IASL Conference 2008

University of California at Berkeley, California, USA

World Class Learning & Literacy through School Libraries
IASL 37 th Annual Conference
02-07 August 2008 in Berkeley, California, USA
[Submitted by Gerald Brown and Edith Doyle, Canada]

Imagine if you can 250 registered delegates, from 26 countries, enjoying the serenity and ambience of the Southern California Spanish influence on the Clark Kerr Campus, for six (6) days of workshops, meeting, presentations and plenty of social networking. The weather was excellent; food, delicious; surroundings, conducive to discussion; and the entertainment, relaxed. Twenty-two (22) delegates represented five (5) Canadian provinces.

Themes
The conference was divided into themes: Digital Literacy, Building a community of readers; Building literacy skills in school libraries; supporting reading instruction; and the 12th annual international research forum. Five (5) Pre-conference workshops were well attended, with frequent interactions and much positive feedback. Papers from these sessions were published in the conference proceedings CD.
The Napa Valley winery tour was fully subscribed, and the pictures tell a thousand words. Opportunities to see the San Francisco Bridge and the Bay Bridge were thrown in for good measure.

Keynote Speakers
Stephen Krashen is at it again! He is examining the results of a variety of reading and literacy tests administered to fourth grade students in 40 countries. His analysis and observations shines a bright beacon on the role of quality school library programs and collections in predicting and maintaining reading schools in relative to poverty factors around the world. His presentation was absolutely inspiring.
Check out the CD for more details. Watch for articles in the professional journals soon.

As the Tuesday theme speaker, James Herring (Australia / Scotland) nibbled at the Achilles heel of most school library programs. His title was: Reading web sites – Assumptions, Problems & Potential Strategies. “… there appears to be little evidence of systematic approaches to teaching students how to read, as separate from using websites.” He involved the audience in examining reading - texts on websites, graphics, photographs, visuals, and related resources to demonstrate his thesis and to show strategies to improve the situation. It was an A++ session.

Wednesday’s theme speaker was Ann Carlson Weeks (USA). Her presentation was about the use of the International Children’s Digital Library (ICDL) as a full-text library of children’s books from around the world that is freely available on the Internet through the University of Maryland. This too was an outstanding view of how we can ‘strengthen global understanding through children’s books.

Sessions which were of particular interest included:

(1) Understanding S. L. Education in the International Context was a panel chaired by Dr. Jennifer Branch (Canada) which related the experiences and scope of programming around the world.

(2) Morning Reading for the Whole School by Karin Gaarsted (Denmark) dealt with the impact and phenomena of earlier morning sustained silent reading – competent and fast readers who understand that reading is key to their success in all other subjects.

(3) Researchers’ Workshop: A New Approach for Literacy Learning in S. Ls gave Dr. Barbara McNeil (Canada) an opportunity to related four educational frameworks and to focus on the pedagogy of caring and nurturing learners over the long term in their learning activities.

(4) Reading Mandala: A Scalable Model for Developing Reading Habits in Children in Rural China allowed James Henri (China/Australia) to report on a developmental project with sponsors and workers in rural communities, and ways to measure the success of the investments.

(5) Exploring the new AASL Standards for the 21 st Century Learner involved an animated panel discussion where give various stakeholders and participants discussed student cognition, self-assessment and strategies to implement this new tool.

(6) Helping Students become Life-long Learners, by Dona Hartwich (Australia) focused attention on the priority role for all T-Ls – helping kids learn how to learn.

(7) The Net Generation: Tech-savvy or Lost in Virtual Space addressed the data in the second phase of Barbara Combes (Australia) research in West Australia. The results are critical for success in reaching this generation.

(8) Library Services for Students with Autism gave Lesley Farmer (US) an opportunity to appeal for library resources and settings to help these students in regular situations.

(9) Facebook: A S. Ln’s Tool for Building a Community of Readers provided a palette for Paulette Stewart (Jamaica) to describe how this tool is being used effectively for social networking and direct learning.

(10) Libraries of the Ages: The Diglibs showed how one school in India, managed by Madhu Bhargava (India) is addressing the ‘cultural changes caused by digital learning’ as the format changes but the content, use and needs remain constant.

Archives
The IASL Archives collection 1971-2007, which have been compiled and indexed by Gerald Brown was presented. The electronic database INDEX consists of 65,000 entries, which can be sorted by author / initiator, date, title, subject, and country of origin. Several perspectives and developmental trends were reviewed. These files are now stored at Western Michigan University.

Fund-Raising
The 19th annual fund-raising event included a raffle of 81 items which brought in $ 510, a silent auction of 90+ items which raised about $ 726, and a public auction of 31 items which raised $ 1400. The highest bid went for a registration for the Padua 2009 conference at $ 150. These funds are used as part of the Leadership Development Fund which makes awards to delegates from developing countries to attend the annual conference, or other local professional growth activities in their local area. Recipients for 2008 were:

Jean E. Lowrie Leadership Award - Eunice McKenzie (Jamaica)
Ken Haycock Leadership Award – Jerry Mathema (Zimbabwe)

Some of the funds are also contributed to Support-A-Member mentorship programs, and Support-An-Association projects. The manager for the auction activities was Gerald Brown, with superb assistance from Jane Hardy, Bobbi Margo & Roseann Kosulandich (among others).

Awards
Other 2008 awards conferred were:

Murofushi Research Award – Dr. Marcia A. Mardis (USA)
IASL/Softlink International Excellence Award – Madhu Bhargava (India)
Linksplus Commendation Award – ASLA Online Virtual Conferences, Australian School Library Association
IASL School Library Technology Innovation Award - IBrary – Ray Doiron & Marlene Asselin (Canada)
Books for Children Program - Kenya School Library Association (Lessos, Kenya), St. Josephs Primary School (Swaziland), Tipu Model School & College (Kabal Swat, Pakistan)

Bookmarks Project
A unique feature for this was a contribution of approximately 1000 bookmarks that had been created by students from across European school libraries for the ENSIL conference in Wels, Austria in February 2008. Helen Boelens co-ordinated the collection, and forward them to IASL to be displayed and sold at 5 for $ 1.00 which brought in about $ 250 for the LDF above. Thanks to our European colleagues for thinking of this idea, and tossing the challenge now to another association or country to provide bookmarks and/or pins for the 2009 event in Padua, Italy.

Board, Executive Committee, Special Interest Groups, AGM, Long-term Member’s tea, Committees and Assembly of Associations Meetings
It should be noted that these groups met to work on the directions for future growth, membership development strategies, and other administrative matters. Thanks to President James Henri, Executive Secretary Karen Bonanno, and the various other leaders for their significant contributions. Besides finding time for these meetings, their personal interaction with the delegates was greatly appreciated.

Conference 2009
Start planning now – the 38th Annual conference & Research Forum will be held in Padua, Italy from 01-04 September 2009. The venue is Hotel Alexander Palace. The theme will be: School Libraries in the picture: Preparing pupils for the future – Information Research through the school library. Papers are now being accepted.
See http://www.iasl-online.org/events/conf/2009
Co-ordinators are Dr. Luisa Marquardt and Prof. Donatella Lombello
Look forward to a fine program, wonderful entertainment, and great contacts from Europe and around the world.

Thanks & Appreciation
In appreciation for his ten years as Co-ordinator of the Special Interest Group – International Development which is being passed over to Ray Doiron and Marlene Asselin, and for his many years on the Board and Executive since 1994, and as a general member since 1982, Gerald Brown was awarded an Honorary Life Membership in IASL.

Special thanks to the other members who are stepping down from office at this time: Ruth Ann Cady (USA), Co-ordinator, SIG – Children’s & Young Adults; Regional Director Jagtar Singh (India)
Welcome to the new members of the Board and Executive. We look forward to your strong and active leadership.

Warmest thanks and appreciation to Dr. Blanche Woolls, 2008 Conference Co-ordinator (San Jose, California); Kristin Fontichiaro, Program Co-ordinator (Birmingham, Michigan); and Dr. Marcia Maris, Research Forum Co-ordinator (Ann Arbor, Michigan). The whole committee did a fine job of co-ordinating the numerous events, sites, volunteers, and interacting with local site managers.
Berkeley is a beautiful campus. Oakland had many attractions. The features of San Francisco attracted many tourist comments too. Thanks for an excellent conference

Respectfully submitted - Gerald Brown & Edith Doyle
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada 2008.08.18 1484 words

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Last updated 24 August 2008 (KSB)