November
2006
Blogletter #70
SAYL MailNovember 3, 2006
FUNDS RAISED / TRAVEL GRANTS /BATTLE OF THE BOOKS / LEARNING COMMUNITY GRANTS / MORE NEW PROFESSIONAL TITLES
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FUND RAISERS SCORE BIG TIME
Tiki Levinson of the Delta-Greely School District reports a recent $10,000+ book sale that put $3,000 in the elementary school library budget. Amanda Austin of the Tri-Valley School/Community Library in Healy wrote to say that their Mystery Night, directed by school librarian
Peggy Menke, raised over $16,000. Both of these communities are lucky to have these active and energetic librarians. Have you had a fundraising success? Let me know what you did and how it worked, and I’ll be glad to share the information.
TRAVEL GRANTS FOR THE AKLA CONFERENCE – Deadline November 15 
The Alaska Association of School Librarians will be awarding 15 travel grants for up to $600 for school librarians and $250 for Southeast members to attend the Alaska Library Association Conference in
Juneau from February 22-25, 2007. Watch the AkLA site (http://www.akla.org/juneau2007/index.html) for additional conference presenters and information about the conference. To apply for the grant, send a letter of interest to Suzanne Richards bethelbooks2@aol.com. Describe your library position. Tell if and when you have attended AkLA conferences in the past, and if you have ever received an AkASL travel grant. Describe how attendance at this conference will affect you, your school, and your students. Tell if you will be receiving any other monies for attendance of this conference from other funding sources. Those selected to receive the grant will be required to write an informative article about a beneficial conference session attended. These articles will be published in the AkASL newsletter, the Puffin.
BATTLE OF THE BOOKS
SALE ITEMS FROM SHELLY LOGSDON
As you start your Battle of the Books groups, remember we have several cool items for sale to help advertise
Battle in your school.
- The new
Battle of the Book Bracelets come in 2 different sizes, colors, and slogans. These are a big hit with students young and old.
- A great tip from
Bonnie Cavanaugh: To help support Battle in her school she purchased
Battle of the Book posters for her teachers to show their interest in battle.
- Don’t forget to keep them from folding the pages in your battle books, by giving students the
Battle bookmarks.
- Have your students/teachers wear the battle logo with pride in the form of battle pins.
Remember proceeds help keep the registration costs down and also go to the B. Jo Morse Scholarship Fund. Check out the Sale Items @ http://www.akla.org/akasl/bb/salesitems.pdf
GRANTS FOR 21st CENTURY LEARNING COMMUNITIES
The Alaska Department of Education is advertising the availability of federal grant money for community learning centers that promote after-school activities that will extend the academic enrichment programs as well as activities that complement the regular academic program (sounds like it could be a library to me!) at: http://www.eed.state.ak.us/forms/SharedForms/05-07-039.doc These centers are supposed to provide students and their families opportunities to “continue to learn new skills and discover new abilities after school.” Public or private organizations are eligible to apply, and priority (10 bonus points on the application scoring) will be given to proposals that will serve students in schools designated as in need of improvement AND that are “submitted jointly by school districts receiving Title I funds and community-based organizations or public or private organizations.” The range of the grants appears to be $50,000 -125,000. The grant outline specifically mentions programs outside of regular school hours including the summertime, and lists extended library hours, homework help, and parent involvement activities as desirable activities. There are school libraries in the state that have benefited from these funds in the past. Check out the link above, and take this to your school or district administrator if you have a good plan for how your library could create a competitive proposal. The deadline for letting the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development know that you intend to apply is November 30, 2006, and the deadline for the actual grant proposal is December 29, 2006 by 4 PM.
MORE NEW PROFESSIONAL TITLES
To borrow any of these new books for school and youth librarians, please contact: Priscilla McAdara at: priscilla_mcadara at eed.state.ak.us If you want them mailed to you, please be sure that you include your complete mailing address for your library. BIG IDEAS IN SMALL PACKAGES: USING PICTURE BOOKS WITH OLDER READERS by Molly Pearson (Linworth, 2005)
BRINGING FANTASY ALIVE FOR CHILDREN AND YOUNG ADULTS by Tim Wadham (Linworth, 1999)
BRINGING MYSTERIES ALIVE FOR CHILDREN AND YOUNG ADULTS by Jeanette Larson (Linworth, 2004) Get a head start on next summer’s statewide summer reading theme: Get A CLUE @ YOUR LIBRARY!
COLLABORATING FOR REAL LITERACY: LIBRARIAN, TEACHER, AND PRINCIPAL by Sharon M. Pitcher (Linworth, 2005)
GET THEM THINKING: USE MEDIA LITERACY TO PREPARE STUDENTS FOR STATE ASSESSMENTS by Sue L. Summers (Linworth, 2005)
NATIONAL BOARD CERTIFICATION IN LIBRARY MEDIA: A CANDIDATE’S JOURNAL by Peggy Milam (Linworth, 2005)
