If you are an ALA member, please consider voting for Steven Yates for ALA President. Voting is open March 9, 2020 - April 1, 2020. Steven is a former AASL President (2017-18) and former school and public librarian. Steven currently serves as Assistant Director of the School of Library and Information Studies at the University of Alabama. Steven regularly teaches courses in school librarianship, library management theory and practice, philanthropy and fundraising, among others. He will be a great voice at ALA for school librarians! He is hosting a Town Hall Meet and Greet via Zoom on March 10, 2020 at 4:00 pm ET. For more information about Steven and to join the conversation at http://voteyatesala.com.

The Pennsylvania School Librarians Association is pleased to announce the

The Model Curriculum for Learners in Pennsylvania School Libraries (2019)

https://www.psla.org/model-curriculum-for-learners-in-pa-school-libraries-2019-

Between May and September of 2019, the Model Curriculum Committee developed The Model Curriculum for Learners in Pennsylvania School Libraries as an update and expansion of Stage 1 of The Model Curriculum for PA School Library Programs published in 2012by the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, Pennsylvania Department of Education.

Pennsylvania School Librarians Association

Greetings: Active and Distinguished Service Members:

The following Proposed Bylaw amendments have been approved by the PSLA Board.  The Operations Committee is announcing these proposed amendments before the 2020 spring election so the members can review these changes before voting.  The rationale for these changes is included with each proposed amendment. Inserts are bold-faced and italicized and deletions are strikethrough.   If you have any questions, please contact, Vickie Saltzer or Bob McConnell at [email protected]

Proposed Changes to Bylaws of the Pennsylvania School Librarians Association

The Pennsylvania School Librarians Association (PSLA) Board of Directors and Teaching and Learning Committee is proud to offer a free webinar made possible through the AASL Past-Presidents Planning Grant for National School Library Standards sponsored by Roger and Susan D. Ballard in honor of E. Blanche Woolls who is not only a past president of the American Association of School Librarians but also a Distinguished Service member of the Pennsylvania School Librarians Association.

Beyond the Standards: Creating Partnerships Guided by the AASL National School Library Standards

Thursday, February 27, 2020, 7 PM EST

Registration Link: http://bit.ly/BeyondtheStandards

Don't forget to register for the 2020 PSLA Conference by February 28th for the Early Bird Discount! 

• Join hundreds of Librarians and Library advocates from around the state and beyond. 

• Meet the 2020 Michael L. Printz Award winner, A.S. King, called “One of the best Y.A. writers working today” by the New York Times Book Review.

The Pennsylvania School Librarians Association (PSLA) Board of Directors and Teaching and Learning Committee is proud to offer a free webinar made possible through the AASL Past-Presidents Planning Grant for National School Library Standards sponsored by Roger and Susan D. Ballard in honor of E. Blanche Woolls who is not only a past president of the American Association of School Librarians but also a Distinguished Service member of the Pennsylvania School Librarians Association.

Beyond the Standards: Creating Partnerships Guided by the AASL National School Library Standards - Thursday, February 27, 2020, 7 PM EST

Registration Link: http://bit.ly/BeyondtheStandards

This webinar is designed to support you as you put the AASL National School Library Standards into action in your local school community. Through community engagement, school librarians can gain administrator, faculty, parent, community and student support as they embed the AASL National School Library Standards into instruction and infuse the school community with opportunities to think, create, share and grow.

(Image via pxHere.com)

By Debra E. Kachel

All students are assessed on the same scale for standardized tests. If this were truly fair, shouldn’t they also have access to the same educational resources with which to learn? 

Are you ready to Discover Your Superpower? Please let the conference committee know what sessions you are most interested in attending at this year's annual conference. We want to make sure we have plenty of room for everyone!

https://tinyurl.com/psla-conferenceinterest

Join AASL for an open forum to answer questions about Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI). Whether you work at a private or public school, elementary, middle or high school, no question is off limits. President Mary Keeling will be fielding questions. You do NOT have to be an AASL member to participate in this forum. Do you have questions about how to grow a diverse collection? How to engage all learners? How to offer library programming that meets the needs of all students? February 6, 2020 from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. CST 

Find more information here http://www.ala.org/aasl/about/officehours

Even if you were unable to attend the Rally to Restore Philadelphia School Librarians on January 24 in front of the School District of Philadelphia’s administration building, hopefully you’ve been following both PSLA’s news as well as the state and national media coverage. With 150 or more attending the rally, I was honored to speak for PSLA and all school librarians in Pennsylvania to put the issue of the loss of school librarians in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and the nation in the spotlight.

This rally did not happen without the enormous help of PSLA’s partnership with EveryLibrary (John Chrastka and Patrick Sweeney) who helped us enlist Lauren Comito (LJ Librarian of the Year) as our emcee. EveryLibrary's experience and expertise for a rally enabled PSLA to consider the idea of holding a rally during ALA’s MidWinter Conference and then led us through every step to make it happen successfully. Of course, PSLA’s work was done through the never-ending determination of our State and Local Advocacy Committee, particularly our co-chairs, Deb Kachel and Robin Burns, PSLA President-Elect. We also partnered with the Alliance for Philadelphia Public Schools (APPS), many of whom are former teachers and school librarians from School District of Philadelphia, helping us secure from Philadelphia, a city council member, teacher, school librarian and a high school student on our list of speakers. Kevin Harley and Quantum Communications rounded out the team to ensure that we had legislators speaking and attending as well as local media coverage.

As a PSLA member, regardless of our own situations, we all want adequate staffing of certified school librarians in all schools in Pennsylvania. If you are not part of School District of Philadelphia you might be wondering what the rally means to the other 499 school districts.

First, the media coverage we received has truly brought this issue to stakeholders beyond the Philadelphia geographic area. We are using this momentum to speak for all 500 districts to demand that our students receive equitable access to certified school librarians with quality school library program.

The Pennsylvania School Librarians Association (PSLA) & the University of Pittsburgh Announce Applications Open for the School Librarians Leadership Academy (SLLA) for PA School Librarians

The University of Pittsburgh and PSLA will offer its ninth Leaders Academy—the School Librarians
Leadership Academy (SLLA)—to 18 PA school librarians funded through a Library Services and
Technology Act grant awarded by the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, PA Department of Education.

The Academy will be held from February through September 2020. The application deadline is Friday,
February 7, 2020, and applications will be notified of their status no later than Friday, February 14,
2020.

If you’re a school librarian working in Pennsylvania with at least one year of experience (including the
2019-2020 school year), PSLA and the University of Pittsburgh have a “once-in-a-professional-lifetime”
professional development opportunity for you. Please consider applying for the ninth Academy, which
will be offered in a combination of face-to-face meetings and video conferencing, so that you can:

Pennsylvania School Librarians Association Annual Conference registration is now open!

Early Bird Registration Prices until Feb 28, 2020!
Register Here: https://pslaconference.weebly.com
Learn more about Conference Packages

PSLA members,

Each year, the Pennsylvania School Librarians Association conducts a survey of the school districts and independent schools in the state in regards to library staffing for the current school year. This data has been extremely valuable in our legislative and advocacy efforts over the past number of years, so we would greatly appreciate your help in gathering accurate information for the 2019-20 school year.

A few reminders:
We ask that ONLY ONE survey be completed for each school district or independent school entity, so please coordinate with your fellow librarians to decide who will fill it out.

Please be sure to use the appropriate link below for your school situation.

Before completing the survey, please gather the following information:

• how many library staff (professional and paraprofessional) you currently have,
• how many library staff (professional and paraprofessional) you had last year
• what changes were made in staffing between last year and this year
• which levels in your school entity purchase electronic resources beyond POWER Library.

We ask that all surveys be completed by January 31, 2020.

If you have any questions, please contact Allison Burrell and Jennifer Bates, Staffing Survey Coordinators, at [email protected]

Thank you for your assistance in collecting this vital data!

To complete the survey for a school district, please use this link:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/1920sdlibstaffing

To complete the survey for an independent school entity, please use this link:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/1920indlibstaffing

Friday, January 24, in front of the School District of Philadelphia (SDP) Administration Building, 440 N. Broad Street, Philadelphia, from 12:30 to 1:00pm (students have a half-day of school) The event is being organized by PSLA and EveryLibrary, a non-profit, national political action committee for libraries. APPS, the Alliance for Philadelphia Public Schools, is also supporting the rally, assisting with local arrangements. The Administration Building is four blocks from the Convention Center where the ALA Midwinter Conference is being held.

• Although there are over 200,000 students in SDP with 341 schools, there are fewer than 8 school librarians in the district, making it the worst librarian to student ratio in the nation.
• PSLA’s message: Every student deserves a certified school librarian and a quality school library.
• Lauren Comito, founder of Urban Librarians Unite and recent recipient of Library Journal’s Librarian of the Year Award will be the MC.
• Speakers include PA State Rep. Thomas Murt, a primary co-sponsor of HB 1355 and Senator Larry Farnese, a sponsor of SB 752. Jerry Jordan, President of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, Jessica Way, Caucus of Working Educators, Helen Gym, and Kendra Brooks, Philadelphia City Councilwomen, and a parent and student. There will be a photographer and media to cover the event.
• Please RSVP at https://www.saveschoollibrarians.org/rally_psla_20 .

Calling all high school librarians! A reminder that PSLA's "Me? A School Librarian?" Contest is open for submissions!

Do you have teen patrons who are frequent visitors to or volunteers in the library? Do you have fantastic students who may be interested in becoming school librarians? 

If so, PSLA's "Me? A School Librarian?" Contest is a great opportunity for them to come to the 2019 PSLA Conference and learn more about our wonderful profession. You can find more information about the contest, including guidelines, entry forms, and the scoring rubric, at https://www.psla.org/me-a-school-librarian. 

The deadline for entries is December 1, 2019. Please contact the PSLA Awards Committee with any questions at [email protected].

Check out the blog post from Future Ready Schools about Makerspaces and 1:1 Initiatives in Allegheny County!

The Fort LeBoeuf Foundation gave its Third Annual Friend of Education Award on Saturday, November 2nd at their annual Harvest Gala at the Ambassador Banquet and Conference Center. Nominees included Ed Burkhart, Kelly Clark, Ashley Chapman, Ali Coletta, Dennis Fortin, Casey Jack, Renee Kovacs, Nancy Maloney, Shannan McLallen, Nadine Merry, Angela Tarr, and Kaila Therasse.

Read more at: 

Calling all high school librarians! A reminder that PSLA's "Me? A School Librarian?" Contest is open for submissions!

Do you have teen patrons who are frequent visitors to or volunteers in the library? Do you have fantastic students who may be interested in becoming school librarians? 

If so, PSLA's "Me? A School Librarian?" Contest is a great opportunity for them to come to the 2019 PSLA Conference and learn more about our wonderful profession. You can find more information about the contest, including guidelines, entry forms, and the scoring rubric, at https://www.psla.org/me-a-school-librarian. 

The deadline for entries is December 1, 2019. Please contact the PSLA Awards Committee with any questions at [email protected].