AASL Regional Report – Winter 2010-11
Maryland Association of School Librarians
On the Web: http://www.maslmd.org
On YahooGroups: Maryland_Educational_Media_Organization@yahoogroups.com
On Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/posted.php?id=246687892309
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Race to the Top / Common Core - Maryland was awarded $250 million dollars as part of the Race to the Top Federal Grant
Competition. This has accelerated the work for the adoption of Common Core State Standards and has provided opportunities for
Library Media Specialists to be part of writing teams to help infuse information and technology literacy as part of the curriculum and
supporting toolkits that will result. Library media specialists met with R/LA teams over the summer and worked as part of the gap
analysis and teams have been formed to work throughout the year. In addition, a Teacher Effectiveness workgroup has been
formed to present their best thinking and/or make recommendations to State School Superintendent Dr. Grasmick to present to the
Governor’s Council on Teacher Effectiveness on behalf of school library media specialists on how they should be fairly evaluated as
part of a student growth model. The workgroup met December 20, 2010 and will finalize their work on February 10, 2010.
School Library Media State Curriculum – Maryland now “officially” has a new state curriculum for Library Media. Work begun in
2004 and rewritten in the summer/fall of 2009 following the introduction of new AASL Student Standards were “accepted” by the
Maryland State Board of Education on October 26, 2010. The SLM SC now provides an information literacy framework for supporting
school library media programs in schools, complements the Maryland Technology Literacy Standards for Students, and provides a
basis for integrating information literacy into the new Common Core State Standards. The standards are supported by a glossary and
a matrices showing alignment to the national standards and previous state core learning goals.
Legislative – MASL will again participate in the Maryland Library Community Legislative reception and legislative visits taking place
February 23, 2011. This year’s reception is being held in the Miller Senate Office Building across the street from the Maryland
Statehouse. MASL is only one of dozens of library groups from around the State of Maryland who contributed financially as well as
logistically to the reception. This year’s day is again modeled after the ALA National Legislative Day with both visits and the reception
on the same day (Maryland Library Day). Packets will include “School Libraries Work!” and a single page publication titled “National
Studies Connect School Libraries and Student Achievement” comparing important student achievement findings to how Maryland
school libraries stack up.
MASL Fall 2010 Conference – Last fall’s conference featured keynote speakers, Jamie McKenzie and Gwyneth Jones. The conference
“The Future is in Your Hands” took place at the Clarion Hotel and Conference Center in Hagerstown - Maryland, October 14-15,
2010. Friday’s special feature was the Mid-Atlantic Author’s Luncheon with Mélanie Watt, Author/Illustrator presenting the keynote.
Sponsors for the conference included ProQuest, Follett Library Resources, Mackin Educational Resources, Kunz Inc., and Taylor Book
Group. Over 225 members attended the two-day conference and were treated to a full menu of over 25 concurrent sessions and
30+ exhibitors. This year’s conference again featured a fully enabled wiki where attendees could get the latest information on the
conference and presenters could post their presentations. Sessions posted also showed alignment to the new AASL Standards for
Learning. The wiki can be accessed at: http://masl2010.wikispaces.com/
As part of the conference program, AASL Affiliate Assembly Commendations were made to the Maryland Library Association and to
the Division of Library and Development Services for their support for library media specialist participation as part of the Maryland
Library Leadership Institute. This past summer, four library media specialists were selected as part of the field of 24 candidates
chosen for participation in what has become a very prestigious Institute.
The MASL awarded the Distinguished Service Award to Gail Bailey, Director of Library Media Programs for Montgomery County
Public Schools for her work as the Project Director for the MDK12 Digital Library Project. Working with Sen. Nancy King of
Montgomery County, Gail supported the passage of Maryland State Senate bill - SB235 MDK12 Digital Library to create a framework
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in the Code of Md. Regulations and a part-time position at the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) to keep the work of
the MDK12 Digital Library Project going after the funding ran out Sept. 30, 2009. The grant existed for seven years under a Title II-D
Federal Ed Tech grant and has provided all 24 school districts and participating non-public schools with consortium pricing of
databases and provided some districts access to high quality digital content for the first time. The bill passed both houses of the
Maryland Legislature and was signed into law by Gov. Martin O’ Malley. Working with the MLA Legislative Panel, we have used
CapWiz here (as part of a pilot with ALA Washington Office) locally for the first time and found it to be an effective tool for
contacting local legislators. Despite the passage and having funding in place, the MSDE has not been granted an “exception to hire”
a person to coordinate the Steering Committee due to severe budget cuts. The MDK12 Steering Committee continues to work
together despite these hurdles, worked with vendors to hold pricing for 2010-11, completed bylaws and a new MOU in accordance
with the legislation. The MSDE will again ask for the position in their budget request.
In addition, The Mae I. Graham Award for Exemplary Library Media Programs sponsored by MASL was awarded to Parr’s Ridge
Elementary School (Carroll County Public Schools), Emily Howe and Jan Nies, Media Specialists. Both Emily Howe and Jan Nies
received their library media education from McDaniel College in Westminster, MD. Jan has been a library media specialist for 17
years and opened Parr’s Ridge Elementary School Media Center in 2005. Emily has served as part-time media specialist at Parr’s
Ridge for five years. They both enjoy working with primary-aged children, team teaching, and collaborating with classroom
teachers. The library media specialists received $500 for their program, a set of age appropriate BES Award Nominee Books, a
plaque for the school, and a spot on the MASL website.
Read Across Maryland/”30 Minutes for 30 Days” Reading Challenge - MASL is again a sponsor of this year’s Read Across Maryland /
“30 Minutes for 30 Days” Reading Challenge (part of Read Across America) along with the Maryland Governor’s Office, the Maryland
Library Association, the Maryland State Educational Association, Doyle Printing and others. A statewide student contest will be held
for prizes for those that qualified with their reading minutes and events were held across the state to commemorate the month.
Information available at: http://www.readacrossmaryland.org/
Publication – Two more editions of our quarterly newsletter, “MASLines” were released and editor Joyce Henderson
(hendersonjoyce@yahoo.com ) received help again this year from Lauri Taylor (Taylor Book Group) with distribution to the
membership. Publication beginning to July 1, 2010 will move to the web for wider distribution and for use in recruitment of new
members. The MASL (MEMO) listserv on Yahoogroups! has over 411 members subscribed that are keeping current with the latest
updates from around the State. (Jay Bansbach, Moderator) In February 2010, MASL launched a Facebook group with currently 193
members at: http://www.facebook.com/posted.php?id=246687892309
Maryland Library Association Conference – MASL will again have an exhibit table at the Maryland Library Association (MLA)
conference held May 4-6, 2010. The table features information about school libraries including AASL membership brochures.
The Mae I. Graham Award for Exemplary Library Media Programs – The Maryland Association of School Librarians is again proud to
sponsor the Mae I. Graham Library Media Program of the Year Award. Winning programs receive $500 for their program, a set of
age appropriate BES Award Nominee Books, a plaque for the school, and a spot on the MASL website. Middle school programs are
applying this spring for the 2010-11 award. For more information - http://www.maslmd.org/grants_mae.php
Maryland Library Leadership Institute – The 2010 Maryland Library Leadership Institute was held at the Donaldson Brown
Conference Center July 19-23, in Port Deposit, MD. Jay Bansbach, Program Specialist - School Libraries, MSDE and past MASL
President served again as a mentor. Sponsored by the Maryland Library Association and the Division of Library Development and
Services (MSDE) -- four library media specialists were selected as part of the field of 24 candidates chosen for participation in what
has become a very prestigious Institute. http://www.mdlib.org/leadership/
AASL L4L Initiative – MASL has begun on work for rolling out the Maryland L4L Initiative. A wikispace has been created and
concurrent sessions are being planned for the fall conference. A study group of library media administrators from around the state
has been formed to make recommendations for changes to Maryland’s Program Standards for School Libraries based on the new
Empowering Learners guidelines and school systems will pilot the new electronic tool. A matrices was created linking the new AASL
student learning standards to the State Curriculum for School Libraries and was presented to the State Board of Education on
October 26, 2010. Jay Bansbach, Program Specialist, MSDE is leading this work.
Budget Cuts – Maryland like other states has been affected by the current economic conditions and to date have not lost school
librarian positions but have lost second positions in some of our larger highs schools and some counties will be unable to hire due to
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budget freezes. Counties have also reported drastic cuts in materials funds and seen Media Assistant positions cut entirely or cut to
part time to eliminate the payment of benefits. MASL has also seen a drop in membership not unlike other statewide organizations.
Respectfully submitted by Jay Bansbach, MASL Region 2 representative to the AASL Affiliate Assembly.
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