Monday, October 28, 2019

Fall Sharing 2019

When you're a school librarian, it can sometimes be difficult to find professional development opportunities geared solely towards your needs.  Luckily for me, we have an amazing organization devoted to high quality professional development just for school librarians.  The School Librarians' Association of Western New York (SLAWNY) hosts many events throughout the year.

One of the largest events held by SLAWNY is the annual Fall Sharing conference.  This conference provides librarians with access to a nationally known keynote speaker, hour long/speed sessions on a variety of topics, and time to connect with area vendors.

This year's conference was held at North Tonawanda Middle School and was expertly planned by SLAWNY's President, Katie LaFever.  Everyone was really excited to meet Mr. Schu, the Scholastic National Ambassador for School Libraries, who served as this year's keynote speaker.



The morning began with smiling faces at the registration desk.  Upon receiving a packet of information for the conference, librarians were presented with two copies of the book Game Changer by Donalyn Miller and Colby Sharp.  These books, a perk of membership, were donated by the Erie 2 Chautauqua-Cattaraugus BOCES School Library System.  They will serve as an advocacy tool for area librarians.  Librarians were encouraged to keep a copy of the book, and pass the other copy to a school administrator in order to discuss the need for book access for all children.


Susan and Abby working at the registration desk.

Welcome, Award, and Keynote
After a quick stop in the cafeteria for coffee and breakfast, the librarians assembled in the school's music suite.  SLAWNY President Katie LaFever provided a welcome message and an overview of the day's events.


Everyone was eager to hear the winner of SLAWNY's Advocate of the Year Award.  This year's winner was the incredible Donn Riggi, librarian at Alden Middle School.  Over her career, Donn has built a reputation for being a creative and generous educator.  Donn is always finding ways to get students excited about reading.  She spearheaded the start of a regional Battle of the Books tournament (which Iroquois Middle School students LOVE to participate in!).  She has also hosted many student teachers throughout the years, which allows her to share her infectious enthusiasm for school libraries.  She has made a monumental impact on the WNY school library community, and is so deserving of this honor!



It was now time for the first keynote address from Mr. Schu!  I've had the pleasure of seeing Mr. Schu at several conferences.  Whenever I see him, I always feel energized and empowered regarding the good work that school librarians can do.  Mr. Schu is a huge proponent of effective school library programs and how librarians can promote kindness and a love for reading within their schools.

During his address, Mr. Schu shared how educators have the ability to impact students, either in a positive or a negative way.  I know this to be true.  Throughout my own K-12 education, I can recall educators that went out of their way to make school a kind, encouraging, and welcoming environment.  Sadly, I can also recall teachers who did not make school a positive or welcoming place.  Mr. Schu reminds us that we have the power to shape students' perception of education, and we should use our platform in an uplifting way.



Hour Long Sessions
After hearing from Mr. Schu, conference participants took a short break before choosing an hour long session to attend.  The hour long sessions allowed presenters to delve into a topic a bit more in-depth than a shorter session allows.  There was a nice variety of session topics, which made it easy for attendees to find a session that would meet their needs.

Descriptions of the Hour Long Sessions.

I wish that I had more pictures from the hour long sessions, but I was presenting at this time!  The topic I chose to present on was advocacy.  Sometimes I feel it is difficult to discuss library advocacy issues, but it is a conversation worth having with library stakeholders.  The librarians that attended this session had great advocacy ideas, so I walked away with some fresh ideas as well!  The link to my advocacy presentation can be found by clicking here.  I only wish I was able to clone myself to attend the other sessions!


Networking with Vendors
Once the hour long sessions concluded, conference attendees had close to an hour to network and visit with vendors.  The vendors and other sponsors are what made the day possible!  It was helpful to get time to meet with them to hear about the latest and greatest library supplies available to us in Western New York.

Thank you, sponsors and vendors!

Happy birthday to Harry, and happy retirement to both Harry and Linda!

Chris presents selections from Gumdrop Books.

Thank you, Follett Library Services!

Rosen Publishing shares its print and digital offerings.

It was great to partner with NFRC this year!

Sharon presents the latest from Children's Plus.

Monkey See, Monkey Do Children's Bookstore shares new titles for young readers.

Speed Sessions
The time with the vendors seemed to fly by!  The next portion of the conference was dedicated to the speed sessions.  During this time, attendees are encouraged to view a variety of short presentations.  Although not as in-depth as an hour session, the speed sessions are a perfect length to have a quick chat and gain some helpful insights from others.

A listing of Fall Sharing's speed sessions.

Thankfully, I was able to visit most of the speed sessions.  During this time, I was able to grab some helpful ideas for new titles, as well as genrefication ideas for the library's nonfiction area.  I'll plan to put some of these ideas into practice!




Jessica shares ideas for QR codes and book reviews.

Melissa shares practical tips for genrefying your library.

Brandon provides ideas to make the most of Google and Microsoft products.

Final Keynote
As the event concluded, participants were treated to lunch in the North Tonawanda High School Library (beautiful space!) and more time with Mr. Schu.  Expanding upon his theme from the morning, Mr. Schu continued to share the book love and the ways librarians can make an impact on students.

Mr. Schu invites Fall Sharing participants to celebrate book birthdays for newly-published books.

Conference Takeaways
I left Fall Sharing feeling energized, inspired, and full of new ideas for the library.  After viewing the conference posts on Twitter, it's clear that other librarians in attendance felt the same way!  Being a school librarian can sometimes be a strange job.  Being the only librarian in a building can often feel isolating, which makes librarian-specific professional development time all the more special.




Thank you to all that made Fall Sharing 2019 such a special and memorable experience!  I'm already looking forward to Fall Sharing 2020.
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Tuesday, October 8, 2019

Makerspace Progress

Over the summer, I received some exciting news regarding the physical footprint of the library.  The Teacher Resource Center room adjoining the library is now part of the library!  This room was once used as a conference meeting space, but will now be solely student space.

There are many features of the room that make it ideal for a student creation space.  Most importantly, there is an abundance of storage.  This is perfect for storing STEM items, craft supplies, and ongoing student projects.  The space itself is open, making it possible to store the bulky LEGO League mission board.  There is also a bank of windows leading into the library.  This means that students can be working in the creation space while being supervised from the library itself.  A long counter underneath the windows makes for a perfect workbench.  All of these features are opening up many possibilities for our library program!

After lots of cleaning over the summer, the room was ready for its transformation.

The back room prior to any re-purposing.

Here are some pictures of the room in its current state:

The long counter is a perfect workstation.  The bank of windows
make the room visible from the library itself.

All drawers are labeled and contain various craft supplies.

The LEGO League mission board fits perfectly in this large room.

All cabinets are labeled with the supplies each contains.

The LEGO League teams have their own cabinet
where they can keep their supplies organized.

Maker and STEM books have been added to the library's collection. 
Many of the books are now on display in the student creation space.

Access to a sink makes messy projects a reality!

 Maker Mondays
Now that the space was ready for visitors, it was time to invite the students in to enjoy the space.  The first "Maker Monday" program took place on Monday, October 7th during sixth grade study hall.  During this time, students were invited to visit the library to participate in coding activities using the BlueBot coding tool.  Students learned how to use the coding tool, then applied their knowledge to tackle various coding challenges.  It was great to see students try something new and work together to meet the needs of each challenge!

Students were challenged to create the longest code possible using the BlueBot.

Students worked together to create a code that would
avoid the fire squares on the BlueBot mat.

There was lots of enthusiasm for the first Maker Monday activity!  Future activities will include STEM challenges as well as craft activities.  The library books purchased will be used for project inspiration.  We're lucky enough to have an abundance of duct tape that needs to be used, too!

Future Steps
We're off to a great start, but there is still a long way to go in building this hands-on component of the library program.  Some next steps include:

1. Naming the student creation space!  I'll be putting together a contest for students to come up with a creative name for their new space.

2. Expanding the Maker Monday program to include new projects and grade levels.  Student input on September's library orientation survey will help with program planning, as they indicated the types of activities they would like to see happen within the library.

3. Decorate the space!  Although the room looks cozier than it once did, there is room for improvement.  Ideally, students should take the lead on making the space their own.

4. Foster more opportunities for student creation through use of recording resources.  We currently have a green screen, but it has yet to be mounted in the space.  Once dedicated recording capabilities are up and running, students will be encouraged to create their own recordings within the library.
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