Duckro

=OELMA Conference 2009=

What a wonderful informational event. Almost every seminar I attended got me excited about implementing my own library. Topics includes book awards, technology, standards, House Bill 1, and collections.

My 1st session was the[| Buckeye Book Awards]. The Ohio Buckeye Book Award is a great way to encourage students to read their favorite books, to nominate, and vote for them in Ohio. Students nominate and vote for their favorite book of the year. I am excited to establish this program at my library. It's a great program that gets the students and school involved with reading. It also teaches students about the civil duties of voting. Nominations occur Jan. 1 - March 10. Voting is from Sept. 1 - Nov. 10 and winners are announced around Dec 1.

The 2nd session was titled [|Best Websites for Teaching and Learning]. These are all free websites that are 21st century inquiry based. This website is excellent for showing the usage of current library standards. Not only did they present different websites but they gave us suggestions on how to implement these sites into the curriculum. For example, you can list an award winning website on your library website each week. You could also present the websites at faculty meeting and hand out bookmarks with the addresses.

The next session was Integrating Web 2.0 tools into your website. The presenter's biggest message was that we need to keep users at your own site and not send them to other sites where they can get distracted. He suggested using Google custom search where you are able to control the sites you want the students to use.

The session titled Elementary Library Media Specialist Leading the Way was presented by Marcia Waters of Cline Elementary in Centerville. I was in awe of her library program. She gets the kids excited about reading by using a variety of formats. She is a big believer of the Big 6. She collaborates with the teachers so that her books and activities relate to the classroom instructions. Her library is more than just a place to get books. It is a learning environment.

I also attended a session on House Bill 1. HB1 was passed in July and it gives money to school districts for licensed library media specialists. It starts being phased in FY2010 at 20% of $60,000 per organizational unit and increases 10% each year. Technical equipment is phased in at 20% of $250 per pupil. HB1 is an evidence based bill. The school districts will have to provide evidence that they spent the money correctly. This session was well attended. It is a good time to be a school librarian.

The hottest session was titled Collection Development in the 21st Century given by David Loertscher. The session was standing room only. Students want information fast with instant gratification. He believes libraries need to build knowledge centers. Use [|Google apps] to build free and safe sites. He says you should build your library collection by way of topics and not by a collection as a whole. He believes OPAC can be turned into a collaborative space. Build Google sites for each topic which lead to a virtual learning common. Teachers, students and the librarian can all collaborate on the sites they want to include. Mr. Loertscher stressed that the user is the one who decides the collection and that the collection is elastic.

It was a great two days. Lots of information and networking with other librarians. I look forward to attending every year. JD

• Jan, it looks like you got a lot of great information. The Best Websites for Teaching and Learning had a lot of valuable stuff. I wish I could have gone to the Collection Development in the 21st Century session. It sounds like it had a lot of practical information and advice. CNR

I feel bad that I missed this conference but I appreciate you sharing the highlights with us. I agree with the notion that Media Centers should also be "Learning Centers". And I appreciate you including links to all of the interesting websites. Did you get any sense as to what the job market will be like when House Bill 1 takes effect? - Bill Reagle


 * Jan, I'm glad you got the chance to spend 2 days at conference. Even then I'm sure there were sessions you wished you had been able to attend. That's why sharing through something like this wiki is helpful. Building PLC - personal learning community. - SB

Jan, what a great opportunity! I hope to get to go to the OELMA conference next year. Thanks for sharing all of the useful sites that you acquired from the workshops. I think that it's a great idea to build your library collection based on topics covered. In doing this, your collection will be catered to the needs of the faculty and students at your school. Also, I was able to work with Marcia Waters from Cline Elem. last year for my field ed. I learned so much much from observing her interacting with staff and students. I am so glad you were able to sit in on her session. JT

It sounds like there were some very interesting sessions that I missed. I really like the Buckeye Book Awards because it is an Ohio thing, so it seems more local to teachers and students alike. I wish I could have gone to the Best Websites for Teaching and Learning session because that is exactly what we all need to put in place when we have our own libraries. It is an added bonus that all of the websites mentioned are free. Thanks for all of the great info. KE

The session on Collection Development in the 21st Centurey sounds like it was very interesting! I wish I had gotten to go to that session. I Iove the idea of a virtual learning commons that is elastic and can change to suit the needs of students and staff. Sounds like he had lots of great ideas to share. I wonder, where does he work and can we see his library webpage? RL

Jan, thanks for sharing this with me. I am glad to be able to learn from you even though I did not get to attend. I really liked your comments on collection development in the 21st century. Covering topics is a neat way to think about collection development. I think the idea of a virtual learning commons is really interesting. EAS

Thanks for the link to the Buckeye Book Awards. I had never heard of the program and what a great opportunity to get kids involved in reading critically and having a voice! I found myself wandering around during the Smoothie Break just getting a feel of all the resources available out there for us. It was nice to put faces to names and connect names on name tags from the posts on the listserv. It was fabulous! I'm glad you enjoyed it too. CMS

Jan, I like your comments about The Best Websites for Teaching and Learning. I think you mentioned some really cool suggestions on how to promote great websites to teachers and students. KAP

The Buckeye Book Awards sounds like it would be fun to implement into the library. I think the students would get really excited about being able nominate their favorite books. This would be a great way to encourage reading. MP