CSLA Northern Region Happenings

The Northern Region is thrilled to have four additional section representatives for 2021. Each region now has at least two section representatives to support CSLA members in their region and offer workshops throughout the year. Congratulations to the following new section representatives:

Section 1: Regina Williams, teacher librarian at Fairfield High School and Sharon Cowan, library technician at Center Elementary

Section 2: Elizabeth Carlson, Library Media Specialist at Ponderosa High School

Section 3: Megan Turner, teacher librarian at Rio Vista Middle School Section 4: Emily McManus, teacher librarian at Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School

The CSLA Northern Region Board met on March 10, 2021. Each board member brainstormed potential goals for themselves and the Northern Region for the upcoming year. We are excited to focus on the following areas:

1. Leveraging our virtual setting for workshops, guest speakers, and collaborative opportunities for CSLA members.
   
2. Building member capacity around equity in our libraries, schools, and communities.
   
3. Supporting Northern Region members with opportunities to present and share best practices at the region and statewide level.
   

Please reach out to your section representative or your Northern Region president if you have any questions or ideas.
   

Jenn Roush, CSLA Northern Region President

 

Not Just for Kids: Picture Books for Older Readers

 I recently watched a webinar, Not Just for Kids: How to Use Picture Books with Tweens and Teens, sponsored by Lerner. The panel was enthusiastic and practical. Dozens of titles were recommended. A high school librarian shared her programming ideas--complete with photographs. Before we knew it, the hour had ended and each speaker had 15 seconds for final thoughts. Rarely have I seen a one-hour webinar go so quickly. 

So let’s talk about picture books. At CSLA, I’ve offered many a session on picture books for older readers (PBOR). In my workshops I always say: 

“Don’t judge a book by the number of pages.”

--Deborah Salyer

Picture books can act as mentor texts in a writing workshop. You can use them to scaffold content. For below grade level readers, these texts sometimes offer accessible content. Visual literacy is incredibly important and picture books give us the illustrative content to practice. They save valuable time, as you can hook students in less than 15 minutes, then send them out to write or research. They make you laugh. They make you cry. Each year, new picture books break boundaries, creating new stories for everyone. 

Yet, picture books aren’t always “easy.” Many of my favorites are written at a higher level than some YA titles. I think, as with many issues, it’s the social stigma that picture books are for younger readers--for kids learning how to read. While many are, others actually work better with older readers. 

CSLF Celebrates Children's Book Illustrators

The California School Library Foundation is excited to celebrate the children’s book authors and illustrators who have so generously donated their artwork for use on products at The Library Advocacy Store, thereby helping us in our mission to support advocacy for school libraries. Their work is timeless and inspiring! 

 

This month features Caroline Arnold, who has authored more than 160 children’s books, both fiction and non-fiction. She has illustrated her most recent books using cut paper collage. This example is available at the Library Advocacy Store: 

Caroline Arnold grew up in Minneapolis, where she enjoyed the out-of-doors and animals; this early interest led to her writing about STEM subjects. She majored in art and literature at Grinnell College (Iowa), and earn a master’s degree in art at the University of Iowa. She started writing when her children were small, so her books were also for young readers. She shifted to older readers and cycled back to children’s books. Since then she has travelled widely, including Easter Island, which then becomes the basis for several of her books – and often include stunning photographs. Currently she lives in Los Angeles, and teaches for UCLA’s extension writer’s program. She loves to visit schools and libraries to talk about her books and the importance of reading; check out the details, including projects and activities, at https://www.carolinearnoldbooks.com/

To find her and other illustrator products, patronize The Library Advocacy Store.  A percentage of the cost is donated to the California School Library Foundation.

CDE Update: CA School Library Evaluation

 If it is Spring, then it must be time for the Online school library evaluation (formerly known as the online school library survey.) Yes indeed, the California Department of Education online school library evaluation is open and ready to collect information about the school library services provided during the 2019–20 school year (not the current year). While the name may have been updated, the importance of the data collected remains.

The evaluation is divided into five sections, based on the California Model School Library Standards.

Here are some things we discovered after the evaluation initially launched, and a few tips to help you complete the questions while reflecting on this unprecedented year:

• ALL QUESTIONS The questions are collecting data on the 2019–2020 school year. Because the majority of this year occurred before COVID-19 caused the move to distance learning, we suggest answering the questions based on the library program prior to COVID-19. Question 65 provides an opportunity to explain how the program changed when you shifted to distance learning.

• QUESTION 25 If your site went 1:1 with laptops or tablets only when schools went to distance learning, then we suggest select “other” in Question 25 and briefly explain that your site went 1:1 due to COVID-19.

• QUESTION 33 To determine the Age of the Collection, the recommendation had been to use 970.3 as the call number for Native Americans. It has been brought to our attention that some schools catalog their Native American books in different Dewey sections. The focus of this question is the subject Native Americans, so please provide the copyright date for your Native American books – even if they are not cataloged in 970.3.

• QUESTION 34 The focus of this question is the average age of books in the entire Dewey section 305 - Groups of People. Please answer with the average age of books in the entire section 305.00 to 305.99, rather than only 305.00.

• QUESTIONS 33 and 34 These questions require a 4-digit answer. If you have no books in a particular section, please put 0000.

• QUESTIONS 38 – 43 We recommend you work with your administrator or office staff to complete this section.

• QUESTIONS 55 – 65 The evaluation behaves differently depending on your answers: 

• If only classified staff work in the library, answer through Question 55. The evaluation then skips the Teaching Approaches section and takes you directly to Question 65, the open-ended question. 

• If only certificated staff work in the library, the evaluation skips Question 55 and goes directly to Question 56, because Questions 56-64 ask about teaching duties in greater detail than in Question 55.

Accessibility Resources

Do you know a child who struggles to read conventionally printed material? Are you looking for a way to share and cultivate a love of reading through an alternative format?

The Braille and Talking Book Library (BTBL) of Northern California offers free talking (audio) books and playback equipment, as well as magazines, newspapers, and braille books. Materials are delivered by U.S. mail or downloaded directly to a smartphone or tablet.

Who is eligible? Anyone who is blind, low vision, or who has a physical disability or a print disability that prevents reading conventionally printed material. To start services, BTBL offers a simple application available on our website. Simply fill out the application, have it signed by a certifying authority, and return to BTBL.

Anyone who is blind, low vision, or who has a physical disability or a print disability that prevents reading conventionally printed material. To start services, BTBL offers a simple application available on our website. Simply fill out the application, have it signed by a certifying authority, and return to BTBL.

Who qualifies as a certifying authority? Chances are, you do! Any of the following qualify: doctor of medicine, doctor of osteopathy, ophthalmologist, optometrist, psychologist, registered nurse, therapist, and professional staff of hospitals, institutions, and public or welfare agencies (such as an educator, a social worker, case worker, counselor, rehabilitation teacher, certified reading specialist, school psychologist, superintendent, librarian, or school librarian.)

#KeepingItReal with the 2021 Conference Experience Box

 

What’s in the box?

When the CSLA Conference Committee realized that we would need to host the conference virtually, we struggled with how we could connect with attendees and recreate some of the experiences we would be missing out on.  The answer became the Conference Experience Box.  Out of the 636 attendees to CSLA’s 2021 virtual conference, only 300 lucky people got the conference experience box.

Graphic Novels shine bright at the CSLA 2021 Virtual Conference

At the 2020 CSLA conference in City of Industry, there were four sessions focusing on graphic novels in the library and classrooms.  These sessions happened to be non-conflicting - they were all in their own time slot, mostly back-to-back.  As we watched the crowd of folks shuffle from one graphic novel session to the next, Katie McNamara, then CSLA President-elect, and I realized the need for an entire section of the conference to be dedicated to this topic. To this goal, CSLA’s 2021 Virtual Conference had seven author panels stacked with graphic novel creators, and five concurrent sessions dedicated to graphic novels.  

Promoting Healthy Choices at the 2021 CSLA Conference

Attendees to CSLA’s 2021 virtual conference really stepped up. Over the ten days from the conference’s start to the final session, participants collectively walked 4,925,331 steps! This is the third year we’ve run the Step Challenge and the conference’s Healthy Choices programming, and this year, with all of us behind screens, perhaps the most necessary. While the CSLA conference historically has offered scheduled scenic walks and excursions, the Healthy Choices programming emerged partially from Yosemite’s majestic setting of the 2018 Tenya Lodge conference, and mostly from CSLA’s belief in wellness, connection, and honoring ourselves as whole people as we actively work to combat professional burnout.

As invigorating and yet exhausting as an in-person conference is, the standard fatigue of sitting through back-to-back sessions and fully-booked days was further compounded this year by the preceding months of working in front of screens, mostly tied to our desks, and in general a lot less mobile in our work lives than in past times. For these reasons and more, it was definitely time to collectively pull on our sneakers and bring a new meaning to zoom! 

CSL diversity resource website

The CSL Foundation discussed what could be done to help school libraries address diversity in their collections, such as bibliographies and grants/donation sources. The CSLA Committee on Standards Integration agreed to create a bibliography of resources: https://tinyurl.com/CSLACSIEthnicityResources. The first phase focuses on racial/ethnicity, phase 2 will focus on gender, and phase 3 will focus on disabilities/different abilities/special needs. These resources also contribute to addressing intersectionality and social justice. The umbrella concepts of CRT and UDL: university design for learning.  It includes collection development (audit, selection tools, school level lists), instructional design/curriculum incorporation, and grants/donation resources. The resource page is now available on csla.net

CSLA members are encouraged to recommend additional resources to the site by emailing the URL and title/description to Lesley.Farmer@csulb.edu

Meet CSLA VP of Membership Clare McGarvin

 We would like to introduce VP of Membership Clare McGarvin

Meet Clare

I'm fortunate to be a mother of two children and married to the most wonderful man in the universe. We like to travel when given the chance, but home is a great respite. I spend a ton of time gardening and enjoying the fruits of my labor around my home. My favorite reading lists (as well as conversations) are related to racial literacy, social justice issues and homesteading.

Vision for CSLA

As VP of Membership I plan to continue to improve opportunities for new members to join our organization through ongoing outreach and incentives. I also look to find ways to include current members who want to increase the viability of our organization by giving every member an opportunity to have voice be it through committee work, leading sessions or seeking answers to our unique library related issues. If you're looking for a way to be more involved in CSLA, let me know! 

Why did you join CSLA?

By being a member of CSLA you give yourself the gift of opportunities. A member has the ability to connect regularly with other school librarians throughout the state, to build your personal learning network. There are regular workshops offered at discounted rates which offer members a chance to learn about relevant and trending topics related to advancing school libraries in California.

Follow Clare

Twitter: @cmcgarvin ; Instagram: @claremcgarvin

Earlene Billings First-Timer Grant

We are taking a break from our author/illustrator articles this month to recognize the recipients of the Earlene Billings First-Timer Grant to the CSLA annual conference. This grant honors the lasting influence that Earlene Billings has had on our organization, serving as President of the California Association of School Librarians at the time it began its merger with the California Association for Educational Media and Technology in 1975.  Earlene, a site and district librarian in Burlingame continued to be an advocate for school libraries even into retirement working as a consultant and library volunteer. We are glad to honor her legacy with this award.

This year’s grant winners, announced at CSLA’s 2021 Awards night are AnaCena Zander from Santa Catalina High School in Monterey and Patricia Ross Caspers from Creekview Ranch School in Roseville. Ana Cena is new to the school library profession, and is working on an MLIS degree at the same time she is working part time in the school library, and Patricia works with a team of library techs in her district to stay current with the changing trends in school library programming.

 

We would like to congratulate both recipients and look forward to hearing about their experiences as they return to their schools with renewed enthusiasm, and lots of ideas to implement.

Katie Williams
Teacher Librarian, retired
President, California School Library Foundation
Member, American Association of School Librarians
Honorary Member, California School Library Association