Diana Rivers and I attended the California School Library Association Conference 2023 in Asilomar on March 2-5. Over 400 school library professionals were in attendance, and we had the opportunity to attend a variety of sessions specifically geared toward school librarians. Like most conferences, we came back with loads of ideas and information.
On Day One, we attended a workshop entitled, “Presenting to School Boards & Administrators.” While it was geared toward larger public school districts, there was helpful information on how to communicate the library program’s value. The presentation also proved a template for what and how to share with school boards. The presenters provided tips on how to present a memorable theme, how to be positive, respectful and informative, and how to create what is essentially an “elevator pitch” to show how the library educates everyone on campus. Very informative and helpful templates were also provided.
On Day Two, we attended “Hey, We're Here and We’re Valuable”. This session was helpful in showing how communication about the library to administrators, staff, and the community is important to advocating for the library program’s value. The presenter emphasized how to bring visibility about the library services, spaces and successes to the school and district community and increase the library’s presence. Communication is the key--whether in person or by monthly newsletters rolled out to faculty.
On Day Two, I also attended “Creative Library Display Ideas,” a presentation that knocked my socks off! What a qualified and creative librarian can do to increase interest and thus readership via displays was amazing. I came back with several new ideas that could incorporate props, better signage, humor and wordplay to our library displays.
On Day Three,”Organizing a School-Wide World Read Aloud Day with Virtual Author Visits” was a fantastic presentation about an event new to me. While lots of planning is required, a school wide reading event managed by librarians is a great opportunity to get authors into the classroom virtually for read alouds and discussions about their work. These virtual author visits are free on World Read Aloud Day. Diana and I discussed how to get this event into Burkes. The planned day is the first Wednesday of February.
Also, on Day Three, “What’s New in Destiny” was a deep dive by Follett Sales Reps into Titlewave and its tools. Diana and I discussed that we need to sync our collection to Titlewave and then complete a TitleWise Analysis which will give us a lot of information about the state of our collection, its age, and its holes. This service is included in our Follet Destiny subscription.
Also on Day Three, I attended “Stuck in the Middle: Books for Tweens” and “Supersize you Graphic Novel Section”. Both sessions were geared toward middle and high school readers. A portion of the first was interesting and informative; the second was not entirely useful but I did get a copy of the excel sheet that includes recommended elementary manga titles.
Of particular note is that the majority of attendees were from public schools, and the number of K-5 librarians was very low. This is because public school districts, in efforts to address budget cuts, have reduced the number of credentialed teachers librarians in elementary schools. There is an effort on the legislative side of CTA to change this, as the union rep explained over lunch on Day Three.
Also of note, there were very few independent school librarians in attendance. In speaking with members of the Conference Steering Committee, they were interested in how to attract more independent school librarians. Our conclusion is that they need to provide more programming sessions as the advocacy sessions are not that valuable to independent school librarians.
Like most valuable conferences, we ended in “information overload,” armed with several goals and new ideas for the library.