We started with the AGM while some technical issues were sorted, and members have been sent minutes from the AGM and Julia Smith's National Executive Report.
The AGM included a short discussion about the important task of reviewing and renewing SLANZA's Vision Statement and Mission Statement. Feel free to contact Julia with any thoughts or suggestions about this to feed into the overall review process. Read more in previous blogpost here.
Wheelers ePlatform
Farah from Wheelers gave a great overview of the Wheelers ePlatform and options for schools for both ebooks and audio books, and drew on her personal experience as a reader of both formats.
Current subscribers appreciated the opportunity to ask questions and give feedback with ideas for ways to make it easier for students to find the books they want. Persistent and innovative marketing is crucial for making ebooks visible and inviting for readers.
When talking about harnessing the potential of audio books, Farah shared a useful infographic from the US Audio Publishers Association (Licensed for sharing with attribution) How Audio promotes Literacy
and the links to the research behind this infographic is here
Megan Davidson : engaging readers with engaging booktalks
I tried to get a photo of Megan in action when she was talking about the art and science of book-talking and it was practically impossible (for my amateur photography skills) because Megan was so animated - hand gestures and facial expressions like lightning! Her energy and enthusiasm filled the room and you could well see how she is able to successfully engage students with books...
Megan shared her practical strategies and variety of approaches, and encouraged everyone to give it a go -plan, practice, promote...
The links to her resources are here at the SLANZA Conference website - this may be something you'd like to share with English teachers?
Here's a link to the youtube video Megan has made so you can see her in action! The bit at the end when the students rush up to get the books says it all...
Thanks to those who came along and gave up their Saturday morning to become more informed, inspired and connected to their library colleagues in other schools. It takes a bit of time, money and organisation to create events like this and it is all worthwhile if people pick up on the opportunities!
Was a great event thanks. Megan was inspiring, I have started doing this and the books are flying out the door.
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