The Colorado Academic Library Consortium Summit planning committee seeks proposals for presentation and poster sessions for the fourth CALC Summit.  The Summit will be held at the Sheraton Denver West Hotel (6th Ave & Union) on May 20-21, 2010. 

We’ve all heard that collaboration is important, but how can academic libraries forge lasting, effective partnerships both within and outside their institutions? What makes some partnerships succeed, and others fail?  Come share your successes, failures, research, and innovative ideas related to academic library collaboration. We’re particularly interested in proposals that address:
*        Collaboration to expand library services or improve student success
*        Collaboration to develop Web 2.0 applications
*        Strategies for building and maintaining partnerships
*        Inter-institutional collaboration
*        Institutional barriers to collaborative efforts, and how to overcome them
*        Assessing the success of collaborative efforts
*        Collaboration with non-library partners

Presentation Options:

1.     Concurrent Presentations:
 A speaker or team of speakers presents for 45 or 75 minutes, with a 15-minute Q&A session after the presentation. Presentations that involve discussion, audience participation, or activities are strongly encouraged.

2.     Poster Sessions:
A graphical presentation (paper or digital) of research results, case studies, projects, or ideas. Poster presenters will discuss their work with attendees during the poster session time slot (likely to be 1 hour long.)

Details: Presentation and poster proposals will be reviewed and competitively selected by a committee of academic librarians.

Proposal Requirements:
*   Names and full contact information of presenter(s)
*   Title of presentation or digital poster session
*   Abstract and brief outline (200 words max)
*   Desired presentation length (45 or 75 minutes) or poster session

Submit proposals using this online form: http://www.calcweb.org/

Proposals are due by February 12, 2010. You’ll be notified about the status of your proposal by March 12, 2010.

For more information visit www.calcweb.org or email jay.devaughn@ccaurora.edu

Sponsored by: CALC – Colorado Academic Library Consortium CLiC – Colorado Library Consortium CoALA – Association of Colorado Libraries – Academic Division

Two people meet in nonfiction and fall in love. A boy finds salvation in his local library and becomes the first in his family to attend college. A suburban mother of four relies on the library’s expert reference service to start her own business, and later is named “Entrepreneur of the Year.”

Come visit the State Library’s booth at the CAL exhibit hall to share YOUR story! You can write it, type it, or tell it (we will have flip cameras). Read fantastic stories of your colleagues and celebrate the many ways libraries transform lives.

Need more reason? Submit YOUR story and become eligible to win one of these fabulous prizes!

• A “flip” digital video camera
• Library stories journals
• A tricked-out messenger bag
• Summer Reading Fun Pack

State Library at CAL schedule (PDF)

• * Share with you the latest services and resources we can offer Colorado libraries
• * Hear how libraries have transformed your lives

CSL at CAL 2009 – Schedule (PDF)

Library Consortium Summit planning committee seeks proposals for presentation and poster sessions for the fourth CALC Summit. The Summit will be held at the Sheraton Denver West Hotel (6th Ave & Union) on May 20-21, 2010.

Collaborate Like You Mean It!
We’ve all heard that collaboration is important, but how can academic libraries forge lasting, effective partnerships both within and outside their institutions? What makes some partnerships succeed, and others fail?

Come share your successes, failures, research, and innovative ideas related to academic library collaboration. We’re particularly interested in proposals that address:
• Collaboration to expand library services or improve student success
• Collaboration to develop Web 2.0 applications
• Strategies for building and maintaining partnerships
• Inter-institutional collaboration
• Institutional barriers to collaborative efforts, and how to overcome them
• Assessing the success of collaborative efforts
• Collaboration with non-library partners
Presentation Options:
1. Concurrent Presentations:
A speaker or team of speakers presents for 45 or 75 minutes, with a 15-minute Q&A session after the presentation. Presentations that involve discussion, audience participation, or activities are strongly encouraged.
2. Poster Sessions:
A graphical presentation (paper or digital) of research results, case studies, projects, or ideas. Poster presenters will discuss their work with attendees during the poster session time slot (likely to be 1 hour long.)
Details:
Presentation and poster proposals will be reviewed and competitively selected by a committee of academic librarians.
Proposal Requirements:
• Names and full contact information of presenter(s)
• Title of presentation or digital poster session
• Abstract and brief outline (200 words max)
• Desired presentation length (45 or 75 minutes) or poster session
Submit proposals using this online form:
Proposals are due by February 12, 2010. You’ll be notified about the status of your proposal by March 12, 2010.
For more information visit www.calcweb.org or email jay.devaughn@ccaurora.edu
Sponsored by:
CALC – Colorado Academic Library Consortium
CLiC – Colorado Library Consortium
CoALA – Association of Colorado Libraries – Academic Division

Since these are the two largest sources of CAL income, the association’s finances are as strained as everyone else’s. As a result, the board is investigating options that will allow CAL to continue to serve our members and the Colorado library community.  This includes issuing a Request for Quotes (RFQ) for a management company that may prove to be a less expensive alternative to our current situation.  We want to stress that no decisions have been made, but as good librarians we simply want to have all the information as we plan for CAL’s next step.

What can you do to help?  Renew your membership.  Register for the conference. Encourage your friends and colleagues to do the same.  Share your ideas with board members. Together, we’ll weather this storm and position the association for a sustainable future.

Submitted on behalf of the CAL Board

In the morning, Kathy Barco from the Albuquerque Public Library presented ideas for 2010 summer reading, including decorations, crafts, celebrations, activities, refreshments, programs, and more. The themes are “Make a Splash @ Your Library” (children) and “Make Waves @ Your Library” (teens).

The afternoon included discussion of after-school programming, a report on the LSTA Early Literacy (CLEL) Storytime grants, an update on State Library youth services initiatives, and of course distribution of the 2010 statewide summer reading program manuals.

Here are some of the photos I took during the day. Enjoy!

Kathy Barco presenting an activity (making fish headbands out of balloons), and some of the participants enjoying their new looks.

The fabulous staff at the College Hill Library in Westminster.

Attendees working on and proudly presenting their completed summer reading craft activities:

In the afternoon a panel of technology experts in the library realm (David Lee King, Melissa Kiser, Susan Staples, Carson Block, Matt Hamilton and Mindy Kittay) discussed how they keep up with the ever-changing world of technology, libraries,  and more.

The afternoon concluded with a great presentation by Melissa Kaiser, Information Technology Librarian for Allen County Public Library (IN), on using video and other tools to build community.

Check out some of the handouts, links and information that went into TechFest 2009! It was a wonderful day of information, networking, and fun! As libraries focus more and more on using these tools to connect with their communities, I feel privileged to have been invited to join the Anythink community and to take part in this amazing event!

The Colorado Association of Libraries’ 2009 Power On annual conference is just a month away and we are looking for volunteers to help make this our best conference yet!  To help those of you who may still be wondering if you’re the person we’re looking for, consider the following:

• If you get a charge out of working in a fun, friendly environment…you might be a CAL volunteer.
  If answering questions and solving problems gives you a warm fuzzy feeling inside …you might be a CAL volunteer.
• If your day is made by making computers bend to your will …you might be a CAL volunteer.
• If greeting people and pointing them in the right direction brings a smile to your face…you might be a CAL volunteer.

Anyone registered for the CAL conference can be a CAL volunteer!  After you’ve registered, just click on the volunteer link and tell us what you’d like to do and when you’re available to help.  There are volunteer
opportunities at the registration desk, cyber café, ticketed events, exhibits hall, preconferences, and workshops.  You can even ask to be scheduled with a friend. 

New this year!  All CAL volunteers will receive a $10 refund off their conference registration fee!  (Refunds will be issued at the conference.)

Sign up today – we look forward to seeing you!

Recently, I was asked to do a presentation on the instructional role of the school librarian and the impact this has on public librarians. The audience included MLIS students and the program faculty at a state university. It was a great experience and I really enjoyed it. My first question to the group was, “What is the instructional role of the public librarian?” There was complete silence in the room and I could tell that the students were thinking, “Don’t call on me—don’t call on me!” Finally, a few hands went up and I received comments like: Providing books to our patrons; working with children and YA’s to get the right person matched with the right book, helping school age kids find what they need when it isn’t at their school library. Finally, one person said that she thought it was really important to make certain the people using databases and other library resources, or accessing library materials were able to find those materials again even if the librarian wasn’t present. BINGO! That’s what we all need to do—we need to make certain that as information professionals, we provide “instruction” or help and assistance so that our clients can function independently as learners.

The school librarian’s role is similar but the new AASL Guidelines developed by school library information professionals include a different focus. The goal, as public librarians, of helping patrons become independent learners, is the same, but for the school librarian, the factors of the standards and the teacher come into play. The school librarians must work closely with the teachers to develop inquiry lessons that address the content standards and the standards for the 21st Century learner. Together they must create lessons with higher level questioning that will provide an opportunity for the students to share what they know, ask intriguing questions about what they don’t know, investigate the answers to those questions, construct new meanings, create new knowledge, and communicate this new knowledge and their new understanding to others.

This is not easy but as instructional leaders in the school, librarians will be able to accomplish this daunting task. The trick is convincing the teachers and other members of the learning community that this is what needs to be accomplished in order to help the students achieve their academic potential.

As this discussion was taking place, I noticed that one MLIS student was sitting there and mumbling something under his breath. I asked him what he was saying and he replied, “Well it would be nice if the school librarians would let us know what the teachers’ assignments are.”

KABOOM! That was like an elephant in the middle of the room and brings up a good point. We must work together in helping our students and our patrons become independent learners—School librarians need to talk to their public librarians and public librarians need to talk with their school librarians—Maybe they could even meet with each other for coffee, lunch, or dinner, and discuss the school curriculum, the order of school assignments that the students have, and how the two organizations can work together. This will lay the ground work for continued collaboration throughout the year.

As discussions go when there are different types of librarians in the room, we shared information about our two state associations. This state had an organization for the school people and one for the public librarians. They didn’t mention the special or academic librarians, which was interesting. Their model was similar to what we had in Colorado with CLA and CEMA. The audience was extremely interested in our model having all types of librarians, and asked me how it worked.

I was proud to share with them the great organization we have in Colorado and how we all collaborate and work together. One of their concerns was that they have two different conferences and basically have a hard time knowing what each organization is doing. I told them about our upcoming conference, the keynote speakers including Camila Alire, ALA President, and Ann Martin, outgoing president from AASL. I explained Governor Ritter would be coming to receive a legislative award and would be speaking to all of us as a group at our business meeting. Although they were quite excited for us, I’m sure they won’t be able to hop on a plane and join us, although I did invite them. They are sending us positive thoughts for a dynamic conference, with excellent keynote sessions, and numerous opportunities to network. They wistfully expressed that it would be wonderful to have all of the information professionals in their state at one conference so that they could actually communicate with each other.

So take advantage of what we are truly fortunate to have….a professional opportunity to join the other information professionals in Colorado by attending our annual conference. I encourage you to take advantage of this great time we have of to talk, share, communicate, and network with each other at our upcoming conference. If you haven’t registered yet, please do and join us as we explore how we continue to “Power On” into the 21st Century. Registration is available at: http://cal-webs.org/conference.html

]]> http://www.coloradolibraries.org/2009/10/12/the-instructional-role-of-librarians/feed/ 0 http://www.coloradolibraries.org/2009/10/01/2009-national-book-festival/ http://www.coloradolibraries.org/2009/10/01/2009-national-book-festival/#comments Thu, 01 Oct 2009 23:00:54 +0000 Michelle http://www.coloradolibraries.org/?p=514 The 2009 National Book Festival (NBF), organized and sponsored by the Library of Congress, was held on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2009, on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. NBF celebrates the joys of reading and lifelong literacy and is free and open to the public. More than 70 authors, poets and illustrators were featured this year. The crowd was estimated to be 130,000!

As in the past, the Colorado State Library partnered with Colorado Humanities and the Center for the Book to represent Colorado in the Pavilion of the States, where reading and library-promotion programs are highlighted from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. trusts and territories.

The Library of Congress remarked, “Festival-goers can meet and hear from their favorite authors, get books signed, and participate in a variety of reading activities. The popular Let’s Read America Pavilion showcases the cultural treasures to be found in the Library’s vast online collections and offers information about popular Library Programs.”

The featured author from Colorado was Steve Jenkins, a Caldecott honor-winning author who resides in Boulder. The book highlighted for the festival was “Down, Down, Down: A Journey to the Bottom of the Sea,” a top-to-bottom look at the creatures of the ocean.