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The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) announces the release of the new Fall 2011 Online Education Course schedule. ALSC is offering five courses, each of which begins September 26.

Each of the five courses addresses a different topic and includes ideas for librarians and children’s literature enthusiasts. The courses run four to six weeks long and are administered through Moodle, ALA’s online learning platform. Through Moodle, participants will interact with other course members, read articles and resources and share class assignments.

Connecting with ‘Tween Readers (four weeks, Sept. 26 – Oct. 21) examines the developmental needs and abilities that make this age group (children 10 – 12 years old) unique. Participants will discuss why tweens are particularly vulnerable to illiteracy, and what types of activities and programs (including the utilization of currently popular technologies) libraries can offer to keep these children on the path to becoming lifelong readers.

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The Caldecott Medal (six weeks, Sept. 26 – Nov. 4) investigates how the winning book is selected each year and what characteristics are important in picture book art. What makes picture book illustration distinguished? And how has that definition changed over time? Learn about how the award has transformed the publishing world over time, and how to look critically at picture book art.

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Series Programming for the Elementary School Age (four weeks, Sept. 26 – Oct. 21) examines series book and why kids love them! This course provides the tools necessary to establish series clubs at the library to get more children reading and using the library. Programming with trivia, games, music and reading will have children clamoring to come back to the library each week.

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Introduction to Graphic Novels for Children (six weeks, Sept. 26 – Nov. 4) opens children’s literature to graphic novels, an emerging trend in children’s publishing. Students will be educated in what resources are available to locate children’s graphic novels, how to evaluate these books, how to start or develop a collection and how to market the collection and provide programming to patrons. Funding and cataloging will also be discussed.

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Reading Instruction and Children’s Books (five weeks, Sept. 26 – Oct. 28) provides children’s librarians with an understanding of different methodologies for reading instruction and ways that the grade-level of reading materials is determined. Books, periodicals, websites and other material that children need to read will be evaluated from these perspectives. Librarians will be encouraged to develop strategies for explaining these grading formulae to parents and to communicate more effectively with teachers as a result of their understanding.

In addition to these five courses, ALSC is also offering two webinars in August that are perfect learning opportunities before the school year starts. These one-to-two hour webinars are offered at specific times and offered through Ado

Hello ALSC!

As many of you may already know, I’ve made the difficult decision to step down as ALSC Executive Director. It’s been a terrific 3+ years with all of you, but my husband and I are seeking to adopt a second child (we adopted Steven, now 5, in January 2004), and I feel like I need to turn my attention family-ward for a little while. My last day will be Wednesday, April 1, 2009.

I’m remaining a member of ALA and ALSC, and hope to see many of you at Annual Conference in July. I am also on Facebook and encourage you all to join; it’s very easy to use and makes staying in touch simple and fun!

Interviews for my successor have already taken place and I expect the announcement of the new Executive Director to be made shortly; stay tuned. In the meantime, rest assured that the ALSC staff remains in place and available to support you. For a complete list of staff and their responsibilities, please visit http://www.ala.org/alsc and click on About ALSC–Contact ALSC.

Many thanks to all of you for making ALSC such an essential and vibrant Association! It’s been my honor to serve you all.

Diane Foote, Executive Director
Association for Library Service to Children
50 E. Huron St.
Chicago, IL 60611
312-280-2162

Hello, ALSC!

I’ve communicated with a few of you already, but I know folks might be curious about what’s happening in division governance right now, given actions that were passed by the Board in Denver, and the tragedy that we are all struggling to cope with.

ALSC’s first priority right now is to honor our lost colleagues, comfort one another, and make sure we all have the information we need about memorial arrangements, and we’ve been doing that. I can’t thank everyone enough for the tremendous outpouring of sympathy and honoring I’ve witnessed over the past couple of weeks.

Our second priority is to make sure the association’s governance continues as smoothly as possible. The ALSC Bylaws specify a clear process for filling a vacancy in the position of Vice President; the Board elects from among its members in the second or third year of Board service a person to assume the Vice Presidency, and then the Presidency in July. Please see ALSC Bylaw V.3 (available at http://www.ala.org/alsc; click on About ALSC–Governance–Bylaws.) for the complete text.

Next, we follow the process, also specified in the Bylaws, for filling the Board vacancy; it is a Presidential appointment.

Next, we will pick up again the regular business of the association: making plans for upcoming conferences, working to put Board actions from Midwinter 2009 into place. May I please ask for everyone’s patience as we move through these steps; we will work with the new VP and the Priority Group Consultants to make sure committee business stays on track.

Thank you, everyone!

Diane Foote, Executive Director
Association for Library Service to Children
50 E. Huron St.
Chicago, IL 60611

In November ALSC will be starting a new series on the blog entitle, “Things I Didn’t Learn in Library School…,” to give our student members a feel for what it’s like to be a new librarian.  Obviously Library School prepares you well professionally, but what about all of those “real life” situations that come up, and you’re left wondering, “What do I do now?!”

If you have a humorous anecdote or a piece of advice you would like to share please send it my way.  I’m going to compile responses and post a few on the blog every month.  If you’re already a blog author, feel free to post your own come November!  Please send entries to me, Jenny Najduch, at [email protected]

This is meant to be fun and lighthearted, so please, have a good time with it and share a story that will make fellow members smile! :)  Remember to check-back in November for the first installment of “Things I Didn’t Learn…” and feel free to join in the discussion by leaving comments for fellow readers.

 Thanks!
Jenny

In fall 2008, ALA will unveil a redesigned Web site that is the culmination of two years of gathering information from focus groups, interviews, usability tests, surveys, and other feedback loops.  ALSC’s Web site will also be redesigned to follow the new ALA site structure as closely as possible.

 From August 1 until ALA’s new Web site is launched, ALSC is unable to make changes to its Web pages.  However, existing content will remain live, and breaking news will continue to update on the ALA home page.  In addition, the ALSC-L electronic discussion list and blog will continue to offer current information.  We appreciate your patience and apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.  The target date of the launch is early September.

We invite you to preview the site’s new look at www.ala.org/preview, and to see ALSC’s work in progress at http://staging.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/alsc/index.cfm. 

We are excited about these changes and expect they will greatly enhance your ALA Web experience!  Please contact the ALA Library at [email protected] (or 800-545-2433, x2153) if you need assistance locating specific content or updates during our migration.

Posted by Jenny Najduch, ALSC Marketing Specialist

This fall marks a first for ALSC with the start of Online Continuing Education!  Four online courses will be offered this fall, including: “Reading Instruction and Children’s Books” (Katherine Todd); “The Tech Savvy Booktalker” (Nancy J. Keane); “The Technology Enhanced Library Professional” (Sara Fisher); and “Sharing Poetry with Children” (Sylvia M. Vardell).

 The first set of courses, selected by the ALSC Education Committee, will begin Oct. 6 and run through Nov. 14.  Future sessions are scheduled for February 2009 and summer 2009.  All courses will run between four and six weeks and will be taught in an online learning community using Moodle.

 Two of the courses focus specifically on using technology in children’s library programming.  “The Technology-Enhanced Library Professional” will show participants how new technologies can be utilized in the library.  The course will also explore, through the discussion of current events and articles, different issues arising with the increasing use and popularity of the Internet.  “The Tech Savvy Booktalker” will discuss ways to jazz up children’s book talks by adding technology.  Participants will learn how to enhance student success by making use of electronic tools such as podcasts and Microsoft PowerPoint, Movie Maker, and Photo Story.

 The other two courses are about age appropriate reading instruction and sharing poetry with children.  “Reading Instruction and Children’s Books” is about the different methodologies for reading instruction, and how to determine and interpret grade-level assigned books to effectively assist patrons.  Participants will evaluate children’s materials for grade-level of reading and develop strategies for clearly communicating this system to parents and teachers.  “Sharing Poetry with Children” aims to teach participants about the major poets, titles and anthologies of contemporary poetry published for children.  Emphasis will be placed on interactive participatory techniques for sharing poetry with children and fostering their responses.

For more information or to register for one of the courses visit: www.ala.org/alscevents.  Questions?  Contact Aimee Strittmatter at [email protected]

Posted by Jenny Najduch, ALSC Marketing Specialist