[Asis-l] School librarians walk away with network, knowledge after Summer Getaway

[Schmidt, Kimberly Rae]

School librarians walk away with network, knowledge after Summer Getaway



The Graduate School of Library and Information Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign hosted a series of workshops recently that brought together school librarians from across the state to learn about current topics in K-12 librarianship from experts and from each other.



The Summer Getaway: Professional Development for School Librarians event consisted of four workshops spread across a three-day period, June 23-25, which focused on emerging trends and issues in school librarianship and offered opportunities to gain hands-on experience using the newest technologies. Topics included performance evaluations and student learning objectives; ebooks and ereaders; iPads and apps for K-8 library instruction; and Google apps. The workshops were led by experts in the field, including librarians, media specialists, an assessment consultant from the Illinois State Board of Education, and a technology and classroom instructor.



Since many school librarians serve as the only librarian for several schools or even for an entire district, opportunities for these educators to share resources and network with peers are few and far between. The Summer Getaway allowed participants to connect with other professionals in their field throughout the event and at a luncheon sponsored by the Illinois School Library Media Association (ISLMA) on June 25.



As a library resource center director and president of the Mt. Prospect Education Association, Michelle Waters-Walsh will take what she learned at the Getaway back to her district and launch an initiative to help educators implement student learning objectives. “Now I have a better framework for how we’ll do that with our school librarians and I’ll be able to share that with them,” she said. “Getting to know what other librarians are doing at other schools, being able to network with them and share ideas with them, is just an incredible opportunity. I’m the only librarian at our middle school and we’re only a four-school district, so I don’t get to meet a lot of other librarians. This is like one-stop shopping for networking with other librarians at other levels.”



“The Summer Getaway event brought together experts from the field and the expertise of the nation’s top school both for library and information science and for youth services to offer the kind of continuing professional development that is crucial for school librarians today,” said Georgeann Burch, GSLIS K-12 program coordinator. Burch co-organized the event with Tonyia Tidline, director for professional development.


“We were so pleased to welcome librarians from across Illinois, and we hope that the supportive, educational network that we built this week extends beyond the three-day workshop series and allows participants to continuing working together to apply what they learned here,” said Burch.


The Graduate School of Library and Information Science at Illinois is the premier LIS program in the nation, consistently ranked number one by U.S. News and World Report. We offer advanced degrees with areas of specialization including data curation, digital libraries, social and community informatics, socio-technical data analytics, and youth services as well as continuing professional development opportunities. Courses are available both on campus and online. More information can be found at <http://www.lis.illinois.edu/> www.lis.illinois.edu<http://www.lis.illinois.edu/>


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Kim Schmidt
Director of Publications and Media Relations
Graduate School of Library and Information Science
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
501 East Daniel Street
Champaign, IL 61820
(217) 265-6391
www.lis.illinois.edu
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