March+3,+2010

NYCSLS Council Council Meeting #3 Date: March 3, 2010 Time: 12:00 - 3:00pm Place: NYPL, Mid-Manhattan Library

__**Members in attendance**__: Kathy Steves, Christine Hatami, Beth St.John, Sally Young, Linda Cooper, Sheila Shaffer, Maureen Hurley, Janna Robbins, Carol Katz


 * __Office staff in attendance__**: Melissa Jacobs Israel, Judith Schaffner, Lynne Kresta Smith

__**Documents at meeting:**__ //Overview of Project-Based Learning// //Five-Year Library System Plan of Service description 2011-2016 Five-Year Library System Plan of Service (With Activities) 2006-2011 Overview of Council and Communication Coordinator Responsibilities Excerpt from Education Law establishing the position of communications coordinator Challenges Facing School Libraries Definition of Online Reading//

12:00 - 12:30 Eat, meet, greet, introductions - Kathy Steves, NYCSLS Council Chairperson 12:30 - 1:15 Announcements and Information 1:15 - 2:45 Plan of Service 2:45 - 3:00 New Business/Other Concerns
 * __Agenda:__**

//News and Announcements// Sheila reported on current programs at BPL including Teen Tech Week March 7-13 with a raffle, a writing contest entitled //"In Your Own Words//" with online postings and tie-in with Poetry Month. There will also be a contest in which student participants write original song lyrics and the winner has their song performed by the Astro Grass band. Janna reported on current programs at NYPL including a March 9th event entitled //Mapping Shorelines// to commemorate Henry Hudson and a new online site called //Teaching and Learning @ NYPL.// Author Candy Fleming will conduct a hands-on workshop on May 18th using historical documents entitled //Creative Non-Fiction.// There will be three workshops in July (9th, 21st, 23rd) for teachers to use digital primary resources such as Google mapping, digital gallery, etc. Teachers will receive a stipend (Google grant?) to provide lesson plans. A workshop on the three major religions will be held August 13-19 with an interfaith scholar. P credits may be available. Carol reported on current programs at the Queens Library including the Summer Reading program beginning on June 10th. The website will be accessible around May 1st. In the face of the recent budget cuts, the QL administrators are committed to keeping libraries open on schools days. The new //Children's Discovery Center// at Jamaica should be ready by the ned of 2010. Melissa suggested that some of these programs be repeated at the SLS fall conference. //New SLS Coordinator// SLS has hired a new coordinator to fill Esther's position. Leanne Ellis, SLMS at Washington Heights Legacy High School will cover Brooklyn schools. //Spring Conference// Lynne reported that the first session of the SLS Spring Conference is scheduled for May 5th and will be held at the Queens Library in Jamaica. The theme for this all-day session will be "Building a Culture of Reading". SLS is working with Olga Nesi. There will be a session in each borough. //New Yorkers Read Grant// The culminating event of the New Yorkers Read grant will be held on May 11th at the Madison Square Garden New York Liberty game. There will be activities during the game with mascots, T-shirts, Q & A with the players and a tie-in to the summer reading program. There are 1,000 tickets for the Reading Ambassadors with another 500 at $10 per ticket. Information was posted on the Principal's Weekly. This grant was for middle school students. It is hoped that the program will be expanded to include elementary students next year for which $80,000 is available. //Reaching-Up Grant// There were approximately 70 Reaching-Up Grant applications submitted and 50 were chosen based on the following criteria: that the grant be administered through the school library, that it be project-based and literature-based, and include collaboration, and that the funds be spent on library materials to be housed in the library. All participants will submit student work. //Five-Year Plan of Service// Judith stated that the next five-year plan is due April 1, 2011. Next year's council meetings will focus on writing the plan, using the //Five Challenges// posed by Ross Todd. How can these challenges be dealt with through the Plan of Service? Section 4.14 of the Plan deals with communication among members, requiring thge position of Communications Coordinator. Filling this position will depend on the next DOE reorganization involving six clusters of networks and combining adminsitrative support with tech support. //Fall Conference// Judith discussed the question of choosing a theme for the Fall Conference, suggesting the topic of transliteracy as a possibility. There is no keynote speaker as yet and discussion continued on this topic. Members read the documents //Project-Based Learning// and //Online Reading// and debated the question. Linda Cooper stated that online reading is a more exciting topic, and that project-based learning incorporates online reading. Janna raised the topic of metacognition as an important part of learning and that students do not have an awareness of the ways they learn. Judith said that we need to consider the audience when choosing a theme. Sally wondered if everyone is online? Will all librarians be able to connect to a keynote topic that is digital? Christine added that schools are not always able to handle the technology that is being proposed. Melissa stated that we need to advocate for school access of the technologies that the students are already using. Some possible keynote speakers were suggested: Joyce Valenza, Jamie McKenzie, Alan November, Mark Krensky. Kathy responded that the keynote needs to be inspirational and that the topic of project-based learning may have a more universal appeal with elementary librarians. Sally said that younger students are also using technology. Melissa reminded members that digital immigrants are teaching digital natives. Sally added that while Smartboards are in the classrooms, not all teacher are using them. They need more support to learn the technology to develop lessons. Beth asked, What do our students need? How can we engage them? What is engaging them now? Janna responded that there are different literacies for different uses. While texting does not require full sentences, other communications require more formal language. Kathy stated that MLA now requires the format source at the end of the citation, whether it be web, print, interview, etc.

Next meeting: May 20th at the Mid-Manhattan Library.