Pearson

The OELMA Conference was awesome! Although I was only there for a few hours on Friday, it was so fun to see library media specialists from all over Ohio come together to learn! What a wealth of information by just collaborating with colleagues! Of course I really enjoyed the sessions I attended as well.

I hosted a session titled "District Reading Fair Provides a Multidisciplinary Reading Experience." The librarian at Galion City Schools presented an awesome way to promote reading district-wide (all grade levels and all buildings.) She and her librarians began this program in 2003 and it has been a huge success. Students select a book of their choice and then create a three panel display board, which is provided by the school. There were a lot of great components to her reading fair that are valuable. She addressed some of the following ideas: The reading fair is a huge event at their school. The evening of the judging the school is packed with school staff, family and community members to see the students' work. She has built her program so well that students BEG to do the reading fair more than once per year! She provided handouts of rubrics for judging, flyers for advertisement, and guidelines to give parents. If anyone is interested in her handouts, I'd be glad to make you a copy! She also showed us a slideshow of the elaborate projects in the past. Check them out at [|www.galion-city.k12.oh.us] She said they'd be posted on the library's page soon.
 * Mandatory vs. Voluntary? Some teachers require their students to participate. In her district, she leaves the decision to the teachers and parents.
 * How to promote? Her district holds a kick-off assembly for all buildings. This is used to explain the divisions of the reading fair, the guidelines, the awards and prizes involved, how to enter, and required elements for participation. They also do a sample board at the assembly so students know exactly what the final product should look like.
 * Family Work Evenings: An awesome idea. She opens her library media center one evening per building for families to come and utilize school materials such as the computer lab, stencils, Ellison machine, school supplies, projectors, etc. She said she has a great turn out at these evenings. I would love to be present at these evenings to see parents, students and librarians all working together on projects.
 * Judging: Projects are judged based on division. Most divisions are by grade level, but there is one division reserved for family projects.
 * Prizes and Awards: She writes a grant each year so that all students who participate will receive a free book and a certificate of participation. The grant money also covers the 3 panel boards.

I, along with several others, listened to David Loertscher's "Collection Development in the 21st Century." I really enjoyed listening to his ideas. He told us that a library's collection should be built around the user. We know that students want instant gratification when doing research, so we need to build our collection around that concept. Librarians must develop a system to chunk the collection so that the collection may move with the curriculum. Mr. Loertscher calls it an elastic collection--one that can expand and contract as needed. He recommends that we chunk our collection by using a virtual learning classroom such as Google Apps Education School. He emphasized that it's SAFE and FREE for schools to use. Librarians are to create these learning classrooms centered around topics. The google site is like a "room" where everyone in the school can "throw things" related to the topic of research such as links, Infohio components, articles, books, streaming video, and any other resources that are applicable to the assignment. Everyone in the room is "talking" about the assignment including students, teachers, librarians, any experts, guidance counselors, reading specialists, etc. Only members associated with the school have access to these virtual classrooms. Therefore, everyone in the school is working together to build the library's collection collaboratively.

His ideas make great sense to me. I'm really interested to see a real Google Apps site that is being used by a school in the manner Loertscher describes. I've read and learned more about Google Apps recently. I think this is an excellent tool for our 21st Century learners to use the library's collection in a collaborative and interactive manner.

Check out Google Apps Education School: []

Several librarians that I know were at the conference. When I talked with them, a hot topic seemed to be House Bill 1. I wasn't able to attend the session that addressed this topic, but it sounded as if the session was filled with attendees wanting to know more about how HB1 will affect them, their students and their district. KAP

I was not able to attend the session on reading fairs. It sounds like a great idea. Schools need to find ways for involving the families when it comes to reading. Science Fairs work so why not Reading Fairs. JD • I wasn't able to attend the reading fairs session either (I was only there on Thursday). Seems like it was a really good one. I found the idea of voluntary vs. mandatory attendance interesting. Also, the idea of holding a kick-off assembly to promote the book fair is great. That way the kids are informed and involved and the likelihood that information will get home is increased! The collection development session brings into focus the importance of knowing you school community. How do we as new librarians "get to know" our student population? CNR

I like the presentation from the librarian of Galion - it sounds as if she has really got everyone on board to support her library and has found a great way to do it. Her set-up and approach reminds me of a science fair. I also appreciate that the media center is open late one day a week so the community can come in. What a great way to show them what you are doing! Sounds as if Loertscher's talk was pretty popular; I like his notion of an "elastic collection". I have not really had much experience with Google Apps Education School but will have to check it out. --Bill Reagle

The district-wide reading fair sounds like a fantastic event! I wish I could have attended that session to hear more about it. That sort of think is exactly what we all need in our schools to promote reading and family involvement. I agree with Bill: the setup also reminds me of the science fair. I always loved doing that as a kid, so I can understand why the students are so excited about the event at their school. How neat! The Collection Development session sounds very interesting and informative, but I am a bit intimidated by it all. The ideas make so much sense, though, for the 21st-century learner. KE

Like everyone else I am intrigued by the reading fair! That sounds so fun, I love seeing projects on books children read. I think students would really enjoy getting to make a display board. I think this would be fun to try when I am working! EAS

I really like the idea of having a family work evening at the library! What a neat way to promote reading and your library in the community. RHL

The Reading Fair is such a great idea! I would love to have a copy of the hand-outs (rubric, flyer, etc.). Thanks for offering! I also checked out the Google Apps Education School. Sounds like a wonderful opportunity for students, faculty, and staff to work collaboratively on projects. I would love to see this in action. JT

Wow, the reading fair that the librarian at Galion has come up with sounds like it is really successful! I'm glad to hear that she is able to get the community involved in the event. I hope that I will be able to put something together that is so successful. MP