Media Matters!       MAME logo      September 2015
  
In this Issue
President's Column
A Collaborative Pre Conference
MAME 42!
Libraries & Student Achievement!
Intellectual Freedom
Region & SIGs Corner
Advocate
Know a new Retiree?
Summer Institute Success
MAME 4Ever Summer Trip
MAME 4Ever Member Gets Published!
MAME Leadership Openinings
PD through REMC
MAME Board Members
What's on Your Mind?
Media Matters Archives
President's Column
Pressing on for Our Profession

In my previous Media Matters column I shared that MAME leadership would be hard at work this summer advocating for our students and our profession. We definitely were! Here are a few highlights:
  • Lynn Gordon from Clarkston was featured in an MDE webinar on early literacy and mathematics, sharing how the school librarian supports our youngest students. She did a great job representing our profession.
  • At our first MAME Advocacy Day in Lansing, Lisa Brakel, Kathy Lester, Nancy Schultz-Speck, Jeanna Walker and I met with legislators and staffers to raise awareness of the role of school librarians and the current state of library staffing. Christina Canfield, MEA lobbyist showed us how to effectively use our meeting time and negotiate the Capitol building-even calling representatives off the floor of the House chamber!
  • As a follow-up, Rachel Markel testified before the Education Committee just this week. Rachel gave a strong statement, and effectively handled questions from the representatives. You can see her testimony online; it starts at the 25 minute mark.
  • Lisa Brakel and I represented Michigan as delegates to the AASL Affiliate Assembly at ALA Annual Conference while Marsha Lambert and Kathy Lester were delegates at the ISTE Annual Conference.
As you can see, advocacy is a group effort. We still need you to do your part:
  • When you receive a call to action, please follow through.  The requests are not time-consuming, and we need you to strengthen our voice.
  • Share the word! You can reach people that aren't on our listserv, including teachers, families, public librarians, and others in your community.
I look forward to seeing you all at our fall conference in Bay City. Lisa Brakel and her Conference Committee have put together an impressive program.  Among the well-known names that will be there, you may not recognize Ken Stewart, from Blue Valley High School in Stilwell, Kansas. He just won AASLA's National School Library Program of the Year, and will be speaking at our conference and pre-conference. Do all you can to attend our pre-conference too, in collaboration with other library organizations, focused on partnering to meet the needs of youth.

Hope you're off to a great school year! 

Gwenn Marchesano  
MAME President
gmarchesano@mimame.org
MAME 42 Preconference 
A Preconference like no other!

(click for full details)

This year's preconference on November 11th is a full-day event, with keynote and breakout sessions focused on the theme of collaboration and student achievement. You'll learn about partnering to increase student achievement from early literacy to college and career readiness.  At just $45, it's well worth your investment. This is a joint effort between MAME, Library of Michigan, the Midwest Collaborative for Library Services, the Cooperative Directors Association, the Michigan Library Association, the Michigan Academic Library Association and the Library of Michigan Foundation.

Register for the Preconference at the MAME Annual Conference page. 
MAME 42 is 
"School Library Strong!"

"School Library Strong!" Don't miss this action and information packed conference! Attendance at this event will strengthen your professional conviction and inspire you!
 
November 11, 2015 - MAME Collaborative Pre Conference

November 12-13, 2015 - MAME Conference in Bay City, Michigan at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Bay City - Riverfront


Kathy Schrock - Opening Keynote speaker -  Kathy has been involved with technology to support teaching and learning since the early 1990's, and is an Adobe Education Leader, a Google Certified Teacher, and a Discovery Education STAR and Guru. In 1995, Kathy created the award-winning site, Kathy Schrock's Guide for Educators. In 1999, she partnered with Discovery Education and maintained the site until late 2012 when the site was retired. Kathy's current online resources may be found on Kathy Schrock's Guide to Everything!

In addition to teaching online, Kathy writes, speaks, blogs, tweets, and conducts professional development workshops, presentations, and keynotes both nationally and internationally. Kathy has written hundreds of articles dealing with technology and education and has also authored several books about educational technology topics. In addition, she has received numerous awards for her work, including a People's Choice Webby, both the ISTE and MassCUE Making IT Happen Awards, the NCTIES Service Learning Award, has served on the ISTE Board of Directors for two terms, and has worked with the US Department of Education on several educational technology initiatives.

Kathy's Keynote is entitled; The Common Thread: Weaving Information Literacy Skills to Engage Learners and her breakout session will be; Digital Storytelling Across the Curriculum.

 Ken Stewart - 
School Librarian at Blue Valley High School, Stilwell, Kansas, was recently awarded the American Association of School Librarians' (AASL) 2015 National School Library Program of the Year (NSLPY) Award. This award is sponsored annually by Follett,
Ken will present Open your Doors with an ALA initiative that works!
Strengthen your role as a school community leader!  With the ALA initiative, Libraries Transforming Communities, begin turning "outward" by drawing your school community into your program while at the same time garnering ideas, support, and encouragement.

Author Cavalcade - Our featured authors are:


Sally Labadie

Brent Kruske

Kris Yankee

Will Swartz

Loreen Niewenhuis

Round Table Presentations - We are still seeking round table presenters. Please contact Cynthia Kleinheksel at cjkleinhe@yahoo.com if you are interested in participating.

Membership Meeting - Speakers will be 

  State Librarian, Randy Riley and Superintendent of
 Instruction Brian Whiston
 






Wayne State University Reception - Thursday, Nov. 12 from 4:30 - 6:00 pm

Awards Celebration - Thursday, Nov. 12 7:00 pm.

Author Breakfast - Featuring Eliot Schrefer

Eliot's fifth novel, Endangered, was a finalist for the National Book Award in Young People's Literature. It was also one of NPR's "Best of 2012," an editor's choice in The New York Times (which called it "dazzling" and "big-hearted"), a finalist for the Walden Award, winner of the Green Earth Book Award, and won the Sigurd Olson Nature Writing Award.  In addition to being our featured breakfast speaker with his presentation entitled "Expanding Our Empathy Through Children's Literature"  he will then present an hour-long session immediately following, titled "Fact in Fiction: Weaving Research into Narrative."   

Featured Speakers: 
Cindy Dobrez, Lynn Rutan and Travis Yonker - Booktalk overview sessions featuring the latest fiction and non-fiction reads at both the elementary and secondary levels will again be given by our extraordinary school librarians.

Lori L. Smith, author of the book Tapping State Government Information Sources, has published widely about government documents and has presented both nationally and internationally. She has held offices in a number of professional organizations, and in 2012 served as chair of ALA GODORT's Federal Documents Task Force. Check out her nationally known blog, "Gov-stuff 4 U". Lori will be your guide to federal government publications and will discuss tools to unearth online treasures from sites such as the Catalog of U.S. Government Publications, FDsys: The Federal Digital System, USA.gov, Kids.gov, and many others.

Library of Michigan / Michigan eLibrary - Karren Reish and Deb Renee Biggs will bring you the latest information about MeL and SL21.


Closing Keynote speaker - Leslie Preddy, current AASL President Elect
She will be giving a complete update on AASL and an additional session called Building a Reading Community: Ideas You Can Use Tomorrow.



Register today for an amazing conference full of new ideas, inspiration and fun! 

Plan to extend your stay in fabulous Bay City for the weekend!  It's a terrific weekend for shopping! Check out the MAME web site for details beginning October 5th.

Precon2016 Mahoney Workshop - 
Public, School, and Academic Libraries & Student Achievement!
If this title sounds interesting to you, come join us at the Collaboration and Student Achievement: How School, Public and Academic Libraries Are Working Together workshop. The Library of Michigan and partners are doing a one day workshop on Nov. 11th in Bay City as the preconference to the MAME annual conference. 

We have a great group of speakers:
  • Allison Barney from the Nashville Public Libraries will be speaking on the Nashville Limitless Libraries program.
  • National award winner Ken Stewart from Blue Valley High School in Kansas will be speaking about libraries transforming communities.
  • Rhonda Huisman from Wichita State University will be speaking on libraries as place and college readiness.
  • Panel sessions and breakouts with school administrators, public librarians, and academic librarians from around the state.
The breakout session tracks are Information Literacy and College Readiness, Public Library Partnership Models, and The Online Teaching Environment: Collections and Collaborations. Our partners are MAME, MCLS, MLA, MI-ALA, the Library of Michigan Foundation, and the Cooperative Directors Association (CDA). Registration and the full agenda are available at www.mimame.org and the cost is $45. We look forward to seeing you there!
Intellectual Freedom
Intellectual Freedom: Not Just For Us Library Types!

Tell us about it!

If you are facing a challenge, have emerged from one recently, or have heard of an incident, please take a moment and complete the form below. Mail to: Martha Spear, Library Media Center, Berkley High School 2325 Catalpa Drive, Berkley, MI 48070. Or use the CHALLENGE FORM LINK. MAME cannot help you if we don't know what is happening. Further, one of my charges as MAME IF Chair is to gather information on challenges throughout Michigan. Anonymity guaranteed! 

If you need support or guidance regarding a Challenge, contact the ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom or call (800) 545-2433, ext. 4220, oif@ala.org  or Martha Spear directly @ mspear@berkleyschools.org.

Martha Spear, Berkley High School Library Media Specialist, is MAME's Intellectual Freedom Chair. 
mspear@berkleyschools.org 
248.837.8112 
Region & SIGS Corner

Thank you to the MAME Region and SIG Reps. Click the link below for a complete list of the regions and their representatives 2015 Region and SIG Reps. 

We have many openings for region reps. If you are interested please contact Carma Roesch, 
VP Regions & SIGs, at


 

Thank you!
Carma Roesch
______________________________________

MACUL's SIG-LIB members we would still like to here from you. Click here for the membership survey.


The SIG-LIB Listserv was created under the direction of Judy Hauser. If you would like more info about the list please contact Judy @ judy.hauser@oakland.k12.mi.us 

SIG-LIB officers will be attending MACUL's leadership retreat on May 17-18. This time will be used to set the course for next year. If you have any concerns or suggestions for the year please contact one of the officers.

Finally, SIG-LIB will again be partnering with MAME for summer institute. Be sure to watch for more details in the near future.


Erica Trowbridge, MACUL SIGLIB Director

Judy Hauser, MACUL SIGLIB Interim Asst. Director

Rachel Markel, MACUL SIGLIB Communications Officer 
Send Your News!

Tell us about your successes, your struggles, your amazing discoveries.
Email your newsletter editor, Shannon Clark with stories that should be shared.

We'd love to hear from you!
Media Matters! Editors
Shannon Clark    mediamatters.mame@gmail.com 

 

Database Manager
Karen Becknell      mamedatab@gmail.com 
Don't Miss the
Early Bird Special!

Don't delay ~ register TODAY! 
The Early Bird Special date has been extended to October 3rd! Save $$ and secure your spot. For more details and registration form click here for the MAME Annual Conference page. 
Be our Own Advocates
Call to Action
There are two ways you can advocate this month.


 

Contact your Michigan legislators (House & Senate), sharing about the role of school librarians. Use our toolkit resources to guide you. It's quick & easy.


 

Share the need for professionally staffed school libraries with new State Superintendent Brian Whiston. He's gathering suggestions how to make Michigan a top 10 education state in 10 years. Respond by November 1st.


 

Honor a Retiree!
Each year at our annual conference we recognize our members who have chosen to end the professional chapter in their book and move on to relaxation! Do you know someone who is retiring or are you retiring? We'd love to honor all of the new retirees this fall. Please fill out the Retiree Form so that we can plan on including these individuals in our program.
MAME Summer Institute a Success!
Thanks to Kay Wejrowski and Margaret Lincoln for coordinating and hosting our Summer Institute on Holocaust education. The session at Lakeview High School  in Battle Creek was well-attended and provided valuable and useful information. It was an emotional day, as we learned real-life stories included in the Echoes and Reflections curriculum. Thank you to everyone who attended for making this special event a success!
A Team Effort @ Roosevelt High!
Everyone gets involved with textbook distribution at Wyandotte's Roosevelt High School! The Bears Varsity Football Team helped Mrs. Zasadny get all of the books out of storage and into the main library in preparation for student orientation and checkout.


MAME 4Ever's Live it up in Northern MI!
4Evers gathered from the far corners of Michigan, including the U. P., at our 5th Annual "Not Going Back To School" trip, this year to Mackinaw City where we reconnected, shared side trips to the Island, Petoskey, Alanson and the marvelous Dutch bakery there, visited two lighthouses and the International Dark Sky Park.  We also watched the Mighty Mac bridge light up every night from our poolside!

We ate a lot of local fish, walked a lot of shoreline parks, read by the lakeside and got to be better friends over our three and a half days. Fudge tasting was also part of our agenda!

We planned some of our volunteer projects for MAME and got ideas for our popular conference drawing, "From Our Hands To Yours". Bet you can't wait to win the fabulousness we create from quilting, knitting and jewelry to hand blown glass paperweights. The drawing is after the Thursday Awards night at the conference in Beautiful Bay City.

Retirees will again group up and take over a Saugatuck Bed and Breakfast Inn next year, then Port Huron in 2017. If you're a retiree, or about to be this year, join MAME as a lifetime member, order your cool red 4Ever embroidered polo shirt and calendar the week after Labor Day to be with us! We'd love it!

L to R front: Liz Lewis, Teri Belcher, Melissa White, Sue Hornbach. Back: Annette Haley, Dee Gwaltney, Jill Morgan, LaRene Klink, Elaine Woods.  Also dropping in but not pictured: Brenda Palmateer, Mary Leatherman and Joy Shoemaker.
Contact Annette Haley @ annettehaley@att.net or Teri Belcher @ Teachonwheels@gmail.com
for more information.
MAME 4Ever's Featured Author, Will Swartz
Help a MAME4Ever member launch a new book.  
A Walk Across Michigan is now available on Amazon as a paperback and Kindle Ebook.
The Kindle version will be on a FREE promotion October 6, 7, 8.    
Please share widely with your network and help promote his new book!

Also, be sure to hear Will at our MAME Conference Featured Authors presentation. 

Click the book cover to order your copy today!
Get Involved with MAME!
Would you like to become more involved in your state's school library organization? You'll be investing in an organization completely dedicated to our profession. 

MAME has openings for: 

Appointed Board of Directors positions:
  • Historian - help organize MAME's records and documents
  • Online Communications Chair - easy updates to the web page using Weebly
  • Parliamentarian and Policy Chair -attending 4 board meetings a year and advising on parliamentary procedures
  • Summer Institute Chair - thinking of great ideas for seminars and workshops to offer school librarians
Elected office 
  • VP of Continuing Education - applying online and documenting SCECH hours for MAME-hosted events
If you are interested in any of these positions or would like more information on any of these positions, please contact, Kathy Lester, Past-President and chair of the Nominating Committee for more information.

Hoping to hear from you, 
Kathy
REMC PD Opportunities
REMC offers excellent professional development 
opportunities. 
Please share with your fellow educators!

MI Learns Online Webinars

Learn to use the REMC MLO Portal to find resources that support exceptional online learning, and how to access online learning courses, units and lessons. Register here:  http://tinyurl.com/learnmloportal.


 

SAVE THE DATE: MI Moodle Moot 2016 , January 7 & 8, 2016 Mid Michigan Community College, Mt. Pleasant.

For more details on each event click here.
REMC PD offerings
MAMEBoardMAME Board 
PresidentGwenn Marchesano
President-ElectLisa Brakel
Past-PresidentKathy Lester
VP Regions SIGSCarma Roesch
VP Continuing EducationJulie Harris
TreasurerBruce Popejoy
SecretaryJeanna Walker
Database ManagerKaren Becknell
ISTE LiaisonMarsha Lambert
MACUL SIGLIB LiaisonErica Trowbridge
MAME4EverTeri Belcher
MAME4EverAnnette Haley
Spring WorkshopTom Stream
Summer InstituteKay Wejrowski
Author LiaisonKay Wejrowski
Awards and CitationsLisa Brakel
Awards and CitationsAmy Cote
Conference SitesAnnette Haley
ExhibitsBruce Popejoy
Government RelationsCynthia Kleinheksel
Historian
Intellectual FreedomMartha Spear
MarketingRachel Markel
MembershipLynn Gordon
NewsletterShannon Clark
Online CommunicationJulie Harris
Parliamentarian/Policy
Michigan Authors DatabaseKaren Becknell
Conference Online 
Denise Lovse

 

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Media Matters
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