DLA

DASL Update

First of all, Debbie Burston has agreed to take on the role of DASL Vice President! I am very excited to have her on the Executive Board and look forward to her contributions to our efforts in promoting school libraries and supporting our school librarians! With 35 years of experience, she is recently retired and is ready to take an active role in DASL! Welcome, Debbie!

Secondly, our ESSA Implementation professional development workshop on Saturday, September 17th, was excellent and I’m grateful to Eileen Kern from the American Association of School Librarians for making the trip to Bear Public Library to present us with wonderful information as well as tools to talk with legislators and administrators on the impact of ESSA on school libraries and librarians! The attendance was very disappointing, though major thanks to Annie Norman, Cathay Keough, and Bonnie Gaus are in order for attending.

Thirdly, major thanks again to Annie Norman and the rest of her team for the Statewide Master Plan for School Libraries that was released last week! Please listen to Annie’s interview with Delaware Public Media and also read the plan itself at the link below. I’m sure that Annie would be happy to answer any questions or concerns you may have, as am I.
http://delawarepublic.org/post/panel-offers-recommendations-fix-dire-state-school-libraries

Fourthly, and next-to-last, the Delaware Board of Education has scheduled Community Conversations around ESSA implementation in the state. If you have not already done so, please plan to attend at least one discussion. Dates and registration information are here: http://www.doe.k12.de.us/Page/3019

Finally, if you know of any school librarians who are not involved with DASL, please forward this email to them. They may also be interested in joining the DLA and the DASL division—membership enrollment forms can be found here: https://dla.lib.de.us/membership/

Please remember that we can only be effective agents of change if we participate in the organization and take action in our communities. If you would like information about how to be more involved, please email me and I will give you a list of opportunities.

Thank you and have a wonderful day!

Mrs. Rachel West
DASL President