The CSLA 2025 annual state conference will take place at the Signia by Hilton in San Jose, CA with pre-conference events on Wednesday, January, 29! More information regarding sessions coming soon!
Credit card, checks, and purchase orders accepted.
To pay by district purchase order, please select Invoice at checkout
Participants will have an opportunity to present an action research idea to others including school library researchers and get feedback on the idea and how to implement the project.
Ideas can include:
Evaluating effectiveness of an instructional strategy (e.g. scavenger hunt for orientation, virtual reference service, one on one research paper support, peer tutoring program)
Evaluating effectiveness of a makerspace
Identifying best practices for reading support
Impact of library reorganization
Impact of professional development on digital literacy integration (specifically related to AI, emergent technology tools)
These are not the only ideas - what do you want to learn about your practice? How can you improve? The goal is to explore these questions.
About the Day
This is a full day event with keynote speaker Keith Curry Lance.
Researchers will join in the morning to meet with small groups to discuss the do-ability, the evidence needed and how to collect it, and processes of implementation. The afternoon session will include emerging research updates and time to consider how such research can be put into practice in school libraries.
Proposal
Space is limited. If you wish to participate, send a one page proposal to Dr. Harlan at maryann maryann.harlan@sjsu.edu.
Deadline for submission is December 15, 2024
Notifications will go out early January.
Each proposal should include:
An overview of the problem/idea providing context and background.
Proposed data collection
Assessment of do-ability - what might be barriers? What support do you have?
Rubric for Acceptance
Proposal presents a compelling idea (1,2,3)
Overview includes citations related to the idea (1,2,3)
Proposal includes a plan for data collection that identifies possible data sources (1,2,3)
Proposal includes assessment of do-ability including potential questions for the table (1,2,3)
This is a free event EXCEPT your time - we request that if you participate you follow up with a 2-5 page article /paper regarding implementation and outcome.
CSLF Conference Request
The California School Library Foundation (CSLF) will be conducting a fundraising drawing/silent auction at the conference in January. We are asking you to consider donating an item or a talent, professional or personal, to our cause. Please contact us at foundation@csla.net if you are able to help. The funds we raise will continue to support the Leadership for Diversity Scholarship, as well as other grants and scholarships that we offer.
CSLA Grants and Scholarships
Submissions Due Friday
Apply for the 2025 Technology Award
The 2025 Technology Award is being reopened for all members to apply! The purpose of this award is to honor a credentialed teacher librarian who uses technology as a tool for learning and collaborates to promote the integration of technology in the curriculum. Nominees must be CSLA members who work at the site or district level.
The winner of this award will receive a $1,500 Mackin gift certificate to use in their school library.
Three letters of recommendation are required:
• one from an administrator with whom the nominee works,
• one from a teacher, and
• one from another person who has knowledge of the nominee’s expertise in technology.
Up to two additional letters (for a total of five) may be submitted from administrators, teachers, parents, or students.
The Technology Award will reopen for submissions starting Saturday, November 23 and close at 5pm on Friday, December 13.
CSLF IMRA Certificate Grant for Classified Members
The purpose of the IMRA grant is to provide funds for a classified CSLA member to participate in the Instructional Media Resource Associate (IMRA) Certificate program, provided by the San Diego County Office of Education. The IMRA Certificate program is offered in conjunction with the CSLA Annual Conference.
The CSLF IMRA Grant for Classified Members grant moneys will be reimbursed to the attendee at the completion of the eight-week program.The recipient will be expected to attend the IMRA session on Thursday, and is encouraged to attend the 2025 CSLA Annual Conference, if possible. The attendee will be required to email evidence of completion at the end of the course in order to be reimbursed.
Scholarship amount: $150 (the cost of IMRA registration, to be reimbursed at the completion of the program)
More information about IMRA certificate course can be found here: https://bit.ly/3CdwvXv
While the budget crisis in California and the outcome of the 2024 Presidential election has created much uncertainty and anxiety in education, this is not a new position for us to be in. We need to continue pressing forward for more equitable access to school libraries, to teacher librarians, and to qualified library staff.
CSLA’s Legislative Committee remains committed to reintroducing and securing funding for a AB535 School Library Lead. When introduced in 2023, it easily passed, but never was not able to secure funding. We are working to encourage our co-sponsor, the California Teachers Association (CTA), to make this a budget priority in 2025 (see last week’s urgent call to action!). As a large union, they hold more power than CSLA. We have queried Assemblymember Irwin about reintroducing the bill, but are also working on soliciting others in case she does not want to introduce the bill in 2025. With the increase in book challenges across California, our case for stronger school libraries is essential to protecting the intellectual freedom of students across the state.
Likewise, with the increased attention to the information and media literacy crisis, as well as new calls for AI literacy, we hope to push for authorization and funding to update the California Model School Library Standards (MSLS). In 2023 and 2024, Berman had two successful bills that called for the inclusion of media literacy, as presented in the MSLS, and AI literacy in CA content area frameworks. We approached Berman, but he declined to introduce a bill that would require an update of the MSLS, so we are looking at alternative champions for this bill or alternative, non-legislative routes to getting the MSLS updated.
However, all this is dependent on educating the public about the role and state of school libraries, teacher librarians, and qualified library staff. In order to build a network of local advocates, we will launch a Become a California School Library Advocate campaign. Please share this widely. Through access to the OneClickPolitics tool provided by ALA, this campaign will help us to get the word out and identify our allies. Only through local advocacy will we be able to build the demand for more support for school libraries.
Finally, stay tuned for CSLA's updated Legislative Priorities for 2025. Please email Lisa Cheby, VP of Government Relations, if you have questions: governmentrelations@csla.net
Make sense of the GenAI landscape by approaching it with a youth voice lens. In this workshop for middle and high school educators, we’ll unpack KQED’s new GenAI guidelines for productive, ethical and student-focused media creation. We’ll then explore one possible use-case: how AI chatbots like ChatGPT can be customized to provide supportive feedback on audio and video scripts–and other types of writing–in a way that supports student voice and encourages self-expression. You’ll get hands-on time to practice and experiment with your students in mind, and leave with useful guidelines, instructional strategies, and ready-to-use resources to guide your use of GenAI when students make media.
Student Success Cards for All
If you’re reading this, you already know that library cards help California children lead successful lives.
The Student Success Cards for All program gives students access to books and online resources from their local public library, free of charge, through partnerships between libraries and local school districts.
The California State Library is currently seeking volunteer members for a Student Success Cards for All Working Group. Your time as a member of the working group will support libraries working on Student Success Card partnerships by sharing your knowledge and helping develop toolkits and training opportunities.
Interest forms are due on Wednesday January 8th, 2025 at 12:00 pm noon.
Register for ALA's LibLearnX Conference at a discount!
Discount code: CALI2025. The code can be used by non-members of ALA for a 10% discount on any type of registration.
Chapter members who are members of ALA will be granted a larger member discount. No code is needed for them, the registration system will price accordingly when they log-in with their member ID.
California Teachers of English (CATE)
Save the Date
February 28-March 2, 2025
Hyatt Regency SFO
Burlingame, CA
Conference theme: Social Context: Using Pop Culture and Social Media to Make Content Relevant
With the constant inundation of social media and the influence of pop culture in our classrooms and lives, our goal for this convention is to examine ways to use them in the classroom. Neither social media nor pop culture are going away and we want to take the time as educators to embrace them and determine methods and lessons that can emphasize the potential positive aspects of their utilization in a classroom.
If you would like to apply to present a workshop session at CATE 2025, especially featuring one of the following topics:
Please join the group at Cornerstone in Downtown Berkeley on Friday, December 13, 2024 starting at 6:00pm. The group will be seated at the tall tables.
Feel free to extend this invitation to other Bay Area school librarians!
The California School Library Foundation is so grateful to all the children’s authors and illustrators who have donated their artwork for our use. We will continue to share more information about these authors with CSLA members each month. We also have been fortunate to have digital art contributed to us by independent graphic designers.
The Digital Citizen design, seen on products in the CSLA Library Advocacy Store, is the creation of Christopher Farmer and Lesley Farmer. Chris designs logos and other images for non-profit organizations such as libraries and Quakers. Chris earned his BS in Graphic Design at the Art Institute, his management certificate at CSU Los Angeles.
He earned an MA in Mass Media and Journalism at Clarion University. Chris lives and works in El Segundo. Thank you so much, Chris and Lesley.
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