Lois Petersen Becomes Life - Alaska Library Association

Newsletter of The Alaska Association of School Librarians (AkASL) 

AkASL 

Winners of 

2006 

Lois Petersen 

Becomes Lifetime 

Member 

of AkASL and 

AkLA 

The many-faceted, multitalented 

librarian par excellance, 

Lois Petersen, receives 

well-deserved awards at the 

2006 Conference Awards 

Banquet. 

Judith Anglin, Sue Sherif, 

and Lois Petersen 

Congratulations to 

Mary Hacker and 

Suzanne Richards! 

Read their stories 

on page 14 

Suzanne Richards 

and Mary 

Hacker, plus 

Awards! 

Spring 2006, v25 #3 

Did You 

Know??? 

AkASL awards 

grants to help librarians 

go to the 

AkLA conference 

every year. In 

return, they write 

articles for the 

Puffin which are 

published in the 

spring and fall 

issues. See pages 

15-20 to learn 

what impressed 

some of this 

year’s recipients. 

Table of Contents 

AkASL 2006 Winners. . . . . . . . . . . .p.1 

AkASL Minutes in Brief . . . . . . . . . .p.2 

President’s Message . . . . . . . . . . . . .p.3 

Something From Sue. . . . . . . . . . . . .p.4 

State Databases Tutorials . . . . . . . . .p.5 

Alaska Library Network (ALN) . . . .p.5 

Books Cafe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p.6-7 

Dates To Put In Your Calendar . . . .p.7 

National Board Certification. . . . . . p. 8 

SouthEastern Report. . . . . . . . . . . . p. 9 

AkASL Sales Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 9 

Northern Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .p.10 

Western Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 10 

SouthCentral Report. . . . . . . . . p.11-12 

Battle of The Books . . . . . . . . . . . . .p.13 

2006 Awards. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .p.14 

2006 Conference Reports . . . . . p.15-20 

. . . Web-Based Tutorials . . . . . . . .p.15 

. . . Mars and Venus - Michael Sullivan 

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p.16-17 

. . . Virtual Library . . . . . . . . . . . . .p.18 

. . . First Time Attendee . . . . . . . . .p.19 

. . . Alaska Digital Archives. . . . . .p.20 

Webbies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .p.21 

AkASL E’Board Membership . . . . .p.22 

Future Conferences . . . . . . . . . . . . .p.22

Excerpts from the AkASL E’Board minutes . . . 

by Tiki Levinson 

Your AkASL executive board meets monthly via conference calls. As always, 

if you have concerns, questions, suggestions or comments, please contact an 

E’ Board member. (See last page of this publication for contact informtion, 

names & links.) Here are some highlights from the past few meetings: 

Here are some highlights from the past few meetings: 

FEBRUARY 24 (in Anchorage at the 

AkLA Conference) 

• One area representative will be in 

charge of the AkASL Travel Grant 

application process. This is intended 

to streamline the process. 

• We are still trying to get a speaker 

approved for the 2006 Principal’s 

Conference to continue our advocacy 

campaign. 

• The University of Washington 

I-School included Alaska in a grant 

application which, if approved, 

could provide a training program 

for advocacy, teaching to standards 

and relations in the school building 

for librarians in the region. 

• A representative from our board 

may be chosen to regularly attend 

AASL delegate assembly at ALA. 

• The election results were certified. 

An excellent turn-out! 

MARCH 15 

• Summer School Librarian’s Institute 

will be held July 31- August 4 

in Anchorage with Alice Yucht as 

the main instructor. 

• AkASL needs to find a Battle of the 

Books Coordinator to replace Shelley 

Logsdon. This is her last year 

of unflagging service and dedication. 

p. 2 

• AkASL survey results show overwhelming 

concern for the certification 

issue. Kari Sagel and Robin 

Turk are going to head up a committee 

to investigate. 

APRIL 19 

• Awards Chair Vacancy: We say a 

grateful thank-you to Janelle Maki 

who has done an exemplary job as 

Awards Chair. 

• Michael Sullivan will be a sectional 

speaker for the October 15-17th 

• Principal’s Conference. Lynn Mc- 

Namara. has graciously offered to 

take over with his arrangements. 

• Alaska Library Network Bob 

VanDerWege and Valerie Oliver 

have both served on the committee 

this past year. At this time Val will 

continue to serve on the committee 

representing school librarians. Bob 

has offered to fill in for her when 

she is unable to attend. 

• Certification Issue: Kari Sagle has 

an excellent game plan and will be 

working with Bob VanDerWege , 

Erika Drain, Robin Turk, Sue Sherrif. 

and Barb Bryson. 

• 2007 Advocacy Grant Brochure: We 

are designing a brochure to continue 

our advocacy efforts. 

• AkASL Listserv: Brief discussion 

and lots of interest about getting a 

listserv set up for school librarians. 

Librarian’s Institute, July 31-August 4th 

at UAA Consortium Library, Anchorage 

Alice Yucht will be the featured 

presenter at the institute which will 

also include breakout sessions led by 

outstanding teacher librarians from 

around Alaska. 

Alice Yucht has written two books 

for school librarians: Elementary 

School Librarian’s Desk Reference: Library 

Skills and Management Guide, 

and FLIP IT!TM an Information Skills 

Strategy for Student Researchers. Her 

articles have appeared in a variety 

of professional journals. The FLIP 

it!TM framework for problem-solv- 

The Puffin 

is the official publication of the Alaska 

Association of School Librarians. 

(AkASL) 

It is generally published 

three times a year; 

fall, winter, and spring. 

Fall 2006 deadline 

is Sept. 20, 2006 

Send articles to Puffin Editor: 

Suzanne Metcalfe 

suzmet@gci.net 

Puffin Publisher: 

Pat Wamsley 

wamsley@mtaonline.net 

Any general inquiries should be 

directed to: 

AkASL President: 

Barb Bryson 

barb_bryson@valdez.cc 

--- 

(For full names of all AkASL E’Board 

members and contact email address, 

see last page of this newsletter.) 

Here’s a most interesting Library 

BLOG - give it a try! 

A L I C E IN INFOLAND 

Alice Yucht’s reflections on realities, 

illusions, and magic potions 

for school / library / life 

http://www.aliceinfo.org/blog 

ing that she developed with middleschool 

students has been adopted as 

a basic resource by several schools/ 

districts. 

Here’s a link to Alice Yucht’s website: 

http://www.aliceinfo.org/bio where 

you can get a taste of all you’ll learn 

at the summer institute. 

The Puffin, Spring 2006 v25, #3

President’s Message 

Barb’s 

Byline ... 

Our library 

profession has many challenges 

ahead. This brings to mind 

a quote from Benjamin Franklin, 

“We must all hang together 

or most assuredly we will all 

hang separately.” Collaboration 

is the key, and sharing our 

message with policy makers at 

the state and local level is crucial 

at this time. 

I am constantly impressed at 

the caliber of school library 

media specialists from around 

our state. Over the past few 

years AkASL has worked 

very hard to emphasize the 

variety of hats school librarians 

wear, and the impact of 

quality school librarians in the 

education of our students. It 

is especially important this 

year with legislative funding 

for education such a major 

concern. If you didn’t get an 

opportunity to hand deliver 

this year’s “Ask Your School 

Librarian” advocacy calendar 

to a key individual, there are 

still 40 or 50 copies available. 

Our treasurer, Kirk Thompson, 

has offered to mail calendars. 

Send Kirk the name and address 

of a person you feel 

could make a difference in our 

cause. kirk.thompson@matsuk12. 

us As a side note, there are also 

packets of advocacy postcards 

with pictures from the calendar 

that are available at $5 a 

package. These too would be 

a quick way to pass on a brief 

message to a key individual in 

your area. 

At our general session during 

February’s AKLA conference, 

we distributed a survey to get 

feedback from our members 

on a variety of topics. The 

Teacher Certification process in 

Alaska was one of the biggest 

areas of concern. For those of 

you needing more information, 

make sure to read Kari Sagel’s 

brief overview about the issue 

on page 9. Valerie Oliver also 

wrote a brief synopses on the 

topic in the 2006 Winter Puffin. 

You can access it from the 

AkASL website. The board has 

formed a steering committee 

to address this issue. If you 

have recertified in the past 12 

months, please contact a board 

members to share details. 

On another note, for those of 

you unable to attend the AkLA 

Conference this year, you 

missed out on some excellent 

sessions. Several were led by 

your colleagues from around 

the state. Keynote speaker Michael 

Sullivan, a school librarian 

from Boston, presented an 

entertaining and informative 

session. He shared statistics 

and facts that helped explain 

reading disparities between 

boys and girls. AkASL is 

sponsoring Sullivan to speak 

on behalf of our profession at 

the state Principal’s conference 

that will be held this October 

in Anchorage. 

Finally, I look forward to 

working with you over the 

next year to address some of 

the concerns voiced by our 

membership. Please contact 

me at any time about questions 

regarding school library 

issues. My email address is 

below. 

AkASL PRESIDENT 

Barb Bryson 


AkASL Website: http://www.akla.org/akasl 

AkLA Website: http://www.akla.org 

JOIN TODAY for 2006-07, membership forms on web sites! 

The Puffin, Spring 2006 v25, #3 p. 3

Coordinator’s Corner 

Something 

 

 

 

 

 

is something ported by Jensen above. We cer- Have you thought about how 

we take for granted, yet some tainly need to help teachers who students can respond meaning- 

days in the crush of school want to identify books at a parfully to what they read as they 

events, dealing with students, ticular grade or lexile level. use your library? This is where 

 

teachers, and parents, keeping Teachers have always wanted to posting students comments 

the printers in paper and toner, help struggling readers learn to about books, arranging book 

and trying to help everyone be- read proficiently, but now they buddy programs, and all sorts 

come skilled at using the catalog are under a great deal of pres- of programs that allow stu- 

or learning research skills, we sure to show results in the form dents to respond to reading 

may inadvertently short-change of adequate yearly progress. and gain feedback from teach- 

our literacy mission in the While we work with teachers to ers, parents, and fellow stu- 

school. 

identify readable text for their dents brings the school librar- 

students, we need to consider ian right in line with literacy 

We may not deliver formal read- carefully the pressure in some effort of the school. What do 

ing instruction, but as school schools to create libraries (or you do to foster this interactive 

librarians we certainly have a alternative “book rooms”), which feedback in your school? There 

strong role to play. With reading are arranged solely on grade, are probably a number of 

achievement one of the corner- lexile, or AR level. It is impor- ways— from displaying art 

stones of federal and state protant for students, especially the projects that are responses to 

grams now and with the threats struggling readers, to be success- literature to sponsoring poetry 

to professional and paraprofesful in reading so creating book slams, book discussion groups, 

sional library positions in many lists, labels, or catalog record Battle of the Books teams, 

school district’s budgets this indications of reading levels can Young Readers Choice elec- 

spring, we need to communicate be ways that we can help teachtions and many more. These 

to ourselves and others how we ers in this effort. 

activities need to be promoted, 

can be school leaders in the lit- 

not as “extras,” but as our solid 

eracy effort. 

At the same time, we need to contribution to reading 

think carefully about not creating achievement in our schools. 

While our teaching staff becomes libraries that are simply an in- These activities (and there can’t 

increasingly involved in building ventory by reading level. Con- be just one if you are meeting 

“leveled” collections and we trolled vocabulary is very impor- the needs of all your students) 

learn more and more through tant in the early stages of read- are the ones that we need to 

standardized testing about the ing, but standard reading in- highlight to our principals and 

varied reading levels of our secstruction is meant to give stu- our communities. 

ondary students, school librardents strategies for confronting 

ians must also remember Will- more challenging material and In these uncertain budget 

iam Greenough’s findings re- new vocabulary. We need to be times, we need to be communi- 

working one-on-one with our cating more than ever to every- 

students to make sure that they one who might help us keep 

Sue Sherif, Alaska State Libary 

not only find their comfort lev- library programs in schools. 

School Library/Youth Services Coordinator els, but their challenge levels in Sure, we ARE the people who 

p. 4 sue_sherif@eed.state.ak.us 

our libraries. The Puffin, Spring keep books 2006 flowing v25, #3in 

and out 

of the libraries. (Those who 

As for the second precept de- propose the false economy of 

 

their students and the other de- Another request was for more classes 

“Endless mands to experiments really examine have and been begin done on like both the one animals Deb and I humans taught. Much to determine 

what to use conditions the resources predictably that the and State precisely as I would build a love better to brain. travel the William whole Greenough, 

from 

who of Alaska has studied provides the for effects all students. of enriching state environments providing professional for over 20 years, develop- says two 

things are particularly important in growing ment opportunities a better brain. for The each critical and ev- ingredients in 

• any We purposeful at the Alaska program State Library to enrich are the learner’s ery school brain and are youth that services first the librar- learning must 

Sue... 

be more challenging, aware than with ever new that information it is not or ian experiences. in the state and Often as determined novelty will as do it, but it 

must enough be challenging. to just provide Second, the elec- there must I am be to some offer way my services to learn whenever from the experience 

through tronic resources interactive that feedback.” are available 

they are requested, I know that there 

 

to all Alaskans but must more ac- is only one of me and many of you 

tively promote them to make sure (not to mention how many students 

that students, their parents, and and teachers in rural school districts 

Recently Deb Mole of UAA and I their teachers take advantage of who do not have the services of a 

taught a class at the UAA Consor- this statewide resource. 

library media specialist at all)! Theretium 

Library on using the resources 

fore, I am very pleased that some 

available through 

Teaching classes and pre- enterprising Anchorage school li- 

SLED (http://sled. If our children senting workshops on brarians--some graduates of a similar 

alaska.edu). We had 

resources like the Alaska class in June, 2005—have proposed 

a great group of and teens are go- Digital Archives, Novel- an interlibrary cooperation grant to 

Anchorage School 

ist K-8, the new Facts for 

District teachers 

create online tutorials for some of the 

and ing to learn to Learning and Facts.com databases. If the proposal is funded, 

librarians as stu- do research with from Facts on File, and librarians or students will still have 

dents for this two- 

the new student interfaces to take the time to take the tutorial, 

evening and all-day resources beyond (Kid’s Search and Student but at least they won’t have to wait 

Saturday class. 

Research Center) from 

Google and Ask. 

until they can attend a conference 

Ebsco is something that session, workshop, or formal class to 

As I introduced com . . . we need we all should be doing for have some introduction to the state- 

each database or 

students and the general wide databases. 

resource, I asked for to make these public, but we at the State 

a show of hands of 

Library and AkASL need 

how many students gems known. 

I’ll keep you posted on the progress 

to help our overworked of this proposal and also of any work 

had used that par- 

colleagues obtain con- to make the database home page 

ticular resource in the past and how centrated periods of professional 

many 

more user friendly. In the meantime, 

had not. The students were development so that they, too, have if you have any suggestions about 

very 

honest. There were no tentative the luxury of sitting down and learn- how you have shared these resources 

hands partially raised that I someing the features and foibles of each of with your students or teachers, 

times 

see amongst those in the affir- these resources. 

please send them to me. I’ll share 

mative response that mean “I know 

 

them with others through my news- 

that I should have used this database One of the things we heard in the reletter and whatever other means I 

and I have heard of it, but I am too cent class is that the page that comes can. If our children and teens are 

embarrassed to say that I have not up when one chooses “Magazines, going to learn to do research with 

used it.” When people, a majority in Newspapers, and More” at the top of resources beyond Google and Ask. 

most cases, had not had the opportu- the SLED menu is way too long and com (formerly Ask Jeeves), we need 

nity to use or to teach the databases, cumbersome. This is something I can to make these gems known. 

they simply raised their hands in the work on with my coworkers at the 

“No, I haven’t used it” contingent. State Library in Juneau, who produce 

that page. 

Their honesty meant two things: 

Alaska State Sue Sherif - 

• In this class, as in a similar one last 

1-800-776-6566 

summer, librarians and teachers 

Library 

School Library/ (outside of 

had the luxury of time away from 

344 West Third Youth Services Anchorage) 

Avenue Suite 125 Coordinator 269-6569 

Anchorage, AK sue_sherif@eed. (Anchorage) 

99501 

state.ak.us

Group Proposal For Guided Tour to Databases 

Submitted as Interlibrary Cooperation Grant 

by Lynn McNamara 

A pre-Conference session at the AKLA 

taught by Jan Buhmann was the inspiration 

for a project to design a set of 

Web-based tutorials to help patrons better 

navigate the Databases for Alaskans 

site. Renee Wood and Marie Lundstrom 

spearheaded the push to gather 

the needed information to submit this 

idea as an Inter-Library Cooperation 

grant by the April 1st deadline. This 

idea has sparked the interest and has 

the support of school librarians around 

the state as well as librarians at public 

and university libraries. 

Although the Databases for Alaskans 

are a tremendous resource to people all 

over Alaska, the site can be overwhelming 

to some users. The idea is to provide 

instruction on how to get the most 

out of using them by providing a series 

of tutorials in the form of “Guided 

Tours” to be usable by anyone from 

upper elementary up to and including 

medical and business professionals. 

The intent of this project is to provide 

a guide to the databases so that all 

Some of you will recall that the Alaska 

State Library began a discussion 

about creating a formalized Alaska 

Library Network (ALN) this fall. 

About 45 librarians and library directors 

from around the state were on 

hand in Girdwood, Alaska to discuss 

the interest and possibilities of creating 

a more formal structure for the 

sharing and connections that happen 

between libraries in our state. The 

group at Girdwood gave an overwhelming 

“thumbs up” to pursuing 

a more formalized network. 

Out of that first meeting came a collection 

of approximately 15 people, 

representing all the varied library 

interests around the state who were 

willing to take a closer look at what a 

formalized network of sharing might 

look like. Chaired by Lois Petersen 

and Kay Shelton, this task force has 

continued to meet monthly since its 

inception and has started to shape 

the future of this network. 

Alaskans (especially those with modest 

computer skills or who are younger less 

experienced users) can find what they 

are seeking more quickly and easily. 

The online Guided Tour plans to provide 

instruction on how to use the databases 

to achieve maximum results when 

searching, saving, sorting, printing, 

e-mailing and using the navigational 

features to their fullest potential. 

The group envisions the Tour having 

a variety of menu selection options to 

address various age and interest levels. 

This plan is to design an introductory 

tour plus four more to address the 

needs of intermediate students, middle/ 

high schoolers; academic users, as well 

as the general public. 

Steve Rollins, of UAF and chair of the 

Databases for Alaskans committee, has 

agreed to allow the guided tour to be 

hosted on the Consortium server. 

A committee of school, public and university 

librarians will design the Data- 

Happenings with the Alaska Library Network (ALN) 

So far, the group has agreed on the 

following: 

Mission statement: 

The Alaska Library Network strengthens 

and connects Alaska’s Libraries through 

effective collaboration and cooperation 

enabling libraries to better serve their 

communities. 

ALN’s charge: 

To serve Alaska, the Alaska Library 

Network: 

• Connects and networks libraries 

• Coordinates statewide projects 

• Supports shared resources and 

services 

• Develops and enhances cooperative 

cost saving measures 

• Designs and provides educational 

opportunities 

• Demonstrates the effectiveness and 

accountability of Alaska’s libraries 

• Partners with museums, schools, 

and others to address the diverse 

interests and needs of all Alaska 

citizens. 

base Guided Tour so that the needs of 

various users will be met. At this time 

the following individuals have committed 

to working on the project: Marie 

Lundstrom, Lynn McNamara, Suzanne 

Metcalfe and Renee Wood (ASD librarians), 

Jane Baird and Doug McCallister 

(AML librarians), Darla Grediagan 

(BSSD librarian) and Deborah Mole and 

Ian Chan from the Consortium Library. 

The grants are awarded in July so work 

will begin this summer on the project. 

Prior to that librarians and their patrons 

will be asked to give input on problems 

users are having so that the most common 

issues can be addressed. 

The group welcomes input, and would 

also appreciate letters of support for the 

project to be sent to the state library. 

They should go to Patience Frederiksen, 

Alaska State Library (patience_ 

frederiksen@eed.state.ak.us) 

For more information, contact Renee’ 

Wood, wood_renee@asdk12.org. 

by Val Oliver 

Other activities: 

• look at different logos in hopes of 

adopting one that will reflect the 

spirit of the newfound organization 

• look into hiring of an Executive 

Director, who will oversee the connectivity 

and activities that we 

envision 

• look at forming an Advisory Board 

who will work with the Executive 

Director to set the tone and direction 

of the Alaska Library Network 

This is all very exciting and has the 

potential to improve our delivery 

of library services around the state. 

Stay tuned to the ALN website: 

http://www.library.state.ak.us/ 

aln/aln_home.html 

for updates as the task force presses 

on!! 


Books Café: A Menu of Titles to Serve Professionally 

p. 6 

P R O F E S S I O N A L 

R E S O U R C E S 

Today’s Special: Our featured title 

Information Power AASL/AECT 

by Suzanne Metcalfe 

Information Power: Building Partnerships for Learning includes the Information Literacy Standards for Student Learning 

that will help students become skillful producers and consumers of information along with the guidelines and principles 

that will help you create a dynamic, student-centered program. The books’ underlying concepts will guide you in: 

• Helping students flourish in a learning community not limited by time, place, age, occupation or disciplinary borders 

• Joining teachers and others to identify links in student information needs, curricular content, learning outcomes, and a variety 

of print and non-print recourses 

• Designing authentic learning tasks and assessments 

• Defining your role in student learning 

Starters: Little bites to whet your appetite 

VOYA (Voice of Youth Advocates) 

By Scarecrow Press, VOYA is a bimonthly 

journal addressing librarians, 

educators, and other professionals 

who work with young adults. The 

only magazine devoted exclusively to 

the informational needs of teenagers, 

VOYA provides columns on graphic 

novels, great YA spaces, current topics 

and the best book review rating system 

I know. 

School Library Journal 

This journal is specifically for school 

librarians with articles on current 

topics, copyright questions, and new 

book and AV reviews. 

Teacher Librarian 

Teacher Librarian, is designed specifically 

for the library professional 

working with children and young 

adults. Regular sections include: 

• Reviews of education and library-related 

professional materials 

• Strategies to help you better manage 

library resources 

• Articles to keep you up-to-date on 

the latest in information technology 

• The best of new books for children 

and young adults, non-fiction, 

bestsellers, videos, and computer 

software 

• Internet resources grouped by 

theme to spark your imagination 

Booklist 

Booklist operates under policies established 

by the Publishing Committee 

of the American Library Association. 

Its primary purpose is to provide a 

guide to current library materials in 

many formats appropriate for use 

in public libraries and school library 

media centers. 

Knowledge Quest 

The journal of AASL, Knowledge 

Quest is devoted to offering substantive 

information to assist buildinglevel 

library media specialists, supervisors, 

library educators, and other 

decision makers concerned with the 

development of school library media 

programs and services. Articles address 

the integration of theory and 

practice in school librarianship and 

new developments in education, 

learning theory, and relevant disciplines. 

LMC: Library Media Connection 

LMC is the professional magazine 

for school library media and technology 

specialists. Blending the best 

of THE BOOK REPORT, LIBRARY 

TALK, and TECHNOLOGY CON- 

NECTION, LMC delivers proven, 

real-world practical information, 

professional development, and book 

and technology reviews by educators 

seven times each school year. 

If you’re a school librarian or technology 

specialist, LIBRARY MEDIA 

CONNECTION is your integrated 

information source for print and 

multimedia material, innovative 

ideas, and practical tips and techniques 

you can use right away. 

Entrées: Titles to chew on 

The Information-Powered School 

By Public Education Network (PEN) 

and AASL 

Sandra Hughes-Hassell and Anne Wheelock, 

editors 

The Information-Powered School 

outlines a specific plan for school 

library media specialists and teachers 

to share the responsibilities of planning, 

teaching, and assessing student 

learning and offering a truly cohesive 

curriculum. 

Included in this groundbreaking 

work are tips from experienced practitioners 

on gather the support of 

teachers and principals, on managing 

new roles and responsibilities, and 

on leading the charge to integrate 

information literacy and technology 

into the curricula. 

With this hands-on guide of proven 

practices from the Library Power initiative, 

you will start to see students 

engaging in inquiry-based learning 

and using library media resources 

and services in new and productive 

ways. 

For every school librarian, media 

center specialist, educator, and principal 

who wants to activate Information 

Power in their schools, here are 

proven and flexible strategies for 

creating dramatic and collaborative 

change. 


Books Café Dates to Mark 

On Your Calendars 

Nonfiction in Focus 

by Janice V. Kristo and Rosemary A. 

Bamford 

Maureen Retzel at Muldoon Elementary 

in Anchorage writes, “This is a 

title that really opened my eyes to 

what is important to teach our students 

about Nonfiction. I also used 

it as a reference when compiling the 

items that are suggested additions to 

our current indicators.” 

Part I introduces a comprehensive 

framework for teaching nonfiction 

reading and writing. Part II shows 

the comprehensive framework in action. 

Here we see teachers at work, 

providing instruction at the various 

levels of scaffolding: 

• instructional read alouds and modeled 

writing 

• shared reading and writing 

• guided reading and writing 

• discovery circles 

• inquiry learning 

• Test scores tend to be higher for all 

types of schools where there is a 

school librarian, library staff spend 

more time, delivering library/information 

literacy instruction to 

students, collaborating with teachers 

on instructional units, training 

teachers in information access, and 

students visit the school library 

more frequently. 

Entrées: cont. from p.6 

Dessert: 

To satisfy a craving for more 

Copyright for Schools: A Practical 

Guide by Carol Simpson 

Facing new developments and intricacies 

of copyright determination, 

teachers and administrators are 

unsure about how to determine and 

ensure copyright compliance and 

are looking for specific answers. In 

an easy-to-understand exposition 

of copyright, this Fourth Edition 

volume provides the most-up-todate, 

authoritative presentation and 

analysis of copyright for both print 

and digital information, detailing 

what you need to know about copyright 

for your school. It also explains 

the fundamentals and clarifies the 

complexities of copyright relevant to 

schools and why it is so important to 

understand and comply with copyright. 

This practical guide focuses on 

those issues relevant to K-12 schools, 

enabling media specialists to educate 

staff and take leadership in determining 

copyright policies. 

Information Empowered: The School Librarian as an Agent of 

Academic Achievement in Alaska Schools by Keith Curry Lance 

An excellent resource for advocacy, this study of Alaskan Schools found: 

• Test scores tend to be higher for 

all types of schools where the library, 

is open longer hours, has a 

cooperative relationship with the 

public library, provides online access 

to information via the Internet 

and the World Wide Web, and has 

a policy regarding selection and 

reconsideration of books and other 

materials. 

You can download a summary of the findings and a brochure summarizing 

these resources at : 

http://www.lrs.org/impact.asp 

5 Cinco de Mayo 

http://www.zianet.com/cjcox/ 

edutech4learning/cinco.html 

http://www.kidsdomain.com/holiday/cinco 

9 National Teacher’s Day 

http://www.nea.org/teacherday/index.html 

14 Mother’s Day 

http://www.alphabet-soup.net/ 

mot/mother.html 

29 Memorial Day 

http://www.usmemorialday.org 

June 22-28 ALA Annual Conference 

- New Orleans, LA 

http://www.ala.org/events 

Jul.31-Aug. 4 Librarian’s Institute 

at UAA Consortium Library 

August 9-12 PNLA Annual Conf. 

- Eugene, OR, 

http://www.pnla.org/events/index.htm 

Aug.24 thru Sep.4 Alaska State Fair 

http://www.alaskastatefair.org 

Sept. 8 Int’l Literacy Day 

http://www.un.org/depts/dhl/literacy 

Sept. 16 AkASL E’Board 

Fall Face-To-Face Meeting 

- Anchorage 

http://www.akla.org/akasl/assoc/ 

eboard.html 


National Board Certification measures 

a teacher’s practice against 

high and rigorous standards for what 

accomplished teachers should know 

and be able to do. 

The Early Childhood through Young 

Adulthood/Library Media certificate 

is appropriate for Library Media 

specialists who teach students ages 

3-18+ and who know the range of 

information literacy, instructional 

collaboration, and the integration of 

technology. 

• demonstrate that your teaching 

practice meets the Library Media 

Standards? 

• have access to a class in which 

51% of the students are ages 3 

through 18+ during the 12 months 

prior to the submission of your 

portfolio entries? 

• submit instructional materials 

and videotapes in English and/or 

Spanish showing your interactions 

with your students? 

• demonstrate your ability to collaborate 

with others in your instructional 

community to create, plan, 

and implement learning experiences 

and assess student learning, 

using a variety of resources? 

p. 8 

THINKING OF NATIONAL 

BOARD CERTIFICATION? 

If you want to know the nuts and 

bolts of the process, talk to one of 

these 4 National Board Certified 

teacher-librarians in Alaska: 

Sitka Borough School District 

- Janet Madsen 

Anchorage School District 

- Alta Collins, 

- Suzanne Metcalfe 

- Valerie Oliver 

??????? QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF ???????? 

• demonstrate your ability to foster 

an appreciation of literature in 

your students and demonstrate 

your ability to create an inviting 

and supportive library media 

center environment that provides 

equal access to all learners? 

• demonstrate effective selection and 

integration of technologies into the 

instructional program and foster 

learners’ understanding of the ethical 

or legal use of information? 

• present evidence of how you impact 

student learning through 

your work with students’ families 

and community and through your 

development as a learner and as a 

leader/collaborator? 

Resources: 

Go to http://www.nbpts.org for information 

on applications, standards, 

resources and candidate support. 

Cynthia Wilson, NBCT, has created 

a great list of resources at http:// 

www.geocities.com/educationplace/ 

lmnbpts.htm. If you’re really serious, 

join this listserv dedicated to librarians 

pursuing NBC: http://groups. 

yahoo.com/group/librarymedia. 

Below is a set of questions for you to ask yourself about your teaching practice. If you answer “No” to one or more 

of the questions, you may need to discuss your teaching situation with professional colleagues, your school faculty, 

a National Board Certified Teacher, your faculty support group, or a state-level official who is directing a fee subsidy 

program. 

For the portfolio, will you be able to: 

For the assessment center, 

will you be able to demonstrate 

content knowledge in 

the areas listed below: 

• ethical and legal tenets? 

• collection development? 

• technologies? 

• organizational management? 

• information literacy? 

• knowledge of literature? 


y Kari Sagel 

SouthEastern Report 

Greetings from Southeast! I am excited to be joining the AkASL board as the southeast representative. Up 

to now, I have just been trying to learn the ropes. Attending conference helped with putting well-known 

names to faces. 

STATE CERTIFICATION 

I will be working to address school 

certification – a pressing issue for 

librarians. The type A certificate is 

no longer available to trained librarians 

with teaching certificates. Upon 

initial certification or re-certification, 

a type C specialists certificate is being 

issued. This is a change from the 

past practice of granting either a type 

A or type C based on the application 

and based on the qualifications of the 

applicant. 

The decision seems to be an administrative 

one, made without public 

A k A S L I t e m s F o r S a l e 

For more information, contact 

AkASL Treasurer - Kirk Thompson kirk.thompson@matsu.k12.us 

AkASL Postcards - $5 

Set of 12 postcards with 

full color photographs 

from the 2006 calendar. 

comment, notification of type A 

holders, or with little regard to the 

thoughts of Alaska’s professional organizations. 

In addition, the administrative 

change is apparently being 

implemented haphazardly with 

conflicting information and practice 

regarding, for example, renewal fees. 

Robin Turk, Bob VanDerWege, Sue 

Sherif, Erika Drain, Barb Bryson and 

I are forming a committee to look at 

this issue. We will be trying to get an 

idea of what people are experiencing 

as they apply for an initial certifi- 

AkASL 2006 Calendar 

“School Librarians 

of Alaska” 

$10.00 regular price, 

on sale for $5.00 

AkASL 

BATTLE OF THE BOOKS 

MERCHANDISE 

Battle of the Books 

Pins - $3 each 

cate or a renewal. Please email me at 

sagelk@mail.ssd.k12.ak.us. Another 

option would be to mail an AkASL 

board member with the information 

or with your thoughts. 

Look for updates on the group’s activities 

and progress towards goals 

we form. We may be asking members 

for help in re-instituting the type of 

certification that reflects our experience, 

qualifications, and daily practice. 


Posters 

(w/Martin Buser) 

$5 each 


Bookmarks 

$5 for a pack of 50 


South Central Report 

by Lynn Mamara 

I sent out a request to SouthCentral librarians asking for updates and boy, are things hopping in Anchorage and the Valley! 

MAT-SU: 

COLONY MIDDLE, by Robin Turk: 

The databases that we started last 

year are in the budget for next year 

demonstrating a welcome commitment 

by the district to provide quality 

resources for students. We are 

also piloting Promethean interactive 

whiteboards in six libraries. This 

pilot project was developed to help 

libraries develop instructional strategies 

for teaching and using the databases, 

promoting collaboration with 

teachers and to serve as a model for 

technology in the school. The board 

at CMS is now up and running, so 

my learning curve is just starting. 

One other teacher in the school also 

received a board and her students 

are the experts! 

TANAINA LIBRARY, by Diane Firmani: 

Our library is gearing up for its upcoming 

Scholastic Book Fair, Camp 

Read-A-Book. The library will be 

EAST HIGH SCHOOL, by Faith Johnson: 

Students and staff participated in 

East Library’s second annual Dr. 

Seuss birthday book donation. This 

year 356 gently used books were 

collected and donated to Covenant 

House and AWAIC Shelter. Last year 

over 320 books were donated to the 

three children’s wards of Anchorage’s 

local hospitals. From April 10 

to April 17, East High School Library 

is sponsoring a public library card 

registration drive. Working with the 

Muldoon branch of Anchorage Municipal 

Libraries, the staff of East’s 

library hope to have more than 200 

students register for a public library 

card. 

MULDOON ELEMENTARY, by Maureen 

Retzel: The kindergartners are discovering 

the differences between real 

and pretend stories, and were re- 

p. 10 

magically transformed into a camp 

setting complete with tents, a cozy 

campfire and a nine-foot bear hungry 

for a S’More! The Spring Book Fair 

is always a gala event at Tanaina. 

So grab your hiking boots and head 

on over for s’more fun than you can 

shake a (marshmallow) stick at! 

WILLOW ELEMENTARY, by Sheryl Heikes: 

Our students are busy reading their 

favorite books and taking quizzes 

on Scholastic Reading Counts. They 

are accumulating points as they 

pass tests on the books and will earn 

ribbons at the quarterly awards assembly. 

This program has made a 

tremendous difference on the reading 

practice among our students. They 

feel good about their accomplishments 

and are enthusiastic about the 

discoveries they make when they 

read something new! 

cently introduced to Folk Tales. First 

and Second graders are focusing on 

dictionary skills with ants inspiring 

their study of the use of guide words. 

Third and Fourth graders are “I-Spying” 

Nonfiction features and learning 

how these features help them read 

and understand NF writing. Fifth 

and Sixth graders are learning about 

Internet safety. The Library collaborated 

with the UAA Assistant Athletic 

Director to coordinate a schoolwide 

visit with UAA Seawolves. On 

March 31st, 28 athletes representing 

the UAA Hockey, Basketball, Volleyball, 

Ski and Track teams read and 

visited with Muldoon students. Our 

classrooms and hallways were filled 

with green-clad UAA giants bursting 

with enthusiasm for reading and life. 

It was an inspiring experience! 

MEADOW LAKES ELEMENTARY, by Katie 

Conover: “Here are just a few things 

that we’re doing in the LMC, besides 

being a good partner to staff and students. 

Monthly family activities with 

a focus on literacy: Donuts for Dads, 

Muffins for Moms, Reading Rodeo, 

Camp Read-A-Lot, & Poetry Café. 

Assemblies and Programs: Alaska 

Aces (hockey) Skate Into Reading, 

Rosie Around the World, Red Hat 

Readers, Local Heros (high school 

students) Reading Is Fundamental: 

Dr. Seuss’s Green Eggs and Ham, 

Curious George Celebration, Poetry 

Power. Katie’s goal is to develop 

sense of community by encouraging 

family involvement (hence the family 

events), providing 

students with good role 

models (assemblies) 

and support at home 

reading (RIF). 

ANCHORAGE: (CONT. ON PAGE 11) 

DENALI MONTESSORI, by Linda Kumin: 

Students completed their IditaREAD 

on March 16th. They read a book per 

mile for the whole school and made 

it to Nome (before Jeff King) and 

back to Golovin! 1,442 books were 

read from March 4th to March 16th. 

The library was open for the Saturday 

Iditarod start as our readers 

cheered the mushers along Cordova 

Street, they also started reading their 

way to Nome. 

URSA MAJOR ELEMENTARY, 

by Sharon Jones: Students in the 5th 

& 6th grades are coming into the 

library for book discussions during 

lunch. Each group decides which 

series they would like to explore. So 

far, we have had discussions on Spiderwick 

and Redwall. Guardians of 

G’Hoole and the Chronicles of Narnia 

are next. 


SOUTHCENTRAL - ANCHORAGE (CONT. FROM PAGE 10): 

ORION ELEMENTARY, by Elaine Daw: 

Orion Elementary School is completing 

another successful year hosting 

the Young Readers Choice Book 

Club. Students in 4th through 6th 

grades eat their lunches in the library 

while listening to an audio version 

of a Young Readers Choice title. All 

the audio versions are unabridged 

so students can follow along in their 

texts if they want. Some audio books 

are “fully scripted”. This means that 

several professional actors read for 

specific characters. It is amazing to 

watch the students as they listen 

to the stories. They laugh out loud, 

gasp in horror, and literally sit on the 

edge of their seats. When it’s time for 

recess and I have to pause the story, 

they moan in agony. The program 

has become so popular, that we have 

a lottery for each new title. Wonder 

where you will get the money for 

audio books? Consider asking your 

PTA to fund audio books for your 

book club. Research supports using 

audio books to support struggling 

readers and enrich the reading experience 

for strong readers. 

WILLOW CREST ELEMENTARY, by Sandi 

Berlin: I am working with Philip 

Farson ( bilingual teacher) and Jim 

Curran(West High Librarian) on a 

grant that will provide books in the 

top ten languages in Anchorage. 

These books will be housed in the 

West High Library. The grant will 

also provide kits for the public library 

and school libraries (those with 

high populations in one of the top 5 

languages in Anchorage) with a book 

in the language of their population, 

a English - appropriate language dictionary, 

information on libraries, and 

a tape in the appropriate language 

on reading to their children. 

STELLER 7-12, by Karen Emmel: 

We are doing lots of interlibrary 

loans this quarter to support a reading 

teacher who is doing a Book 

Club. The concept of Book Club is 

to get several students reading the 

same book, then they can discuss it 

and give a book talk to the other students. 

We’ve been getting multiple 

copies from around the district, and 

want to thank other librarians for 

your support. It’s great to have such 

depth on our library team! 

HANSHEW MIDDLE SCHOOL, by Wendy 

Leseman: We have had an awesome 

year with record check outs and 

exciting collaborative research. The 

most recent collaborative project focused 

on the Proposed Pebble Mine. 

Students researched in the library on 

current and historical mines before 

participating in a town meeting type 

of discussion. The science teacher, 

Kaci Fisher and the librarian, Wendy 

Leseman are excited about building 

on this next year. Other events included 

two book fairs this year and a 

visit from Poetry Alive, funded with 

a generous grant from the Alaska 

Arts Council. 

LAKE HOOD ELEMENTARY, - Mary 

Hacker: (this year’s Alaska Association 

of School Librarian’s Linda K. Barrett 

Service Award winner. AkSLA recognizes 

Mary Hacker for her dedication 

and commitment to the development of 

excellence in school libraries.) 

Mary led the 2005-2006 ASD “@yourlibrary” 

promotional campaign 

where recently Bookmark Contest 

winners were honored by the ASD 

School Board and small posters of 

their bookmarks put on display 

in the Anchorage School District 

boardroom. Mary added the diver, 

shark and jellyfish elements from the 

O’MALLEY ELEMENTARY, by Mary Beth 

Schoenutter: The Ben Mikaelsen 

visit on Feb. 21st was terrific and 

inspirational! Recreational Reading 

Programs were “Read: The Winner’s 

Edge” with a Winter Olympics 

theme. We had “Opening Ceremonies,” 

a week for each major sport, 

“Olympic Reader” pins for the best 

readers, competitions between our 

students & our principal, BPO and 

IGNITE teachers--they lost and 

got pies in their faces. Prizes were 

given out in the gym after playing 

Olympic sports: P.E. versions of luge, 

biathlon, speed skating, etc. “Closing 

Ceremonies” included a medal 

and ice cream sundaes, collaborating 

with the PE teacher. One of our most 

successful programs is “Leveled 

Reading Packets” which include leveled 

reading books (2 or 3 to a packet) 

the students can practice reading 

independently at home at precisely 

their level. There are instructions 

included for parents on decoding, 

reading comprehension, and sight 

words. They are very popular with 

parents and very successful for 

struggling readers. This program is 

separate from the books they check 

out during library. 

Did you ever wonder - what is happening in other school libraries? How 

do others spark interest in their library programs? Here is your opportunity 

to peek into interesting happenings in other school libraries! 

primary bookmark winner, Carina 

Welker, of O’Malley as well as the 

tree, book and frog elements from the 

intermediate winner, Shawnee Wackerman, 

of Chugiak Elementary to 

several trees which Anchorage librarians 

are invited to add each school’s 

winning bookmarks as leaves. Bookmark 

Contest winners will end up 

with the poster-sized copy of their 

bookmark after the display is down. 

Mary is a positive role model for 

not just her students, but for her colleagues 

as well. 


p. 12 

N o r t h e r n R e p o r t by Lyn Ballam 

As your new Northern representative, 

I look forward to meeting you online 

and then in person at the next AkLA 

conference. I truly believe 

that school librarians are 

the center of the universe. 

Students who are lucky 

enough to have a librarian 

in their school are doubly blessed. 

FAIRBANKS REPORT 

Fairbanks North Star Borough School 

District’s librarians presented two 

sessions at the Alaska Bilingual and 

Multicultural Education and Equity 

Conference, held here in Fairbanks, 

on February 10, 2006. 

The sessions, entitled Everybody 

Cooks Rice (Pre K-6) and Everybody 

Cooks Rice (7th through 12th), were 

the brainstorm of Nicky Eiseman 

(West Valley High school). Her energy, 

enthusiasm, and organization 

skills made these two sessions informative 

and fun. 

Librarian Katie Sanders (Ladd Elementary 

School) hosted the first 

session. She spoke eloquently on the 

need for multicultural literature in 

school libraries. The highlight of her 

The Western Region says goodbye to 

four librarians at the end of this school 

year as they head down the road to 

retirement. Diana Wiberg of LKSD Media 

Center, Jean Tennant of Chevak, Susie 

Franklin of Kenai High and Middle 

School and Carol Dallman of Soldotna 

and Skyview High School. We wish 

them well and hope that there will be 

other certified librarians that will fill the 

holes they are leaving. 

NEWS FROM THE LOWER KUSKOKWIM 

SCHOOL DISTRICT by Diana Wiberg 

Anne Hanley from Fairbanks visited 

three Lower Kuskokwim School Dis- 

First, they have the opportunity to 

learn how wonderful reading can be 

and second, studies have proven, without 

a doubt, school librarians make a 

difference on student test scores. Although 

you and I know there is more to 

life than scores, it is the only game in 

town, so let’s play! 

session was her display of over 100 

books from the Ladd library. It was 

great to examine the many notable 

and award winning titles. 

Next the secondary librarians took 

turns presenting their favorite books. 

It was enjoyable to see everyone’s 

interests and we were all pleasantly 

surprised at the lack of overlap. All 

attendees, as well as presenters, 

were given a sizeable bibliography, 

complied by Ann McCann (Tanana 

Junior High School). We also gave 

a plug for Databases for Alaskans 

and a short PowerPoint highlighting 

Novelist. 

To help draw people in for our latein-the-day 

sessions, Nicky used music, 

provided multicultural food, dis- 

Representing my most favorite people 

will be a breeze. So, please e-mail your 

concerns, successes, and questions to 

me at: lballam@alaska.net . You will 

find that I live online and will receive 

an answer fairly quickly, weather 

dependant (warm winter, I’m skiing, 

warm summer, I’m gardening). 

Everybody Cooks Rice Sessions at the Alaska Bilingual and Multicultural 

Education and Equity Conference, February 10, 2006 

played an assortment of interesting 

multicultural knickknacks, and stood 

in the hallway hocking our sessions. 

Forty people attended the first session 

and twenty-five for the second. 

Attendees enjoyed the food, conversation 

and the chance to look at high 

quality materials. Plus, we had the 

opportunity to stress the importance 

of school librarians, not only for students, 

but also for teachers in meeting 

their curriculum resource needs. 

We reiterated that librarians love for 

teachers to give us recommendations. 

It is always satisfying to purchase 

materials that bring a spark to 

teacher’s eyes. “It’s just want I need” 

is music to our ears. 

W e s t e r n R e p o r t by Suzanne Richards 

trict village schools late in April. She 

is a playwright, poet and screenwriter 

who regularly writes for the Anchorage 

Daily News. She shared some donated 

books from Todd Communications 

with students. Anne was the Alaska 

State Writer Laureate, 2002-2004. She 

was sponsored by the mystery writers’ 

group, Alaska Sisters in Crime, who 

received a grant from the Alaska Humanities 

Form to fund travel expenses 

for Alaska authors to visit rural schools. 

Jerah Chadwick, a published poet 

and also a professor of English for the 

University of Alaska, will visit Bethel 

schools and also the Kuskokwim Consortium 

Library early in May. He lives 

in Unalaska and currently is the Writer 

Laureate for the state of Alaska. 

Two members of Poetry Alive performed 

in several Bethel schools during 

April. Poetry Alive is a national 

group whose members travel around 

the country giving performances to 

audiences ranging from kindergarten 

through the university level. The performers 

empower educators to improve 

student literacy. The shows are a Reading, 

Writing and Performing Connection. 


AkASL Battle of the Books 

by Shelly Logsdon 

BoB Moderators 

Have you ever called into a state 

battle and wondered who the voice 

on the other side of the phone is? 

The moderators are the key to Battle 

of the Books being successful! These 

folks truly enjoy the pressure and 

stress that goes with being a moderator. 

Did I mention that they volunteer 

for this job? Each January and February 

the state chairperson gets on 

the recruiting bandwagon and calls 

throughout the state looking for experts 

who are willing to take their 

personal time and moderate the 

Battle of the Books. 

On The Web 

Keep up-to-date with 

Book Lists and news on 

the Battle of the Books 

Website! 

http://www.akla.org/ 

akasl/bb/bbhome.html 

Battle of the Books has successfully 

concluded for the year in Anchorage 

School District, and our coaches and 

student readers are already looking 

forward to an exciting new year of 

reading in 2006-2007! 

This year more than 5,800 students 

K-12 from 77 schools participated 

in the ASD program, with each age 

group reading from a book list of 15 

wonderfully diverse titles. 

We believe that all our readers are 

winners and are proud of how many 

students participated in the program 

district-wide. 

ASD Elementary Sportsmanship 

Award Winners: 

Chugiak Elementary, 

Mt Spurr Elementary, 

Spring Hill Elementary, and 

Northern Lights ABC School 

Moderators are asked to have read 

all the books at the grade level they 

are judging. They are asked to attend 

a judges’ meeting and take time out 

of their personal or workday to help 

make the Battle of the Books program 

a success. They are asked to tackle 

the ultimate pressure of asking questions 

and answering challenges for a 

state battle bracket. 

Next time you call into Battle of the 

Books, take some time to thank the 

moderators for volunteering their 

time to make Battle of the Books a 

success! 

Shelly Logsdon 

Library/Media Specialist 

Wasilla High School 701 E Bogard Rd 

Wasilla, AK 99654 

Phone: 907-352-8227 Fax: 907-352-8288 

slogsdon@mtaonline.net 

ASD Battle of the Books by Alta Collins 

ASD First Place Winners: 

• 3/4 NE: Bear Valley Elementary: 

Lindsay Von Tish, Katelyn Van 

Chau, Brianna Braukmann, Molly 

Lukes, 

• 3/4 SW: Frontier Charter: 

Daniel McLain & Patrice Timmons, 

• 5/6 NE: Chugach Optional: 

Doug Watts, Meghan Caves, Emma 

Hill, Lorryn Wilhelm 

• 5/6 SW: Kincaid Elementary: 

Margaret Adams, Joel Smith, & Johanna 

Jeffryes tied with 

Rogers Park Elementary: 

Johna Rutz, Morgan Gingerich, 

Sarah Frankl, & Katelyn Lanier- 

Moylan, 

• Middle: Goldenview 

• High School: East 

THANKS, SHELLY, FOR ALL 

THAT YOU HAVE CONTRIBUTED 

TO THE AKASL BATTLE OF 

THE BOOKS PROGRAM! 

from the AkASL E’Board 

Where do our moderators 

come from? 

Kudos to these districts for supplying 

great moderators for 

brackets at the 2006 Battle of 

the Books State Championships! 

Anchorage School District: 

Lynn McNamara, Ann Morgester, 

Valerie Oliver, Heidi Tsukada 

Bering Strait: Darla Grediagin 

Copper River School District: 

Beth Taube 

Craig: Teresa Deffenbaugh 

Delta/Greely: Tiki Levinson 

Galena: Genny Brown 

Juneau: Barb Kreher 

Kenai: Tanya Boedeker, Carol Dallman 

Kodiak: Lauri Madsen 

Lower Kuskokwim: Merrie Mendenhall, 

Suzanne Richards, Joyce 

Sleppy, Diana Wiberg 

Mat-Su: Bonnie Cavanaugh, Sandy 

Krueger, Debbie Melton, Terri Paulson, 

Wendy Stout, Kirk Thompson, 

Diony Tribble, Jeanne Troshynski, 

Gayne Turner 

Nome: Joy Hewitt 

Sitka: Erika Drain, Lois Rhodes 

Valdez: Barb Bryson 

Other – Lois Petersen, Brita Rice, 

Sue Sherif 


AkASL 2006 Awards Winners 

by Janelle Maki 

B E T H E L L I B R A R I A N N A M E D 

SCHOOL LIBRARIAN OF THE YEAR 

To her students at Kilbuck Elementary 

School in Bethel she is known as Mrs. Richards, 

but to the Alaska Association of School 

Librarians Suzanne Richards has 

a new title – School Librarian of the Year for 

2006. On February 25th, at the annual Alaska 

Library Association Conference in Anchorage, 

AK, Suzanne was recognized by her 

peers and awarded a framed certificate as 

well as a check for $500 sponsored by Follett 

Library Resources. 

Suzanne wears many hats in her school, 

among them: grant writer, staff developer, 

professional librarian, and reading motivator. 

According to her principal, Suzanne is 

an “integral part of the educational team 

as demonstrated by her commitment to 

the total school program by making herself 

available to teachers for library support for 

reports, projects, and materials.” 

Suzanne has been instrumental in bringing 

the Lower Kuskokwim School District 

into the 21st Century. Her principal writes, 

“When Suzanne first arrived five years ago, 

the computer used for checking books in and 

out had just crashed and burned, literally. 

To keep the library open, she was forced to 

keep track of borrowed books by hand, using 

p. 14 

pencil and paper. The books on the shelves 

were outdated and inappropriate for an 

elementary school. To improve the library, 

Ms. Richards took the initiative and wrote a 

grant not only for Kilbuck School, but for all 

Bethel schools plus the public library. It was 

a happy day when the grant was awarded. 

We now have an appropriate shelf list and 

computers to check books in & out as well as 

to access other Bethel libraries.” 

Suzanne has also been an incredible asset 

to librarians around the state. She uses her 

great networking skills to connect with other 

librarians and she is currently serving as 

the Western Representative for AkASL. Last 

year she used money from a Book Fair to 

bring Sue Sherif of the state library to Bethel 

to spend a week advising and helping Bethel 

librarians to make their libraries more functional. 

She has recently been instrumental in 

starting a Bethel chapter of AKLA and has 

been elected to be the region’s first president. 

Suzanne is also very active in her school and 

community libraries as well as at the district 

and state level. According to her colleagues 

Suzanne also spends many hours of her 

own time to keep her library in top working 

condition. She also encourages reading with 

Mary Hacker, school librarian at 

Lake Hood Elementary School of Anchorage 

was awarded the Alaska Association of 

School Librarian’s Linda K. Barrett Service 

Award for 2006. On February 25th, the 

Alaska Association of School Librarians recognized 

Mary Hacker for her dedication and 

commitment to the development of excellence 

in school libraries. 

Mary has served the state-wide school library 

community for the past 15 years. She 

served in various AkASL e-board positions 

, including president of AkASL during the 

1993-1994 school year. She has been active 

at the state-wide level as a grade level chair 

for Battle of the Books, has been involved 

in bringing children’s authors to our state 

in the Authors to Alaska program, and has 

recently led an “@yourlibrary” promotional 

campaign within her own district. 

incentive programs such as “Decorate Your 

Door to Advertise Your Book”, “100 Years 

of Flight”, “The Lewis and Clark Trail” and 

has led several teams to the state Battle of 

the Books as well as volunteered as a state 

Battle moderator. She has been instrumental 

in sponsoring city-wide book fairs to benefit 

Bethel schools and the public library. For 

all these contributions she has made for her 

school, community & state library associations 

the AkASL Awards selection committee 

believes Suzanne Richards is truly 

deserving of this prestigious award. 

A N C H O R A G E SCHOOL LIBRARIAN 

R E C E I V E S SERV I C E AWA R D 

Mary has been a well-respected school librarian 

in both the Barrow and Anchorage 

educational communities. She manages an 

exemplary school library program and is a 

tireless champion of promoting the effective 

use of information and the pure joy of reading. 

Mary is often seen “in costume” in an effort 

to promote children’s literature and is a 

positive role model for not just her students, 

but her colleagues as well. It is with great 

pleasure that AkASL bestows this award 

upon such an exemplary librarian. 

The Alaska Association of School Librarians 

salutes Mary Hacker for her service to all the 

students of the Anchorage Borough School 

District and school library programs across 

the state. 


The Tour of 

Anchorage School 

Libraries Was 

Enjoyed! 

Chugach Optional 

Librarian: Alice Knapp 

Pre-Conference “Web-Based Tutorials” Class 

By Lyn Ballam, Librarian 

Offers More Than Title Suggests. North Pole Middle School 

This year’s pre-conference offerings 

were intriguing and I had a difficult 

time deciding which session to attend. 

I finally chose Jan (pronounced: yawn) 

Buchmann’s Developing Web-Based 

Tutorials: A Hands-On Workshop, as this 

has been an interest of mine for the 

past six years. Being a visual learner, I 

always create templates, directions and 

instructions to supplement my library 

lessons. I have tried posting these instructions 

to my website, with horrifying 

results. 

For all of us, life is stressful and the 

first day of conference can have an 

unreal feel to it. Driving on icy roads, 

locating the beautiful UAA/APU 

Consortium Library, figuring out how 

to pay for parking, and finding that 

all-important cup of coffee, parlayed 

into that dreamlike feeling. Walking up 

the lovely spiral staircase and entering 

the fabulous computer lab continued 

the dream. Jan greeted his students by 

playing soothing music. Wait a minute, 

I have read about using music in the 

classroom. Music helps students relax 

and focus (Sousa*) it worked for me, I 

felt invigorated. 

Class started on time. Jan introduced 

himself and I was a tad concerned 

when he told us he was a German 

nurse who got bored and moved to 

the United States. As the workshop 

progressed, I realize that Jan is one in a 

thousand, a true teacher. I lost focus of 

the covered material and watched how 

he skillfully taught technology skills to 

a group of 30 people with varying skill 

levels. I was fascinated how this class 

was organized around the latest brain 

research, a classic example. The use 

of music, visuals, student pre-assessment, 

inquiring what students wanted 

to learn, the use of proximity, giving 

each student full attention, and the use 

of “thank you” when a student was 

finished speaking. 

A simple PowerPoint presentation and 

a clear handout accompanied the short 

lectures. After an introduction to the 

subject, we had time to try our new 

skills, when we reach a certain point, 

the computers were “locked up” while 

the next point was explained and the 

process was repeated throughout the 

day. Breaks were timed, by using a 

computerized stopwatch, class started 

on time directly after lunch and class 

finished little early, primarily due to 

cranky computers. 

As I review my notes and handouts I 

feel confident that I can create simple 

web-based tutorials for my students. 

The plan is to start small, “how to save 

to our file server.” This tutorial will be 

beneficial to our students and staff. As 

I gain more experience I would like to 

collaborate with someone and create 

tutorials on how to use portions of Databases 

for Alaskans. 

Finally, I will keep Jan’s teaching methodologies 

firmly in mind as I write and 

present my own lessons. I highly recommend 

attending one Jan Buhmann’s 

sessions not only for the content, but 

also for the delivery of the lesson. 

Truly inspirational. 

*Sousa, David A, How the Brain Learns: 

Second Edition, 


AkLA Conference Reports 

Michael Sullivan Hits Home with Librarians at AkLA 

with his presentation on “Mars and Venus in the Library” 

Merrie Mendenhall and Laurie Cowgill (AkASL grant recipients to the AkLA Conference) both found Michael Sullivan’s 

presentation at the AkLA conference to be valuable. Read these excellent summaries to find out some disturbing 

statistics and some good ideas for connecting boys with books. 

by Merrie Mendenhall 

As storytellers or librarians, 

we have boys’ attention until 

about the age of seven. According 

To Michael Sullivan, this is the age 

where we start to lose them as readers 

to peer pressure, the challenge 

of schoolwork, and sports activities. 

Reading is no longer a pleasure, but 

becomes work in the second grade. 

It is not surprising that the reading 

level for boys averages a year and a 

half behind girls at the lower levels 

and as much as three years by high 

school. 

Boys externalize (girls internalize), 

have a Home Depot approach to 

life via manipulation of the rules 

(girls accomplish by committee), 

and read in isolation (girls read in 

social groups). Their failure rate in 

US schools is twice that of girls. So 

how do we get serious about making 

a reading program or library setting 

more conducive to participation by 

boys and less (albeit unconsciously) 

gender-biased toward girls? 

As one of the very few male children’s 

librarians in the country, 

Sullivan has a number of suggestions. 

First is to see the situation 

from a boy’s point of view. With so 

few male role models early in their 

lives (mothers, female librarians and 

teachers are the overwhelming majority 

of care-takers), they often have 

to second-guess their own concept 

of what it is to be male. They have a 

tendency to be louder, more physical 

and boisterous than girls. In a library, 

this is seen as inappropriate behavior. 

p. 16 

As librarians assisting them to find 

reading titles to their own liking, 

we need to have titles that are full 

of sound, motion, color, and kinetic 

energy, much like the boys themselves. 

They should never be asked 

what grade they are in because they 

are already far behind the girls. The 

question should be “What do you 

like?” instead. Make them feel welcome 

by letting them behave like 

normal kids by having a designated 

area for them to unwind, move furniture, 

eat food, sit on the floor, or tear 

up pieces of paper into tiny bits. A 

responsibility lesson to go with this is 

that everything needs to be picked up 

and returned to normal as a condition 

of letting them be themselves for 

a while. 

Boys like non-fiction, especially those 

that deal with animals, science, and 

the natural world. They lean toward 

sports and action situations in fiction. 

They go for edgy comedy, fantasy 

and scientific genre, and prefer writing 

in any form by male authors. 

They will read text that does not flow 

continuously, like comic books, web 

pages, magazines, and newspapers. 

Studies have shown that reading 

non-fiction is more likely to prepare 

the reader for social and financial 

success but is less likely to increase 

communication and language skills, 

the kind of benefits that girls get from 

their preference for fiction dealing 

with social situations. 

In his book, Connecting Boys With 

Books, Sullivan has a number of recommendations 

for titles that have 

greater appeal for boys. For irreverent 

speech and verbal roughhousing, 

he recommends authors such as Jon 

Scieszka (Sam Samurai and 

Summer Reading is Killing 

Me) and Dav Pilkey (Captain 

Underpants series and Dog 

Breath: The Horrible Trouble With Hally 

Tosis). Anything near bathroom humor 

is a go. 

In sports and adventure stories, boys 

hope to find clues to their own futures. 

Authors like Matt Christopher 

(Soccer Cats series), Gordon Korman 

(The Chicken Doesn’t Skate and the 

Everest series), and Chris Lynch’s 

Gold Dust have plots that make them 

seem less like work than novels 

about personal relationships. Action 

books set in the wilderness often include 

personal struggles that involve 

moral decisions and do well. 

Fantasy books have clear delineation 

between good and evil and right 

and wrong. Heroes choose a correct 

source of action to reach their goals. 

J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, 

Eoin Colfer’s Artemis Fowl, and Phillip 

Pullman’s Dark Materials are examples 

of worlds with clear rules in 

a chaotic world. 

Finally, Sullivan advises that audio 

books can provide attainment of 

almost all educational benefits of 

reading, lacking only the skill of 

spelling as part of the experience. 

They can be listened to in an isolated 

setting. The approach to encouraging 

boys to read is to find the humor, let 

them assert with limited knowledge 

or chance of success, and appeal to 

their logical approach of a desire to 

put things into categories and make 

them understandable. Structure 

speaks to boys looking for these 

things in an unsure world. 


Michael Sullivan: Connecting Boys With Books 

by Laurie Cowgill 

Librarian, storyteller, and author Michael 

Sullivan spoke to a full house 

at the recent Library conference in 

Anchorage on the growing reading 

gap between boys and girls in 

our current generation of students. 

A mounting body of evidence finds 

boys lagging behind the girls in every 

category, in every test, in American 

schools across the country. How 

far behind you might ask? Boys are 

generally reading about 1-3 years 

behind girls when looking at all 

grades K-12. Consider the following 

statistics: 

• Girls at the age of 15 read twice as 

much as boys 

• 60% of A’s in American Schools go 

to girls 

• 70% of D’s and F’s go to boys 

• 80% of high school dropouts are 

male 

• 95% of elementary students diagnosed 

hyperactive are male 

• 85% of special education students 

are male 

• By 11th grade boys are reading approximately 

3 years behind girls 

While these statistics are somewhat 

grim, there is hope. Michael believes 

libraries hold the key to unlocking 

reading for these students. He suggests 

these strategies for getting boys 

engaged: 

1. Add stimuli to a boy’s environment, 

something to wake his brain 

up. Let him sprawl out on the floor, 

move around or have the television 

or radio on. Adding sound, color, 

motion and kinetic energy to a 

boy’s environment will encourage 

him to read. 

2. Encourage men to read with boys. 

Most elementary teachers, and the 

majority of secondary teachers are 

female, great for girls according 

to Sullivan, but boys identify with 

men. If boys see their fathers reading, 

they are more likely to become 

readers themselves. Boys need to 

see men reading. 

3. Allow choice. Sometimes schools 

take the fun out of reading. Letting 

boys read what they want, no matter 

how gross, or how many pages 

in the book, will put some joy back 

into the task. Let kids read more of 

what they are interested in. 

This presentation was full of useful 

information for librarians. 

While these statistics apply to boys 

in the gender studies Michael quoted, 

the strategies could be applied to 

girls as well. Just substitute the word 

“boys” in his presentation for “reluctant 

readers,” and you have probably 

already thought of a girl that falls 

into the same category. Michael’s session 

was just one of many fine topics 

at the recent Library Conference that 

really revived my desire to connect 

students to literature. 

Thanks AkASL, for the opportunity 

to attend! 

Much more information is found on 

Michael Sullivan’s website: http:// 

www.geocities.com/talestoldtall/ 

index.html. You will find a list of 

suggested books for boys, a bibliography 

of work that his research is 

compiled from, tips for parents, and 

more. You might also like to read his 

book: Connecting Boys with Books: 

What Libraries Can Do. Chicago: 

American Library Association, 2003. 

140pp. $32.00, available through his 

website. 


Virtual Library 

I found him in the stacks one morning 

while I was shelving books. “Hey 

Bob.” (Bob is not his real name) I say 

cheerfully. “Aren’t you supposed 

to be in class?” He looks up at me. 

Tears are forming in his eyes. “Five 

minutes, Ms. B. Five minutes is all I 

need.” His eyes plead with me. “Sure 

Bob. Take your time.” He fingers 

the books in front of him as I turn to 

leave. I understand that this is not 

just a boy skipping class. This is for 

Bob, a safe place. Bob is a special 

needs student and his educational 

life is incredibly stressful. His being 

there may have nothing to do with 

libraries, reading or books but in 

terms of space Bob knows that what I 

call a library is really a haven. 

Barbara Fisher, the opening keynote 

speaker at the 2006 AKLA conference, 

spoke about “the cartography 

of knowledge.” The library, serving 

its many functions becomes like a 

map and in that way is ever changing 

throughout history .Within this 

realm of “library” exists a virtual 

library of our minds that connects 

with a place of quiet and contemplation 

and refuge. I recognized it 

immediately as Bob’s space, that 

p. 18 

You never know who 

you will meet . . . 

When you go on a 

tour of Anchorage 

School Libraries! 

(Have you ever met 

Count Olaf?) 

place where we can go, feel safe and 

unthreatened, sit or browse, think 

or not. The virtual library is a space 

within our own minds where we can 

discover this, rediscover that, add, 

move and subtract to and from our 

own personal and infinite store of 

knowledge. It is here that we create 

and organize our own circulation of 

information. According to Barbara 

Fisher, this is a place where we lay 

claim as a base camp and from which 

we operate in the comfort of our own 

space. She reminded us that over the 

course of history it has been the literal 

library in which many people have 

found comfort, reassurance of our 

humanity, and a place to get in touch 

with the larger more spacious world 

that exists outside of ourselves. 

When our literal and virtual libraries 

coincide, the work of libraries and 

librarians is complete. 

Ben Mikaelsen, author of Touching 

Spirit Bear, picked up on this theme. 

He referred to the library as the 

place of his rehabilitation. A self-proclaimed 

juvenile delinquent and a 

reluctant reader, he found salvation 

in Jonathan Livingston Seagull and a 

librarian who said, “Sure. Take your 

Submitted by Sharon Bohjanen, Library Aide, 

Delta Junction High School Library 

time.” It was a place he would return 

to when so many other places were 

not as welcoming. It is a place he returns 

to still. 

“It’s so peaceful in here” a student 

tells me. “I just like to come in here 

to breathe.” As a library aide, I often 

feel incompetent in my research 

skills and my ability to portray an 

academic face that belongs to a high 

school library. The 2006 AKLS conference 

inspired me to hone in on my 

skills that make the library more than 

just a room filled with books but a 

state of mind. This state of mind can 

be recreated in busy, hectic, stress 

filled and tumultuous lives literally 

or virtually. It can be a place to read, 

learn research skills, find information 

and all those other great things that 

libraries lay claim to and will serve 

students well throughout their lives. 

But maybe, even more importantly, it 

can be a place where people develop 

life-long habits of taking “just 5 minutes 

to breathe.” 

“I have always imagined 

that paradise will be a kind 

of library.” Jorge Luis Barges 

Dianne Graham and 

Count Olaf 

Special thanks to 

Dianne for sharing 

some of her photos 

with us. 


Meeting with author Ben Mikaelsen 

Lillian Jackstadt, Dottie Epps,Ben Mikaelsen, Audrey Jorgensen, 

Mary Beth Schoen, Suzanne Metcalfe 

As an Art Instructor who has also 

taught English for years, accepting 

the position of school librarian at 

Hydaburg School on Prince of Wales 

Island was an exciting addition to 

my repertoire. I walked into the position 

with a passion for reading and 

books in general, but lacked the experience 

to call myself a “librarian.” 

After literally stumbling into the 

existing library (the books had been 

in boxes for four years), and being 

thrown into the position of teaching 

English (our English teacher virtually 

left overnight after Christmas break) 

my focus has been scattered amongst 

the many hats I wear. 

The opportunity to attend this conference 

has given me the ability to 

refocus my attentions to the library. 

Many questions I faced were answered 

at the conference and my task 

doesn’t seem as overwhelming as it 

did previously. 

Perhaps the most mind boggling 

session I attended was the Battle of 

the Books session where they were 

trying to make final decisions of the 

books for next year’s program. The 

conversation within the attendees 

was like a foreign language at first. 

The expertise these women verbalized 

was impressive to say the least. 

I, feeling like the dummy, had only 

read a few of the books on the list 

and quickly announced my intention 

to observe and learn from their experience. 

Since I had no idea what they 

were talking about I certainly didn’t 

want to give my input just for the 

sake of talking-ha! 

By the end of the second day, I now 

understand the process of choosing 

the books as far as the breakdown of 

the categories. It will take me a while 

to familiarize myself with the criteria 

for actually selecting the books that 

make it into the final round. 

After the Author’s Luncheon I was 

pretty sure I wanted to run away 

with Ben Mikaelsen and live a life of 

adventure with this compassionate 

and charismatic man. What an inspi- 

Author Ben Mikaelsen Inspires 

at Author’s Luncheon 

Ben told of the challenges faced in creating his books. 

His stories and a slide presentation allowed a wonderful 

view inside Ben’s research as he tried to uncover the 

emotions that bring the heart to each story. 

These experiences included raising a 700 pound black 

bear, flying to the North Pole, living with the homeless, 

working with dolphins, attending Space Camp, going 

undercover with Drug Enforcement Agents, and living 

with the Maasai in Africa. 

The diversity of Ben’s writing and research is what has 

made his books so appealing. This presentation was both 

informative and entertaining. 

AkLA Conference 2006 - What It Meant To Attend 

For The First Time by Christine Lipscomb 

ration! I could relate to his childhood, 

as I too was the rebel child who has 

spent adulthood pursuing and living 

a non-traditional lifestyle and loving 

it. I have never read any of his 

works, but the way he had me laughing 

and crying on an emotional roller 

coaster while he was speaking has 

me chomping at the bit to delve into 

his work. 

I won one of his books and he autographed 

it, dedicating it to “The 

Haida Nation” in honor of the Haida 

Indian guide who led him on a spiritual 

quest as he researched one of his 

books. The kids will like this. I don’t 

usually read chapter books to the 

students, but this one demands an 

exception. 

Finally, as a whole I will carry back 

to Hydaburg a renewed energy and 

confidence to resume the huge task 

of pulling this library together. I am 

blessed (or cursed-ha!) with the personality 

to take on a challenge with a 

vengeance, 


The Alaska Digital Archives and Learn Alaska 

I found the sessions on The Alaska 

Digital Archives and Learn Alaska 

to be of the most immediate and 

pertinent use! This year, our Social 

Science department is struggling to 

invent an Alaska Studies curriculum, 

and I am trying to throw a lot 

of library funds, time, research, and 

energy toward helping to accomplish 

that. This session will help me help 

the Alaska Studies teacher and thus 

our students. 

I‘d already introduced said teacher 

to the Alaska Digital Archives 

(http://vilda.alaska.edu); he and his 

students are VERY excited about and 

have used its resources several times. 

For anyone who isn’t familiar with it, 

the Digital Archives is a fascinating 

website which “presents a wealth of 

historical photographs, albums, oral 

histories, moving images, maps, documents, 

physical objects, and other 

materials from libraries, museums 

and archives throughout our state.” 

The Archives can be accessed 

through SLED (http://sled.alaska. 

edu), and are endlessly rewarding as 

education and entertainment. 

WARNING: exploring the Archives 

will be like potato chips – you won’t 

be able to stop at just one! Apparently 

the high school students found it 

as interesting as I did and have used 

it frequently since being introduced. 

p. 20 

by Sherry Henrickson 

Ketchikan High School Librarian 

The new thing that I learned at this 

conference session was about the 

Learn Alaska (http://www.learnalaska.org) 

component of the Digital 

Archives. From the home page of the 

Archives, you can click on 

BUILD A CLASSROOM TOUR 

and you’ll be given a choice of tours 

that are already set up - Prospecting, 

Fishwheels on the Yukon River, and 

Early Fairbanks are choices right now. 

I was mostly interested in the (upcoming) 

ability for others to build 

their own tours by selecting a series 

of “slides” from the Archives and 

adding their own written information. 

I think high school students will 

really buy into this virtual method of 

researching and reporting. 

The requirements for building tours 

are: 

• The Toolset (Builder and Viewer) 

– can be downloaded directly from 

the website and are FREE! 

• An internet connection 

• FLASH 

Other things to know are: 

• The Toolset must be downloaded 

on every computer that will be used 

• There is no Spellcheck in the 

Builder section; it is recommended 

that you use a word processing program, 

then cut and paste 

The emphasis of the entire session 

was on collaboration; the collaboration 

between the museum, the public 

library, and the school district that 

went into making Learn Alaska happen 

as well as ways that we as librarians 

can encourage and facilitate collaboration 

with our teachers. These 

include knowing and being available 

during teacher prep time, getting a 

copy of students assignments, finding, 

evaluating and sharing websites 

appropriate to assignments; library 

newsletters, offering to split classes 

with teachers so you each work with 

smaller groups of students, teacher 

“book talks” – however informal 

– on books they will find applicable 

to their subject, inviting teachers to 

help spend your book budget… not 

new ideas, but great ones that bear 

repeating! 

It was a very informative and useful 

session and I encourage everyone to 

explore both the Digital Archives and 

Learn Alaska! 


W E B B I E S 

Top Web Sites for Alaskan School Libraries 

A Look at Professional Tools for School Librarians: 

AkASL’s website offers 

information on board 

members, membership, 

Battle of the Books. and 

links of interest to Alaska 

School Librarians. This is also where 

you get your latest issue of The Puffin! 

http://www.akla.org/akasl/home. 

html 

The goal of the Alaska Library Association 

is to promote vibrant libraries 

which 

deliver 

outstanding 

services to 

their users, 

and to provide 

professional development opportunities. 

The website has information 

on advocacy, Authors to Alaska, 

Book Bonanza and more. 

http://www.akla.org 

American Association of School 

Librarians gives us national news, 

links to publications,conferences,professional 

tools 

and resources. One valuable resource 

is the conference archive link where 

members can download copies of 

handouts from recent conference sessions.http://www.ala.org/ala/aasl/aaslindex.htm 

With over 16,000 subscribers, 

LM_NET is a discussion group open 

to school library media specialists 

worldwide, and to people involved 

with the school library media field. 

The website has information on 

joining the listserv, archives, and a 

page of great links for school librarians. 

The listserv offers a selection of 

choices from full volume to digest to 

select depending on the amount of 

mail you want to deal with. 

http://www.eduref.org/lm_net 

Give yourself some time to explore 

topics such as Libraries and You, 

Education and Careers, Awards and 

Scholarships, Issues and Advocacy, 

Professional Tools, Events and Conferences, 

Products and Publications 

and New. 

http://www.ala.org 

by Suzanne Metcalfe 

One of my favorite sites, it is very 

up-to-date and in tune with what 

young people want. I love the booklists 

and 

ideas for 

programming. 

http:// 

www.ala.org/ala/yalsa/yalsa.htm 

The Assembly on Literature for Adolescents 

is an independent assembly 

of NCTE. ALAN is made up of teach- 

ers, authors, librarians, publishers, 

teacher-educators and their students, 

and others who are particularly interested 

in the area of young adult 

literature. ALAN holds its annual 

meetings during the NCTE annual 

convention in November and also 

publishes The ALAN Review. 

If you LOVE YA literature, you must 

attend the ALAN workshop at NCTE 

where you will meet many of your 

favorite authors and receive a load of 

books. 

http://www.alan-ya.org/2 


____________________________________________ 

____________________________________________ 

AkLA / AkASL Conference, March 10-13, 2005, AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF SCHOOL 

will be in Barrow, Alaska. 

Future Conferences - ALASKA LIBRARIANS Future Conferences (AASL) - NATIONAL 

Information available at: 

Twelfth National Conference and Exhibition, 

AkLA http://www.akla.org 

/ AkASL Conference, 

AMERICAN Pittsburgh, PA, ASSOCIATION October 22-26, OF 2005 SCHOOL 

- http://www.ala.org/aasl 

____________________________________________ 

Feb 22-26 in Juneau, Alaska. 

LIBRARIANS (AASL) Thirteenth National Conference 

___________________________________________ 

Information available at: http://www.akla.org and Exhibition, Reno, NV, October 25-28, 2007 

ASTE 2005 Conference. January 2005 

ALA Annual Conference 2004 

http://www.ala.org/aasl 

(Alaska Society for Technology in Education) 

AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION 

ASTE 2006 

______________________________________________ 

http://www.aste.org 

(Annual Conference), Orlando, FL 

- February 25-28, 2007 (Alaska Society for ALA 

The conference location is Anchorage, Alaska. 

June 

Annual 

24-30, 2004 

Conference 


2006 AMERICAN LIBRARY 

Technology in Education) 

ASSOCIATION ____________________________________________ 

(Annual Conference), New Orleans, 

http://www.aste.org 

LA: AMERICAN June 22–28, LIBRARY 2006 ASSOCIATION 


The conference location is Anchorage, Alaska. 

______________________________________________ 

(Midwinter Meeting), Boston, MA, 

AMERICAN Jan. 14–19, 2005 LIBRARY http://www.ala.org/events 

ASSOCIATION 

(Midwinter ____________________________________________ 

Meeting), Seattle, WA: Jan. 19–24, 2007 


PNLA Annual Conference 

____________________________________ 

Wenatchee, WA, August 11-14, 2004 

PNLA http://www.pnla.org/events/index.htm 

Annual Conference 

Eugene, OR, August 9-12, 2006 

website http://www.pnla.org/events/index.htm 

 

p. 22 

ALASKA ASSOCIATION OF OF SCHOOL SCHOOL LIBRARIANS LIBRARIANS (AkASL) (AkASL) 

EXECUTIVE BOARD AND AND COMMITTEE COORDINATORS 

2004-2005 

2006-2007 

PRESIDENT................. Karen Davis MEMBERSHIP ............ Katie Sanders EX-OFFICIO .................... Sue Sherif 

kjdavis@kpbsd.k12.ak.us 

PRESIDENT . . . . . . . . . Barb Bryson 

ksanders@northstar.k12.ak.us 

MEMBERSHIP . . . .Darla Grediagin sue_sherif@eed.state.ak.us 

EX-OFFICIO . . . . . . . . . . . Sue Sherif 


dgrediagin@bssd.org 

Alaska 

sue_sherif@eed.state.ak.us 

State Libary 

PRESIDENT-elect ....Valerie Oliver 

School 

Alaska 

Library/Youth 

State Libary 

Services 

School Library/ 

oliver_valerie@asdk12.org BATTLE OF THE BOOKS 

Past PRESIDENT . . . . Valerie Oliver 

Youth 

Coordinator 

Services Coordinator 

vgoliver@gci.net 

............................. BATTLE OF THE Shelly BOOKS Logsdon . . . . . . . 344 . . W. 3rd Ave., 

344 W. 

Suite 

3rd 

125 

Ave., Suite 125 

Past PRESIDENT .......................... Shelly.Logsdon@matsuk12.us 

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Shelly Logsdon Anchorage, AK 

Anchorage, 

99501 

AK 99501 

..........................BobVanDerWege 

(907) 269-6569 

rvdw@kpbsd.k12.ak.us 

PRESIDENT Elect. . Erika Drain 

Shelly.Logsdon@matsuk12.us (907) 269-6569 

(907) 269-6580 (fax) 

erikad@mehs.ak.us 

(907) 269-6580 (fax) 

PUFFIN Editor ...Ruth Woodruff 

(800) 776-6566 

(800) 776-6566 

SECRETARY........ Tiki Levinson PUFFIN Editor . . . Suzanne Metcalfe 

rwoodruff@firstcitylibraries.org 

tlevinson@dgsd.k12.ak.us 

SECRETARY Tiki Levinson 

suzmet@gci.net 

tlevinson@dgsd.k12.ak.us PUFFIN Publisher ... Pat Wamsley 

TREASURER ............ Barb Kreher wamsley@mtaonline.net 

PUFFIN Publisher . . . . Pat Wamsley 

kreherb@jsd.k12.ak.us 

TREASURER . . . . . . Kirk Thompson 

wamsley@mtaonline.net 

UPCOMING 

kirk.thompson@matsu.k12.us 

ONLINE COMMUNICATIONS/ 

E-BOARD MEETINGS 

Northern ...........Darla Grediagin WEBMASTER............ Ann McCann 

ONLINE COMMUNICATIONS/ The AkASL The AkASL Board Board will meet will meet via 

dgrediagin@yksd.com 

REGIONAL REPRESENTATIVES amccann@northstar.k12.ak.us 

WEBMASTER . . . . . . . . . Robin Turk via teleconference* on on the the following 

Northern . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lyn Ballam rturk@matsuk12.us 

following dates. 

Southcentral....... Lynn McNamara 

date. 

lballam@mac.com 

mcnamara_lynn@asdk12.org AWARDS .............. Kirk Thompson Contact Karen 2006 Davis - May for 17 

Southcentral . . . . . Lynn McNamara 

more information. 

Southeast..................Barb 

mcnamara_lynn@asdk12.org 

Bryson 

AWARDS . . . . . . . . . . . . Janelle Maki 

Contact Barb Bryson for 


janelle.maki@matsuk12.us 

* May 12 

more information. 

Southeast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kari Sagel GOVERNOR'S ADVISORY COUNCIL 

Western ..........Suzanne Richards 

sagelk@mail.ssd.k12.ak.us ................................. Lois Petersen 

bethelbooks2@aol.com 

GOVERNOR’S ADVISORY COUNCIL 

lpetersen@bssd.org 

Our thanks to GCI for 

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Bob VanDerWege 

Western . . . . . . . . Suzanne Richards rvdw@kpbsd.k12.ak.us 

their support of our audio 

bethelbooks2@aol.com 

conferences.

Lois Petersen Becomes Life - Alaska Library Association

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