OEMA Newsletter
  
An Electronic Newsletter
of The Oregon Educational Media Association
Volume 16 No. 1
September, 2003

From the "Key"board of the president

We're baaack!!!

Hopefully, you've all finished Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, figured out how to plug back in all the things that were unplugged during the "Great School Summer Clean Up" and have the displays all ready to make those sun-soaked minds hungry for the YRCA books, Cleary books, and the latest in enticing curriculum connections. As we look around at our shelves we realize that this may be the one and only time all the books will be edged and in order - and we just can't wait to have enquiring minds make a mess of things. So as we sit in our beginning-of-the-year meetings faking attention, what could be on our enquiring minds...
We have some statewide issues we need to be thinking about. The grant money that brought us OSLIS is now run out and we need to think about how we can continue to offer this valuable resource. How do we connect staff and students to the resources other than the EBSCO data base? Who will make sure it continues to be a resource we can use?

The state library has been given the green light to begin gathering statistics about just who is running our libraries. They will be using school budget and staffing data but OEMA will also continue our earlier data gathering efforts to make sure schools know somebody cares if students are receiving library services. Once we know who is in charge, then what? Is there a difference between the parent volunteer and the MLS/Media endorsed certified librarian? In expectation? In ability to provide what services? Given the resources of the state, the schools and OEMA, we need to figure out how to support the person charged with the care and running of the library whoever they are and at the same time make sure that the instructional role of our libraries isn't overlooked to make them easy targets for budget cuts.

Many of us are faced with smaller budgets and staff cuts but we should take heart in the fact that all the new graduates of the PSU and George Fox programs are now in real libraries and in fact, at this writing, some schools are still searching for qualified staff to hire. We have yet to see what the new state budget will finally mean for the condition of our school libraries, but we will be at the ready when the powers that be wake up to the fact that the school libraries and the folks that run them could hold the key to the success of their students. Did I say "Key"? You bet I did.

You may be able to start the year with all the ideas and plans you never had time to finish last year but by October, you may be looking for just the right thing to rev those motors. We have a whole conference full for you to choose from. As a "Keeper of the Keys", you will have the opportunity to explore a multitude of informational rooms and leave with the key to opening those rooms to the staff and students in your building. Dr. Mike Eisenberg, head of the MLS program at UW will remind you of the key role you play in the life of the school and the community and then the fun begins. Meet a whole array of interesting authors, sit down and eat with your fellow library types, celebrate the award winning programs and individuals and just spend some time with folks who care about the same things you do.

I love the beginning of the year - that newly sharpened pencil point and still clean eraser, the crisp, blank sheet of paper. Ok - maybe it's just ramped up RAM and a dust free flat screen - whatever! The joy of being in a school is that you really do get to have a new beginning - new kids to wow with our wisdom and since they never get any older, I guess we don't either; new staff with new opportunities for collaboration; new technology that is guaranteed to "move our cheese" and all those wonderful, world-expanding new books. It's a great profession. SO....

May your life be good - may your school year be even better. See you in October. On your mark. Get set. GO!

Keeper of the Keys-- October 10 - 11

Plan to attend OEMAs annual event-filled conference in Corvallis at the LaSells Stewart and CH2MHill Alumni Centers. Extended sessions and exhibits open on Friday culminating with Pam Munoz Ryan speaking at the dessert. Saturday offers a full slate of more than 30 concurrent sessions, keynote speaker Mike Eisenberg (co-author of the Big 6),exhibits, the OEMA Celebration luncheon, and Will Hobbs speaking at the banquet. You'll be able to meet Megan Macdonald, winner of the first Beverely Cleary Children's Choice Award. The conference committee has designed sessions for both professional and para-professional librarians, and is making a special effort to invite them to attend the conference.
Registration, schedules and up-to-date information is available at http://www.oregonvos.net/~klassenj/2003/. Registration packets should be in your snail mailbox soon.

Where to stay in Corvallis?

Hilton Garden Inn (541)752-5000 or Super 8 Motel (541) 758-8088

By choosing to stay in one of the above hotels you are supporting OEMA's use of the CH2M Hill Alumni Center and the LaSells Center. Conference costs will increase if we do not have enough people choosing the above hotels as a place to stay.

Make reservations online at http://www.visitcorvallis.com/media.html

One Conference - Two Books

One Conference - Two Books is OEMAs plan to improve on the 2003 ALAconference model of One Conference - One Book. The OEMA conference committee is suggesting that attendees read two books by featured authors at our conference.

Friday night’s dessert speaker, Pam Muñoz Ryan, has written an inspiring book based on the experiences of her own grandmother.  Esperanza Rising will be about family to some and the plight of the immigrant to others, but it will be about hope and determination to everyone who reads it. Written simply enough for upper elementary, it is also popular with middle school students.

The Maze is the book we chose to read from all the wonderful adventure stories written by our Saturday banquet speaker, Will Hobbs. Soar with 14 year old Rick as he navigates the twists of turns of Canyonlands National Park, as well as his own complicated life. This adventure is a winner with even the most resistant readers in high school and middle school.

So read the books, meet the authors, and use your common reading experience to open up conversations between yourself and the other readers at the conference. The conference theme is “Keepers of the Keys” - the librarian / media specialist opening the print and non-print doors to information and experiences for everyone.

Summer Board Retreat Hi-Lites

This year's board of directors met at Silver Falls Conference Center on August 4-5 to work and play in a bucolic woodland setting. They shared the facility with the OLA Board of Directors participating in a joint session focusing on how school, public and academic libraries support and augment one another. The OEMA OLA Joint Committee on Library Cooperation will take the discussion topics and start to develop a white paper on library services for all Oregonians.

The board approved a non-voting board position for the Beverly Cleary Children's Choice Award with Jann Tankersley as the chair.

Mary McClintock volunteered to chair the 2004 Summer Institute. Tentative plans are for a conference at the coast the 2nd week of July. The theme of "No Library Left Behind" was suggested.

2003-04 OEMA Board of Directors

Members are encouraged to contact board members to make suggestions and express concerns.

2003 OEMA Media Speciaist of theYear Finalists

Every year the OEMA Awards Committee accept nominations from administrators and classroom teachers throughout Oregon for Library Teacher of the Year. Nominated library teachers then go through an application and selection process. It is always hard for the Awards Committee to choose among so many wonderful teachers who consistently deliver quality service to their students and staff, juggle multiple tasks, teach a love of reading, facilitate and teach research skills, and teach-use-model-fix technology in their buildings.......well - You all know!

Winners will be announced and will receive their awards at the OEMA Fall Conference Saturday luncheon, October 11, at the OSU Alumni Center in Corvallis. Below is this year's list of finalists.

Request for Retiree Names

At the fall conference, OEMA will honor members who have retired since last October.  They should have been OEMA members sometime in the last three years.  I would greatly appreciate names of people you know who have retired and the school district where they last worked. If you have address information that may not be in the directory, that would be useful too.  I know this is a busy time for everyone, but it will help me immensely.  Please send replies to me directly at Jenny_Takeda@beavton.k12.or.us.

Gregory Lum Wins National AECT Award

Librarian Gregory Lum of Jesuit High School in Portland, Oregon, was recently named the 2003 National School Library Media Specialist of the Year. The Association for Educational Communications and Technology and SIRS Mandarin, Inc. recognized Lum for his exceptional work.

This award is for individual excellence in the library/media field through service to students, teachers and the community at the K-12 levels. Factors to be considered are evidence of personal leadership in fulfilling the roles of teacher, information specialist, and instructional consultant as defined in 'Information Power: Guidelines for School Library Media Programs'; evidence of professional involvement in the library media field; and evidence of providing a quality library media program to K-12 students, teachers, and the broader community by implementing their personal philosophy of information technology utilization.

“Every good and perfect gift comes from the Lord Jesus,” Lum stated. “ I give all the glory to Him for this national award."

Lum received the 2002 Oregon Secondary Library Media Teacher of the Year Award, sponsored by the Oregon Educational Media Association, the statewide association for school librarians, and Follett Book Company. Jim Hayden, the OEMA Executive Director, then nominated Lum for the national award. Every affiliate can nominate one from their state for the national competition. A nation-wide committee of six people selected Lum this summer.

Before going to Jesuit High School this fall, Lum served as the library media specialist at Astoria High School for seven years. He has worked as a library media specialist for 12 of his 21 years in education, he said. He earned his master’s degree in library science from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, and his bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Oregon State University.
“Gregory is not a passive librarian,” Astoria High School Principal Larry Lockett quoted. “He is an active classroom teacher who makes it a point to make contact with every student in the library. Gregory is superb in terms of his community support and his positive student relationships.”
Lum will attend the AECT Conference in late October in Anaheim, California, where the award will be presented. In addition to a personal plaque, Lum will receive a $500.00 check, an employer plaque, and a travel/registration allowance up to $500.00 to attend the AECT Conference to accept the award.

Two other Oregon school librarians Kelly Kuntz, Beaverton School District; and Patty Sorensen, Sherwood School District, have previously received this award.

Oregonian Online to all Schools

The Oregon State Library is paying the subscription for the Oregonian for the 2003-04 school year. Entry into the resource is through the OSLIS Website from both the secondary page and the elementary page. The user ID (oslis) and password (oregon) remain the same.

George Fox Fall Semester Classes

Karen Wedeking, Coordinator of the Libary Media Program at George Fox states "We need to encourage teachers. library assistants or others who wish to be library media specialist to work on their endorsements. We have had more jobs than applicants this summer."

EDFL552 Information Literacy in the K12 curriculum
3 semester hours

This course introduces library media specialists to aspects of learning and teaching, including the development for designing units of study integrating information literacy skills with classroom content.

Required for Library Media Specialization

Classroom centered

Offered online Fall semester September 15 - December 19, 2003

Two face to face classes September 13 and November 15

9:00-4:00

Portland Center campus of George Fox

See our web site, if you wish further study toward a Master’s or Doctorate Degree, an area of specialization, or work on your CTL

For questions, please contact:
Karen Wedeking

Coordinator of the Library Media Endorsement Program

PO Box 6082

George Fox University

414 N. Meridian Street

Newberg, Oregon 97132

503-554-2858

Karen Wedeking

Oregon Statewide Database Licensing Program

The new Oregon Statewide Database Licensing Program, administered by the State Library and supported by LSTA funds, is now under way. The program underwrites the statewide subscription to the Oregonian (currently NewsBank) for all public, academic and school libraries, and subsidizes at least half the cost of subscription to the statewide general full-text periodicals database (currently EBSCOHost) for academic and public libraries.

School libraries will continue to work through OETC to subscribe to statewide databases. Academic and public libraries participating in the program have submitted applications certifying that they have met the eligibility requirement of endorsing the Oregon Library Association's (OLA) ILL Code (formerly a requirement under the ILL Net Lender program).

The State Library is forming a representative Statewide Database Licensing Advisory Committee (SDLAC). Nominations are requested by September 2, 2003, to be approved by the LSTA Advisory Council. Appointed Advisory Committee members will advise State Library staff in the drafting of a Request for Proposal for a full text general periodicals database during the coming year, will review bids, and will comment on an award. Membership will be representative of library groups, with public library (3 representatives), academic library (3), school library (2), resource sharing system (1), and LSTA Advisory Council (1) members. The Advisory Committee will meet at least twice each calendar year, and may meet more often as needed. Committee members should have experience in database licensing and the use of databases. About $588,000 in Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) funds are allocated in the 03-05 biennium to subsidize the purchase of basic electronic resources for Oregon libraries and to coordinate the program.

More information about the program is available at the Oregon Statewide Database Licensing Program Web page at http://www.osl.state.or.us/home/libdev/osdlp/index.html

For additional information contact Pam Horan at pam.horan@state.or.us

Answerland Update

As the school year begins, Oregon's Collaborative Virtual Reference Pilot Project, Answerland, is preparing for a busy autumn. Staff from the 21 volunteer provider libraries are live online 46 hours per week to answer questions directly from Oregon's citizens or queries referred from libraries. Hours for live chat reference are Monday-Thursday 1-9pm, Friday-Saturday 2-6pm, and 2-6pm on Sunday. Questions may also be submitted by e-mail. More information about the service may be found at http://www.answerland.org/
Oregon libraries may link directly to Answerland, and we encourage you to place a link on your library Web pages so your community may easily have access. Additional service providers may join Answerland when the pilot project is complete.

Answerland is funded by the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) through the Oregon State Library, with Multnomah County Library as project manager and fiscal agent. For more information, contact Caleb Tucker-Raymond, project manager of Answerland, at 503-988-5438 or calebt@multcolib.org.

For additional information contact Pam Horan at pam.horan@state.or.us

Grapevine

Jamie Miller has taken a full time library position at Tigard High School. She was at the Fowler Middle School for the past 3 years-also in the Tigard Tualatin School District. Jamie also changed her name from Jamie Dougherty to Jamie Miller as she got married last November.

In Astoria, Jordan Martin is at Astoria High School; Cheryl Johnson is at Astoria Middle School/Astor Elementary; Soozi Crosby is at Gray Elementary/Lewis & Clark Elementary.

Garnetta Wilker is now the District Media Specialist/ Librarian for the Oregon Trail School District. She is located at Sandy High School.

ALA Resolution Supports School Libraries

At its June meeting the Council of the American Library Association unanimously passed a resolution in support of school libraries and librarians. The resolution was initiated by ALA Councilor Cyndi Phillip, Library Media Specialist/Instructional Media Services Department Head,Grand Haven (Mich.) Public Schools, and the Immediate Past Chair of the AASL Affiliate Assembly.

ALA Resolution: School Libraries and Librarians are Critical to Educational Success

WHEREAS, Throughout the United States school librarians and library support staff are being eliminated as a cost saving measure to school districts that face diminishing funding; and

WHEREAS, Numerous research studies conducted in the states of Alaska, Colorado, Iowa, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Mexico, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Texas have shown a high correlation between exemplary school library programs led by a certified school librarian and student achievement on state standardized tests; and

WHEREAS, School librarians instruct students and provide the school community on going experiences in accessing, evaluating, and utilizing information sources; and

WHEREAS, NCREL's (North Central Regional Educational Laboratory) EnGauge document, 21st Century Skills: Digital Literacies for a Digital Age, states these literacies include Reading Literacy, Technology Literacy, and Information Literacy, which are skills taught and supported by school library programs and personnel; and

WHEREAS, The No Child Left Behind legislation regarding "Reading First" states that school districts provide "instruction based on scientifically based reading research that includes the essential components of reading instruction" will require a library professional whose job it is to keep current with new materials for children and make appropriate selections based on critical reviews by previewing for age appropriateness and fitting the curriculum needs and interests of students; and

WHEREAS, School librarians collaborate with teachers for optimal instructional design to improve student achievement, now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That the American Library Association Council directs its President and Executive Director to convey to Governors, State Boards of Education, National Association of School Administrators, Chief State School Officers, National Association of Independent Schools, National Council of PTA, National Educational Association, American Federation of Teachers, and National Association of School Boards of Education the urgent need to support and maintain school library programs and certified school librarians and encourage them to pass this concern along to their state affiliates; and, be it further

RESOLVED, That the ALA President and Executive Director encourage state associations to influence state legislation requiring adequate funding and appropriate staff of school libraries in schools at all levels; and, be it further

RESOLVED, That the ALA Executive Director arrange a process to support ALA members to advocate for school libraries and librarians.

Adopted by the Council of the American Library Association, Sunday, June 22, 2003, Toronto, Canada

This resolution can be found on the AASL Web site at... http://www.ala.org/aasl....by clicking the "Issues & Advocacy" navigation button then selecting the "Advocacy" link.

Principals Reminded of School Libraries Role in Academic Achievement

AASL members Connie Champlin and David Loertscher were published in the March 2003 issue of Principal Leadership, the magazine of the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP). Their article, "Reinvent Your School's Library and Watch Student Academic Achievement Increase," "gently but diligently" reminds principals that "library media centers and the professionals who run them can be powerful forces in integrating technology into teaching and learning." Champlin and Loertscher outline some "first steps" for principals to ensure that the library media center "achieves its potential for improving
student learning and developing 21st century skills."

A PDF reprint of the article is currently available on the Indiana Learns Web site at http://www.indianalearns.org/introleadership.asp

Tony Hawk "Ramps Up" National Teen Reading Program

Professional skateboarder Tony Hawk helped launch "Get on Board and Read @ your library", which is sponsored by the American Library Association (ALA) and Morningstar Foods Inc., maker and distributor of Hershey's Milk and Milkshakes. A new program logo also was unveiled.

"Get on Board and Read @ your library" will encourage young adults across America to skate their way into libraries, grab a book and land in the world of possibilities available through reading. Teens are challenged to grab one of their favorite books found on library shelves and create an entry about how the book is meaningful to them. There are two categories in which entries can be submitted -- a written essay or a creative entry including a poem, painting or video.

Librarians are encouraged to visit the program Web site at <www.hersheysmilk.com> for their opportunity to request posters and bookmarks that will be delivered to the library free of charge before the program officially begins.

For more information about the @ your library campaign, visit http://www.ala.org/@yourlibrary

Library Expenditure Statistics

The newest (2001-2002) SLJ figures to be published in October confirm little or no change in the amounts spent for books and other library expenditures since 1999-2000 school year.

Collection size: 
Median Size of Book Collection 12,000
Median Number of Books per Pupil 15
Median # Volumes Added 500
Volumes Discarded 200

Median Expenditures for:
Books per school $5,000.00
Books per Pupil $8.00
Audiovisual Resources per school $500.00
Audiovisual Resources per Pupil $ 0.77
WWW based products per school $1,000.00
WWW based products per Pupil $1.08
Total Median Materials Expenditures per school (TME) $13,000.00
TME per Pupil $19.23
The above numbers are for the WEST region only, all grade levels.

"DO WE" Really Know Dewey?

Kelly Kuntz reports the rediscovery of a great site for explaining the Dewey system to students. It is interactive and was created as a Thinkquest by students. It disappeared for some time and just resurfaced! http://www.columbia.k12.mo.us/dre/dewey

Calendar

OEMA Newsletter -- Editor: Sheryl Steinke

Published monthly on the 5th of the month September through May
To receive the OEMA Newsletter by email, subscribe to the OEMA mailing list using the form at http://www.oema.net/telecommunication/list.html

Send news items for the Newsletter to:
* Email: sherylsteinke@comcast.net
* Mail: Sheryl Steinke at 2405 Blacktail Dr. Eugene, OR 97405

Deadline: 1 week before publication, except 2 weeks for the January issue.