Beacon, M. (1818). Alphabet [Embroidery]. Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum Collection, New York, NY, United States. https://www.si.edu/object/sampler:chndm_1976-100-8

Professional Organizations

American Association of School Librarians

The AASL’s webpage spells out their beliefs and from the perspectives of learners, school librarians, and school libraries. They focus a lot of their content on how to explain the beliefs of the AASL to the various stakeholders in a school setting: administrators, parents, students, and even the community at large. Their page stresses the importance of collaboration with all stakeholders with the goal of helping learners.

American Association of School Librarians. (2021). https://www.ala.org/aasl/

Association for Library Service to Children

I follow the ALSC because of Dr. Jane Taylor.  She was a public-school-administrator-turned preschool director at my children’s preschool. She’s long since retired, but she believed in a solid preschool education firmly grounded in play. One of their programs particularly caught my eye, “Babies Need Words Every Day: Talk, Read, Sing, Play” since it reminds me of that preschool program. The ALSC’s ideas for bringing learning to young children are creative, thoughtful, and seem easy to execute. This is an important group for me to watch if I decide to work with younger children in a library setting.

Association for Library Service to Children. (2021). https://www.ala.org/alsc/

Catholic Library Association

As a Catholic, the history of Catholic scholarship including Fr. Georges LeMaitre, Alice von Hildebrand, and St. Theresa of Avila, Doctor of the Church, is important to me. I joined the Catholic Library Association to have a place to learn how my faith and my scholarship tie together. This organization honors Catholic librarian scholarship through awards and comments on ethical issues in librarianship.

Catholic Library Association. (2021). https://www.cathla.org/

Virginia Association of School Librarians

The VAASL is a state affiliate of the American Association of School Librarians. They offer a page that tracks legislation that affects schools and libraries in the state. They also include a calendar of diversity and inclusion events that could be helpful for school librarians, listing such events as National Adoption Month, Diwali, and International Day of Persons with Disabilities.

Virginia Association of School Libraries. (2021). https://www.vaasl.org/

Young Adult Library Services Association

From Award-winning books to resources for YA librarians, the YALSA is a wealth of information. Their resources include data-driven studies, suggestions for how to host a teen writing contest, and how to change your summer reading program to a summer learning program. Since I work in a high school, I’m very interested in young adult literature and finding ways to get students interested in reading.

Young Adult Library Services Association. (2021). https://www.ala.org/yalsa/

Journals

School Library Journal

The School Library Journal provides resources on school and public libraries, as well as a blog, and technology reviews. This journal has helpful information for me as I learn more about the various fields in library science, as well as the current issues that are surfacing in this career. This journal will also expose me to experts in the field.

School Library Journal. (n.d.). School Library Journal. Retrieved November 16, 2021, from https://www.slj.com/

Other Interests

Loudoun Literacy Council

Literacy is important to me. I have come across many organizations that promote literacy throughout the United States, and I wanted to include at least one of their links.  I decided on the organization closest to home, for me, the Loudoun Literacy Council.  This is our county literacy program, and they provide books to low-income families, they teach a class for parents to learn how to talk to their children’s teachers, and they offer literacy programs for all ages.

Loudoun Literacy Council. (2021). https://loudounliteracy.org/

Pew Research Center

Dr. Kimmel mentioned The Pew Research Center in one of her recorded lessons.  This seems like a valuable website for a librarian to have at her disposal.  It’s very easy to get absorbed in the website and lose track of time because of the fabulous graphics and charts relating to whatever topic was researched. Also, the section entitled “short reads” has great information that I could imagine adding to a presentation.

Pew Research Center. (2021). https://www.pewresearch.org/

Social Media and Blogs

Colleen Graves, Makerspace Promoter

Makerspaces simultaneously interest me and intimidate me. Colleen Graves‘s commonsense approach to adding makerspace activities to libraries makes the task seem manageable. Her webpage, www.colleeengraves.org has resources for school makerspaces, including projects, supplies, and storage solutions. She and her husband have written two books on makerspace projects. She also has a presence on Twitter at @gravescolleen.

Graves, C. (2020, September 24). https://colleengraves.org/

Teen Librarian Toolbox

I currently work in a high school, and the Teen Librarian Toolbox has a lot of resources for librarians who work with teens. It provides extensive book reviews, professional development tools, and blog posts on the topic of Things I Didn’t Learn In Library School. I particularly appreciate their page entitled An A-Z Guide of Teen Issues, which links to blog posts grouped by issue.

School Library Journal. (n.d.). Teen Librarian Toolbox. https://www.teenlibrariantoolbox.com/