DASL Update

Dear DASL Members,

Hello there! I’m Christina Personti, your new DASL president, and I’m thrilled to take on this role! I hope the start of the 2024-2025 school year has been productive and filled with joyful moments—preferably involving books.

I’m diving into my third year as the librarian at Austin D. Baltz Elementary School, in Wilmington, DE, in the Red Clay Consolidated School District. After over 20 years in education—yes, I’ve been around long enough to witness the evolution from library cards to barcodes and scanners—I’ve done it all: teaching third and fourth grades, as well as English Language Development. I’m still finding my way in this role and, to be honest, I sometimes feel like I’m navigating a maze blindfolded. But I’m committed to learning and figuring it all out along the way and I promise to represent DASL with all the enthusiasm of a librarian at a book fair! I want to amplify our voices and shine a spotlight on the incredible work we do as school librarians.

I have a treasure trove of ideas for the upcoming year, and I’m eager to collaborate with all of you to make DASL even more fabulous. Please feel free to reach out anytime with questions and suggestions. If I don’t know the answer right away, I’ll do my best to find it!

Looking forward to an amazing year together!

Thank you,

Mrs. Christina Personti
DASL President

#worldsloudestlibrarian

ASPIRA was lucky enough to have a visit from Mr. John Schu last week! Mr. Schu is an author of books for young readers, middle school readers, and teachers. He often travels the country spreading his message about the power of how stories can connect us. While he was here, he connected with so many adults and children as he shared books he loves. It was a wonderful two days of celebrating books!

This Fall ALSC members have the opportunity to research, discover, and celebrate one another through the ALSC Professional Recognition Awards. Applications are open now!

Do you love children's literature and researching? The Louise Seaman Bechtel Fellowship might be right for you. Selected fellows receive up to $7500 to visit and study at the Baldwin Library of Historical Children's Literature of the George A. Smathers Libraries, University of Florida, Gainesville. Applications are due October 15, 2024.

New to the field of children's librarianship and want to attend your first ALA Annual Conference this June in Philadelphia? The Penguin Random House Young Readers Award may be just the ticket for you. Two librarians will be chosen to attend and given $1200 to help offset costs. Applications are due November 15, 2024.

Now is the time to shine a light on an ALSC individual member who has made a significant contribution to the field of children's librarianship or ALSC. This can be over a career lifespan or through a special project that had wide impact ALA members, nominate that ALSC coworker, friend, or mentor you respect for the Distinguished Service Award. Nominations are due December 15, 2024

Learn more about these and other ALSC Awards by visiting the ALSC Professional Awards & Grants website.

Contact the ALSC Professional Recognition and Scholarships Committee co-chairs Mary Schreiber, schreiberalsc@gmail.com, and Gwen Vanderhage, gvanderhage.ala@gmail.com, if you have any questions.

In this toolkit, you will find tools to successfully start your TeenTober activities. This toolkit includes a press kit with samples of press releases, social media posts, and community partner letters. Also included is a checklist/timeline you can follow to ensure you are able to plan a successful celebration, and advocacy tools to help you discuss libraries and their services to teens, as well as sample programming ideas that you can implement and adapt. Finally, there are evaluation forms not only for library staff, but also for feedback directly from the teens you serve.

If you have any questions, comments, or feedback, we want to hear it! Please do not hesitate to reach out to us at yalsa@ala.org.

Teen Read Week™ is a national adolescent literacy initiative created by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA). It began in 1998 and is held annually during the third week of October. Its purpose is to encourage teens to be regular readers and library users.

Teen Read Week’s sub-theme for this year is Seek the Unknown @ your library, which encourages teens to explore and learn about the unknown through mystery, adventure, sci-fi, and fantasy books.

The official hashtag for this year’s initiative is #TRW13.

Woodbridge High School has over 260 books that librarians, teachers, and students can participate in reading selections and vote! If interested and wanting to participate, contact Harry Brake at harry.brake@wsd.k12.de.us

Law for Librarians! As libraries contend with the unprecedented rise in demands to censor library materials and legislation designed to impair intellectual freedom, the American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) trainers provide trainings to library professionals so they will have the legal knowledge to address censorship and other challenges to intellectual freedom and privacy in libraries. The program seeks to develop the next generation of intellectual freedom advocates who will be equipped to provide support and expertise to library workers now and for the years to come.

Local, state, and regional training sessions on intellectual freedom are provided to support new and veteran librarians.

Please indicate what days/times would be best to attend a series of Law for Librarians workshops to help your faculty and students!