January has been a very busy month with some exciting opportunities to collaborate, support, and meet Alabama's AMAZING school library media specialists!

• January 2019 First Friday - kicking off the new year learning about funding, grants, and library enhancement money.
• Shout out to the Region 4 (Sumter, Hale, Greene) librarians in the southern part of the region for a wonderful time of PD. I can't wait to come back for another PLC meeting!
  
• Hoover City Librarians had a jam-packed afternoon of learning & collaboration with topics of book talks from the Hoover City Public Library (diverse books), DLCS integration, library media updates, ASLA Best Websites - and I'm sure I missed something because there were so many awesome topics!
• No Other Option Leadership Summit - Jacksonville State University & Alabama School Library Association hosted the first leadership summit just for librarians. It was a great day of selected participants to discuss leadership and advocacy with even Hilda Weisburg - the author of Leading from the Library - No Other Option

I cannot wait to see what February has in store as I travel to Cullman County/Region 2 for a great day of PD. (STIPD # ALSDELIB127), EdCamp ASLA @ Homewood Public Library - all are welcome!, and hopefully all the way down to Saraland for the Region 10 Library Media PLG meeting.

I would love to work with your system for professional development, please reach out to me or have the central office library media contact/supervisor.

Read the rest of the newsletter below. It's worth the scroll!

Description: Library Media Specialists make data-driven decisions daily that impact not only the effectiveness of the library media program but also positively impacts student success. In this session, learn what data to pull, how to analyze the data, and use the information gathered to make data-driven decisions in the library to increase the impact and effectiveness of the library media program. In addition, learn how to advocate by using the data and analysis for the library media program with stakeholders.

Target Audience: K-12 Library Media Specialists

9:30 AM & 1:00 PM Live Sessions (each session will be recorded)

Learning Objectives:

• Evaluate data to help make decisions about the library media program
• Synthesize data to advocate for the library media program
• Assess the impact of the library media program on student success

STIPD# ALSDELIB126

Visit the First Friday PD website for all details including the links to join the WebEx.

Click the link below to view the Library Media Shout Outs. Don't forget to email cdillard@alsde.edu to submit shout outs, celebrations, and/or photos of library instruction, activities, programs, etc. to be featured in the Alabama Library Media Updates Newsletter.

Region 2 Library Media PD - Friday, February 8, 2019 @ Cullman County Schools

Topics will include: MakerSpace/Innovation Stations, STEM, Library Standards, Collaboration, and Strategic Planning for the Effective Library Media Center.

View the event flyer by clicking the link here.

Due to seating capacity, registration is limited to 32 library media specialists in the Inservice Region 2. (There will be more PD opportunities in other regions & systems! Thank you for your understanding!)

STIPD # ALSDELIB127

EdCamp ASLA - Friday, February 15, 2019 @ Homewood Public Library

Free PD event for Librarians - connect with public librarians as well!

Register at https://sites.google.com/view/aslalibrarians/events/edcamp today to reserve your seat. This will be a great day to collaborate, network, and learn from many different librarians across the state.

STIPD credit will be available & details given at the event.

If you need lodging, you can use the link to reserve a room at Aloft (must be reserved by January 24th for the block/discount)

Media Center Specialist PLG Meetings Spring 2019 - Technology in Motion

Library Media Specialists in Baldwin, Mobile, Escambia, Washington, Clarke, & Monroe counties are welcome to register to join the professional learning group. Register to attend @ bit.ly/lmplg19

Description: Alabama Technology in Motion will be sponsoring two great professional learning group meetings designed just for media center specialists. The sessions will focus on integrating the new Alabama course of study standards for digital literacy and computer science into library instruction.

Dates & Topics

• February 28 - Lions and Tigers and Drones, Oh My! @ Saraland High School (8-11 or 12-3)
• March 28: Are We There Yet? @ Denton Middle School (8-11 or 12-3)

See detailed information about each session/topic linked here.

ATTENTION! Please use the button to respond to the poll with your date preference.

Select Friday, March 1 or March 8.

*There will still be two sessions, 9:30 AM and 1:00 PM.

Topic: Book Talks

Description: Hear book talks from other librarians on a wide array of topics, grade levels, and genres of books. Book nominated for the Camellia Children's Choice Award will be featured during the session focused on elementary books.

If you are interested in providing a 3-5 minute book talk on one of your favorites, please use the form linked below to submit a book title. You can also record your book talk in case you are unable to present live.

We would be excited to hear from you on the next First Friday! Please share this Google Form if you have some public librarian friends who might be interested in providing a book talk as well! It is always great to partner with public librarians.

If you have not used Pear Deck, then you are definitely missing out! Pear Deck is similar to Nearpod, but has some unique features making it user-friendly and quick to get started.

I love Google Slides, and Pear Deck pairs nicely with Google Slides to quickly create engaging and interactive slide decks that will have students sharing answers, discussing, and even drawing to connect with information.

BIG POSITIVE! Pear Deck has the Google Be Internet Awesome Digital Citizenship slide decks available with interactivity and engaging activities.

Check out Pear Deck, use it with a class, and share about how you are using Pear Deck.

Feel free to reach out! I would love to hear from you, help you, and definitely support you!

Email: cdillard@alsde.edu
Website: http://bit.ly/ALMO1
Phone: 334-694-4768
Twitter: @Mrs_Dilly