Author Archives

• School Library Magic in Orlando

  By Dorcas Hand on 08/05/2016 • ( 0 )

  Anyone who works for libraries knows that library magic is the result of WORK, lots of people working together to cause change. Yes, ALA Annual in Orlando was like that – but AASL Division Councilor Diane Chen led the effort… Read More ›

• Students Need Libraries in Houston ISD (TX)

  By Dorcas Hand on 07/07/2016 • ( 0 )

  

  At this year’s ALA Annual Conference, the AASL session “Unpacking ESSA for the Library Eco-System” focused on the need to identify stakeholders and build coalitions within communities.  The following is panelist Dorcas Hand’s recounting of the coalition formed after the… Read More ›

• ESSA and Your Partnerships with Administrators

  By Dorcas Hand on 04/28/2016 • ( 0 )

  

  by Dorcas Hand, with help from AASL presenters Mary K. Biagini and Debra Kachel Looking at our current school library world with ESSA on the horizon, I find myself thinking how to put the library in the category of essential… Read More ›

• ESSA and Digital Literacy Skills

  By Dorcas Hand on 03/10/2016 • ( 0 )

  

  by Christina Cucci, SLMS, NJASL Member at Large, ALA Emerging Leader 2015, AECT Member ESSA was signed into law in December 2015. ESSA carefully includes new provisions that authorize – but do not require – school districts to plan how… Read More ›

• Articulating an Impact on Student Learning

  By Dorcas Hand on 03/03/2016 • ( 0 )

  by Elizabeth Burns, Assistant Professor, School Library Program, Department of Teaching & Learning, Darden College of Education, Old Dominion University The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), passed in December 2015, positions school librarians as Essential Personnel and provides potential dedicated funding to effective school libraries–IF… Read More ›

• Make Local Data Work for Local School Libraries

  By Dorcas Hand on 02/19/2016 • ( 0 )

  

  By Dorcas Hand (Adapted from TASLTalks, Jan. 30, 2016) As we wait for the implementation of ESSA to be organized, what can we do on our school campuses to be ready? We librarians know that Every Student Succeeds when every student… Read More ›

• Directing the Dialog around ESSA and “Effective” School Library Programs”

  By Dorcas Hand on 02/08/2016 • ( 0 )

  

  Written by Erin Downey, Boise (ID) Schools The recently-passed Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) is a historic piece of education legislation for school libraries because it is the first time in over five decades that school library programs have been explicitly… Read More ›

• What am I?

  By Dorcas Hand on 09/28/2015 • ( 0 )

  We are teachers, first and foremost. That’s the bottom line. This post by Irene Kistler, librarian in Alamo Heights ISD (San Antonio, TX), was originally published in the TASLTalks blog of the Texas Assn of School Librarians on Sept. 8,… Read More ›