Texas Association of School Librarians

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A Message from the TASL Chair: TLA 2013 Conference and STAAR Testing

I have heard from several of you regarding the fact that the 2013 TLA Conference is the same week as the STAAR test, so I thought I would take this opportunity to give you a little background and let you know about the efforts that are being made so that you will still be able to attend.

TLA conference dates are set years in advance. When the STAAR testing dates were announced and it was realized that there was a conflict, the TLA staff went into action and began working with the Fort Worth convention bureau to see what could be done. Changing to another week was not possible, but they were able to “slide” the dates, meaning that instead of a Tuesday-Friday conference, the conference will be held on Wednesday-Saturday.

Wednesday, which is a major testing day for all levels, will be the pre-conference day with some afternoon sessions. TASL and the Program Committee will make every effort to refrain from scheduling programs of interest to school librarians on this day.

Thursday, which is the real “beginning” of the conference, is a conflict only for middle school and high school, with Social Studies being the area tested. Elementary librarians should be able to join us on this day, and the TASL programming will be geared to this audience.

Friday is the “make up” testing day, and we are hoping that school librarians of all levels will be able to be in attendance then and on Saturday. The majority of TASL programming that is of interest to all levels will be on these days.

As part of the instructional staff of the school, librarians must be team players and participate in test monitoring, just like other teachers do. However, it is also a school librarian’s responsibility to stay current with the latest trends in education, literature, technology, and information literacy. The TLA conference provides all of this, plus the opportunity to share best practices with other school librarians from across the state.

Now that you have this information, perhaps you will be able to begin laying the groundwork for your attendance. Let your administrators/testing coordinators know far in advance about the conflict. Watch this listserv for information about topics and programs that would benefit you and share those with your administrators. Offer to do a presentation about what you learned for your staff when you return. Being polite, positive and proactive will allow you to fulfill your responsibility as part of the campus instructional team AND attend the most relevant and meaningful staff development opportunity around.

You CAN have it all!

Mary M. Woodard

Chair, Texas Association of School Librarians

TASL Program Proposal for TLA 2013

TASL invites all interested members to submit program proposals for TLA 2013 in Fort Worth. The conference will be April 24-27 and the theme is Promoting Our Values, Proving Our Worth. To submit your program, please download this template (TLA Annual Conference Program Proposal) and save it to your computer as a .docx file. When completed, email your proposal to Mary Woodard (mwoodard@mesquiteisd.org) by May 31, 2012.

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MISSION: The purpose of this organization shall be to promote library services and librarianship in school libraries in Texas and to cooperate in the promotion of general and joint enterprises with the Texas Library Association.

With more than 4500 members, TASL strives to meet the unique needs of school librarians forming ties with librarians throughout the state.