Empowering school support staff in the school library

It was an enjoyable and informative morning for school support staff / library teams at the workshop last Friday in the lovely library at Kaikohe East School - thanks Elaine, Lorene and Chicky for your hospitality.

Congratulations to our two newest presenters on the block – Liz Christensen from Ohaeawai School and Jenny Puckey from Kaitaia Primary School, and thanks to their schools for giving them the time to share their expertise and enthusiasm with others.  

 
Karlene and Amy at morning tea time, with Colleen from Dargaville catching up with  Lisa Salter on the right.

National Library session 

The focus was on making the most of the school library and making the most of limited time in the library, and an opportunity to think about the library in new and interesting ways.  I shared the resource from Core Ed, based on David Thornburg's article, talking about learning spaces as campfires, watering holes, caves, mountain tops and sandpits - how do / could our libraries create those sorts of spaces and activities?

We also talked about the National Library Services to Schools website http://schools.natlib.govt.nz and spent a bit of time identifiying priorities for the rest of this term / next term for the library. I touched on ways we can extend our personal learning networks, strengthen collaborations in the school and be strategic about those limited hours in the library to make the most impact on student learning outcomes.

 
 Liz (in black) talking to Jo at morning tea time. Kathryn and Delwyn in the background.

Here are some brief notes I took from Liz’s session :

• library wonderwall – place to ask questions and create curiosity
  Wonderopolis http://wonderopolis.org/ is a useful site for interesting questions for children
• withdrawn picture book pages turned into bunting
• series bins with labels – laminated, stuck on with Velcro dots
• reading dogs in the library
• pop up tent
• language / signage around the library
• photos of children reading
• forest – bird song CD from National Library
• student library monitors – in pairs, day a week, photos, party
• hours in the library
• overdues / lost books – working them off
• parents helping with book covering
• rug
• buying books
• library lessons with the visiting classes
• displays
• reading posters
• children’s faces everywhere
• owls – library skills
• Carrot search
• Book talking – guidelines for children
• Story reading every visit
• Book care
• Pick a just right book guides
• Books about school activities
• Special books – pop-ups etc
• Plastic bags for book care
• Swap a book – Duffy
• Book display – children holding book cover
• Games and puzzles
• Dewey signs
• School inquiry model
• Big displays, eg space, rainbow fish, Maui, plant a seed – read
• Arthur’s Emporium – fabric "picnic table cloth" doesn't fray $2 a metre
• Holiday reading – promoting summer reading, sharing reading at the start of the new year – reading role models

Jenny, presenting, with "Wally" avidly listening (It was Kaikohe East book character dress up day!)

 and here some brief notes from Jenny’s session :

Tour of library – photos

• Quotes from children
• Soft toys
• Helpful guides for choosing books
• Guides for how books are shelved
• Book week activities
• Work room organisation - labelled bins for each stage of the process

 New books – processing, Z39.50, barcodes, spine labels, covering, dust jackets

Highly recommend Book Protection Products

• Useful website, also print catalogue
• Very quick and reliable service 
• Good range of products, labels etc
• AND they sponsor SLANZA – deserve our support

Quick way to take off GST from price of book : multiply the price by 20 and then divide by 23 – that will give you the price less GST.

Covering – well worth it – cost of covering a paper back fiction book is about 27 cents per book worth of Duraseal… plus gutter tape, labels, and time, but still well worth it.

School stamps – inside front and back cover of book – also puts on cataloguing page with date of purchase for handy reference, and if picture books have “This book belongs to…” Jenny puts the school stamp there too - otherwise children do!

Jenny also described how she had has a lot of fun with children doing a version of Reading Bingo – based on the resource from Random House but creating her own headings to make it easier for the children.  They write the name and title of the book for each category on the back of the “bingo chart”.

http://www.retreatbyrandomhouse.ca/2014/01/reading-bingo-challenge-2014/

 

Kind regards, Jeannie 

Colleen and Lisa, Zoe and Leeanne, Ora, Joy and Waana  

Collected magazine articles wanted from SLANZA Te Tai Tokerau members

Hi

The editor of Collected, Greig Daniels, is calling for articles for this term's issue of Collected Magazine.  The theme is Professional Development and you can write about any PD experience you have been involved in and how it impacted on your job/life/career. 

We have had some awesome PD events in TTT over the last couple of years, have had participants in SLANZA Connected Librarians online course and been involved in last year's conference.  Please consider providing an article with a Northland perspective.  You can offer a feature article of 1500 words or a short 500 word piece, images encouraged.

I hope you will consider writing.  Please email collected@slanza.org.nz to offer or for further details.

Thank you!

SLANZA Grant Applications for 2015

SLANZA offers study grants each year, to those working in school library teams. Study grants are available for courses offered by an approved library education provider. We believe that continuing professional development is vital - it helps you increase the knowledge and skills you need to deliver a valued service to your school community, and it can open you up to new and exciting possibilities in the field of librarianship.

If you are thinking about undertaking Library and Information Studies next year, you may be eligible to apply for assistance. Successful applicants will receive $600 towards the cost of a paper.

The closing date for submitting study grant applications is Thursday 25th of September 2014, and successful applicants will be notified in October.

More information about the grants, including the application form, is available here.

http://www.slanza.org.nz/news/study-grant-applications-for-2015

Lisa Salter

Te Tai Tokerau SLANZA Representative

RLIANZA   l   SLANZA Communications Leader   l   ruawailibrary.wordpress.com

Term 3 Event - Empowering Library Support Staff

Northland’s Term 3 SLANZA event focuses on Library support staff and volunteers. The idea is to provide professional development for those library folks who may be working in primary schools particularly, without support, skills or confidence to make the most of their library hours. Empowering Support Staff in the School Library will be jointly run by Jeannie Skinner (National Library), Liz Christensen (Ohaiaewai Primary), and Jenny Puckey (Kaitaia Primary) and will be held Week 6, Friday 29 August at Kaikohe Primary School. It will cover meeting other support staff, talking about roles and responsibilities, ideas for creating the right environment to entice students in, displays, labels and signage, processing books, book covering and repairs, National Library support, and building connections with other Library workers. 

Don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.

Collected magazine - calling for submissions

Once again we are calling for articles for Collected magazine. This term's theme is Professional Development. You can report on events in your region, professional development that has made an impact on you or your library or you can identify areas where you feel professional development is needed.

We welcome submissions from all members. We also welcome book reviews  from members  The criteria for articles can be found here: .http://www.slanza.org.nz/collected.html along with submission guidelines and a submission checklist. Please read theses documents carefully.

Our final submission date  for this issue is 31 August 2014.

If you have any queries don't hesitate to contact me; Greig Daniels greig@tokohigh.school.nz

* It would be great if we had some input from Northland in this issue.  Anyone keen to write about the Online PD "Connected Librarians" or our local events?

Lisa Salter

Te Tokerau Representative

Message from Lisa Salter, SLANZA Communications Leader

The first weekend of the holidays was a busy one for the Otago committee with a very successful “Weekend School’ combined with the SLANZA 2014 AGM.  Those fortunate enough to attend were treated to a delightful variety of professional development ranging from Book Clubs, Summer Reading, English departments and Libraries working together, and a presentation by Joan Mackenzie star of “Whitcoulls Joan’s Picks”.  The weekend was well organised with time for networking and sharing ideas.  At the AGM Miriam Tuohy accepted the nomination as President elect and Fiona Mackie stood down as past president.

The National Executive met on the Sunday afternoon and Monday at Kings High School, Dunedin, hosted by Bridget Schaumann. We welcomed new NE representatives Cathy Kennedy for Aoraki and Sandi Faulconbridge from Central.  Kirsty Adam and Joanne Fraser from Southland joined us for a discussion regarding how Southland can revitalise their region.  This discussion was positive and Joanne and Kirsty feel that Southland has the energy and desire to offer SLANZA PD and events in the region.

Correspondence included a message from SLANZA Life Member Linda McCullough from Waikato informing us of her retirement from National Library and thank you notes from Kathleen Van der Putten and Steph Ellis for their Study Grant and how it has helped them this year.

The treasurers report indicated that income is down on previous years so our membership drive is more vital that ever.  The report included a budget which is conservative yet allows us to work towards our goals. 

Our website will soon include a FAQ (frequently asked questions) page including questions about membership and the benefits of membership.  A planned brochure outlining benefits of SLANZA is in underway.  Currently we are looking for supportive quotes and photos to include.  Please contact your local rep if you are able to assist with this.

The NE is stregthening partnerships with organisations such as LIANZA, The Book Council and National Library and is keen to work with other organisations like The Principals Association and English Teachers and make them aware of the work we do and how their members can benefit.

The region reports included many fine examples of the Professional Development provided to our members. Thank you to all the committees for the work they do on behalf of our members.

SLANZA had input into the current NZQA review of Open Polytechnic Library qualifications and has contributed to the course documents.  The Wellington region is working on a Tertiary Transition programme to share with members.  We are working on Summer Reading initiatives with The Association of Public Library Managers and expect to have some resources available from SLANZA from the four Otago schools who presented at the Weekend School about their own successful programmes by the end of term.

Other discussions of note:

• The 2015 Christchurch Conference team are making good progress
• This years’ LIANZA conference in Auckland is shaping up with a schools thread included.  SLANZA members can register at LIANZA rates this year for the first time ever!
• Members need to to find out about their own schools’ involvement in N4L (Network for Learning) and participation in the POND. From next year these inititiaves will have a wide ranging impact on all schools, we encourage school librarians to contribute as much as possible.
• Our free online course “Connected Librarians” has been a huge success with over 100 graduates.  This project is now being reviewed with plans to build on the course from next year.  We are also in the development stages of creating an online community using Google+ to further support members.

Finally, I hope that you all had a restful break over the holidays and are energised and ready to tackle Term 3. 

Lisa Salter

SLANZA Communications Leader

Gamify your library from our guest speaker's perspective...

Thanks Dee for your post about the Gamify your library event, and here is a lovely account about the day from Michelle Simms' perspective which she added to her blog - Good Keen Librarian

I was just doing a few notes to wrap from the event and here is a PMI brainstorm - feel free anybody who attended to add your ideas and comments too :-)

PMI

Plus

• Great speaker - knowledgeable, friendly, professional, challenging and encouraging...  
• Range of topics suited many and was well received
• Great venue – easy to find, comfortable and convenient
• Delicious morning tea - thanks Di
• Lunch was enjoyed by all – good opportunity to socialise / network
• Good to have public library involvement
• Raffle an easy and successful fundraiser and rewarding for participants
• Good to have some discussion time in the programme

 Minus

• Hard work getting enough registrations – what strategies can we use to get more uptake for future events?

 Interesting

• Good timeframe for the programme – could have started bit later to suit travellers better

Gamify Your Library With Michelle Simms

Michelle Simms speaking at Kerikeri High School

We were very lucky to get Michelle Simms from Te Totara Primary School to present to SLANZA Te Tai Tokerau members last Saturday at Kerikeri High School.  Librarians and teachers arrived from far and wide to attend.

The first session was on Gamify your Library which Michelle presented to the SLANZA conference in 2013.  This is not using games in your Library but rather building on the appeal of games to create an engaging and dynamic Library.  Michelle had lots of ideas of promotions which could be adapted for your Library.  Here are just some of them:

·         A Genre quiz
·         Blind date with a book
·         A customised Monopoly game
·         A novel murder
·         Reading Bingo
·         A reading quest

After a yummy morning tea with Di Eastwood’s date scones, we convened for the second session of Virtual Librarian with some ideas for online tools and apps for your Library.  Whilst I was familiar with blogs, Facebook, Pinterest (a visual discovery tool that you can use to find ideas), Symbaloo (Access your bookmarks anywhere), Livebinders (Organise your resources in an online binder), Weebly (a web hosting service that gives you an easy way to create a website), I hadn’t heard about Pond http://www.n4l.co.nz/pond/,the network for Leaning portal which is just being rolled out but this sounds like a place which we will all become familiar.

The last session was on the pros and cons and process of Genrification.  Whilst this could be organising your entire Library into genres, in most schools this has been organising your Fiction section into Genres rather than by the authors’ surname.  I think this is an interesting idea and I am keeping an open mind on it. 

We concluded with lunch of home-made soup and freshly baked bread and a raffle for some donated books.  I think we all walked away happy with our choice.

Thanks are due to Michelle Simms, Te Totara Primary School, Jeannie Skinner, National Library and Julia Smith from Kerikeri High School for an interesting and informative morning.

Dee Brooker

For more detail on these sessions, here is the link to Michelle’s presentations http://www.slideshare.net/spaceace40

Collected magazine is out now

Here is a message from our own Lisa Salter who has done an amazing job of editing this magazine.

Collected Magazine out now!

The first issue of this year is on the virtual shelf now with the theme of Modern Learning Environments and how they are changing thinking and opening conversations around school library service provisions. Open your minds and learn more about this concept before you NEED to know.  

We have plenty of book reviews from fellow school librarians who know what works in their schools.  

We are fortunate to have the support of our Business members and their contributions will keep you abreast of the latest commercial offerings.  

Check out what is happening in your region and have a look at what is being offered in others.

Members are encouraged to attend events in other regions or to support their local committee in bringing good ideas to their own area.

Please feel free to share the magazine, we would appreciate if you could print one out and share in your staffroom or forward to your teaching team.

Thank you for all the quality contributions and assistance in editing.  Final appreciation goes to the Pool of Talent team of proof readers.

 

Lisa Salter

Editor

SLANZA Collected Magazine

Links to Michelle Simms' presentations

Just a quick post until the report and photos of the Saturday event are added here to share the link to Michelle Simms' three presentations, kindly available from her on Slideshare.

http://www.slideshare.net/spaceace40

SLANZA event - Gamify the Library - Saturday 21 June - Kerikeri High School

It's not too late to register for this wonderful PD.  Email Julia at JSmith@kerikerihigh.ac.nz

Nominations are now open for the position of President Elect

5 June 2014

 

Good afternoon SLANZA members,

 

The National Executive of SLANZA wishes to announce that nominations are open for the position of President Elect.  

 

We also wish to announce that the current National Executive is nominating Miriam Tuohy, currently the National Executive Representative for the Central Region as our nominee for this position.  

 

If there is a member of SLANZA who wishes to nominate and run against the NE nominee this would mean an election would have to be held, as the President Elect will take up the position at the AGM in July, details of which you were sent yesterday.  If this is the case we will need to receive the nomination by the date indicated on the form below, and it should be sent to Carole Gardiner our administrative officer.

 

Yours,

Bridget Schaumann

sc@kingshigh.school.nz

 

--
Bridget Schaumann

President 

School Library Association of New Zealand

Nomination of President Elect for the term 2014-2015

SLANZA National Executive is calling for nominations for the position of President Elect.

 

The President Elect is the person who will become the next President of SLANZA from July 2015 till July 2017, or earlier in the circumstances that the current President is unable to complete the term of office.

 

This position requires an in-depth understanding of the workings of SLANZA and its stakeholders so it is preferable that this person should be either a current member of the National Executive or someone with previous National Executive experience.

 

Nominations close with the Admin Officer, SLANZA at 5pm on Monday 16 June 2014.

Nominations can be emailed in the first instance to:   admin@slanza.org.nz or if necessary posted to:  Returning Officer, SLANZA, PO Box 27-321, Marion Square, Wellington 6141.

 

Please complete a separate form for each nomination.

 

Name of Nominee:

SLANZA member number:

School:

Position:

Phone number:

Email:

 

 

Name of Nominator:	Name of Seconder:
SLANZA member number:	SLANZA member number:
School:	School:
Position:	Position
Phone number:	Phone number:
Email:	Email:

 

Having been nominated, I agree to submit autobiographical notes, a personal statement (of not more than 150 words) and a current photograph, which may be circulated to voters with the voting papers in the event of an election.

 

Signature (Nominee): ……………………………………………………                Date ………………………………….

* Please ensure spelling of Nominee’s name, and all other details are entered correctly.

2014 SLANZA AGM

Attention SLANZA members – Notice of 2014 AGM

The 2014 SLANZA AGM will be held in Dunedin at the King’s High School Library on Saturday 5th July at 12.15pm, as part of the SLANZA Otago Weekend School.

While it is expected that most people wanting to attend the AGM would also be registering for the Weekend School, it is not essential and you are welcome to attend just the AGM if that is your preference.

Please send any apologies for the AGM to admin@slanza.org.nz<mailto:admin@slanza.org.nz> before Wednesday 2nd July.

Regards,
Carole Gardiner
Administration Officer

SLANZA
School Library Association of New Zealand Aotearoa
Te Puna Whare Mātauranga a Kura
P O Box 27321
Marion Square
Wellington 6141
www.slanza.org.nz

SLANZA Event - Gamify The Library - Sat, 21 June

Your SLANZA committee is delighted to announce that Michelle Simms is coming up to Northland next month for a PD session. This is a great opportunity for all library staff. Michelle will present her Gamify the Library session, which focuses on what gamification is - not about video games, rather the game mechanics and concepts that engage people being utilised in an educational environment. In additional sessions after morning tea, we’ll be picking Michelle's brains on online tools and genre shelving. 

Please register with me, Julia Smith, and consider whether you would like lunch at the venue - soup and bread, prefer to eat in town or make your own arrangements. 

Original/enlarged poster can be found here

SLANZA AWARD Nominations - Only a month until nominations close

Hi SLANZA Te Tai Tokerau members

This is a reminder about nominating your fellow members for an award.

Slanza Award Nominations - Only a Month till Nominations Close:

Hi all

Just a quick note to remind you that nominations for  2014 SLANZA Awards are open. This is a good chance to consider your fellow members and colleagues, and principals and acknowledge their efforts.

The wards available are: 

Award of merit for information literacy

Award of merit for literacy and enjoyment of reading

Award of merit for promotion

Award of merit for research

Award of merit for library assistant

Principal's award

Certificate of appreciation

Certificate of recognition

Nomination forms and eligibility criteria  can be found on the SLANZA website under the tag Resources , then Awards. All nominations must be received by June 20, 2014. 

Awards will presented at the SLANZA AGM in Dunedin during the July Weekend School in Dunedin.

Any questions or queries contact me at greig@tokohigh.school.nz

Best

Greig Daniels

SLANZA Advocacy Leader

2014 SLANZA Otago Weekend School - 5-7 July 2014

Hi SLANZA Te Tai Tokerau members - A message from SLANZA Otago just in case some of you would like a trip down South.


We are very excited to announce that the 2014 SLANZA Otago Weekend School (incorporating the SLANZA 2014 AGM) will be held at the beginning of July.

The SLANZA Otago committee are hard at work putting together a fantastic programme for everyone who has a passion for school libraries of all kinds.  We are especially delighted to be able to bring you so much quality professional development for the amazingly low registration price of $40 for SLANZA members.

 Details are  available on the SLANZA website here<http://www.slanza.org.nz/otago>.

We need to receive your registration and payment by 27th of June so please don't delay - mark the 5th to the 7th of July in your diaries now!

If you have any questions, please get in touch.  We are very much looking forward to seeing you in July.

Carole Gardiner
Secretary, SLANZA Otago
(on behalf of the SLANZA Otago committee)


Carole Gardiner
Librarian

Information Centre | Queen's High School |195 Surrey Street | Dunedin 9012 | www.queens.school.nz
caroleg@queens.school.nz<mailto:caroleg@queens.school.nz> | t 03 455 7212,  ext 831 | f 03 455 8644

Queen's High School Information Centre qhsinfocentre.weebly.com

Another Connected Librarians course due to start in week 4

I would thoroughly recommend this course, so get your registration in quickly :)

 

 

We are pleased to announce that registrations for the fourth round of SLANZA’s online professional development course - Connected Librarians - will open TODAY  Monday 19 May. Because we have a waiting list for course places, there are currently only 10 places available.  In order to ensure that our participants come from a range of school levels (primary, intermediate and secondary) we will select people from the registration list accordingly. Because Term 2 is somewhat shorter than normal, successful applicants will receive invitations to our learning community during Week 3, and the course will begin in Week 4. If your registration is accepted, it is essential that you ensure you have access to Google Plus using the email account you have registered with, before the course starts.

The Connected Librarians course is designed by New Zealand school librarians, for school librarians. It is aimed at those just starting out with online tools in their library. Participants will be required to sign up for, and use a selection of 6 online tools (1 new tool each week). Each week’s work contains background readings and/or videos, tasks to complete using that week’s tool, and participation in discussions to share and reflect on your learning for the week.

The course is free for SLANZA members.

More information about the course is available here, or you can contact me directly with any questions.

 

Miriam Tuohy

 

Adrienne Hannan summary

In the second weekend of March, 2014, SLANZA Te Tai Tokerau successfully hosted the resourceful, multi-talented, high-achieving, Adrienne Hannan from Wellington. 

Adrienne Hannan is the Children's and Youth Services Co-ordinator at Wellington City Libraries as well as a combat medic in the New Zealand Army Reserve. Being a soldier has given Adrienne useful skills and knowledge, particularly flexible thinking. Her talk was a meshing of the two environments she works in. 

Adrienne called her presentation The 10 Commandments of Manoeuvre Warfare, claiming that they are essentially a set of commandments that will enable librarians to achieve success. As the decision makers that our students / community see daily, the librarians need all the information on the running of the library - what the library is trying to achieve, what resources they have and how and when to use them, the history and reasoning of high-level decisions that have been made. This sets the librarian up to make sound strategic decisions without the unnecessary delays of gaining permissions from authority; they can implement the library's objectives and mission, be adaptive, responsive and take initiatives.

Twenty-one people from Northland attended the session to see what librarians can learn from the New Zealand military in the 21st Century. It was an entertaining and engaging presentation, and indeed, the military do have valuable lessons for librarians.

Adrienne Hannan's 10 Commandments of Manoeuvre Warfare:

Focus on the enemy, not on the ground 

·         ground = environment, enemy = students, the flexible element

·         must have policies and practices that are student focused rather than on the environment

·         need to be adaptive and responsive to students, flexible to change as students change

Act more quickly than your enemy can react 

·       be quick to grab initiatives

·         need to keep up to date

·         be an early adopter, adapter, initialiser

·         don't wait for the students' demands to reach a certain level before implementing a new service, policy or platform

Issue mission-type orders 

·         big picture mission, we are doing this in order to achieve this

·         what is our intent, what is our end state, how do we work to get there

·         specifics of people, resources, timeframes

·         communication is key

 Avoid strengths, attack weakness 

·         identify weaknesses honestly, find the gaps in your services

·         concentrate resources on strengthening those areas, fill the gaps

·         work with the ones who will support you

Exploit tactical opportunities, reinforce success, not failure

·         "success should be seen as a culture, not the result of a task"

·         need to create and celebrate successes no matter how small

·         slowly build up a culture of success (Major Slim) 

·         recognise relative successes of different people, who are your pln 

Always designate the main effort 

·        key push to achieve the mission

·         define the school library's mission

·         clearly defined roles of who is part of main effort and who is supporting it

·         strategic planning

Avoid predictability

·         don't let students get bored as they may well stop using the library

·         capture their attention by doing things they won’t expect

·         show you are a mover and shaker of library world

·         change perceptions, be flexible

Support movement with fire 

·         adequate resources for the mission 

·         coordinated mission with those that are moving forward - evidence based practice

·         back each other up and support each other in a co-ordinated way

Command from the front 

·         management is task and object focused

·         leadership is about setting standards, initiatives, influence, visibility

·         emphasis on leadership rather than management

Act boldly and decisively 

·         create environment that people make decisions

·         praise decision-makers

·         be flexible, change tack if it doesn't work 

·         take risks on board, try them anyway, 

·         reinforce success - specific praise

·         be essential, proactive

We finished the session with group discussions on how we may exploit tactical opportunities to reinforce success in our libraries.