Puffin Winter 2003, v22,#2 issue (pdf 697k) - Alaska Library ...

Newsletter of the Alaska Association of School Librarians 

 

(AkASL) 

Volume 22, Issue 2 Winter 2003 

From the President’s Desk 

We are having a different kind of winter 

here in Juneau. At this writing, 

there is no snow on the ground and 

some of the grass is actually green! 

Hopefully, this warmer trend will continue 

through March for the AkLA 

Conference. The library community 

has worked on the meeting since last 

spring, but the pace of activity is dramatically 

picking up. The local arrangements 

committee/AkLA - Juneau 

Chapter members are really putting 

together a terrific meeting for all 

concerned. From topnotch accommodations 

and food to excellent speakers, 

this conference will have it all. To cap 

it all, Alaska Airlines has special low 

fares. If you haven’t been to an AkLA 

Conference lately, you really owe it to 

yourself to come to this one! 

We will have special things to do for 

school librarians during all four days 

of AkLA. On Thursday, March 6th, Dr. 

Gary Hartzell from the University of 

Nebraska will present our all day pre- 

conference. Gary will talk about how 

YOU can be a proactive force in your 

own school and school district to 

achieve your library and school goals. 

Gary comes from the administrative 

perspective and has great appreciation 

for librarians. That combination means 

that he has a knockout message and a 

means to help you achieve your 

dreams. This is a not-to-be missed 

session! On Friday, Gary will meet 

with the AkASL Executive Board and 

ANY interested school librarians 

about how to promote libraries and 

librarians on a statewide basis. He will 

follow that with an afternoon session 

on how to get along with your supervisor. 

Also on Friday, plan on attending 

the Battle of the Books session so 

you can give us input for next year. 

On Saturday, Katy Spangler from 

UAA will present three different sessions 

on Children’s Alaskana - one 

session each for primary, intermediate, 

and middle/high school students. 

Also on Saturday, Megan Whelan 

Turner, author of the former Battle 

book, The Thief, will present at the 

Authors to Alaska Luncheon. On Sunday, 

we’d love to see you for the 

AkASL general membership meeting. 

Tell us what you would like to see 

happening during the next year! Also, 

noted Juneau storyteller Brett 

Dillingham will share ideas to make 

your storytelling performance even 

better. In addition to all those sessions, 

come and meet your vendors and 

some authors in person, ride or walk 

along on some great tours and grab 

some University credits if you need it. 

In a nutshell, Juneau will be the place 

to be during March 6-9th. If you 

haven’t already made plans, there still 

is time. We’d love to see you here! 

Highlights 

of this Issue 

p.1 ........................ President's Message 

p.2 .......... Eboard Minutes Highlights 

p.3 .........AkASL Conference Schedule 

p.4 ...................... Coordinator's Corner 

p.5 ..........Title One Funding/Training 

p.6-7 ........... AkASL Regional Reports 

p.8 ......................... In-Sites on the Web 

p.9 .............. Battle of the Books Report 

p.10 ........................ Let's Give Awards! 

p.11 .................. Security System Grant 

p.11 ................ Read With Your Buddy 

p.12 .............. Noodletools Offers Help 

p.13 ........... AASL Conference Speaker 

p.14 ...... Library Leadership Academy 

p.15 .................. Author Ben Mikaelsen 

p.16 ............... Letters About Literature 

p.17 ....................................... Booking It 

p.18 ......... Eboard & Conference Dates 

Finally, I’d like to 

take a little space to 

say “thanks” to 

those who worked 

so hard this year. 

Your executive 

board has done a 

bang-up job. From 

taking care of financial 

matters to bringing our advocacy 

plans to fruition, all of the board 

members have taken many hours of 

their personal time to work on AkASL 

projects and issues. When you see a 

board member, please give them a pat 

on the back. They deserve it! 

See you soon in Juneau - 

Cathy Boutin

Excerpts from the AkASL teleconference minutes . . . 

October 16, 2002 

Discussed standards for accepting 

or rejecting offers from vendors 

related to Battle of the Books sponsorship. 

The President-Elect will 

help determine which vendors will 

become Battle of the Books sponsors 

in upcoming years. 

Discussed Gary Hartzell's presentation 

at the Juneau conference 

and AkASL's financial support of 

his program. The Board will con- 

November 13, 2002 

Discussed scholarship guideline 

modifications (Barb K. and Karen 

D.) The final draft has been put 

together and a new application 

should help us focus our choice of 

applicants and coordinate the 

awarding of AKLA and AkASL 

scholarships. 

AKLA Conference (Cathy) The 

board was updated on logistics for 

the face-to-face meeting at conference 

and, Gary Hartzell's presentations 

in Juneau followed by his 

trip to Unalakleet to visit a rural 

library program. 

January 15, 2003 

Old Business 

• Summer Leadership Academy 

(Roz, Sue, and Cathy) Discussion 

of course description, outline, 

approval of budget, methods 

of meeting expenses. We 

have everything set up to offer a 

three credit class through the 

ASDN Staff Development. The 

program will be held in Anchorage 

this June. AkASL approved 

the allocation of $2,000 for this 

class. A State Library grant of 

$3,175 will also be used to support 

this professional development 

opportunity. 

sider what points we would like 

Gary to relate to Alaska's school 

administrators. 

Battle of the Books (Shelly/ 

Teresa) discussed possibility of 

having reading vs. grade level 

teams in the future to help meet 

the needs of school districts who 

are adopting the standards model 

of education. 

Battle of the Books teleconference 

'underwriting' (Bob) - further discussion 

of possible Battle of the 

Books sponsors such as GCI and 

others. 

New Business 

• UAS leadership class (Roz) A 

few years ago we had a week-long 

summer academy. Roz has been 

in contact with Ruth Toor who 

would be willing to prepare a 

similar session this June 9-12, 2003. 

The board discussed ways to help 

fund this continuing education 

opportunity for Alaska's school 

librarians. 

• AKLA Conference 

(Cathy) Discussed ways to show 

appreciation for the guest 

speaker we are helping to bring 

to the AkLA conference. Discussed 

conference invitations to 

administrators - AKLA has 

agreed to allow us to invite our 

administrators to the conference, 

especially those who may be in 

Juneau for a legislative fly in 

time. Invitations will feature sessions 

administrators would most 

likely be interested in. We will 

ask for an RSVP. Name badges 

will identify invited administrators. 

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. 

Any inquiries should be directed to: 

AkASL President, 

Cathy Boutin 

boutinc@jsd.k12.ak.us 

Send articles to: 

Ruth Woodruff, 

Puffin Editor 

3816 Alaska Ave. 

Ketchikan Ak 99901 

rwoodruf@firstcitylib.org 

fax: (907) 247-5761 

Fall 2002 deadline: Sept. 20 

Pat Wamsley, Online 

Communications Coordinator 

wamsley@mtaonline.net 

• Jo Morse Scholarship 

Pin sales will help fund this 

scholarship again this year. 

New Business 

• Elections - discussed potential 

candidates for the AkASL 

Eboard and ways to encourage 

more participation at this level. 

• Procedures (Ann) - Discussed 

ways to streamline the election 

procedures and make it easy to 

cast ballots. 

• Travel Grants - (Regional Reps) 

Discussed the travel stipend applications 

for this year. 

page 2 The PUFFIN - Winter 2002- v.22, #2

Conference schedule of AkASL doings: 

Thursday, March 6th 

• 8:30 AM to 4:00/4:30 PM The 

Proactive School Librarian 

pre-conference with Gary 

Hartzell. The cost is $40 and 

lunch is on your own. 

Friday, March 7th 

• 7:00 to 8:50 AM How to 

Raise the Profile of School 

Librarians Across the 

State--AkASL Executive Board 

breakfast with Gary Hartzell. All 

interested librarians (and administrators!) 

are invited to attend. 

If people want breakfast, there is 

a $15 charge which is listed on 

the AKLA Registration page. 

• 2:00 PM to 3:30 PM How to 

Work With Your Supervisor 

-- a presentation from Gary 

Hartzell. Have you scratched 

your head about how to improve 

the working relationship with 

your boss? Gary will give you 

some sure-fire strategies! 

• 4:00 to 5:20 PM. Battle of 

the Books session, Shelly 

Logsdon will be the moderator. 

Winners of the 2002 AkASL Membership Drawing 

$25.00 Gift Certificate to Cook Inlet Books 

Northern Region: 

Helen Watkins, Fairbanks 

Southcentral Region: 

Tracy Bulot, Anchorage 

Saturday, March 8th 

• 8 to 10:30 AM Alaskan Literature 

for Primary Students. 

Katy is a UAA professor who has 

taught kiddy lit for several years. 

Katy will show you great books 

you will love! 

• 11:00 AM to 12:20 PM Alaskan 

Literature for Elementary 

Students with Katy 

Spangler. Katy is noted for the 

great Alaskan literature she has to 

share. Don't miss this one! 

• 4:00 to 5:20 PM Alaskan Literature 

for Middle and 

High School Students with 

Katy Spangler. Katy will point 

out some great Alaskan reads for 

the older age group. 

Sunday, March 9th 

• 7:00 to 8:20 AM AkASL General 

Membership Meeting 

with optional continental breakfast. 

Come and say "good-bye" to 

outgoing officers and greet the 

new ones. In addition, voice your 

opinions about what our organization 

should do in the coming year! 

Southeast Region: 

Janet Madsen, Sitka 

Western Region: 

Tiki Levinson, Naknek 

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

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

JOIN TODAY, 

membership forms on web sites! 

AkASL Ballot 

goes online 

Once again this year the voting for 

the executive board will be done 

through an online ballot. 

Last years results showed an increase 

in the number of ballots cast 

using this method. In addition to 

that it is a cost savings, not having 

to mail out paper ballots. 

If you haven’t already received it, 

you will have an e-mail that gives 

you the link to the ballot. It only 

takes seconds to make your selections 

and submit it so don’t put it 

off as voting closes February 28th. 

You are asked for your name in 

order to validate the votes, but 

names are never linked to individual 

votes, so your ballot is private. 

Your Board would like to hear 

from you with your thoughts and 

opinions about this type of balloting. 

Special Thanks to Ron and Lynn 

Dixon of Cook Inlet Books for their 

sponsorship! 

-- 

Ann McCann, 

AkASL Membership Chair 

The PUFFIN - Winter 2002- v.22, #2 page 3

Something 

from 

Sue... 

I recently happened to read a PUFFIN column from 

one of my great predecessors, Della Matthis. It was 

from about 6 years ago if I remember correctly, and 

in it she discussed the challenges and opportunities 

of keeping up with the rapidly changing technology 

scene in schools and libraries. 

As we look forward to February’s ASTE conference 

and March’s AkLA conference in 2003, we are still 

facing some of the same 

challenges of technology, 

but we are more and more 

reaping the benefits. Most 

schools now have connection 

to the world at large 

thanks to the presence of 

librarians and technology 

specialists and through 

the advantages of E-Rate 

which the State Library, in 

the person of Della, have 

worked so hard to implement 

in Alaska. 

Sue Sherif, Alaska State Libary 

School Library/Youth Services Coordinator 

sue_sherif@eed.state.ak.us 

344 W. 3rd Ave., Suite 125 

Anchorage, AK 99501 

(907) 269-6569 

(907) 269-6580 (fax) 

. . . aspects of No 

.. No No No No 

Child Child Child Child Child Left Left Left Left Left Behind Behind Behind Behind Behind 

[ESEA legislation]... 

impact school library 

media personnel in 

ways that are yet to be 

determined. 

Thanks to the efforts of 

the State Library, the lobbying 

of librarians from all types of libraries, the University 

of Alaska, and the legislature, we have statewide 

access to databases that few libraries could afford 

individually. We still all probably spend an inordinate 

amount of time wrestling paper out of printers, 

reading strange dialog boxes with indecipherable 

messages on our screens, resetting computers that 

kids have configured creatively, and plotting how we 

can accomplish upgrades without breaking the bank 

or diminishing the book budget. 

While we continue to face the challenges of the 

changes technology brings, we also have new challenges 

and opportunities. No Child Left Behind legislation 

from the federal government has the laudable 

aim of making sure that we don’t simply discard children 

as “unteachable.” At the same time it brings 

challenges that will affect every school to one degree 

or another. If you have not taken the time to become 

informed about this legislation, which is also known 

as ESEA, check the U.S. Department of Education 

web site at: http://www.nochildleftbehind.gov 

One of the aspects of No Child Left Behind that impacts 

school library media personnel in ways that are 

yet to be determined is the part of the legislation that 

requires both paraprofessionals 

and teachers to be “highly quali- 

fied.” The most immediate impact 

will be on Title I schools and on 

personnel hired with Title I funds, 

but there is a requirement that 

new hires and then all faculty 

meet the designation “highly 

qualified.” How this is actually 

going to work for paraprofessionals 

and teachers is still be worked 

on at the state level. The paraprofessional 

requirements may be 

particularly tricky here in Alaska, 

but the State EED is working as I 

write to work out how this will be 

accomplished here. 

For certified library staff, the bad and good news is 

that library and information skills are not apparently 

considered “core” academics. For librarians who 

teach classes in addition to information literacy and 

library skills, you will want to find out how this legislation 

affects you. There are slightly different standards 

for elementary and high school teachers. For 

middle schools teachers there is a bit of divergence 

between the new federal law (they may have to meet 

upper level qualifications) and Alaska certification 

practices, where K-8 is the common endorsement. 

The legislation does not really take into account the 

staffing realities of K-12 schools in rural areas, but the 

current stance in Washington is that there will be no 

waivers. The Alaska Department of Education and 

Early Development has been busy communicating 

with the federal Department of Education, but the 

outcomes are not clear at this time. 


Something from Sue, cont. from p. 4 

The challenge for school library media staff is already 

great with school district budgets under flux, but our 

new challenge will be to find out how these new 

standards affect our immediate jobs and the future 

staffing decisions of school administrators. This will 

require that we all do our homework in the legislation. 

We will need to keep abreast of the staff development 

opportunities that No Child Left Behind may 

bring. For some us, we will have to become wellversed 

in the consequences of the designators system, 

which has already labeled some Alaskan schools as at 

risk. (See http://www.eed.state.ak.us/tls/assessment/pdf_files/Title1ImprovementSitesTable.pdf 

) 

This would be a good time for you to do a little 

homework and to talk to your faculty and administrators 

about how your school is being affected. You 

may want to create a web page or pathfinder for your 

administrators and faculty that can serve as a clearinghouse 

for No Child Left Behind legislation and 

news or for staff development opportunities. 

The Alaska State Library is offering an 

audioconference for librarians, grant writers, or administrators 

from Title I districts. These districts 

qualify to apply for federal competitive grants under 

No Child Left Behind's Improving Literacy Through 

School Libraries. 

Last year Congress allocated $12.5 million to fund the 

first round of federal grants for school libraries in 

decades. Last year's guidelines restricted the grants 

to Title I districts. Two Alaska districts, Lake and 

Peninsula School District and Bering Strait School 

District, were among the 94 awardees for this school 

year. Their grants were for $46,450 and $230,919 respectively. 

The US Department of Education officer for this program 

will talk to representatives from eligible Alaska 

school districts in a special audioconference on 

Monday, March 3, 2003 from 1 - 2:30 PM AST 

AUDIOCONFERENCE ON 

SCHOOL SCHOOL LIBRARY LIBRARY FUNDING 

FUNDING 

FOR TITLE I DISTRICTS 

You may want to remind your grant writers and administrators 

that the Professional Development Collection 

available through the statewide databases on 

SLED (http://sled.alaska.edu) offers a pathway to 

some of the scientifically-based educational research 

that No Child Left Behind encourages as a means of 

classroom and school improvement. 

These old and new challenges all make AkASL’s 

preconference for the 2003 Alaska Library Association 

conference particularly timely. If you haven’t 

received your conference registration form go to the 

AkLA web site at http://www.akla.org and check 

out the preconference with Gary Hartzell and the rest 

of the conference offerings. If you’d like to learn 

more about Dr. Hartzell, check his column “Building 

Influence” in SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL (http:// 

www.slj.com ) or look at this ERIC document: http:/ 

/ericit.org/digests/EDO-IR-2002-06.shtml 

She will go over the second-year guidelines and application, 

which are due to appear in the FEDERAL 

REGISTER at the end of February. As time permits, 

she will take questions at the end of the 

audioconference or afterwards online. 

If your school district is a Title I district and would 

like to participate, please register by contacting: 

Sue Sherif, 

School Library/Youth Services Coordinator 

Alaska State Library 

Sue_Sherif@eed.state.ak.us 

If you have questions or want further information, 

please contact Sue at 1-907-269-6569. 


y Barb Kreher 

Juneau is gearing up for the 

AkLA 2003 Conference! Registrations 

are pouring in from 

all over the state! I am registration 

chair for the conference 

this year and have been 

overwhelmed by how much 

work I have volunteered for, 

but I do enjoy being a part of 

such a great group of people! 

Barb Bryson, librarian at 

Hermon Hutchens Elementary 

School in Valdez, is 

spending a month in Juneau. 

She is attending the Arctic 

Institute and is being immersed 

in technology! 

Sitka Highlights: Sarah Jones, 

Sitka High School Librarian is 

retiring this spring after over 

twenty years in the district. 

by Valerie Oliver 

South central is pleased to 

announce that our organization 

will be awarding 5 travel 

grants ($500 each) to attend 

this year's AkLA state conference 

in Juneau. Our grant 

recipients are: Nancy 

Richwine, Karen Emmell, 

Gayne Turner, Leslie 

McNelly, and Robin Turk. 

We had so many worthy applicants 

that AkASL was able 

to partner with AkLA and 

award three more grants than 

last year. 

You should have recieved 

your conference packet in the 

mail and we hope that you 

are busy making arrange- 

Kari Sagel , Librarian at 

Blatchley Middle School is 

busy preparing for author 

Chris Crutcher’s visit to Sitka 

during Read Across America 

events. Janet Madsen at Keet 

Gooshi Heen recently completed 

National Board Certification 

and is still recuperating:-) 

More Juneau News from 

Linda Thibodeau, Juneau 

Douglas High School Librarian: 

Capital City Libraries 

has a new circulation and 

catalog vendor called Unicorn, 

in place since December, 

2002. The internet catalog 

is much more user-friendly 

than the previous system, but 

the circulation and cataloging 

modules have taken quite a 

ments to join us March 6-9, 

2003 for this exciting event! 

AkASL will be having a 

booth at the conference 

where you can 

drop by, chat with other 

members, and perhaps buy 

one (or five!) of our wonderful 

pins!! 

The Mat-Su District is exploring 

a automation conversion 

to SIRSI in the near future. 

Anchorage has been using 

this system for the past 3 

years and our annual gettogether 

will be a great time 

to "swap stories" and share 

advice. 

bit of new learning for our 

staff. 

My big news is that we are 

collecting and cataloging in 

the library all of the multiple 

copies of English trade 

paperbacks used for class 

reading. So far we have 

done 24 sets of books with 

quite a few left to go; number 

of books per set range 

from 35 to 159! As a result 

of classes checking out literature 

sets, the two most 

recent “hottest books” on 

the Capital City Libraries 

website have been “All 

Quiet on the Western 

Front”and “Power of One”, 

both being read by Juneau 

Douglas High School students! 

Battle of the Books is well 

underway around the south 

central area. Anchorage 

alone has over 3,000 students 

participating!! This is 

something we can all be 

proud of as a function of 

our AkASL organization. 

Good luck out there with 

your "battles" and we will 

hope to see you in Juneau in 

March!! 

Wendy Nyberg, East High 

School Librarian, in the Anchorage 

School District, retired 

just before Christmas. 


y Katie Sanders 

 

Northern Region members Jane 

Blood, librarian for the Fred 

Ipalook Elementary School in Barrow 

and Sheila Lauber, librarian 

at Denali Elementary in Fairbanks 

are both recipients of AKLA/ 

AkASL Travel Grant Awards. 

Look for them at the conference in 

Juneau!! 

The Fairbanks community enjoyed 

a delightful visit with author 

Jean Rogers in December. 

Jean was invited north for the 

Fairbanks Light Opera Theater 

production of the oratorio based 

on her picture book King Island 

Christmas. While she was here 

Jean visited four elementary 

schools, to the enjoyment of students 

and staff alike. She did a 

slide presentation and talk at the 

public library one evening and 

autographed her books at two of 

the FLOT performances (which 

were sold out!!) She also found 

time to meet with the local 

children's book writers group for 

a potluck and discussion. 

FNSBSD welcomes Susan Hood 

Sisson as a half time library 

associate at Ladd Elementary. Susan 

comes to us with a wealth of 

by Karen Davies 

 

Interest in attending the AkLA in 

March was high in the Western 

Region with nine people applying 

for the three regional travel grants 

of $500. AkASL was able to get 

additional funding from the state 

library which allowed five travel 

grants to be awarded to the region 

Those awarded the grants 

are Suzanne Richards, Bethel, 

Funa Melognak Hornberger, 

experience from the Berry Room at 

the Noel Wien Public Library. She 

is filling the position created by 

Katie Sanders accepting a half 

time position as Elementary 

Resource and Technology Coordinator 

for the district's Library Media 

Services department. FNSBSD 

Library Media Services has also 

added Larry 

Mitchell to 

its staff as a 

district wide 

trainer for 

the Alpha 

Smart computers 

which 

were purchased 

this 

year for each 

elementary 

school. 

Other new 

names in the 

FNSBSD library 

world 

are Sonja Holden, Library Associate 

at Weller Elementary, Lori 

Learned, Library Associate at 

Barnette Elementary, Cheryl 

Benedix, Library Associate at Arctic 

Light Elementary along with 

Donna Morrow and Cemlyn 

Newhalen School, Kelley Smith, 

Soldotna, Carol VanDerWege, 

Soldotna, and Natalie McBrayer, 

King Salmon. Congratulations to 

all five. 

Librarians from the Kenai Peninsula 

continue to work without a 

contract. Additional budget constraints 

for next year may lead to 

librarians 

Nelson is the new Library Assistant 

at Eielson AFB Jr/Sr High 

School and Susie Crevensten, the 

new assistant at Howard Luke 

Academy. Michelle Ambrose, formerly 

at Library Media Services is 

now the Library Assistant at 

Randy Smith Middle School, 

working with Tim Short, librarian. 

Gaylin Fuller, 

director of InstructionalSupport 

Services for 

the FNSBSD also 

annouced recently 

that the 

district has 

added 2000 more 

titles to its collection 

of streaming 

videos bringing 

the collection to 

approximately 

3500. 

Students in the FNSBSD participated 

in school & district-wide 

battles in preparation for the state 

Battle of the Books. 

teaching in classrooms, supervising 

students in online programs, 

and the elimination of some positions. 

This last week most were 

busy with the District Battle of the 

Books. Teams competed to determine 

who would go to the state 

battles. Good competitive fun for 

all involved. 


The Children’s Literature 

Web Guide 

http:// 

www.acs.ucalgary.ca/ 

~dkbrown 

An outstanding resource 

on children’s and young 

adult literature. This site 

features discussion 

boards, quick reference 

and more. 

Newbery Medal Home Page 

http://www.ala.org/alsc/ 

newbery.html 

A fantastic site for exploring 

the Newbery Medal books. 

Has an archive of Newbery 

Medal and Honor winners 

from 1922 to the present. Guys Read 

http://www.guysread.com 

Author Jon Scieszka has created 

this site to connect boys with 

books and “become better readers, 

better students, and better 

guys.” 

Read Across America 

http://www.nea.org/readacross 

It’s not too late to join in this celebration of 

beloved children’s author, Dr. Seuss and reading 

across America. Lots of great ideas and 

resources to use. 

Library Lovers’ Month 

http:// 

www.librarysupport.net/ 

librarylovers/index.html 

A great site to celebrate the 

love of libraries. Lots of fun 

ideas, poems and bookmarks. 

Reading Rants! 

http://tln.lib.mi.us/~amutch/jen 

This is a great site for young adult literature! There are 

about 20 booklists with thematic selections. The reviews on 

this site are brief, informative, and entertaining. 


y Shelly Logsdon 

Battle of the Books 

Quick Update 

It is so exciting to know that 

students all over the state will 

soon be competing to see who 

will represent their district at 

the state battles. Note this 

year‚s state battles are February 

25-February 28. 

A big thank you to GCI who 

is now offering us a discounted 

rate on our State Audio 

Battles. Moderators are 

still needed. If you can help 

us out, please email Shelly at 

Slogsdon@msb.matsu.k12.ak.us. 

We will schedule a 

moderator's audio-conference 

in mid-February, so 

if you have never been a 

moderator before don't be 

afraid... we'll provide a training 

session at that time. It is a 

fun and rewarding experience 

that everyone 

should try at 

least once. 

A big hats off to our many 

new volunteers for the 2003- 

2004 State Grade Level 

chairs positions. They are 

busily working on a tentative 

list for next year that should 

be available on the message 

board for comments in the 

next week or so. K-2 Roz 

Goodman (Bristol Bay); 3-4 

Dona Helmer (Anchorage) ; 

5-6 Sandy Krueger (Palmer); 

7/8 Gayne Turner 

(Talkeetna); H.S. Lois 

Peterson (Bering Straight). 

Conference Meeting: 

A Battle of the Books Workshop 

will be held on Friday 

March 7 from 4:00-5:30 at the 

AKLA Conference. There are 

many items on the agenda for 

discussion: including discussion 

of grade levels vs. reading 

levels, the new list of 

titles, 20th anniversary activities, 

and changing titles for 

the state battles. 

AkASL Battle of the Books Website: 

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

bbhome.html 

Here you will find the link to the PDF 

files, Registration Form and more. 

COMPLETED DISTRICT 

BATTLES! 

Congratulations to the following districts 

who have completed their District Battles 

AND sent their information onward for the 

State battles (as of February 6)! Best of luck 

to these schools in state! (Hmmm, Is your 

school listed? Did you remember to send 

forward your results to the State Coordinator?) 

High School 

•Anchorage: Dimond High 

•Denali Borough: Tri-Valley Schools 

•Lake & Peninsula: Chignik Lagoon 

•Mat-Su Borough: Wasilla High 

•Southwest Region: Koliganek School 

7/8 

•Alaska Gateway: Tok School 

•Aleutians East: Nelson Lagoon 

•Denali Borough: Cantwell School 

•Lake & Peninsula: Pilot Point School 

•Mat-Su Borough: Midnight Sun 


•Unalaska City: Unalaska City School 

•Valdez: George Jr. High 

5/6 


•Aleutians East: King Cove 

•Denali Borough: Tri-Valley School 


•Mat-Su Borough: Colony Middle School 

•Southwest Region: Aleknagik School 

•Unalaska City: Unalaska City School 

3/4 


•Aleutians East: King Cove 

•Craig School: Craig Elementary 

•Denali Borough: Tri-Valley School 


•Mat-Su Borough SD: Midnight Sun 


•Unalaska City-Eagle‚s View Elementary- 

Achigalux 


Let's Give 

Awards! 

It's time to think about awards 

again! AkASL likes to recognize 

those who are doing a good job. 

You still have time to nominate 

your deserving principal, see the 

article on the right. 

The nominations are already in for 

this year's AkASL School Librarian 

of the Year and the Linda K. 

Barrett Service Award, they 

will be presented at the March 

AKLA conference in Juneau. 

Be thinking about next year if 

you have someone in mind 

that you feel qualifies for either 

of these two awards. The 

criteria are listed on the 

AkASL web site: 

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

awards.html 

Happy New Year to all! Here's a New Year's Resolution 

everyone can fulfill! Nominate an NDP/ADP 

Principal! 

The job of an elementary/middle school principal 

takes a wide range of extraordinary skills and talents. 

We all know of principals who demonstrate these 

qualities well. It's not too late to nominate them for 

our annual recognition awards: National Distinguished 

Principal and Alaska Distinguished Principal. 

The person must be an active principal of a school in 

which a commitment to excellence is clearly evident 

through programs designed to meet the academic 

AkASL ADMINISTRATOR "PAT ON 

THE BACK" AWARDS 

Does your administrator support 

your librarian and library program? 

Has he or she made the library 

program stronger by financial 

support or by educational 

leadership? Show that you appreciate 

these efforts on behalf of 

libraries by nominating your library-friendly 

administrator for 

this award. 

Please submit: *Name, title, 

school, and/or district address, 

phone number, *A written narrative 

of the nominee's outstanding 

and sustained contribution toward 

furthering the role of the 

school Library Information program, 

a description of the district 

or building Library Information 

program and staffing, and an example 

of the administrator's library 

philosophy, *Two signatures 

of fellow teachers who endorse 

the nomination of this administrator 

(identify each of the 

two supporters). 

Send nominations for Pat on the Back Award 

to Ann McCann by March 1, 2003. 

Please submit all requests electronically to 

Ann's email: 

amccann@northstar.k12.ak.us 

Another way to honor your administrator 

- from AAESP - 

Loy McManus, Executive Director of the Alaska Association of Elementary Principals asked that I forward this message 

to the library community. It is another way for us to recognize and honor our fellow educators. 

Ann McCann, Librarian 

and social needs of all students, has high expectation 

for all staff and students, and has firmly established 

community ties with parents and local business organizations. 

The principal must be a member of NAESP/AAESP, 

have been an active principal for 5 years and be an 

active principal throughout next year.* 

For Nomination Forms contact Sandy Stephens at 

Government Hill Elementary in Anchorage: 907-742- 

5000 or stephens_sandy@asdk12.org 

So many deserve recognition - so few awards... 

Don't let this on get away. Nominate Today! 

*Loy explained that AAESP would check on membership and 

experience qualifications. 


Security System Grant, Is your library eligible? 

Salute to Schools 

Program 

to Provide 3M 

Detection Systems 

for School Libraries 

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

3msalute2003.html 

Deadline: March 1, 2003 

For the fourth consecutive 

year, 3M, in cooperation 

with the AASL will donate 

$1.5 million in 3M Detection 

Systems to approximately 

one hundred middle and 

high school library media 

centers in the United States 

through the 3M Salute to 

Schools program. 

3M will provide up to two 

Detection Systems for the 

entrance/exit of library media 

centers and a supply of 

Tattle-Tape Security Strips 

for marking print material -a 

package with an estimated 

value of roughly $15,000. 

The Salute to Schools program 

is open to middle and 

high schools in the US. To 

be eligible, schools must be 

a junior/middle or senior 

high school with an enrollment 

of 500-plus students; 

employ a full-time, statecertified 

library media specialist; 

have a collection of 

at least 5,000 items in the 

library media center; keep 

the center open to all students 

throughout the school 

day; and have no more than 

two entrances/exits to/ 

from the center that need to 

be protected. 

Individual donations will 

vary depending upon the 

specific needs of the library, 

such as the size of a collection 

and the physical layout 

of the media center. 

Applications are available 

online at the 3M Web site: 

http://www.3M.com/market/security/library 

Palmer High 

School received 

this grant awarded 

last spring. 

The system was 

installed 

last fall. 

The whole grant 

and installation 

process was very 

smooth. It was 

quite a thrill! 

Paula Marsh - Librarian, 

Palmer High School 

MatSu Borough School 

District 

READ WITH YOUR BUDDY @ your library 

Marisa, 

Chi, and 

Warren 

read 

together 

in the 

library. 

Students at Harborview 

Elementary School participate 

in the "15 to 1 

Program". This is a program 

that lowers class 

size for the classroom 

teacher several times 

each week. The librarian 

invites fifteen students 

from one class and fifteen 

students from another 

class to come to the library 

to read with one 

another for thirty minutes, 

and then as the first 

groups of students are 

returned to their classrooms, 

the other two 

groups come to read together 

in the library. The 

students read books from 

their boxes they bring 

from class and books 

from the library shelves. 

The students enjoy listening 

to stories and practicing 

their reading skills. 

Just one more way the 

Harborview School Library 

enhances our 

student's learning! 

by Barbara Kreher, 

Harborview 

Elementary 

School Librarian 

Emily reads with Emily in the library. 


Noodletools 

Offers Help 

by Ruth Woodruff 

Librarians and teachers will want to bookmark 

this wonderful interactive site, created by 

Debbie Abliock, that helps students create bibliographies, 

find a topic to research or get help 

on choosing the best search engine and/or 

search strategies to use. 

By logging on to: http:// 

www.noodletools.com/quickcite this bibliography 

composer takes the confusion out of creating 

MLA works cited or APA reference list. Simply add the information into the composer and PRESTO 

your bibliography is formatted and ready to print out or insert into your Word document. This link has great 

examples to help cite everything from books to personal web sites. 

http://www.noodletools.com gives the student access to NOODLEQUEST, a wizard that helps find information 

about research topics without becoming bogged down by which search engine is the best for which 

search. By answering a few questions regarding the topic, Noodlequest will reveal some of the best search 

strategies to use and explain why. 

NOODLELINKS offers great topic ideas and a few good resources for research papers. Browse by category or 

search by keyword for bibliographies compiled by researchers around the world on hundreds of topics. 

Teen Read Week Poster 

Winners. 

Following this year's theme, Get Graphic @ Your Library, 

Ketchikan High School library held a poster contest. Here 

are the first and second place winners. 


Dr. Bertice Berry to speak at opening session of 

AASL 11th National Conference 

Well-known motivational speaker, 

sociologist, author, lecturer, educator 

and former television talk 

show host Dr. Bertice Berry will 

speak at the opening general session 

of the American Association 

of School Librarians' 11th National 

Conference and Exhibition to be 

held in Kansas City, Missouri, October 

22-26, 2003. 

Dr. Berry, who describes her rise 

from an impoverished background 

in Wilmington, Delaware to teaching 

sociology and statistics at Kent 

University and hosting her own 

nationally syndicated television 

talk show, is scheduled to speak 

on Thursday, October 23, 2003, at 

3:30-5:30 p.m. 

The list of accomplishments by Dr. 

Berry goes on and on. She is the 

best-selling author of an inspirational 

memoir, I'm On My Way, 

But Your Foot Is On My Head. 

Her first work of fiction, Redemption 

Song, published by Double 

Day in 2000, is also a Best Seller 

and has been praised by critics for 

its entertaining and inspirational 

qualities. In the summer of 2002, 

she released Jim & Louella's 

Homemade Heart-fix Remedy, "a 

celebration of the connections between 

past and present, the importance 

of family, and the pleasures 

of the body and the heart." 

In addition to a successful writing 

career, Dr. Berry, who was once 

told by a high school teacher that 

she wasn't college material, has 

also showcased her abilities on the 

small screen. She was the host 

and co-executive producer of her 

own nationally syndicated talk 

show, "The Bertice Berry Show. 

She also hosted "USA Live," a 

four-hour live interview and entertainment 

show on the USA 

Cable Network. She's been a 

The American Association of 

School Librarians (AASL), 

http://www.ala.org/aasl 

a division of the American Library 

Association (ALA), promotes the 

improvement and extension of 

library media services in elemen- 

featured guest on other television 

programs, including "The Oprah 

Winfrey Show," "The Tonight 

Show With Jay Leno," and "BET 

Live" with Tavis Smiley. 

Dr. Berry's background and her 

insightful perspective on the complexities 

of life lend themselves 

perfectly to the overall theme "Information 

Matters" of the AASL 

11th National Conference. 

For more information about Dr. 

Bertice Berry visit her Web site 

http://berticeberry.com. 

For additional information 

about AASL's 11th National 

Conference and Exhibition 

in Kansas City, Missouri go 

to: 

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

index.html 

tary and secondary schools as a 

means of strengthening the total 

education program. Its mission is 

to advocate excellence, facilitate 

change, and develop leaders in the 

school library media field. 


The 2003 School Librarians' 

Leadership Academy 

An Educational Opportunity 

You Won't Want To Miss 

RUTH TOOR 

was the library media 

specialist at Southern 

Boulevard School in 

Chatham, New Jersey 

for 29 years. 

She is now a library 

media consultant, and 

is active in the American 

Library Association. 

She is a Past President 

of the American 

Association of School 

Librarians, and a current 

member and 

former chair of 

AASL's Annual Conference 

and Nominating 

Committees. 

Thanks to the collaborative efforts of the Alaska Association of School Librarians, 

the Alaska State Library, and the Alaska Staff Development Network, 

twenty school and/or district librarians/media specialists and practicing 

teacher/librarians can attend the 2003 School Librarian's Leadership 

Academy. 

The three-credit course, taught by The School Librarian's Workshop editor 

Ruth Toor, takes place in Anchorage, June 9-13th from 8:30AM to 4:30PM. 

The cost of the course is $297 which includes all materials, computer lab 

fees and 3 ED 593 credits. You can also take the course without credit for 

$247. 

If you're looking for ways to - 

• Network with other Alaska school librarians 

• Improve the impact of your school library program on students, teachers, 

and administrators 

• Help close the student achievement gap by examining factors that make 

up a quality school library program 

• Explore and discuss ways to further collaboration, support information 

literacy, and promote literature and reading 

• Develop advocacy techniques to promote your library program 

• Raise your awareness of issues and trends in school librarianship 

• Become an instructional leader in your school 

- then this is the course for you! 

For more information about the course location in Anchorage, content, requirements 

for credit, and to register go to the Alaska Staff Development Network 

website at http://www.asdn.org and look under "Summer Academies". Space is 

limited to the first twenty registrants so don't delay. Registration begins February 

15, 2003. 

PLEASE NOTE: Until there is a posting with this course title on the list, staff at 

ASDN will NOT be able to answer any questions you might have. Until the course 

is posted, you can contact Sue Sherif at 269-6569, 1-800-776-6566 or by email: 

sue_sherif@eed.state.ak.us with your questions. 


Award-winning author Ben Mikaelsen 

meets with students via videoconference technology. 

On Monday, 

December 

16, students 

in 6 BSSD 

schools visited 

with 

award-winning 

author 

Ben 

Mikaelsen 

via videoconference technology. 

Ben was in Gambell for the month 

of Dec. with his wife, Mel, a 

Physician's Assistant who was 

temporarily stationed there. 

A current resident of Montana, 

Ben has not always lived in the 

United States. Most of his youth 

was spent in Bolivia and it wasn't 

until his later school years that he 

moved to Minnesota and later on 

to Montana. Ben shared with us 

that throughout his life, in whatever 

place he found himself, he 

was always perceived to be just a 

bit different from the rest of the 

kids. No matter how hard he tried 

to be like the rest of the kids, he 

was regularly teased and bullied 

for his differences. 

In 7th grade, Ben was tired of trying 

and failing to be someone he 

wasn't, so he decided to just be 

who he was and stop caring what 

the other kids said. That's when 

he blossomed. 

Ben had a chat with himself and 

wrote down his dreams. As a 13year 

old, he had some pretty lofty 

goals. For one, he wanted to fly a 

plane on his own. After that, he 

wanted to become a sky diver. 

And if those heights weren't 

enough, he also wanted to become 

a cliff diver. No small feat for a 

boy who didn't know much about 

swimming! To make a long story 

short, Ben stopped listening to the 

bullies, followed his dreams, made 

them come true, and gained recog- 

nition from his peers as well as 

many others for his accomplishments. 

And the kids who bullied 

him? Well, they didn't fare so 

well. His message "bullies are the 

way they are because of something 

that is lacking in them, not 

because of something lacking in 

the person they pick on. And the 

remedy, do whatever you have to 

do to stay clear of them so you can 

be the person you want to be." 

Ben admits to being 

quite an animal 

lover. The slides 

he shared with us 

surely demonstrated 

this point. 

He has the normal 

pets such as a cat 

and dog, but he 

also has some big 

animals living at 

his house. A 

horse, for instance, 

and a 500 lb. bear 

named Buffy. A 

research bear that 

could not be returned to the wild, 

Ben and his wife Mel took Buffy 

into their home, literally, to raise 

him as a child. Was Buffy the reason 

Ben wrote The Rescue of Josh 

McGuire, a book about a boy who 

tries to save the life of a bear cub 

whose mother has 

been shot? Actually, 

no. The book stems 

more from a later adventure 

involving two 

bear cubs that Ben and 

Mel were trying to 

save. 

As the author of many 

award-winning 

children's books, Ben 

receives hundreds of 

letters each week as 

well as phone calls 

and email messages 

from his many fans. 

Although he is known as a writer, 

Ben admits that most of his time is 

not spent writing books, but rather 

in RE-writing them. To make the 

story come alive, Ben re-works the 

story many times and even reads 

each one aloud to Buffy just to see 

that it flows the way it should. Ben 

was never good at spelling or 

handwriting, but he's always had 

stories to tell. Over the years he 

has worked hard to tell those stories 

in ways that will 

engage his readers. 

Ben gets ideas from his 

books from his own 

experiences, from his 

imagination, and from 

research. Each book 

takes about a year and 

a half to complete. In 

each of his books there 

is a character who 

speaks the author's 

thoughts. In that person 

is Otis. Many of 

Ben's books would 

work as movies - 

Petey, Touching Spirit Bear, Sparrow 

Hawk Red, and others. 

But it's writing that Ben loves and 

he has two books he's working on 

at the moment. One is called Tree 

Girl, about a Guatemalan refugee, 

and the other is 

about a boy who is 

always clowning 

around and will be 

called Funny Boy. 


Letters About Literature 

Research has shown that children who read, write better; children who write, read 

more. This reading- writing link is the very heart of Letters About Literature, a 

reading promotion program for children and young adults sponsored by The Center 

for the Book in the Library of Congress and Weekly Reader Corporation. 

Letters about Literature is a national writing project. The contest invites students 

grades 4 and above to write a letter to an author — living or dead — describing how 

that author’s work influenced a student’s thinking. National winners of the writing 

contest receive $500 cash. Alaska winners receive a cash award of $100. 

http://www.alaskacenterforthebook.org 

http://www.loc.gov/loc/cfbook/2003-LAL-guidelines.html 

Dear Mary Downing Hahn, 

Your book Wait till Helen Comes has changed me so much it's 

hard to put on paper. I'm going to tell you about how and why this 

came to be. Ever since I can remember I've hated reading. Books were 

stupid and didn't make sense. Then in third grade, I was diagnosed 

with a reading disability. Things at home weren't helping. Mom and 

Dad were trying to teach me to read but it just wasn't getting 

through. I knew it wasn't their fault. 

My parents had my older brother Troy to deal with too. When my 

brother was eight, he had a grand mal seizure and almost died. That's 

when I began to fear death. That's another thing Wait till Helen 

Comes helped me with; realizing death is a part of life. You 

shouldn't fear death. You should conquer it. 

Somehow I got past the third grade. In the fourth grade I had a lot of 

older friends. Some of them got involved in something called Battle 

of the Books. That's where you read a bunch of books on a list and 

then people ask your team questions about the books. One day, my 

best friend's sister came up and told me about this book Wait till 

Helen Comes. Just her talking about it sent chills up my spine. So I 

decided to read it. I have to admit I laughed, I cried, I giggled, and I 

sighed. The part I liked best was at the end, when Helen apologizes 

to her mom and her mom forgives her for the accident. Your book 

not only helped me understand my family, but it opened my eyes 

and helped me see that some things are just an accident and can be 

overcome. Your book was so good it made me want to read more, 

and so I have, including all of your other books! So thank you Mary 

Downing Hahn, Thank You. 

Sincerely, 

Traci Tangney 


Book 

by George Ella Lyon, Illus: by 

Peter Catalonotto 

A gloriously illustrated poem 

about the magic a book has 

on a reader. 

Readers will enjoy the descriptions 

the words evoke 

and will find themselves immersed 

in the great illustrations. 

A great book for teaching 

creative writing as well as 

collage artwork for older students. 

Book! Book! Book! 

By Deborah Bruss, Illus: by 

Tiphanie Beeke 

A hilarious story about a 

group of animals that are 

bored after the children go 

back to school. They decide to 

go to the library and get a 

book. The librarian just can 

not understand their requests 

until finally the hen walks in 

and says, “Book, Book, 

Book.” 

Find out why all the animals 

were happy except for the 

bullfrog. 

“A BOOK is a CHEST 

that keeps the heart’s treasure. 

Lift the plain lid 

and look in.” 

Book by George Ella Lyon 

The Girl Who Hated 

Books 

by Manjusha Pawagi Illus: by 

Leanne Franson 

There is nothing quite like 

living in a family of bookworms 

when you absolutely 

hate books! It is so very disgusting 

to see piles of books 

every where and to be surrounded 

by parents who are 

always reading. Children will 

enjoy this fanciful funny tale 

as Meena discovers the magic 

of reading. 

One of my most favorite parts of being a librarian 

is sharing books with readers, no 

matter what their age. There are several Everybody 

books that I use to introduce the 

magic of books to young elementary children 

and to the Child Psychology class we 

have at the high school. 

Other titles that are fun to read aloud are: 

A Story for Bear 

by Dennis Haseley Illus: by Jim LaMarche 

Just One More Story 

by Dugald Steer Illus: by Elisabeth Moseng 

Beware of the Storybook Wolves 

by Lauren Child 

The Three Pigs 

by David Wiesner 

by Ruth Woodruff 


PRESIDENT ........ ...Cathy Boutin 

boutinc@jsd.k12.ak.us 

PRESIDENT-ELECT ... BobVanDerWege 

rvdw@kpbsd.k12.ak.us 

PAST PRESIDENT..Tiki Levinson 

tlevinson@nnk.gcisa.net 

SECRETARY ..... Darla Grediagin 

jelinek121@gci.net 

TREASURER .. Karen Nash- Joynt 

joynt@alaska.net 

REGIONAL COORDINATORS 

Northern................ Katie Sanders 

ksanders@northstar.k12.ak.us 

SouthcentralValerie Oliver 

oliver_valerie@asdk12.org 

Southeast .................. Barb Kreher 

kreherb@mail.jsd.k12.ak.us 

Western .................... Karen Davis 

kjdavis@kpbsd.k12.ak.us 

ALASKA ASSOCIATION OF SCHOOL LIBRARIANS (AkASL) 

EXECUTIVE BOARD AND COMMITTEE COORDINATORS 

2002-2003 

Future Conferences - ALASKA 

____________________________________________ 

AkLA / AkASL Conference March 6-9, 2003 

will be in Juneau , AK. 

Information available at: 

http://www.akla.org 

____________________________________________ 

ASTE 2003 Conference 

(Alaska Society for Technology in Education) 

http://www.aste.org 

The conference location is Anchorage, Alaska. 

Pre-conference workshops will take place in 

schools, at the University of Alaska, Anchorage and 

at the Marriott Hotel on Saturday, February 15, 

2003 and Sunday, February 16 , 2003. All conference 

sessions for Monday and Tuesday, February 

17 and 18, 2003 will take place at the Egan Center. 

MEMBERSHIP ...... Ann McCann 

amccann@northstar.k12.ak.us 

BATTLE OF THE BOOKS 

............................. Shelly Logsdon 

slogsdon@msb.mat-su.k12.ak.us 

.............................. Teresa Paulsen 

tpaulsen@aptalaska.net 

PUFFIN Editor .. Ruth Woodruff 

rwoodruf@firstcitylibraries.org 

ONLINE COMMUNICATIONS/ 

WEBMASTER ........ Pat Wamsley 

wamsley@mtaonline.net 

AWARDS ............... Ann McCann 

annm@northstar.k12.ak.us 

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Barb Bryson 

barb_bryson@valdez.cc 

GOVERNOR'S ADVISORY COUNCIL 

........................... Linda Masterson 

masterson_linda@asdk12.org 

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

sue_sherif@eed.state.ak.us 

Alaska State Libary 

School Library/Youth Services 

Coordinator 

344 W. 3rd Ave., Suite 125 

Anchorage, AK 99501 

(907) 269-6569 

(907) 269-6580 (fax) 

UPCOMING 

E-BOARD MEETINGS 

The AkASL Board will meet 

via teleconference* on the 

following dates. 

Contact Cathy Boutin for 

more information. 

* February 19 

* April 16 

* May 7 

-------------------------------------------------------- 

• March 6-9 

(Meetings at Conference) 

Future Conferences - NATIONAL 

____________________________________________ 

AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF SCHOOL 

LIBRARIANS (AASL) Eleventh National Conference 

and Exhibition, Kansas City, MO, October 

2003 

http://www.ala.org/aasl 

___________________________________________ 

ALA Annual Conference 2003 

AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION 

(Annual Conference), Toronto, Canada 

June 21-24, 2003 http://www.ala.org/events 

____________________________________________ 

AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION 

(Midwinter Meeting), 2003 

http://www.ala.org/events 

____________________________________________ 

PNLA Annual Conference 

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

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