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Mark your calendars for the Maine Libraries United Conference, May 19-22
at the University of Maine Orono! 

 

Co-sponsored by the Maine Association of School Libraries and the Maine
Library Association, Libraries United is the first joint conference to be
held at the University of Maine at Orono since 1999.  Join colleagues from
around the state and take part in your choice of over 100 workshops. 
Learn about the impact of e-books on libraries.  Take part in a
conversation of school libraries and the Common Core State Standards.  How
can you use Legos to entice patrons through your doors?  Work with your
patrons on local history and personal genealogy searches.  What is the
latest in digital tools and sites?  How savvy are our digital natives? 
What sh/could we do to assist them in becoming digitally savvy?  Join a
conversation with your peers across the state as you discuss and
brainstorm solutions to common problems.   Enjoy the guest speakers: 

 

Lynn Plourde will be the luncheon speaker on Saturday.  “Destined to
Become an Author” is the theme. Lynn Plourde did become a kids’ book
author, but was it her destiny? Was it because she was an early reader?
Was it because she was a speech-language therapist first? Or because she
was a parent? Lynn will explore her journey to the world of being an
author.  More importantly, she will encourage participants to question
their own destinies and those of the children/ patrons with whom they work.

 

Sunday features two speakers:  Buffy Hamilton and Cheryl Miller.  Buffy
Hamilton is a high school librarian and teacher at The Unquiet Library in
Canton, Georgia.  She is passionate about creating meaningful learning
experiences for students and teachers, especially through technology
integration.  Her topic will be “Libraries as Communally Constructed Sites
of Participatory Culture:  Composing Narratives of Participatory Learning,
Literacy, and Enchantment.”  How can libraries establish themselves as
communities of learning and sites of participatory culture? How can we
spark, invite, and sustain conversations for learning with those we serve
through our academic, public, and school libraries?

 

Cheryl Miller was born in Erie, PA and came to Maine as soon as she could.
 She has 30+ years experience in the non-profit arena, directing both
large and small organizations.  She is a senior program director at Maine
Development Foundation, and is responsible for fund raising, membership,
Leadership Maine and Policy Leaders Academy.  Cheryl will speak about
“Empowering our Future Leaders: How do we build from within?”

 

Monday’s speaker, Jessamyn Charity West, will discuss “How to Achieve
Tech. Literacy”.  She is an American librarian and blogger, best known as
the creator of [ http://librarian.net ]librarian.net and for her
unconventional views of her profession. Many agencies from governments to
corporations are using cost-saving economies of scale and shifting more of
their services and interactions to the online world. What does this mean
for offline populations and what steps are being taken to assist those on
the other side of the digital divide? Jessamyn West will discuss national
and local attempts by libraries and others to address this complex
situation.

 

For a detailed schedule of workshops and registration/housing information,
please visit the webpages of the sponsoring organizations [
http://maslibraries.org/ ]http://maslibraries.org/ or [
http://www.mainelibraries.org/ ]http://www.mainelibraries.org/.  

 

Contact hour certificates will be given for time spent in workshops. 
There will also be a limited number of MASL grants for school library
personnel available.  These will go towards up to 2 days of registration
per scholarship.  Contact [ mailto:[log in to unmask] ][log in to unmask] for the
details and an application form.

 

We look forward to seeing library staff at our Libraries United Conference
in May.  SAVE THE DATE!

-- 
Debbie Gahm

Library Media Specialist/District K-12 Library Media Services Coordinator
Public Relations Chair, Maine Association of School Libraries (MASL)
Maine School Library Media Specialist of the Year, 2009-2010
Lake Region High School
1877 Roosevelt Trail
Naples, ME 04055

"Librarian - the original search engine"

"Google can bring you back 100,000 answers, a librarian can bring you back
the right one."  Neil Gaiman

"Failure is not defeat until you stop trying."
 
"Become the change you want to see in the world."  Mahatma Gandhi