Registration Open! - Leading At Any Level Workshop

Join us for the 2019-2020 Leading At Any Level: Leadership Development for Pennsylvania School Librarians.  

 The Leadership Development for Pennsylvania School Librarians experience is a collaborative initiative of the Pennsylvania School Librarians Association and the University of Pittsburgh School Library Certification Program.

The leadership workshop, available to ALL PSLA active and associate members, will be at no cost to the attendees. The workshop will have open registration for up to thirty (30) participants. 

Click Here to Register for the following Leading At Any Level workshops and earn Six (6) ACT 48 hours!

 We are proud to announce the 2019-2020 Leadership Development for Pennsylvania School Librarians. The Leadership Development for Pennsylvania School Librarians experience is a collaborative initiative of the Pennsylvania School Librarians Association and the University of Pittsburgh School Library Certification Program.

We will kick off this year’s activities with a foundational leadership workshop, Leading At Any Level (LAAL). The leadership workshop, available to ALL PSLA active and associate members, will be at no cost to the attendees. Each workshop will have open registration for up to thirty (30) participants.

ACT 48 hours will be provided.

Build a Collaboration Action Plan with the AASL National School Library Standards: Stage 2 Training

Co-sponsored by the Pennsylvania School Librarians Association (PSLA) and the University of Pittsburgh School Library Certification Program

Build and strengthen your collaboration with teachers through aligning the American Association of School Librarians National School Library Standards with the PA Core Standards as well as with the ISTE Standards for Students. You’ll create an action plan for collaborating with teachers to promote information and digital literacy across the curriculum for all learners, both students and teachers. These aligned Standards provide a solid foundation for developing learner competencies in information fluency and have credibility with administrators and educators. Whatever your situation – one school or multiple schools, solo in your district, fresh from the classroom, or assuming new teaching responsibilities – you’ll take away an action plan to tackle how to collaborate effectively with teachers to help your learners.

Bring your most successful information literacy lesson plan and learn how to align it with these standards and transform the way you collaborate with your teachers. (This training incorporates Stage 1 training) Act 48 hours are available for participants.

“Behind the Scenes” Allison Mackley, Cathi Fuhrman, Deb Kachel, and the PSLA Teaching and Learning Committee Co-chairs, Dustin Brackbill and Leah Lindemann, wrote and submitted an application for one of three AASL Past-Presidents Planning Grant for National School Library Standards. Last week I was notified that we were awarded the grant in honor of E. Blanche Woolls (sponsored by Roger and Susan D. Ballard). E. Blanche Woolls, a Distinguished Service Award winning member of the Pennsylvania School Librarians Association, was the Intellectual Freedom Committee Chair (1977-1978) and the Communications Committee Chair (1986-1988). See her bio below.

The AASL Past-President Planning Grant for National School Library Standards will provide the Pennsylvania School Librarians Association (PSLA) with the funding necessary to develop, market and carry out professional learning initiatives that support school librarians as they implement best practices that impact academic achievement for learners. PSLA is dedicated to transforming teaching and learning not only through quality school library programs but also by leveraging the AASL National School Library Standards for local advocacy efforts.

“This prestigious award showcases the impact of strong school library programs in schools and highlights the importance of the school library program in the educational community.”  - Kathryn Roots Lewis, AASL President, and Susan Yutzey, 2018-2019 AASL Awards Chair

The award will be presented at the American Library Association’s 2019 Annual Conference in Washington, D.C. during the AASL Awards Ceremony. The ceremony will be held on Saturday, June 22^nd from 5:00 – 7:00 pm.  If you are attending the ALA, please be sure to attend the ceremony to help us celebrate!

Happy New Year!! 

It was an amazing year for literature in 2018. As usual, the end of the year brings the annual "best of" lists. Below are a few that may help kick start your 2019 reading list and get you ready for awards season coming in January!

Happy reading and see you in 2019!

Looking for useful professional development and ways to connect learning communities? Try edWeb, and you'll never be without ideas!

Each week the Teaching and Learning Committee plans to highlight one app or website from either the 2018 AASL Best Apps for Teaching and Learning or the 2018 AASL Best Websites for Teaching and Learning. Share with any stakeholders who may benefit! 

Want to send one final Library Card Sign-Up Month reminder out to folks? Remind them to use Libby for their ebook app needs! 

In a world where information is accessible with a click of a few buttons or the touch of a screen, Deb Kachel says emotional appeals and unsubstantiated claims sway popular opinions in our current post-truth era. Published by PennLive, Deb argues that, in order to be successful, students must be able to distinguish false claims, fraudulent sales pitches and dubious websites from trustworthy information and sources.

Read more on how librarians can lead students to trustworthy information.

When hired as the middle school principal in the Central Columbia School District, John Kurelja was introduced to one of the most influential educators he has ever met, a middle school librarian. In an op-ed published by The Standard-Journal, John recalls how Janice Dysart found a way not only to engage students with literature, but to embed their reading into their overall curriculum.

Read John’s story here.