NHSLMA empowers librarians in New Hampshire schools to build effective school library programs.   

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  • February 08, 2022 10:11 | Anonymous member

    Registration is OPEN for the 2022 NHSLMA Spring Conference! Please register soon. The deadline is March 14th. https://nhslma.org/event-4587726


  • November 16, 2021 11:52 | Anonymous member

    The New Hampshire School Library Media Association Conference Planning Committee is seeking presenters who will share their expertise at our state conference in March. How do you lead your school community? What practices have transformed your students, your library or yourself? We learn best from each other!

    Proposal topics should align with our conference theme which this year is WELCOME ~ INCLUDE ~ REPRESENT.


    At this time, we are planning for an in-person conference. However, depending upon health and safety guidelines in March, it is possible that the conference will switch to a virtual format. The dates will remain March 24th and 25th.

    Sessions will be 60 minutes long and, if in person, rooms will be provided with wifi, screen, and projector. Microphones, speakers, and dongles are NOT provided.

    *Proposals are due by November 29, 2021

    Click here for the online call for presenters form.

  • May 23, 2021 18:09 | Anonymous member

    Congrats to our 2021 NHSLMA Award Winners

    Paraprofessional Award

    Melissa Sabourn, Lin-Wood Public School

    Emerging Leader Award

    Heather Raab, Portsmouth High School

    Outstanding Library Program Award

    Hampstead Middle School

    Elsie Domingo Service Award

    Stephanie Charlefour, Monadnock Regional Middle High School

    Impact Award

    Lori Fisher, New Hampshire State Library

    School Librarian of the Year Award

    Kristin Whitworth, Dover High School

    Virtual School Library Award

    Emilia Fleck, Plymouth Regional High School

  • May 20, 2021 09:05 | Anonymous member (Administrator)

    Good morning!  I wanted to thank all of our attendees, sponsors and especially the conference committee for an amazing virtual conference!  I was so happy to see and talk to people I haven't seen in over a year, it certainly made me feel that we on the road back to a reality that we are familiar with.  Thank you again and see you at Library Camp!

    Karen Abraham, President

  • April 18, 2021 16:56 | Anonymous member (Administrator)

    Thanks in part to the generosity of NHSLMA, I was able to take a course on reference resource collection for schools. I have come away from this course with many new, or deeper, understandings. I have a much clearer understanding of what constitutes reference materials and had my first exposure to databases. Before taking this course, I had no idea what separated reference from non-fiction. Now I understand that reference materials contain a broad spectrum of information in quick, easily accessible segments that serve as a jumping-off point for further research. I also understand that reference materials extend beyond print collections into “materials that provide access to ideas, learning and stories in non-traditional ways” including “access to a collection of ‘things’ or ‘experts’” (Donham & Sims, p. 101).  

    I also have a broader vision of the librarian’s role, including our “primary goal [which] is to help students become effective users of information” (Donham & Sims, p. 3). In particular, this course has helped me view the librarian as an advocate, a provider of equity, a collaborator, a curriculum expert and a leader. 

    For elementary students, library time can be highly regimented; many elementary schools only permit students in the library during their weekly library class. At secondary schools, flexible library time can be hard for students to find. As a future school librarian, I can advocate for students to have more time in the library (Donham & Sims, p. 16). I can also advocate for different types of learners by pushing for “various forms of presentation” of student learning (Donham & Sims, p. 185). Finally, I can advocate for the varied learning needs of my students by encouraging a move to constructivist and inquiry-based learning, which I’ll discuss more later. 

    As a school librarian, I can help provide equity for my students in several ways, such as by “meeting the needs of exceptional learners that might not be able to be met in the classroom” (Donham & Sims, p. 3) and by helping to bridge the technology gap of economically disadvantaged students (Donham & Sims, p. 6). One aspect of a “future ready school” is that “all students have equitable access to qualified librarians, digital tools, resources and books” (Alliance for Excellent Education, p. 1). In addition, AASL considers it the job of a school librarian to “champion equity [and] access” (AASL 2018, 111). 

    My goal as a school librarian is to help students succeed, and student success depends on “students, parents and teachers… working together toward shared goals” (Common Core State Standards Initiative, 2017, para. 4). This means that collaboration between classroom teachers and librarians is essential, because “if the library program remains isolated from the learning events of the classroom, it has little potential to contribute to the learning experiences of students” (Donham & Sims, p. 83). 

    Collaboration makes it necessary that I, as a librarian, become an expert on my school’s population as well as curriculum (Donham & Sims, p. 111). I like the idea of “curriculum mapping” (Donham & Sims, p. 28) so that I can get a big picture of the areas in which collaboration with teachers would be most effective. I need to be able to show teachers how collaborating with me can benefit them and their students. I particularly resonated with the idea that a school librarian can promote constructivism and inquiry-based learning through offering collaboration and bringing professional development to teacher; since “that engagement in inquiry creates the need for information that brings students to the library,” I should “make explicit… this connection between inquiry in the library and the constructivist classroom” (Donham & Sims, p. 23).  

    All these concepts convened to show me that, as a future school librarian, I will need to become a leader in my school. AASL argues that a school librarian should be an “instructional leader” who “contributes to curricular decisions and facilitates professional learning” (AASL, 2018, p. 2). I will make an effort to connect and build a rapport with teachers, educate myself on the school curriculum and standards, and show initiative in finding ways I can support educators and students. For example, one realistic goal would be to pick just a couple of research projects that I can collaborate with teachers on over the course of the year, helping the teachers tweak or design them to be more constructivist. Then the next year, I can pick a couple of different ones, and over time develop a set of collaborative projects that we repeat. I can also seek opportunities to teach students information literacy and help teachers, such as during a professional development session, to hone how they teach students to use websites and databases to be more efficient and responsible. 

    My goals at the beginning of the course were: 1. “To learn how to evaluate websites as reliable or unreliable sources of information,” and 2. “To come out with a clear understanding of what differentiates reference books from non-fiction, how to locate and evaluate quality reference materials (print or non-print), and what sorts of reference materials create a well-rounded school library.” I have definitely met my goals. When reading news or information online, I now try to access information about the veritability of the source to begin with, and often find it frustrating now that I realize how little information about authors is often available on websites.  In addition, I have a much better grasp of what materials and subjects should be included in an well-rounded reference collection, so if I need to purchase materials or update a collection when I get hired, I am well prepared. I am grateful for the knowledge and experience this course has given me. 

    References

     

    Alliance for Excellent Education. (2016). Future ready librarians factsheet. Future Ready Schools.https://futureready.org/thenetwork/strands/future-ready-librarians/

    American Association of School Librarians. (2018). Definition of an Effective School Library. American Association of School Librarians. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/aasl/advocacy/resources/statements.

    American Association of School Librarians. (2018). Instructional Role of the School Librarian. American Association of School Librarians. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/aasl/advocacy/resources/statements.

    Common Core State Standards Initiative. (2017). English Language Arts Standards » Reading: Informational Text » Grade 5. Common Core State Standards Initiative. Retrieved from http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/RI/5/

    Donham, J., & Sims, C. (2020). Enhancing Teaching and Learning: A leadership guide for school librarians. ALA Neal-Schuman. 





  • March 30, 2021 08:51 | Anonymous member

    Stay Tuned! We have some special events planned to help celebrate National Library Month for the month of April! Do you have any special plans?


  • March 10, 2021 19:40 | Anonymous member

    Our Spring Conference is back for 2021! It will be virtual! Please save the date... May 14-15, 2021! More information will be coming soon!



  • February 22, 2021 09:29 | Anonymous member

    The 2021 NHSLMA Awards nomination process is open and the deadline to submit is soon approaching. The deadline to submit is Friday, February 26, 2021. We have four awards you can nominate a candidate:

    • NHSLMA Outstanding Library Program Award
    • NHSLMA Paraprofessional Award
    • The Emerging Leader Award
    • Virtual School Library Award

    Please check out the NHSLMA Awards page for a description of the awards and the link to the nomination forms.

  • June 24, 2020 12:48 | Anonymous member (Administrator)

    During the past few months, the NHSLMA board has worked on making changes to our Constitution and Bylaws.  These include adjusting our Constitution wording to match AASL's new language, as well as changing our Bylaws section on NHSLMA Board roles to match the current roles listed on our website.

    We need to have approval of two-thirds of our membership for these changes to pass, which is not as easily done in this remote environment. We would ask that you take a look at the attached link and vote yes or no on the changes by June 30, 2020.

    Thank you and please contact me with any questions.

    Happy summer!

    Karen Abraham, President

    https://forms.gle/SWAL7t471e2c9Xm2A



  • February 14, 2020 11:17 | Anonymous member (Administrator)
    Karen Abraham
     

    NHSLMA Notes

    Happy Valentine's Day! We are half way through February, although with all the snow days it seems like we have not been in school much.

    At the end of January I attended ALA's Mid-Winter Conference in Philadelphia. It is always wonderful to be able to meet and listen to authors and vendors, but what I love most about these conferences is the opportunity to go to sessions led by fellow librarians. There were two sessions that really resonated with me; one was Library Marketing and Advocacy with Social Media and the other was Libraries and Voter Engagement. Both topics are so important to our profession this year, if anyone would like information on the sessions I attended please reach out to me. Both had wonderful resources for libraries to use.

    Have you signed up for NHSLMA's Building Bridges 2020 conference? We have an amazing line up of speakers: Tom Bober, Ann Braden, Adib Khorran and Jason Chin. We hope to see you all there March 26 & 27 at the Grappone Center in Concord. Please see the link attached to register.

    Do you have a champion of your library? The Impact Award is given to a non-NHSLMA member who has made a significant contribution to the promotion of school librarianship in the State of New Hampshire. The recipient fosters the use and importance of the school library media center and advocates for school librarianship as an essential component for all schools. If you would like to nominate someone for the 2020 Impact Award, please contact Rachael Bowman at awards@nhslma.org.

    See you in March!


    Karen Abraham, NHSLMA President


     
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