Hear from Mollee Holloman, School Library Education Consultant with DPI's Digital Teaching and Learning Department, and learn about her role in supporting NC SLMCs and from Gabriel Graña, SLMC at R.D. & Euzelle Smith Middle School in Chapel Hill and a recipient of ALA's 2024 I Love My Librarian Award.
Local high school students will share what school libraries have meant to them throughout their education and what they wish their school library media coordinators knew about the impact they and their spaces have on students.
How can we collect library data to assess and advocate for our library programs? From building level to district-wide data, we will discuss gathering statistics on circulation, collection, usage, productivity and more. For each data point, we will discuss considerations for using the statistics to assess library programs. SLMC’s working on component 4 of National Boards may be particularly interested in this session.
AI is everywhere now, even social media. We need to ourselves, our teachers, and our students with the knowledge to not only use it well, but responsibly. At this session you will find out all about the resources, professional development, tools, and more out there available for you to share with students and staff alike!
Overwhelmed? Burning out on doing things that you didn’t sign up for? Multitasking can make it feel like we are spinning our wheels and accomplishing others’ goals at the expense of our own. As the librarian at Guilford eLearning University Prep, I am also the first stop in tech troubleshooting. As technology management seemed to take over my work week, I lost the joy I had once felt in my work. I used a data-collection tool I call a Task Tracker to reframe my thinking and reclaim the ability to say “I love my job!”. In this session, participants will be encouraged to think about their “why” and refocus their energies in a positive direction. I’ll share my Task Tracker template which has the added benefit of providing valuable data for reflection and action. Together we’ll brainstorm ways the Task Tracker can be used as an advocacy tool.
Get ready to remix the term collaboration as a school librarian and teacher drop some real-world guidance and persuasive techniques for getting the collaboration party started. They’ll roll out dynamic resources for cross curricular instruction, project-based learning, Makerspace activities, and community connections. You’ll see how this kind of collaboration gets everyone in sync, turning up student engagement, leadership moves, and empowering their learning groove!
In this session, we will explore the power of no-tech makerspaces through the lens of a successful event held at our school last Spring. Participants will discover how to harness students' creativity, problem-solving skills, and collaboration abilities without relying on digital devices or strictly guided activities. This presentation will provide a step-by-step guide to organizing and implementing a no-tech makerspace showcase. Attendees will leave equipped with practical tools, innovative ideas, and a renewed appreciation for the importance of hands-on, screen-free learning experiences in developing 21st-century skills.
How do we turn our libraries into a space that is inviting and patron centered? Whether you are in a large, small, new, or old space, the library should be a place that draws in our patrons and invites them to discover all that the media center provides. We will explore new ways to use signage, seating, color, shelving, and atmosphere. This session will encourage you to evaluate your library space while also giving you some practical and useable examples that you can easily transfer to your own media center, enabling us to breathe life into our libraries.
In this interactive session, discover how Curipod can revolutionize your teaching or library programs. We’ll dive into Curipod's time-saving AI-powered features designed to engage students and enhance learning experiences, and highlight easy customization options to align with educational standards. Join us to learn how Curipod can transform your lesson planning and classroom management, fostering a more interactive and effective learning environment.
Do you want to collaborate with teachers in your building? Do you have a fixed schedule or you are not sure how to start? During this presentation and discussion we will talk about the barriers to collaboration and how to you can collaborate despite them. Ideas will be shared to get you started and help you show evidence that you have collaborated for your evaluation.
NOTE: THIS IS A DOUBLE SESSION AND LASTS FOR 90 MINUTES. This session will introduce participants to the VIDEO Leadership Matrix and PARTNER Collaboration Matrix, empowering school library media coordinators to define and brand their practice and amplify their advocacy. These tools are designed to enhance leadership, foster collaboration, and strategically align media center initiatives with school-wide goals. Participants will explore how the matrices support the North Carolina School Library Media Coordinator (SLMC) Evaluation Standards, with practical applications to drive data-informed decisions and increase the media center's impact on student success. Attendees will leave with actionable tools to enhance their leadership and advocacy, directly supporting their SLMC evaluation and professional growth.
NOTE: THIS IS A DOUBLE SESSION AND LASTS FOR 90 MINUTES. As "instructional matchmakers," SLMCs have a unique opportunity to forge connections between curriculum needs, digital platforms, information literacy strategies, and emerging technologies. Using inspiration from game-shows and tabletop games, this interactive workshop will allow for exploration of resources and tasks on how you approach resource integration and instructional partnerships in your library media program.
If you struggle with managing inventory or have questions about how to make inventory less of a hassle, I will share my organization system using Destiny, Destiny reports, and Excel Spreadsheets with tips and tidbits I use that may help you.
Have you ever wondered about whether genrefying a library really makes a difference? This session will explore the impacts that the practice has had on circulation within a Title I school library. Following an overview of its impact at Bessemer Elementary, attendees will be provided tips for genrefication and given an opportunity to practice utilizing tools used for data collection (circulation reports, surveys for students, visuals to showcase impact to stakeholders, etc.).
Find the connection between the science and engineering practices in the revised science standards and library media center instruction to support teaching science at your school.
Science lit circles, a dynamic student-centered reading activity, are designed to ignite a passion for collaborative and independent reading and analysis of texts with science-related themes. These circles, typically involving small groups of students who choose and read the same book, foster lively discussions about the text, enhancing critical thinking and comprehension skills. Join a dynamic 8th-grade team that has harnessed the power of reading and science standards to create engaging cross-curricular activities using blended learning. Learn how they integrated these activities into science lit circles, collaborated with their media specialists, and fostered a team environment that celebrates reading and learning across the curriculum.
Does your Library Orientation make students snooze? Are you bored with it? How about injecting some fun gamification into your Library Orientation to get the students engaged with Library Skills? This session will focus on using the app, Goosechase, for making your Library an engaging and fun place to be! Can't use Goosechase? That's okay - I will provide my Canvas prototype for this fun, too, as well as other ideas and options for Goosechase modification. This game will make you popular with staff and students alike!
Is your nonfiction collection in need of some love? Are you baffled by where the Dewey Decimal system puts certain books? In this session, participants will learn why they should consider ditching Dewey and how BISAC codes can be used to create a more student-friendly classification system. Participants will leave the session with strategies, examples, and insights they can put into action in their own libraries.
Join @MeetMeInTheMediaCenter (TikTok) for a session that discusses the ins and outs of social influence in the library domain. Jen will share what worked for her to gain a half million followers on a social media platform within a year of starting an account from scratch and the benefits a library program and it's stakeholders can reap from having a global presence online.
Are your students and teachers forgetting that your library catalog exists or struggling to use it effectively? In this session, we will share a Media Coordinator-created resource designed to answer the most Frequently Asked Questions about using Follett Destiny.
Key Takeaways: - Discover the tools and techniques used to create an engaging, user-friendly Follett Destiny tutorial page - Learn how to easily replicate this resource in your own school or district to boost catalog usage and support - Explore strategies for promoting your library catalog and making it an indispensable part of your school's digital ecosystem
Don't let your Follett Destiny catalog gather dust - equip your students and teachers with the knowledge they need to unlock its full potential. Join us for this practical, solution-oriented session.
Can you really get hundreds of people to your school for a reading event on a Saturday? Yes, you can! Storyteller Saturday is a program to tell stories--all kinds of stories, from all kinds of people, from different backgrounds, cultures, occupations. I will share how we get families excited about it, and how to get volunteers on board to present their stories through read-alouds, drama, performance, dance, poetry, music, art, history, comics, science, cosplay, and comedy. All with the purpose of promoting reading, the creative process, and telling your own story. Presentation of ideas and examples of how we put it all together, how to make your own program, get people involved, and make it a successful event that people will keep asking you when the next one is.
In this interactive session, educators will explore innovative ways to integrate Sphero robots and Indi Cars into their K-5 curriculum, enhancing student engagement and reinforcing key learning concepts.
When I transferred to a high school media center three years ago, I knew very little about manga except that it was what the students wanted. In this session, I (Rachel) will discuss partnering with our school's resident manga expert (who's also an amazing math teacher!) to build my manga section and bring in reluctant readers who were not using the media center. We will also look at collection and circulation statistics, and I will discuss how I use those numbers to support funding requests for more books. Ramon will share his expertise in the books themselves, including what is age appropriate and popular, and what he has in his classroom library. We will provide participants with a "must buy" starter list to kick off your own manga section, as well as a complete list of all books we have selected for our media center.
