Peggy Sharp Workshop

A group of the librarians from Edmonds School District took a trip to Portland, Oregon for our district inservice day. We attended "What's New in Children's Literature and How to Use it in Your Program" sponsored by Bureau of Education & Research (BER) and presented by Dr. Peggy Sharp. We spend the day learning about some of the best books published in 2007. It was great for me because I am currently working on ordering new books for the school. The day was fast paced and Dr. Sharp has a finely tuned sense of timing that makes the day fly by.

I was happy to sit next to my WCCPBA co-chair, Karen! I didn't know she was attending, so it was great to touch base.

After the workshop, we took a "field trip" to Portland's Powells City of Books. We had a lot of fun looking through the aisles of children's literature. I found a few books on sale that I bought for my library. It was a fulfilling day.

Scholastic Bookfair Luncheon

I attended a luncheon at Sherwood Elementary in Edmonds sponsored by Scholastic Bookfairs. We learned about different promotions and opportunities to raise money through the book fairs. Peggy Marsalus described this year's fair theme on "road trip" (photo). Laurie Manning, our regional rep. also shared information about how Scholastic puts the carts together for the bookfair. It was a fun and informative lunch.

Edmonds District Librarian Meeting @ MDE

This month the teacher-libarians in the Edmonds District met at Meadowdale Elementary School library in the north part of the district. We learned about podcasting. Some of the librarians shared tips and tricks. It is definitely something I'd like to try this year. I think I'll start with the 6th graders. We also learned about an online resource, teachingbooks.net . We also got updates on Title V money and our new automation system for next year.

Searching for Children's Choice Books

This evening I spent some time at the Secret Garden Bookshop in Ballard (how cool - WCCPBA promoted at the bookstore - photo). I was on a quest to find some books to go on our WCCPBA suggestion list.

Here's how it works: WLMA members from around the state suggest books, as do WCCPBA committee members. The long list is sent off to the committee members who spend the next 2 months reading and using the books with students. I also let my primary teachers read the books to their classes so I can get their thoughts about the titles. At our March meeting the committee whittles the list down to the 20 books that become WCCPBA nominees.

The books I added to the suggestion list as a result of my visit to Secret Garden are listed below. They are not in any order and I'm not personally committed to any one of them, that comes later. If you have any thoughts about these titles, let me know! All are 2007 copyright books.

"Hound from the Pound" by Jessica Swaim; "Nini Here and There" by Anita Lobel; "17 Things I'm not Allowed to do Anymore" by Jenny Offill; "Dogku" by Andrew Clements; "Righty and Lefty: A Tale of Two Feet" by Rachel Vail; "A Fishing Surprise" by Rae A. McDonald; "Not a Stick" by Antionette Portis; "The Cheese" by Margie Palatini; "Henry's Freedom Box" by Ellen Levine.

Legislative Hotline

I did it! I'm not sure why I was nervous or hesitant to call the Washington Legislative Hotline, but I was. So today I called (using my cell phone, in my car, before work hours). The lady who answered was very polite. She asked for my address (and phone number/email) so the legislators could contact me. She asked for my comment, which I read from the WSCLIT bookmark "I would like funding for school library programs to be included in the supplemental budget." She said the message would be sent to my district legislators and asked if I'd like to send it to the governor too, "of course," I said.

The process was so easy, I'm sure I will do this again as the library program issue gets into the muck of the legislature and for other issues I care about. One co-worker told me how they used the hotline's email feature to send the message to their legislator, I might try that sometime too.

Oz Region - Cookies, Tea, & Books

This afternoon I attended a meeting of WLMA's Oz Region. The gathering was held at Chris Gustafson's home (photo). The group was mostly middle school librarians. They shared books, tips for collaboration, and advice. I represented the WLMA Executive Board and shared information about the advocacy efforts and asked what kinds of things they'd like from WLMA. It was a fun, casual time that went by too quickly.

PSC January Meeting

Attended the January meeting of the Puget Sound Council for the Review of Children's Literature at the UW-Bothell campus this morning (photo- PSC officers deal with paperwork). I learned about some great books and chose a few more to review. During announcement time I let people know about the upcoming WCCPBA deadline and I shared information about the upcoming advocacy effort to require a certificated librarian at every school in the state. This started a lively discussion about what people have done and what they plan to do. One member shared her experience with calling the legislative hotline.

Visiting the Public Library

Stopped by Brier Public Library afterwork. I have some 2008 WCCPBA books on reserve because I'm beginning a picture book battle with my intermediate students and I needed extra copies. I was able to see Bryan, children's liason, and we were able to work out details about him visiting our kindergarten classes later this month. He also introduced me to the new branch manager, Marlene. It's always fun to stop by and say "hi." I also get to see which students stop by the public library after school.

WLMA Executive Board Meeting

The board met at Curtis JHS in University Place. The meeting was dominated by 2 issues: the WLMA budget and attempt at state legislation to require teacher-librarians at all public schools.

The board reviewed budget proposals and made adjustments. The amounts budgeted were pretty conservative, board members asked "is that realistic?" Since there were many new folks on the board, including the treasurer, there was a great deal of clarification. One of the big changes in the budget involved reorganizing public relations and legislative advocacy in to one broad category of "advocacy" with many sub-headings.

Jenn Maydole spoke at length about all of the movement that is happening regarding the push for legislation to require, with funding, a certificated librarian at every public school and resources. The effort has started w/ parents in Spokane and has been gathering steam. They have a petition and have been talking with legislators. There's going to be a summit in Olympia on February 1st. WLMA Exec. Board folks and Regional leaders are planning to attend. We'll get a chance to form a common message and talk to legislators. It's exciting. There was some lament expressed that more of the WLMA membership haven't participated in this effort, it seems many people are holding back. The petition is easy to complete. I've started to collect home emails from co-workers so I can send them the link to the petition without using district emails.

Also discussed: Executive board members visiting regional meetings to ask how WLMA can better serve the membership (I'm going to the Oz Region Meeting on Jan. 13); Location of the Full Board meeting in March (Kennewick); Report on Fall Conference '07 Finances.