NYS ELA Standards Forums happening soon: May 13 at Nottingham High School, Syracuse. Preregister with Kathy Southwell: ksouthwe@ocmboces.org May 21 at Putnam-Northern Westchester BOCES, Yorktown Heights.  Preregister with Marla Gardner: mgardner@pnwboces.org  Attend and have your voice heard! New York State Learning Standards Review Initiative.

"Read 'em and weep - As New York State’s school library books get older and older, funding to buy new ones has not been a legislative priority." an interview with NYLA Executive Director, Michael Borges in METROLAND Online; the Alternative News Weekly of New York's Capital region.  Volume 31 - Number 20 - May 15, 2008

2008 SLMS Conference flyer   [.doc]   Conference Photos Conference handouts  Hosted by SLMSSENY  May 1-3, 2008  Doubletree Hotel, Tarrytown, NY  The grand prize for the Knickerbocker drawing was a queen-size quilt from "Traditions" (a store in Claverack, NY).

From Michael Borges (on 4/29/08), NYLA Executive Director: The New York Library Association urges you to contact your state legislators in support of our 2008 Legislative Priorities, which can be found at www.nyla.org  under Headlines.  I urge you to use our Online Advocacy Center (click on the Library Advocate button) to send a fax/email in support of our top four priority bills which are: [Of especial interest to school library media specialists]: BOCES-Libraries Internet Partnerships (S.2082 Larkin/ A.6592 Gunther) Authorizes Boards of   Cooperative Educational Services to enter into contracts with public libraries or library systems to provide     internet access and communication services.  Status:  Passed Senate 3/28   Sales Tax Exemptions for Book Fairs (S.1722A  Lavalle/A.3463A Cahill) Bill would exempt book fairs held by school and library organizations (PTA’s/Friends Groups) from collecting sales tax.

The SLMS Leadership Retreat brochure is now available.  Barbara Stripling and Gail Dickinson will present the new AASL Standards.  Don't miss it!!! August 3 - 5, 2008

"Research links higher test scores to librarians" in NEW YORK TEACHER 2008 Feb. 28:4.  NEW YORK STATE'S SCHOOL LIBRARIES AND LIBRARY MEDIA SPECIALISTS: AN IMPACT STUDY; PRELIMINARY REPORT by Ruth V. Small, Ph.D.   NYLA Press release   ALA Press release   http://ischool.syr.edu/about/news.aspx?recid=506

Request the SLMS Exhibit Board for your groups next workshop or meeting.  Contact the Exhibits Chair for information.  (Free shipping!)

Get Involved with SLMS.  Join the fun!  Make a difference:  Check out the revised Volunteer form! Read about SLMS Committees! Write an article or news blurb for SLMSGram and send it to:  slmsgram@yahoo.com

SLMS Radio Spot

Harry Chan (everyone's favorite vendor)      New York SLMS at AASL in Reno, NV - October 2007 and Sara Kelly Johns (AASL President) at AASL Conference in Reno.

School Librarians sign in at the first meeting of the year for        2007 SLMS Leadership Retreat - Marcia Eggleston & the St. Lawrence - Lewis BOCES School Library System.            Cathy Marriott help run the auction.                           SLS Director Allison Wheeler, awards prizes to members                                                                                   based upon their professional memberships

 

 

"POWERFUL SCHOOL LIBRARIES PRODUCE POWERFUL LEARNERS" created by Putnam/Northern Westchester BOCES   "Certified School Library Media Specialists - Making a Difference."   "Consider the possibilities of a career ... "  (.pdf format) This pamphlet encourages the choice of school library media specialist as a career. "Who needs a school librarian?"   (.pdf format) This pamphlet gives reasons why a school librarian is important to everyone. Is your job being threatened?  View the SLMS Crisis Toolkit for help.

SLMS MISSION STATEMENT The purpose of SLMS, organized in 1944, is to lead in advancing the profession; to encourage, promote, and advocate the interest of school library media programs, school library media specialists and school library systems; and to ensure that each student becomes an active reader, responsible information seeker, and critical thinker. Click here to learn the history of SLMS!

Having trouble reading those huge PDF files? Try FOXIT as an alternative to ADOBE!   Foxit Reader 2.0 is a free PDF document viewer and printer, with incredible small size (only 1.67 M download size), breezing-fast launch speed and amazingly rich feature set. Foxit Reader 2.0 supports Windows 98/Me/2000/XP/2003/Vista. Its core function is compatible with PDF Standard 1.7. Graphics from http://bellsnwhistles.com and http://school.discoveryeducation.com/clipart/?pID=clipart.