Cassandra Barnett, AASL President-Elect

NBCT, School Library Media Specialist, Fayetteville High School Library, Fayettville, NC

Cassandra Barnett has been a school librarian for 30 years, and is currently at Fayetteville High School Library in Fayetteville, Arkansas.  She has presented at state and national conferences on storytelling, forming student and teacher book clubs, dealing with book challenges in school libraries, and collaboration with teachers.  As a member of the AASL Standards for Learning Task Force, she helped write the new national standards and is on the Task Force that is developing indicators, assessments and model lessons for them.  She is also President-elect for the American Association of School Librarians. 

The New AASL Standards: Am I Ready for the 21st-Century?

AASL’s new Standards for the 21st-Century Learner provide a framework for school librarians to use in preparing students for productive lives in the 21st century. This session will engage participants in reviewing the standards and exploring their integration into the curriculum of their schools. Participants will leave this session with at least one identified curricular integration opportunity, strategies for teaching skills and dispositions, assessment templates and a goal for the first step in school-wide implementation.

The New AASL Standards and the MSLA Information Literacy Standards – Winning Over Classroom Teachers with this Winning Combination! 
Co-presenter: Valerie Diggs

AASL's new Standards for the 21st-Century Learner  This session will focus on the librarian/teacher collaborative process and how it can be used to integrate these standards, as well as our own MSLA Information Literacy Standards, into subject area curriculum frameworks. provide a framework for school librarians to use in preparing students for productive lives in the 21st century.

Valerie Diggs is a member of the MSLA Executive Board and is co-chair of the Standards Committee. She also served for four consecutive years on the Northeast Massachusetts Regional Library System’s (NMRLS) Executive Board, the last two of those years as treasurer. Serving on the board of a multi-type regional library system gave her the opportunity to learn and grow as a school library teacher while simultaneously beginning to understand and observe the world of other library types: public, academic and special.  In addition to her work with MSLA, she is a doctoral candidate at the University of Massachusetts in Lowell in the Leadership in Schooling Program.  In support of the future of our profession, she also teaches at Simmons College in the Graduate School of Library and Information Science. Professionally, she is the director of libraries for the Chelmsford Public School District, a district about 6,500 students 1 high school, 2 middle schools, and 5 elementary schools.

Judy Moreillon 

M.L.S., Ph.D., Literacies and Libraries Consultant, School of Information Resources and Library Science, University of Arizona 

Judi Moreillon is a literacies and libraries consultant who has recently returned to teaching in a 7th-12th grade school library. She has served as a classroom teacher, elementary and high school teacher-librarian, literacy coach, and teacher educator. She also teaches children’s and adolescent literature and school library administration at the University of Arizona in Tucson. Judi holds a master’s in library science and a doctorate in education. She is the author of two published children’s books and a professional book, Collaborative Strategies for Teaching Reading Comprehension: Maximizing Your Impact (ALA Editions, 2007).

Maximizing Your Impact: Classroom-Library Co-Teaching Information Literacy & Reading Comprehension Skills

Fix-up Options! Strategies for Reading Difficult Texts in the Library or Classroom

In the library, students are often called upon to read texts that are challenging because they are above their proficient reading level. Fix-up options give readers strategies to comprehend difficult texts. As a group, participants will practice team teaching this strategy using a Shakespearean sonnet, develop metaphors for fix-up options, and compose a reflective paragraph about using fix-up options. Then participants will engage with a partner to practice team teaching the strategy with an additional text that students would encounter in 7th-12th grade classrooms and libraries.

Debra Kay Logan

Librarian/Media Specialist, Mount Gilead High School, Ohio

The 2008 OELMA/Follett Library Resources School Librarian of the Year Award winner, Deb Logan has been a school library media specialist for twenty years and has worked in K-12 libraries. Deb is currently the Chair of the AASL Advocacy Committee and is serving a sixth year as the OELMA Advocacy Chair/Co-Chair. In addition to being one of OELMA’s evidence based practice trainers, Deb was a member of The Ohio Department of Education Technology Standards Writing Team and ODE’s Effective School Library Guidelines Writing Team.  Deb is also a fellow of The National Writing Project, The Institute for Library and Information Literacy Education and Poetry Alive.  Her Taft Library Media Center Web site was named the June 1999 School Library Journal Online Web Site of the Month. In 2004, Logan was awarded an Ohio Department of Education & OELMA Innovative School Library Practices Award. 

Building the Advocacy Picture

Just as a puzzle box guides the building of a puzzle, research and evidence-based practice forms a picture to guide building stronger library programs and increased support for school library programs. Look at ways to connect the puzzle pieces when making evidence-based practice work with students, teachers, administrators, parents, community members, state and national decision makers. Real advocacy happens when stakeholders are heard speaking out for our services and programs. What better group to speak for school libraries than students?

Students + Evidence = Impact!

When students speak, everybody listens…including students. Learn practical strategies to make gathering qualitative and quantitative data a daily part of improving instruction and learning. Take home ready-to-implement ideas for using and sharing student voices through data.  Make a plan to involve students in using data to inform and improve practice, while raising and improving program awareness and perceptions. 

Michael Tougias

Author 

Michael Tougias pronounced "Toe - gis" is a lecturer and author of 18 books.  His latest book Fatal Forecast: An Incredible True Tale of Disaster and Survival at Sea  His earlier book Ten Hours Until Dawn: The True Story of Heroism and Tragedy Aboard the Can Do was a Boston Globe Bestseller.  Ten Hours Until Dawn was also selected by the American Library Association as one of the "Top Books of the Year" and described as "a white-knuckle read, the best book of its kind". was praised by the Los Angeles Times as “a breathtaking book, Tougias spins a marvelous and terrifying yarn.”

Sunday Dinner Speaker: Survival Skills

Award winning author and lecturer Michael Tougias shares the lessons learned about decision-making & peak performance from researching his national best-sellers Fatal Forecast and Ten Hours Until Dawn and dozens of interviews with people who have overcome tremendous obstacles. 

Tougias chronicled his misadventures at his remote cabin in Vermont in his award-winning book There's A Porcupine In My Outhouse: Misadventures of a Mountain Man Wanna-be.  This book won the Independent Publishers Association Award for the "The Best Nature Book of the Year."Michael does a number of school presentations for all ages including King Philip's War, Quabbin, Survival Lessons and more.

Terry Young

School Library Media Specialist, Jefferson Parish Public School System, and Adjunct Professor of Library Science, University of New Orleans & Louisiana State University 

Terry Young is a teacher...both in the classroom and in the school library media center. He received a BS in Science Education and a M.Ed. in Curriculum & Instruction from the University of New Orleans, and an MLS from Louisiana State University. 

Young is a prolific writer on science and school library issues with articles appearing in Library Media Connection, Book Links, Science Books & Films, The Book Report, Library Talk,School Library Journal and Knowledge Quest. He authored School Libraries Work! Updated 2006, and School Libraries Work! Updated 2008.  

Author of  "School Libraries Work" booklet from Scholastic.  Monday Keynote: Is It In Your DNA to Make A Difference?

Probably more than any other person in the school, it is the school library media specialist that can have the most profound impact on both students and teachers.  Why?  Most schools only have one school library media specialist and that person can be in the same position for over a generation.  WOW!  Calculate how many students will interact with that person over each student's education?  What makes school library media specialists the BEST they can be?  Learn the traits, characteristics, and skills that will insure that you will make a positive difference with your students and teachers.

Maureen Ambrosino 

Youth Services Consultant, CMRLS

Sarah Sogigian

Consultant for Youth Services, MMRLS

Maureen Ambrosino has worked in libraries from New York to Texas, with babies, preschoolers, teens and adults. Her favorite YA authors are Rick Riordan and Jordan Sonnenblick.

What's Hot and What's Not - New Young Adult Literature 

Ever wish someone would tell you what new teen books are any good? Want to know which ones are really terrible too? Join Maureen Ambrosino and Sarah Sogigian to hear about what’s new and what’s ahead in YA literature! (You may even get to hear about some titles before they're even on sale.) This session will present fun and interesting books that will be appreciated by readers in your libraries.

Sarah Sogigian previously worked as the Young Adult Librarian and in other positions at the Shrewsbury Public Library in Shrewsbury, MA where she started working as a teenager. Her favorite teen author is Anthony Horowitz, and her favorite video game is The Legend of Zelda, which is loaded onto her cell phone for emergency game playing.

Mary Kelleher 

Middle School Library Teacher, Prospect Hill Academy Charter School

Karin Kugel

Lower School Librarian, Prospect Hill Academy Charter School

Mary Kelleher has built the lower school and middle school library programs from the ground up. She graduated from the University of Pittsburgh School Library Certification Program in 2004. While in Pittsburgh, she worked as a library assistant at Carnegie Mellon University. Before attending library school, she taught high school English in Douglas, MA.

Making Your Library the Heart of the School: Promotion and Programming

Every principal has a goal or a philosophy. By finding unique ways to assist with that goal, you instantly make the library program useful to the administration.  Mary and Karin will discuss practical ways they have supported the literacy focus in both schools through creating and cataloging a Literacy Resource Center, applying for a grant and insitituting the RIF program, collaborating with the Reading and Research classes, working closely with the Calderwood Writing Program, etc.  They will also discuss easy and practical ways you can support small goals or issues in the school such as pulling books on a topic before an administrators' meeting, etc.  

Karin Kugel graduated  from the University of Pittsburgh School Library Certification Program in 2006 where she served as a graduate assistant. While in Pittsburgh, Karin worked closely with Family Communications, Inc. (the producers of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood) to help select and catalog items for The Fred Roger's Center for Early Learning and Children's Media Archives. Prior to attending library school, Karin worked for several years for YBP Library Services, a division of Baker and Taylor where she assisted academic libraries in collection development and approval plan services. 

Connie Champlin

Library Consultant

Sharing the Evidence: Library Media Center Assessment Tools & Resources

Linking library media programs to achievement is central to the justification and improvement of the library’s existence in the school. During this session participants will examine simple to advanced techniques, instruments, and strategies to measure three elements of the library media program:  reading, collaboration, and information literacy. The measures presented will be useful in a single school and across a district and will demonstrate impact with a minimum of time in the collection and analysis of data. Both direct and indirect measures will be examined.

Connie Champlin brings a wide range of expertise to her consulting. Her work in education covers a variety of areas: classroom teacher, school library media specialist, district administrator, library consultant, staff development coordinator, author, and media technology consultant. With over thirty years of experience as an educator, Connie’s work reflects her understanding of student learning, schools, media centers, and instructional technology. She has presented workshops across the United States, as well as in the Philippines, South Korea and Thailand.  As a district administrator in four school districts, Connie integrated information and media literacy skills into the curriculum, planned technology staff development activities and facilitated the implementation of distance learning, information delivery systems, and computer technology at new and renovated schools. She has provided leadership as districts implemented Information Power, national guidelines for school library media programs, including the introduction of open access media centers and co-planning with teachers.

Robin Brenner

Reference/Teen Librarian, Brookline Public Library

Robin Brenner is a Reference and Teen Librarian in Brookline, MA, but in her spare time she is the editor-in-chief of No Flying No Tights, the graphic novel review website, and writes a variety of graphic novel and manga reviews and articles for Booklist, Library Journal, School Library Journal, Video Librarian, and the ICv2 Guide.  She had the honor in 2007 of serving as an Eisner judge and she is the 2008 Chair of the Great Graphic Novels for Teens Selection List Committee for ALA/YALSA.  She regularly presents workshops for librarians and teens on the wonders of graphic novels, manga, and anime.

Getting Graphic in Schools: Graphic Novels, Comics, and Manga in Education

Join local graphic novel and manga (Japanese print comics) enthusiast (and librarian) Robin Brenner for a look into the world of graphic novels.  Discover the history of the art form, the elements that make each unique, where to find more information on it all, how to select and maintain a collection and recommended core titles both old and new.  Learn how to use graphic novels to investigate different kinds of literacy (visual, textual, combinations), inspire critical thinking about literature, and encourage creativity in your students.

Gerri Fegan and Laura Harrington

Library Media Specialists, West Middle School, Andover

Laura Harrington is a library media specialist and teaches information literacy and technology at West Middle School in Andover, Massachusetts.  After leaving her sunny home state of Arizona, Laura completed the School Library Teacher program at Simmons College in Boston and earned her Master of Library Science in 2004.  Laura is also the recipient of a 2008 YALSA Teen Tech Week Mini Grant.

Linda Redding and Vicki Wright

Library Teachers, Silver Lake Regional School District

Linda Redding is the library teacher at Silver Lake Regional High School. Vicki Wright is the library teacher at Silver Lake Regional Middle School. Both recently moved to the secondary level after spending over 10 years as elementary level library teachers.

Digital Projects in the Library

Learn how students at Silver Lake Regional Middle School and Silver Lake Regional High School collaborated on public service announcements on the topic of cyber bullying and bullying through text messaging.  These PSAs were produced for a contest through The Massachusetts Aggression Reduction Center at Bridgewater State College. Students also created PSAs highlighting My Own Café and other school related PSAs.  iMovie and Adobe Premiere were used for these projects.  Students at Silver Lake Regional Middle School put a digital spin on research projects using Photostory, a free download by Microsoft.   The successful projects resulted from a collaboration between the library teacher and subject area teachers.  Students researched, created storyboards, used online images, and did a voice over to complete their presentations. 

Nancy Anthony

Library Teacher, Marblehead Veterans Middle School

Nancy Anthony is a middle school library teacher and has also had ten years experience at the elementary level.  She is a senior instructor in the online Library Media Studies graduate program at Salem State College and is currently in a Masters’ program in educational technology leadership at George Washington University where APA formatting is required.

Works Cited, References, and Bibliographies 101

The whole process of citing information and preparing a bibliography according to MLA, APA or other format can be confusing in this age of the Web where resources just don’t fit the rules.  Yet teaching how to cite correctly is often a skill that classroom teachers leave for the library teacher.   In this session, a combination of presentation, discussions, and questioning will be used to provide attendees with solid information to help teach this important skill.  We will also look at various online citation makers such as EasyBib and NoodleTools.

Pat Keogh

Elementary Librarian (retired)

What's New in Children's Books

This presentation will give participants an opportunity to see an array of new titles, examine the books, and make purchasing decisions for the library.

Pat Keogh was an elementary librarian for the Weston Public Schools.  She also served as Past President for the Foundation for Children’s Books. She is coordinator of the Author Visit Program in the Weston Public Schools and serves as a member of the Adjunct Faculty for Worcester State College.

Kathy Dubrovsky and
April Graziano

Kathy Dubrovsky is the Library Coordinator, Sharon Public Schools and has worked for over twenty years in school, public, private and academic libraries.  She moderates the MSLA School Library Learning 2.0 tutorial, helping library teachers experiment with Web 2.0 tools while learning and communicating with each other.  As MSLA’s Curriculum chairperson, Kathy is currently in the process of forming a curriculum committee.

April Graziano is an educational consultant with Thinkfinity and an adjunct professor at Holyoke Community College. She previously served on the Media Forum Online board and as a liaison from MSLA to the Department of Elementary & Secondary Education. She has also worked as a library teacher, principal, and classroom teacher.  

Thinkfinity.com

Thinkfinity is the cornerstone of Verizon Foundation's literacy, education and technology initiatives. The goal is to improve student achievement in traditional classroom settings and beyond by providing high-quality content and extensive professional development training.  This comprehensive digital learning platform is built upon the merger of two acclaimed programs Verizon MarcoPolo and the Thinkfinity Literacy Network.Thinkfinity and an explanation of how the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education is involved.  Participants will receive an overview of Thinkfinity’s capabilities and learn how library teachers can use it. This presentation will include be a brief history of

Donna Guerin and Patricia Carbone

Donna Guerin, Retired Director Library Information Services; Patricia Carbone, Retired ELA Director K-7; Ed.Consultants

Donna Guerin is currently a national educational library consultant and a senior instructor in the Graduate School of Education, School Library Teacher Certification Program at Cambridge College, Springfield campus.  She is a recent public education retiree as Director of Library Information Services at Palmer Public Schools.  Throughout her career she has been an advocate for school libraries and has held a variety of positions on the MSLA Board, including: western region co-director, past president, public relations,      conference, and newsletter chair.  Her efforts in promoting school public library cooperation include: joint Committee on School Public Library Cooperation, past president of WMRLS and participation in the MBLC strategic planning process that resulted in the regional multitype library system.  Donna, a presenter at numerous state conferences, is a member of AASL, ISTE, and ASCD and a member of the MLA Hall of  Fame.

Surviving the Research Process: Strategies That Work

Come, have fun and share what works. During this hands-on session, the presenters model the successful strategies they use to assist teachers and students in overcoming the fear, frustration and challenges of research.  

Fun With Research: Strategies That Work

Come, have fun and answer the question, what do real researchers do? The focus is on the skills young students and even teachers need to become effective and efficient users, producers and presenters of information.  During a hands-on session, the presenters model the successful strategies they use to teach questioning, searching, note taking, citing, organizing and presenting skills.

Patricia Carbone is a national educational consultant with particular expertise in integrating 21st century ICT (information, communication, technology) skills across the curriculum.  She is recently retired as an ELA teacher and K-8 Coordinator for Palmer Public Schools. During her tenure at Palmer, Pat was instrumental in implementing the middle school team concept and served as Chair of the South Central Alliance of Middle Schools.  Also through her efforts, Palmer adopted the IIM (Independent Investigation Method) research process across the K-8 curriculum.  As a result of her strong belief in the need to provide meaningful professional development opportunities for educators, Pat has been a consultant and workshop provider for Palmer, the Western Massachusetts Writing Project, the South Central Alliance of Middle Schools and the Northeast League of Middle Schools. Pat is a certified Thinkfinity and IIM trainer and an Intel Master Teacher.  As founder of C&G Educational Consultants, Pat has traveled to Texas, Virginia, and New York sharing her expertise.

Sue Ballard and Kathy Lowe

Susan Ballard, Director of Library, Media and Technology Services, Londonderry, NH
Kathy Lowe, Executive Director, MSLA

Kathy Lowe, Past President of MSLA, now works part-time as MSLA’s Executive Director, after retiring in 2006 after over 30 years as a music educator and school librarian. The library program she established in the Boston Public Schools for Boston Arts Academy and Fenway High School was named the National School Library Media Program of the Year (single school) by AASL in 2004.  Kathy represents MSLA on several state and regional committees and boards, devoting her time and energy to school library advocacy and mentoring her colleagues.

Standards Survival Kit: How to Make Sense of the New AASL Standards

Chairs of two of AASL's Standards-related Task Forces, Susan and Kathy will provide updates on plans for the roll out of the Standards and progress on the accompanying publication, Standards for the 21st Century Learner in Action (working title). They will provide participants with tips for assessinb how their program fits in at present, and how they can begin to develop strategies to move forward with the new Standards. In addition, Sue and Kathy will share preliminary drafts of several documents/products for participants’ comment and response.

Susan Ballard is the Director of Library, Media and Technology Services for the Londonderry, NH School District.  The Londonderry program was the recipient of the National School Library Media Program of the Year Award (small district) in 2000. Sue is a past-president of both the New Hampshire Educational Media Association (NHEMA) and New England Educational Media Association (NEEMA – now NESLA).  She has also served as Secretary of the American Association of School Librarians and as a member of the AASL Board of Directors.  She was the first-ever recipient of the NH Excellence in Education Award for Library Media Services, and has received the NHEMA Service Award and NEEMA President's Award. She served as the editor of the AASL publication The Count on Reading Handbook and is the current co-editor of NESLA VIEWS.  Sue was cited in ALA's 2005 Whole School Library Handbook as one of the country's "103 Outstanding School Librarians."  She currently chairs AASL Standards and Guidelines Implementation Task Force.

Jeffrey Marzluft & Sara Ciaburri

Jeffrey Marzluft, Associate Director & Sara Ciaburri, Instructional Librarian, Phillips Academy

Jeffrey Marzluft has worked for over 5 years as a librarian in a variety of positions and library environments.   After working as the web librarian at Golden Gate University, he joined the Phillips Academy as the Associate Director for Instructional Services in 2007.  He currently serves as the liaison to the Economics and the Science Departments.  

Sara Ciaburri has been an Instructional Librarian at the Oliver Wendell Holmes Library at Phillips Academy in Andover, MA for two years.  She is the subject liaison to the History department and teaches nearly 75 instruction sessions per year.  She is also an advisor to the library’s student advisory committee.

Tracking AASL Standards at the Reference Desk

Jeffrey and Sara use Zoho Creator (a free online database application) to record each AASL Standard addressed when answering questions at the reference desk.  By recording the Standards and other important data (patron information, question, time spent, location, etc…) electronically, they are able to easily assess where, how, and to whom the Standards are being implemented and taught. Furthermore, the data collected allow for easy assessment of the Standards as they apply to different variables (i.e. student year, teacher, department, etc.).   In this presentation, Jeffrey and Sara will demonstrate their database in Zoho Creator, show how they use it to track and record student learning of the Standards, and illustrate manipulation of the recorded data.   In addition, they will explain the ease with which to build a Zoho database from scratch, how to export the data, and easily apply this tool in their own libraries.