Otesaga Resort & Conference Center

Here we are at another beautiful building. This is the Otesaga Resort and Conference Center on Otego Lake in Cooperstown, NY. Every year, all of the School Library System directors meet here for a three day conference.

It is a great opportunity for sharing ideas and information, as well as resolving issue that we are all facing. Some of the topics we discussed this year included: cooperative purchasing of an online resource for all of our schools, managing online database purchasing, consolidation of a statewide information fluency curriculum and school library advocacy.

With all of the work we accomplished in our time here, we did have some short breaks when we could take walks downtown or around the grounds of the Otesaga. Some people caught an early morning swim in the heated pool and everyone enjoyed the delicious meals. But don’t be deceived by the beauty of it all, Otesaga week means WORK!
Luckily, it is all done in this beautiful setting.

New York State Education Department Building

On this beautiful May afternoon, I attended a meeting of the Regents Advisory Council on Libraries here at the Education Department Building in Albany. Several of the Regents and Commissioner Mills were in attendance.

In this meeting the Regents were brought up to date on critical issues in libraries – including the need to require certified school media specialists in elementary schools. They asked questions and responded to a presentation by Fran Roscello.

One of the perks of this job is that many of our meetings are in really beautiful buildings. The NYSED Building boasts 36 Corintian columns, one of the longest colonnades in the United States.

What Is This Library 2.0 Stuff???

Michael Stephens, professor of Library & Information Science at Dominican University in Illinois, was in the Capital Region today to host a workshop on Library 2.0. Stephens is the author of several articles on Web 2.0 including “The Promise of Web 2.0″ published in American Libraries in October of 2006.

Michael is an excellent presenter and, even though the room was full, I had a few chances to speak with him about Web 2.0 and schools.

Of course, I signed up for this workshop so I could get ideas and direction for the SLS Library 2.0 Tech Camp coming up this summer!

Some excellent handouts were shared but, as is often the case, the bibliography he provided is really valuable!

What is this Library 2.0 stuff and what does it have to do with schools? Get yourself to Rensslaerville this summer and find out! The School Library System is hosting a two day retreat at the Rensslaerville Institute. Polly Farrington, our trainer, will lead us in some hands-on Web 2.0 tools. Get your hands dirty. Walk away with a blog, an RSS aggregator and a flickr account!

Unless you plan to retire in the next 12 month – YOU need to hear about the emerging technologies and the philosophical underpinnings involved. If you think kids today are the same as they’ve always been – you are wrong! And there is data to prove it! Kids today are literally wired differently.

There are important implications for education, industry and the social structure we are all accustomed to. And there are things librarians need to learn to do to be where we need to be!

As Joyce Valenza says about emerging technologies, “You’d better start swimming, or you’ll sink like a stone.”

Actually Bob Dylan said it first – but you knew that!

Leading Learning Through the School Library

Well the big day finally came on May 4 and Dr. Ross Todd was in Albany for his presentation. We had a great turnout at Hudson Valley Community College. Dr. Todd challenges us once again to turn theory into practice.
Instead of these presentations being a finish – they are really a beginning. Now that we have learned about the research, how do we turn that into improved practice in our schools?
Dr Todd quoted an unidentified building principal, “I hear all these great things about school libraries, but I don’t see them happening in my school.”
Could that be one of our principals? Maybe! If so, we need to work on improving all school library programs until these perceptions are banished!
Onward!