If you’ve never been I highly recommend that you go at least once. Save your pennies and squirrel away a little nest egg to make it to the next conference – you won’t be sorry. I know there was some recent LM-NET “discussion” about having to pay for the handouts and conference materials and, while I see some points on both sides of the issue, there is no substitute for being there in person. The energy and camaraderie was electric for me. Suddenly I’m in a convention center that is FILLED with people who get me! I can speak the language of school librarianship that is like the mother tongue to me. I can throw out ideas to like-minded practitioners and I am not met with the blank stares of educators who think I’m all about checking out books. I can see examples of student work that brings me to tears with the poignancy and vulnerability they display. I’ll be thinking about these things for months as I work towards implementing some of the ideas into my own classrooms.

Interestingly, after getting back from AASL I turned around and went to GaETC in College Park. And here’s the thing… I was immediately struck by the juxtaposition of these conferences in my professional life. At AASL, we talked about tools and new ways of thinking but the underlying message was one of content-rich instruction. At GaETC we talked about the tools and the websites and the smartphone apps with a little less emphasis on content. The message from that conference was about enriching the classroom with technology. Now, I’m not saying that was the entire focus since there were, indeed, educators talking about using tools to transform instruction into a more student-centered model. There were educators talking about making sure the students are the ones creating content, understanding their innate creativity, and becoming confident in their ability to direct and “own” their learning. Is it conceited of me to think that librarians have been talking about this a LOT longer? Why is it that we librarians find ourselves in an echo chamber – speaking to each other about this shift in focus? Why does a system technology director have more clout than a school librarian or even a system media coordinator? And why is it that here at my own school a teacher actually said to me, “I thought librarians were in charge of checking out books!”?

I don’t know the answer. What I do know is this: Andy Plemmons was right on target when he said in an earlier post that we need to start spreading our message to conferences other than our own. We need to be presenting ourselves to NMSA, ASCD, principals’ associations and superintendents’ associations. And this: make sure you have a good quality, mutually respectful relationship with your technology person on the school level. When that person recognizes you as the expert on content and you recognize that person as an expert (or at least willing to become one) on the tools then there is no limit to what you can accomplish. In short, the collaborative relationships we have been talking about (to each other mostly) for years is more important now than ever. Because when your school system or your principal has staff options that include you, you want to make sure you’re included.

BTW: I’d like to publicly thank GLMA and GAIT for choosing me as the Georgia Library Media Specialist of the Year. The District Winners: Chris Parker (Henry Co), Andy Plemmons (Clarke Co), Shannon Robertson (Bulloch Co), Cheryl Youse (Colquitt Co), Angela Dallis (Columbia Co), and Beverly Brostek (Glynn Co) are phenomenal media specialists and I am humbled to have been selected from among this group. I think it’s funny/sad that the AJC has been running regular articles highlighting county system teachers of the year but have (to date) ignored the press releases and emails about these district winners and me. Sigh…  Onward.

I have owned that book since 1991 and I still refer to it 20 years later. Not because it is a “how to” type of book but because it is timeless in its wisdom. It isn’t about how to run a company and it isn’t about how to take control of a group. It is, however, a guidebook for the personal journey to that place in ourselves that is confident (not arrogant), joyful (not ignorant), and intelligent (not elitist). I think it should be required reading for the school librarian. Why? Because I  consistently hear from colleagues who complain that teachers “won’t collaborate,” administrators “don’t get it,” and legislators and lawmakers think “we’re expendable.” All true. But I rarely, if ever, hear those same colleagues talk about where they are making changes within themselves or their programs to address these issues. Rarely do I see that there is an acceptance of some personal responsibility for this state of affairs. I’m not saying it doesn’t exist and I’ll even go out on a limb and say that those who are making the effort to read this blog are not the librarians to whom I am referring. But if you’re reading this blog, you know I am speaking the truth. We are surrounded by those that blame “the other” before ever taking a critical look at their own contribution to the problem.

In the May/June issue of School Library Monthly there is an article titled “Success is an Attitude” by Kara Fribley. This article is part of the magazine’s “Taking the Lead” series and, in my humble opinion, a must read. Ms. Fribley opens her article by saying “School librarians can be leaders who positively impact the tone for the entire school” (p. 34). The article is about how Ms. Fribley looked critically at the physical space of her library and made changes that altered the feel and usability of it. Isolated seating areas were opened up and made more accessible. Individual study carrels were removed and open tables with flexible seating were put in their place to foster collaborative learning. In some areas the changes cost absolutely nothing but a little sweat worked up by moving some furniture around. According to Ms. Fribley, “…it ultimately falls to the librarian to encourage or discourage patron usage of the library” (p. 35). Truer words are rarely spoken. The words spoke to me directly because I am putting thought into action by changing my library space, too. I am taking on the leadership needed to improve my space and it is already paying off.

For starters, I painted a rainbow of colors on the cinderblock columns that surround the collection space. Suddenly, the beige and cream color scheme (if you can really call beige and cream a color scheme) was brightened up and brought a little joy to the library. What did it cost? About $60 for paint, brushes, and painter’s tape and a couple of my days during the summer. Then I looked at the entrance – more beige and cream, nothing inviting students in, nothing that said I welcomed them. So, I came up with a quote and stenciled it on the walls of the entry way in the same rainbow colors I used on the columns. As you walk in you see the first part of the quote “Enter with Curiosity…” and as you leave you see the second part, “Exit with Knowledge.” It looks professional but was beyond easy and anyone who wants to know how I did it can send me an email and I’ll explain. I am a creative problem-solver, not an artist!

Next, I tackled my Reference collection. Surrounded by overstuffed shelves and no teaching space I had to think critically about how to rearrange that area. I did some very necessary weeding and opened up some of the shelving. I had the county come in and remove the tall shelves that took up one entire wall – those were distributed to grateful teachers for classroom use. I then did some serious negotiating with our county warehouse and found a dry-erase board sitting unused that they were willing to install on that wide open wall. Now my reference collection is updated and the area is more like a small classroom. How much did it cost? Nothing (although I did offer our warehouse manager a plate of brownies for his help – he declined).

Finally, I looked at the flow of traffic in my media center and did not like what I saw. This school is only 10 years old and there are still many “opening items” here that had to go. I had rows of shelves that had never held any books and, quite frankly, it did not make sense to just fill them up because they were there. I began looking at the emptiness and began thinking in terms of efficiency. My clerk, my intern, and I began rearranging the collection. No shelf is stuffed but the Dewey categories are now closer together. By tweaking the shelving arrangement I ended up with 16 double-sided bookshelves that were completely empty right in the center of the collection. I asked the county to come and pick them up (they did), I asked teachers to let me know if they wanted any of them (they did), and asked the rest to be taken to the county warehouse for storage (done). Now I have this open area with a couch and 2 chairs, 4 beanbag chairs, and a round table with 4 chairs where those empty shelves used to be. And you know what? That area is full of students every morning and has been since the shelves were removed. I didn’t advertise, I didn’t make a big deal about it – but they came and they sat together and they read books and worked on projects together. And they seemed happy! I have a lot more transformative projects up my sleeve and I will let you know when (notice I did not say “if”) they happen. You can click on the pictures below to get a better view of what I’ve done.

The Tao of Leadership tells us that the great leader knows when to listen and when to speak. It tells us that the great leader understands that s/he becomes empowered by empowering his/her team. It tells us that leadership is sometimes quiet and evolutionary rather than vocal and demanding. It is an ebb and flow of action and assistance. It tells us that if we want to make a change we must begin with ourselves because clarity of thought and action draws others to us more powerfully than anything else. So… start rearranging!

It was a perfect marriage to then attend the Marketing Strategies session with Susan Geiger and Anne Arriaga. It is clear to me that Jeffrey Kathrine (E104) intuitively understand the idea of marketing your services. Susan and Anne have made conscious choices to brand themselves. Again, they mentioned my friend Buffy who I have always believed to be a genius at marketing and branding. Susan even said that she loved the “unquiet librarian” brand and wished she’d gotten to it first! What a compliment, Buffy (and I hope you’re reading this…).  I am currently working on this idea in my own library right now so the ideas were certainly timely for me. I made little notes in my notebook, brainstorming what brand I would use… I thought of terms like “invisible” (no) “stealth” (better) “covert” (too CIA). Obviously this is going to take some time…

Okay…new session starting now so I’m signing off to pay attention to Tasha Bergson-Michleson. See you later, readers!

I started out with D101: Promoting with Web 2.0. It was primarily geared towards public libraries but I got so much out of it. Curt Tagtmeier talked about their journey to created their library’s Facebook page and what it offers. Great advice, great presentation. It presents a bit of a problem for those of us in K-12 because IT wants to block FB unilaterally. So, how do we have a presence like what Curt was talking about and still comply with our filtering? Interesting question. In my own neck of the woods, my tech specialist (who is amazingly wonderful) and I have been discussing this for a couple of years. How do we help middle school aged students create PLNs that will grow with them as they go on to high school and then college? We tried iGoogle and it works but there are age limits unless you have the educator license and, frankly, the kids with whom we piloted the program didn’t really use it. We’re now talking to another Fulton County educator (and self-professed Geek) about creating a site-specific portal that will allow an iGoogle atmosphere that is completely in-house. It’s not FB but it looks powerful enough to grow with us as we add users and ideas to this. Curt’s ideas, suggestions, and web links will help us a lot!

Next I visited E102 for the session on eBooks go to School with Wendy Stephens and Carolyn Starkey. This issue raises almost as many questions as answers – how are we going to manage the circulation of eBooks in K-12? Wendy and Carolyn gave a great presentation and LOTS of food for thought. Several times they mentioned my dear friend Buffy Hamilton and her efforts to get Kindles circulated in her library. Buffy and I are not only friends (and members of the Sisterhood of the Silver Shoes) but my daughters attend her high school. My daughter was one of the first kids to bring home one of the Kindles and she LOVED it (when she could pry it out of my hands!).  It is an interesting time to be a librarian and the eBook phenomenon just adds spice to the stew!

Next I went over to A103 for the Search: Quick Tips for Adding Value and furiously took notes the entire time. I don’t know why I can’t just sit and listen to a speaker (especially when they say up front that the entire thing is online) but I just scribble away with pure excitement anyway. Gary Price showed us some very interesting sites as did Tamas Doszkocs – I’d never heard the term “semantic searching” before and now I can’t wait to dig in and play with the search engines he talked about. I especially enjoyed Natasha Bergson-Michelson and her portion of the program. I could instantly see that she has thoroughly dealt with the kind of “search teaching” we are doing in schools. I loved the idea of “visualizing the answer” or web page that you want to find when creating your search term(s). So simple yet so often ignored. Next time I’m wonder what the “oh, oh, oh, oh song” is that they play when the team scores I will think of her! It was such a clear illustration of how kids (people) REALLY search the Internet!

Well, now I’m on a break but I’m going to head back over to the Hilton for E104 ”In The Trenches” (which is where I feel like I am on most days…). Then I’m going into E105 Marketing Strategies and finally out to a Dine Around this evening. Then I guess I’d better do my final touches on my presentation. Is it bad that I ALWAYS add stuff at the last possible minute? Other presenters simply spark ideas and I feel I simply HAVE to put it in – I promise to edit judiciously so my participants aren’t sneaking out of the door… )

Tomorrow morning I will be Skyping in to Elkins Pointe Middle School. Mr. B’s first period class is getting started on a video production lesson and he wasn’t comfortable leaving it up to the sub or post-poning. I’ve already done a test run thanks to the wonderful EPMS tech specialist Ms. S and I think I’m ready to roll. I’m going to Skype with my daughters tonight just to be sure.

I’m so excited about this conference and I’m really nervous about my presentation. It was well-received in Georgia but who knows how it’ll fly at the National level? I’m pretty sure I have all my “ducks in a row” but I’ll be a lot more relaxed on Tuesday afternoon when it’s over! After my session I’m hopping on the train to go to the main D.C. library branch for a Google class. I’ll be sure to let y’all know what I learn there. I’m looking forward to meeting the Google folks, too!

Well, my stomach is telling me that it is time to eat and I want to pick up some food before it gets too dark. There are so many choices – I passed Indian, Japanese, Chinese, Italian, Thai, coffee shops, Johnny Rockets, and more just between the train station and here. I guess I’ll venture out and see what I feel like when the aroma hits me! I’ll be logging in to my Twitter account, too so stay tuned! Good night!

As it happened, the world shifted and small farms like Farmer Brown’s were no longer admired. People began to believe that large, corporate farms were better for the sheep of the world. Politicians began to believe that they were paying too much for the little bit of wool produced at the small farms and wanted farmers to be held accountable if their sheep didn’t produce enough to bring the price down. Farmers began to think that maybe what they’d been doing all these years wasn’t effective enough and many sold their farms and found other things to do.

One day, Farmer Brown was visited by a smiling and well-dressed businessman. Mr. Jones promised to help Farmer Brown increase his wool production. He sold Farmer Brown a program for raising sheep that would guarantee more wool, happier sheep, and better working conditions for the farm workers.

“Follow the script exactly,” said Mr. Jones as he drove away. “The sheep will be producing more wool in no time!”

The next morning Farmer Brown began using his new program. “Hmmmm,” he said as he read the instructions. “It says here that the first thing I need to do is measure the amount of wool on my sheep to get my pre-program data.” So Farmer Brown got out his rulers, lined up his sheep from small to large and began measuring the wool. The sheep had a hard time standing still for all that measuring but they did the best they could. The littlest lambs were confused and anxious but their mothers soothed them with soft “baaahs” and all went well that first day. 

Stay tuned for the continuing story of Farmer Brown and his measured sheep…

Yesterday, we started at the White House for a photo op. The kids met a protester who has been camped across the street from it since 1981 and I heard as we walked back to the bus, “I’m SO going to friend that guy on Facebook!” After that we went to the National Air and Space Museum, part of the Smithsonian museum complex. The kids saw everything from early airplanes to moon rocks. We had lunch in a food court downtown and then drove over to the WWII and Vietnam Memorials. A couple of our students got help from the Vietnam vets who volunteer at the wall in getting a rubbing of a relative’s name. It was very moving. From there we went to the Capital where we were treated to a full tour of the building. Even though I lived in Manassas, Virginia (about 30 miles south of here) I never went inside the Capital and it was a real treat. Everyone listened to their tour guides respectfully and we were all in awe of the magnificent architecture and design throughout the building.

We got back to the rooms to dress up for our trip to the Lazy Susan Dinner Theater for a production of Agatha Christie’s “And Then There Were None.” The kids were completely drawn in and, in spite of the fatigue we were all feeling from two full days of walking and touring, were really excited about the play. The food was wonderful and I think I might have seen one or two of our students try something new!

Well, that’s all I have time for. We now have to pack the busses to get ready for our last day here. The plan is to visit the Holocaust Museum and then go back to the Smithsonian for the Natural History and American History museums. We’re all having a great time! If I can find a WiFi signal on the bus ride back I’ll fill you all in on today’s events as we head back to Atlanta. Okay…here we go for day 3!

Today we are starting off at the WWII memorial if all goes according to plan; which, as you can see from yesterday’s activities, is not always the case. Hopefully tonight I will have some photos to add to the blog. I know several have already been sent to the school along with some video from yesterday’s wreath-laying ceremony. Our plan is to get to the Smithsonian’s American History Museum which the kids will LOVE! Everything from revolutionary history to Elvis’ cars are in there (and Julia Child’s kitchen) so I’m sure there will be something for everyone. I can’t wait to see what the kids decide to pick up on their shopping sprees today!

FACTOID: Did you know that the marble with which the Lincoln Memorial was built came from Tate, Georgia?