248: Elevating the School Library

Steve chats with Susan D. Ballard and Sara Kelly Johns, authors of Elevating the School Library, about why developing a brand is important for school libraries, how to separate your personal brand from your organizational brand (including who does it right), and why it’s important to do this work proactively.

Read the transcript!

What is your school library’s brand? This book will help school librarians improve their practice and strengthen their influence within their learning communities, increasing positive perceptions of school libraries through developing a brand in alignment with the AASL Standards.

Sara Kelly Johns (l.), Susan D. Ballard (r.)

A former Director of Library, Media and Technology, Susan D. Ballard guided her district to AASL National School Library of the Year Award recognition. She has served as an adjunct professor and lecturer in various school librarian preparation programs, published numerous articles in professional and scholarly journals and edited and contributed to several books. A Past-President of AASL, the New Hampshire School Library Media Association, and the New England School Library Association, Susan served on the Standards and Guidelines Editorial Board for the National School Library Standards for Learners, School Librarians, and School Libraries. 

Sara Kelly Johns, an online instructor at the Syracuse University iSchool and a long-time school librarian, is a past president of AASL, the New York Library Association (NYLA), and the Section of School Librarians of NYLA. She received the NYLA Lifetime Achievement Award and the first AASL Social Media Superstar Advocacy Ambassador Award. Active in ALA Council and ALA committees, Johns was a member of the Implementation Task Force for the National School Library Standards for Learners, School Librarians, and School Libraries. She has written articles for several school library publications and contributed chapters for various books.

SHOW NOTES:

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Elevating the School Library

169: Amie Wright

Guest host Matthew Murray chats with Amie Wright, President of the American Library Association’s newly formed Graphic Novels & Comics Round Table, about her path to librarianship, coming back to comics as an adult reader, working in NYC to connect libraries and schools, and the work of the GNCRT.

Amie Wright is a Public History Graduate student at Concordia studying how educators use comics books and graphic novels to teach history; formerly, she was the Manager of School Outreach at the New York Public Library and has more than 15+ years experience in Canadian and US libraries. A recipient of Library Journal’s Mover and Shaker Award in 2017, Amie is the first President of the American Library Association’s newly formed Graphic Novels & Comics Round Table. Follow Amie @librarylandia for the ongoing tales of a nomadic comics librarian/historian-in-training. 

Matthew Murray is just about to complete a one-year contract as a Research & Scholarship Librarian at the University of Guelph. He is co-host of Book Club for Masochists: A Readers’ Advisory Podcast, editor for Two-Fisted Library Stories, and a Member-at-Large on the board of ALA’s Graphic Novels and Comics Round Table. You can find him on Twitter @MidniteLibrary.

157: Tim Smyth

Guest host Thomas Maluck chats with Tim Smyth, MS Reading Specialist, about how comics can be a powerful tool in education.

Tim Smyth, MS Reading Specialist, has been teaching social studies at Wissahickon High School in Pennsylvania since 2001 and travels the United States giving professional development on the use of comics in education. His presentations and workshops have been given at numerous comic book conventions (including San Diego Comic Con), museums, universities, schools, and educational conferences on both state and national levels. His teacher guides and articles, which focus on the integration of comics and the classroom, have been published by many notable organizations including MacMillan and PBS. Smyth maintains a comprehensive website at historycomics.net that shares many resources for educators around the world.

Thomas Maluck is a teen services librarian at Richland Library in Columbia, South Carolina with an MLIS from the University of South Carolina. He served on YALSA’s Great Graphic Novels For Teens committee for its 2014 and 2015 lists and has presented about teen programming and collections at various library and pop culture conventions. When he’s not reading as a juror for book awards, he reviews and promotes for No Flying, No Tights, reviews and edits for Do You Even Comic Book, and co-hosts a podcast about comics and libraries, The Secret Stacks. A member of the library’s anime club gave him a Star Build Strike Gundam, the most prestigious award in teen librarianship.

SHOW NOTES:

Tim Smyth’s website

Tim’s PBS columns:

How I Use Comic Books As A Learning Tool In My Social Studies Classroom

How Bringing Comics Into The Classroom Made Me Love Teaching Again

“Comics” vs “Graphic Novels”

Comics, education, and literacy

Padlet: online collaboration tool

Cross-curriculum applications of comics

ALA Graphic Novels & Comics Round Table

Issues vs Collected Editions vs Digital

Comics Discussed In This Episode

This episode of Circulating Ideas is brought to you with support from Mometrix. Through their eLibrary portal, Mometrix offers study guides and practice questions for over 1800 different exams covering college entrance, graduate school, nursing, medical, teacher certification, civil service, and many other careers or fields of study, all fully customizable and at a fraction of the cost of printed books. It’s like having an entire library of test prep materials…. all at your fingertips. So, save space, save paper, and save money; with Mometrix eLibrary. To learn more, visit GOeLibrary.com and use promo code PODCAST to get a free demo and save 10% on your first purchase.

155: Ann Ewbank

Steve chats with Ann Ewbank, and author of Political Advocacy for School Librarians: Leveraging Your Influence, about her path to librarianship, why political advocacy is essential for school librarians, the importance of building relationships with stakeholders, and her time as an inaugural member of the ALA Policy Corps.

Ann Dutton Ewbank, PhD, is associate professor at Montana State University, Bozeman. She researches school library advocacy and is a member-leader in the American Library Association (ALA). A tireless advocate, Ewbank has direct experience working with elected officials at the federal, state, and local levels to enact positive policy for school library programs.

This episode of Circulating Ideas is brought to you with support from Mometrix. Through their eLibrary portal, Mometrix offers study guides and practice questions for over 1800 different exams covering college entrance, graduate school, nursing, medical, teacher certification, civil service, and many other careers or fields of study, all fully customizable and at a fraction of the cost of printed books. It’s like having an entire library of test prep materials…. all at your fingertips. So, save space, save paper, and save money; with Mometrix eLibrary. To learn more, visit GOeLibrary.com and use promo code PODCAST to get a free demo and save 10% on your first purchase.