% of NJ households with children for which hunger is an issue
Article: https://www.njspotlight.com/stories/18/08/02/16/
American Libraries Articles September / October 2018 Issue
See pages:
18 - Sing a Song of...Early Literacy
Although focus is on public libraries - there is still application for school libraries. NY Public Library Staff create music for families. The album is free for download for songs and lyrices: https://www.nypl.org/education/parents/early-literacy/nyplsings Free guide: bit./ly/songguide
50 - Cutting Out the Clip Article - another article that is written for public libraries but would have application for school libraries. Article on how to create better flyers for library events and activities.
56 - The Power of Primary Sources
School librarian describes how primary sources can be utilized with elementary students. He gives suggestions for activities as well as resources for primary sources.
64 - Shaking Up Book Sales
Describes how one SLMS holds used book sales in her school library and involves the students in the entire process. Students volunteer as stockers, cashiers and baggers. All books are $.50 and there is a donation jar for students who cannot afford to purchase books. The school library media specialist wants students to be able to own books of their own.
Little Free Library - Monroe Township School
Barclay Brook Elementary School librarian, Nicole Midura opened a Little Free Library at her school. Nicole used grants from NJEA FAST (Families and Schools Work Together for Children) to purchase materials for the Little School Library. To help kickoff the opening of the Library, Olympic gold medalist gymnast, Laurie Hernandez surprised the students and staff and read to the students. To read more about Nicole’s project as well as NJEA FAST, check out the article in NJEA Review, November 2018.
Request for Assistance
NJASL has received this request from the small non-profit art school, duCret School of Art who will like assistance with organizing their art books. If interested, please contact the administrator (contact information listed below).
Hello,
I am the Administrator of a small non-profit arts school called duCret School of Art. This is the oldest arts school in the state of NJ. We currently have a library filled with art books ranging in topics from painting, drawing, graphic design and photography to stained glass and letterpress. We have no formal system of arranging books and therefore our 2,000 piece collection is haphazard. Who should we ask for advice and how can we find a librarian willing to assess our system?
Thanks,
Tess Hansen
duCret School of Art 908.757.7171
Plainfield, NJ 07060
Call for Curriculum
In this time of budget cuts and school funding challenges, having a board-approved curriculum can mean the difference between school positions that are considered vital and those that are not. A board-approved curriculum elevates the school library program status to that of other content areas in the building, creating an equal playing field for partnership. School library media specialists often find their positions threatened and lack the evidence of a curriculum as the framework needed to safeguard their jobs. When an information literacy or library curriculum is in place, there is a demonstrated need for a qualified professional to teach it.
With this in mind, the Ad Hoc Curriculum Committee has been established to gather best practice examples of library or information literacy curricula. The aim is to provide these examples to our members to assist them in advocating for and developing their own. Several members have shared curricula with us in the past, but now we need only those that reflect our new AASL standards. See below if you can help us with this critical work.
This collection may also serve to support and inform the state in developing a new Information Literacy curriculum, which is currently known as bill HB A132 / S2933. NJASL consultant Mary Moyers has been working with legislators to pass this bill, which would require instruction on information literacy in grades K-12. Information literacy, as described in this bill, includes digital, visual, media, textual, and technological literacy, and the language of the bill specifically includes mention of certified school library media specialists. Look for a push in December when we will ask NJASL members to reach out to legislators in support of this bill.
Do you have a board-approved curriculum that has been updated to reflect the new AASL Standards that you can share with us? Submit it here to share it with your fellow librarians.
Questions or comments? Email membersatlarge@njasl.org
Kim Zito and Amy Gazaleh
NJASL Nomination Committee
Volunteers are needed to be part of this year's NJASL Nomination Committee. The committee will be tasked with finding candidate for next year's NJASL officers. The positions that will need to be voted on in the Spring of 2019 are Secretary, Member at Large and Vice President. This committee will meet online, so the commitment time is minimal!
If you are interested in joining the committee, please email Lisa Bakanas at Pastpres@njasl.org.
If you would like to nominate yourself or someone else for one of the positions, please email! I hope to hear from you soon!
Professional Practice & Development
Battle of the Books
~ Elizabeth Ullrich
Fantastic News! This school year's Battle of the Books three lists, order form and questions are now available on NJASL's website under the Members Only section. Committee members volunteer their time creating these diversified/multi-leveled lists and writing questions for all new titles. To access the questions, click the link below each level and a zip file will automatically download on your computer. If you've thought about starting this program in your own school, check out the Handbook also on this page. If you would like to join our committee, please contact Elizabeth Ullrich at eullrich66@gmail.com.
Girls Who Code Provides Free Books for 3-5 Grade Book Clubs
Girls Who Code, a national non-profit with the mission to close the gender gap in technology, is providing free books for our new 3-5 grade book Clubs. Students read and discuss our nonfiction book, Learn to Code and Change the World. We provide five free books per Club and grant funding! Clubs can be run entirely offline, and we offer an optional online component if you wish to use it. No computer science experience necessary! To claim your free books, free curriculum and support, just submit our online Club application at www.girlswhocode.com.
For more information, contact Eve Balick at eve.balick@girlswhocode.com.
GIRLS WHO CODE CLUBS IN NEW JERSEY PARTNERS WITH NEW JERSEY MAKERS DAY
Girls Who Code Clubs in New Jersey would love to share the work that our 230+ Clubs are doing with our local communities. New Jersey Makers Day celebrates maker culture at 300+ sites around our state on March 22 and 23, 2019. If your location is a NJ Makers Day site and also hosts a Girls Who Code Club, we would love to spotlight and celebrate your work! We are looking for NJ Girls Who Code Clubs who would like to share their work with their local communities at their NJ Makers Day site. Join us to spotlight your Club, share your Girls Who Code project, and recruit new Club members or Facilitators!
If you are interested in getting involved to spotlight your Club, please contact Eve Balick at eve.balick@girlswhocode.com and Doug Baldwin at dbaldwin@njmakersday.org. Please let us know about your potential interest and we will follow up with you directly.
If you are an NJ Makers Day site interested in starting a free Girls Who Code Club, please visit our website to submit an online application or contact our NJ representative Eve Balick with any questions. If you are a Girls Who Code Club interested in becoming an NJ Makers Day site, contact Doug Baldwin.
Library News from YOU!
Make sure your check this out at the conference!!!
Dunellen Municipal Alliance Donates Books
~Beth Willoughby
The Dunellen Municipal Alliance has donated books to Faber School.
The Alliance received monies to spend on youth activities and has generously donated books and other materials on substance abuse, bullying and Red Ribbon Week to Faber School. According to librarian Beth Willoughby, “these materials will be a great help to students who are dealing with or have friends dealing with difficult activities. These books are also a great resource for the staff of Faber School to aid in their teaching.” The books will be available at the Faber School Library for Students and Staff to check out.
In addition, the Municipal Alliance will sponsor other programs at all the schools in Dunellen throughout the school year. This partnership helps educate all students about the dangers of drugs and alcohol in a safe environment.
Workshop Alert!!
NJASL Affiliate News
Help Advocate for LibraryLinkNJ
With the help of Abigail Bacon from BELS Consortium as the tester, Arlen Kimmelman was able to create an editable template to create a customized infographic for school librarians to use to advocate for LibraryLinkNJ inter-library loan services with cost sharing.
The template includes the Slides to make the flyer, the link to customize a chart, and the ability in Slides to print or download the Slides as a .pdf. We hope having a compelling and accurate visual message will encourage school districts to accept the value and importance of contributing to the cost-sharing model of inter-library loan services for our students and staff.
Contributed by
Mrs. Arlen Kimmelman, Ed. M., M. A.
School Librarian & Techbrarian
National Board Certified Teacher
Past President, New Jersey Association of School Librarians
Google for Education Certified Trainer #05584
AASL News
Congratulations to Beth Raff and Stacey Shapiro the two NJ members of ALA's 2019 Class of Emerging Leaders. http://www.ala.org/news/member-news/2018/11/ala-announces-emerging-leader-participants-class-2019
Evaluating School Library Programs
AASL Crosswalks with ISTE and Future Ready standards.
https://standards.aasl.org/project/crosswalks/
Keep Up with Trends and Get Fresh Ideas
by Hilda Weisburg
Have you discovered the Trends page that comes off the Libraries Transform website? The latter is an initiative of ALA and both are a great resource. When I am looking for ideas, this is one of my go-to places.
Once on the website, you will see a series of colored circles with topics alphabetically from Aging Advances to Urbanization. While those two topics are not high on the list of what we deal with as school librarians there are plenty more that have immediate relevance. Click on one that interests you for an article that will get you thinking.
For example, under Gamification there is a suggestion—with a link—on turning a boring library orientation into a game. Another from North Carolina State University briefly describes (with a link for more details) how they created a mobile scavenger hunt that had students interacting with the library from its people to its spaces.
Short Reading is an emerging trend to engage those who don’t like to read by using short books and other ideas. I just learned there that Little Brown has launched BookShots. Designed for adults, all titles are 150 pages or less and cost $5. I predict there will be a similar line for Middle and YA students in the near future.
If you are at the upper levels, I am sure many of your students are into Drones. One of the ideas there is a Research Guide (includes link) developed by the Joint Library of Broward College & Florida Atlantic University which guides to students to relevant materials and links on the topic.
This is one way our national association helps all librarians—whether or not they are members- to do their jobs better. Bookmark the site and check it out when you are stuck for a fresh idea.
AECT Affiliate
by Tara Collins
Villy Gandhi Award Winner 2018
Winning the Villy Gandhi award from NJASL has been a wonderful experience. This award has provided me the opportunity to attend my first academic conference as a working professional educator. The conference sponsored by the Association of Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) offered several chances for me to learn about new research into the field of educational technology and consider how I could apply what I have learned to my own practices. It also provided moments for me to consider my biases and beliefs about the uses of technology in our K-12 schools.
NJASL and AECT have a fine relationship that was exhibited in the warmth of all those I met who are involved with the School Media Technology division and beyond. I wish we could use these relationships transcend the gap between K-12 educators our own Administrators their understanding of the need to attend workshops provided by and for higher education. If more K-12 librarian educators could to be present and get involved as presenters and attendees at these kinds of conferences there could be real strides in bridging the gap for students who are leaving the nurturing environment of K-12 and advancing their academic careers in higher education.
I appreciated the chance to meet new stakeholders in the expansion of information literacy and independent practice by students. AECT allowed me to see where the research and practice of the academic community is going and to think about how their work impacts ours and vice versa. Additionally, having the opportunity to start a dialogue with instructional designers, who are creating new software for class rooms was insightful. Their work aims to further the independence of our students and allow students the freedom of choice. In older students the convenience of self-directed learning can be just what overcrowded classrooms may need to free up overworked teacher/librarians. Thus, allowing teacher/librarians time to help guide students who need it while letting other more independent students fly solo.
Tara Collins
NJASL presenting
AECT: Kansas City Here We Come
by Beth Thomas
This past October, I was fortunate to be able to attend the AECT 2018 International Convention in Kansas City, Missouri. AECT is the Association for Educational Communications and Technology and its focus is on improving instruction through technology. I was able to meet teachers, professors, researchers and PhD students from all over the world and learn about many exciting trends in education. NJASL has been an affiliate of AECT for over 40 years and through my conversations with present and past AECT leaders, it is evident that they hold our organization in high esteem.
The convention theme for this year was “Learning for All” and I was able to attend general sessions covering myriad topics, including interactive eBooks, Maker activities, software for autistic adults, and the concept of digital natives. I was even able to see NJASL’s own Leslie Blatt and Bruce DuBoff present “A Wrinkle in Time Can Save Libraries: The Power of Science in Informal Learning Spaces.”
The Emerging Technology Showcase provided the opportunity to explore many different presentations, including one from our 2018 Villy Gandhi Award winner, Tara Collins. Tara presented “Handy Tech-Tools for the Student-Centered Classroom” at the showcase and she will be reprising this presentation at the NJASL Fall Conference next month, so make sure to check it out! At the showcase I was also able to learn more about interactive digital art, creating 360 degree VR video for educational experiences, and the Skoog Tactile Music Interface.
Breakfast with Champions enabled me to engage in conversation about current research with top scholars and AECT leaders. The discussions I participated in covered graphic novels in education and the direction of online learning in the 21st century. During my conversations with AECT past presidents I learned that the NJASL Fall Conference is a must-attend event for AECT leaders.
My biggest takeaway from the AECT International Convention is that although attendees may come from many different areas of education, we all have the common goal of improving the educational experiences for students through technology. Check out AECT and see if it is a organization that can benefit your professional practice.
ISTE Affiliate News
~ Renee Rogers (iste@njasl.org)
How do you use student learning data?
ISTE has partnered with Project Unicorn to better understand how student learning data and privacy issues impact educators in their daily practice. They are surveying educators across the globe to identify issues and best practices. Let’s include librarian voices in their data. Please take a moment to fill out this brief survey https://info.iste.org/project-unicorn-and-iste. You will be entered to win one of five awesome prize packages, including free registration for you and a colleague to attend ISTE19!
Speaking of ISTE19…
Did you know that the ISTE19 conference will be held nearby in Philadelphia, PA this year? Are you planning on attending? Mark your calendar for early bird registration, starting December 4, 2018. NJASL members have attended and presented at past ISTE conferences, and this one is sure to be the biggest and best yet! Keep an eye out for a call for proposals and signups to present at the Librarians Playground, and get your feet wet presenting at this international conference by engaging with other knowledgeable, curious, and innovative school librarians in the smaller “playground” setting! Stop by the ISTE booth at the NJASL Fall Conference for more information about ISTE, the ISTE Standards, and ISTE19 conference registration!
Want to learn more about ISTE?
ISTE has a very active online network of librarians. Even if you aren’t (yet!) an ISTE member, you can engage with ISTE Librarians Network leaders through the website http://librariansnetwork.weebly.com/, and by following @istelib and #istelib on Twitter. Watch for advocacy opportunities, and announcements of webinars, appearances, and new publications from this highly respected group of librarians and ed tech leaders.
Check out all of the free and members-only resources for librarians through ISTE at https://www.iste.org/learn/librarians, including the free crosswalk of the ISTE Standards for Educators and Future Ready Librarians Framework (https://www.iste.org/docs/isteu-docs/iste-standards-e_frl-crosswalk_6-2018_v7-2.pdf). The ISTE Standards for Students and Educators have also been crosswalked with the AASL National School Library Standards (https://standards.aasl.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/180828-aasl-standards-crosswalk-iste.pdf).
Use these crosswalks with teachers, administrators, and other stakeholders to highlight your critical role in teaching, learning, and leading with educational technology in your building and your district.
BCASL Meeting!
Wednesday, Dec 12, 2018, 04:30 PM
P.J. Whelihan's Pub + Restaurant [Medford Lakes], Stokes Road, Medford Lakes, NJ, USA
THANK YOU! Looking for submissions...
Don't forget that we are always looking for entries from ALL membership. Deadlines for the year are on the 15th of every month. Check out more information about our deadlines here. Please share articles with me at the bookmark@njasl.org email address by sharing a Google Document or PDF.
Check out more information about deadlines and submissions on the Smore linked below!!
NJASL
Email: bookmark@njasl.org
Website: njasl.org
Location: LibraryLinkNJ, Stelton Road, Piscataway Township, NJ, United States
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NJASL/
Twitter: @njasl