13
February
2008
Book Bonanza Winners / Gale/LMC Award / New Alaskana / Certification / Summer Reading / New Job?
BOOK BONANZA WINNERS – AT LAST
In January, I finally announced the winners of the 2007 Book Bonanza. They were:
Klukwan Community - First Prize
Trapper Creek School Second Prize (Tie)
Kaleidoscope School of the Arts Library (Kenai) Second Prize (Tie)
We had 17 entries all together, and this year’s competition was a cliff hanger in more ways than one. We had three rounds of judging with honorable mention going to Willow Community Library and Delta Greely Middle and High School Libraries. Shageluk and Pitka’s Point were also singled out as worthy. AkASL, AkLA and local chapters of AkLA (Anchorage, Northern Chapter, and Juneau) were generous donors along with the Friends of the Ketchikan Public Library. Ron and Lynn Dixon of the late Cook Inlet Book Company, who were founding sponsors of the Book Bonanza, made a contribution of books in the last days of their well-loved store. Individual contributors were Roz Goodman, Joyce McCombs, and Sue Sherif. Barnes and Noble made a valiant rescue of the 2007 Bonanza by making an unexpectedly large, last-minute donation of gift cards for the winners.
The Book Bonanza 2008 guidelines and entry forms will be posted on the AkASL web page soon, and they will be available at the AkLA Conference February 28- March 2 in Fairbanks as well. This year’s deadline will be April 30, 2008, and the winners will be announced after school starts in September, 2008.
Thanks to the AkASL members who served as judges.
GALE /LMC AWARDS – Deadline April 28
Gale and Linworth Publishing are once again sponsoring an award for teachers and media specialists influencing student achievement, the TEAMS award. The competition is open to all public and private schools in the US and Canada, and entries are due April 28, 2008. The winners receive cold, hard cash, loot (subscriptions and Gale and Linworth products), and glory (recognition at the ALA Conference in June at (oh, yes!) Disneyland, Anaheim, California! I know from the several presentations that some of you have made on collaboration and what I have seen when I have visited schools around the state that some of you could be winners. Check the competition guidelines at:http://www.galeschools.com/pdf/TEAMS-form.pdf
NEW ALASKANA TITLE 
Fans of Pam Flowers (ALONE ACROSS THE ARCTIC, BIG-ENOUGH ANNA) and Jon Van Zyle (oh, we all know his work) will be glad to know that they have collaborated to produce a new picturebook, DOUGGIE: THE PLAYFUL PUP WHO BECAME A SLED DO HERO. The true story of another of Pam’s dog team members and lead dog on her 325-mile expedition to the magnetic North Pole, this picture book is a story of determination with a touch of high Arctic adventure. Let’s just say that a polar bear is involved. (Alaska Northwest, 2008 ISBN 978-0-88240-654-1 )
CERTIFICATION
Kari Sagel, Erika Drain, and other school librarians who have been working diligently to clarify the situation involving certification of school librarians in Alaska have recently posted a letter from the Deputy Commissioner of the Education and Early Development on the Alaska Association of School Librarians web site. Visit the site at: http://www.akla.org/akasl/ to read the letter of January 3 from Deputy Commissioner Spackman and to see all other activities led by the hardworking Alaska Association of School Librarians E-Board.
SUMMER READING NEWS FOR PUBLIC LIBRARIANS
The materials for the 2008 Statewide Summer Reading Program are now arriving in public and community libraries if you submitted participation forms in October. If your library doesn’t receive its CATCH THE READING BUG @ YOUR LIBRARY by March 1, please notify Priscilla McAdara at the Alaska State Library office (priscilla.mcadara@alaska.gov ) or call her at 1-800-776-6566 if you are outside of Anchorage. The artwork for the teen program, METAMORPHOSIS @ YOUR LIBRARY is truly striking.
We will be receiving PSA’s in several formats at the Anchorage office soon. Please let us know if you would like to borrow a copy to promote your program.
NEW JOB? If anyone has been contemplating a change of jobs for the next school year or re-entering the workforce if you retired a little too early, please think about applying for the School Library Coordinator position when it is open again on Workplace Alaska. We are expecting to post it in the near future and will be leaving it open until the end of the school year. It is NOT posted yet, because we are still trying to hire a temporary, part-time version of the job for now until the end of the school year. Consider it if you have a masters degree and have experience in K-12 school libraries. The job involves working in an office most of the time, also but traveling a good deal all over Alaska and sometimes Outside. You must be willing to ride in small aircraft and invest in Arctic gear if you don’t already own it. Willingness to put in long hours when you’re on site visits is a plus. Getting to work with librarians all over the state is the frosting on the cake. The position is in Anchorage, and the work is varied and challenging. The Library Development Team of the State Library is truly that, a team of cooperative and committed people. When the job is posted and Workplace Alaska is ready to accept applications, the opening will be announced often and in a variety of places including the AkASL website, AkLA-L, and through this e-newsletter. You have time to think about it now and will plenty of time to apply when it is posted again Hope to see many of you in Fairbanks week after next at the AkLA conference. If you haven’t registered yet, you still can at: http://www.akla.org
Posted: Alaskana, Awards, Books, Collaboration, Grants, School Libraries, Summer Reading
17
September
2007
ALASKA LIBRARY NETWORK NEWS / PASSWORD FOR LHH / POSITION POSTING / HOORAY
ALASKA LIBRARY NETWORK NEWS
Kerri Canepa asked me to post this to you all:
The Alaska Library Network has a new web page! Check out http://alaskalibrarynetwork.org/ for loads of promotional materials for SLED and the Digital Pipeline all available for download and printing. You’ll find brochures, bookmarks, posters and other items. Just click on Products & Services in the lefthand column. Keep up with what’s happening with ALN by clicking on News and also Schedule & Events. As ALN grows, so will the web page so make sure to bookmark the site and visit regularly! SLED has a new toolbar that can be added to your browser! It’s customizable and will search SLED from anywhere on the Internet. Go to sled.alaska.edu and click on “Download the SLED toolbar!” text in the lefthand column. Please note, the toolbar does not work with Safari, so if you use Apple products, download the toolbar in Firefox. The Digital Pipeline now features a series of video tutorials! These are designed to provide step-by-step instruction for using the EBSCOhost interface. The tutorials build on each other by explaining the features of the interface and how to use it for searching for information. Each tutorial is approximately 2 1/2 to 3 minutes in length and can be viewed over and over again. Go to sled.alaska.edu/databases/ and click on the “Need Help?” box on the righthand side of the page to get to the list of tutorials. Please send any comments or suggestions about any of the web sites to:
Kerri Canepa, Coordinator, Alaska Library Network Alaska State Library, 334 W. 3rd Avenue, Ste 125, Anchorage, AK
99501907-269-6567 kerri.canepa@alaska.gov
LIVE HOMEWORK HELP PASSWORD (AGAIN!)
Live Homework Help is a valuable afterschool service offered on SLED (http://sled.alaska.edu/) or on a number of public and school library websites each day from 1 to 9 PM for students who need help with their homework. As I wrote last time, it now works with PCs AND Macs, but it requires a password. Although we can not post or mail that password electronically, we can tell you that it is the password that one uses for the databases on the Digital Pipeline. If you do not know the password, look at the Live Homework Help page for the toll-free number to obtain it. Feel free to distribute it freely in paper format, but just DON’T post it on a website or send it to students, teachers, or parents via email. Remember that students will need to know to use the password if they are asked for a library card number. Library card numbers will NOT work despite what the screen asks.
If you would like a couple of cute posters to advertise LIVE HOMEWORK HELP in your school, please contact Priscilla McAdara at priscilla.mcadara@alaska.gov
SCHOOL LIBRARY COORDINATOR DEADLINE EXTENDED TO 10/1/2007
Because there were insufficient applicants for my position, the search has been broadened and the deadline extended. Take a look at the job description to learn how you can apply on Workplace
Alaska at: http://notes4.state.ak.us/wa/PostApps.nsf/0/5A5E395DFF0E09438925735300655EFC?OpenDocument
The position is listed under Librarian III and School Library Coordinator. It’s one job listed two different ways.
HOORAY!
Cheers for all the energetic youth services librarians who gathered in
Anchorage September 11-12 for the first-ever Alaska Youth Services Workshop. Priscilla McAdara of the State Library Anchorage office commented, “I don’t think I’ve ever been around so many people who had so much passion for their jobs.” There were 32 librarians in attendance, but there was enough energy in the room to stoke a few small power plants.
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Posted: SAYL Mail, School Libraries, Summer Reading, Technology, Training, Uncategorized
29
November
2006
SAYL MAILNovember 30, 2006
NET SPEAK-UP / LAURA BUSH GRANTS / THANKS / PUBLIC LIBRARY REMINDER
To comment or respond to this blog, please click on the grey number next to Blogletter Number above.
NET SPEAK-UP DAY –
ALASKA INPUT WANTED
Here is a request from the American Association of School Librarians:
Now in its 4th year, NetDay Speak Up’s national online survey invites students, teachers, and parents from around the country to share their input in an online survey. The deadline has been extended with the survey remaining open until December 15, 2006 to allow maximum participation This is an opportunity for students, teachers and parents to participate in the national dialog about science, math, technology, and 21st century workforce skills. Learn more about NetDay Speak Up and how schools and districts can register and participate at <http://www.netday.org/speakup>.
The results of the surveys are shared with participating schools and districts so that they can use the data for planning and community discussion. In addition, the findings and data are used by local, state, and national organizations and government agencies to inform new programs and polices. Additional help is needed to get participation from the following states * AK, AR, HI, OK, DC, ID, MN, MS, MT, NH, ND, NV, RI, SD, VT, WV, WY, IA, WA, KS, UT, DE, NE, AL, ME, IN, NM, OR, and NJ. Please disseminate this information to these states so schools and districts to take part in Speak Up 2006. To preview the Speak Up surveys for students, teachers and parents go to <http://www.netday.org/SPEAKUP/speakup_surveys.htm>
LAURA BUSH GRANTS – Deadline 12/30/2006
Check this website for this year’s Laura Bush Foundation grants competition:http://www.laurabushfoundation.org/web2/index.htm Remember that this grant is intended for school libraries in areas with high poverty levels. The grants are for individual schools, not school districts, and are to be used “to update, extend and diversity the book collections” of the selected school libraries. It would be good to check the website now, because the deadline for asking the Foundation questions about the grant is December 20, 2006, and the deadline for your proposal is 10 days later. Several
Alaska libraries have been awarded these grants in the past.
THANKS
A big round of applause to the school librarians who have filled out their 2006 school library census forms already and appreciation to those of you will be turning them in this week. I keep getting new responses everyday. I think that the information will go a long way to helping us all be able to communicate about school library needs.
PUBLIC LIBRARY REMINDER
If you are intending to use the summer reading order form that you received in October, when you received your participation form, remember that the first deadline is this Friday, December 1. If it is not possible for you to order any extra incentives that your library needs for the 2006 GET A CLUE@YOUR LIBRARY statewide summer reading program, by Friday, the next deadline is January 1, 2007 for delivery in April of 2007. We have ordered basic kits for every public library that returned a participation form, so the order form is for any extras you want to purchase for your library.
If you are wondering where in the world your order form went because you want to order some of the great orange T-shirts to offer as prizes or thank-yous for volunteers, please contact Priscilla McAdara at priscilla_mcadara@eed.state.ak.us or call her at 1-800-776-6566 to get a replacement order form.
I may be traveling next week, so may not be able to respond to emails and phone calls promptly.
Posted: Grants, Public Libraries, Summer Reading, Technology
