Volume 44, Issue 4

INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF October 2015

SCHOOL LIBRARIANSHIP’S NEWSLETTER
Contents:

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
IASL Latin America (Cont.) ... 2

Personal Experience............ 2

D
ear IASL Members, of progress, please keep a lookout for areas
Personal Experience (Cont.) .. 3
Over the past few weeks, two im- where school libraries can play a role and
make it known to principals, policy makes and IASL on Social Media .......... 3
portant events have taken place –
the public at large.
one at the more macro level, and Intl’ Literacy Day India ........ 4
the other focussed on school libraries. Both The second more school library focussed
these serve as important frameworks in the event, which took place in August in Cape MERLOT Bookmarks ............ 4
development of school libraries. Town South Africa, was the formal launch of
MERLOT Bookmarks (Cont.) .. 5
The broader macro-level event in the last the IFLA School Library Guidelines, 2nd ed.
IASL contributed considerably towards these Chinese Librarians Forum .... 5
few days has been the adoption of the 2030
Guidelines, which have been developed to
Agenda for Sustainable Development by the News from Hungary ............ 6
assist school library professionals and educa-
United Nations. The 2030 Agenda is a frame-
ASEAN Congress ................ 6
work to eradicate poverty and achieve sus- tional decision-makers in their efforts to en-
sure that students have access to effective
tainable development by the year 2030. The ASEAN Congress (Cont.)....... 7
school library programs and services. Steps
Agenda includes an ambitious set of 17 Sus-
Advocacy in Italy ................ 7
tainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 169 are being taken to translate these Guidelines
associated targets, mobilising countries and into a number of languages, and ensure their Advocacy in Italy (Cont.) ...... 8
widespread dissemination. Please assist in
stakeholders towards their achievement.
the translation, dissemination, and ultimately Advocacy in Italy (Cont.) ...... 9
What role can education, and in particular the implementation of these Guidelines.
“Featured Librarian”............ 9
school libraries, play in achieving the 2030
As you look back to developments in the
Agenda? School libraries do not exist in isola-
past few months, please also do look forward
tion; they exit as part of the broader educa-
tion system, and an even broader socio- to the IASL 2016 Conference, scheduled for 22 Contents in brief:
to 26 August 2016 at Meiji University, Tokyo.
economic development system. While there
The theme for the conference is “A School India; MERLOT repository;
is no specific goal or associated target that
addresses school libraries, many of the tar- Library for the Digital Age.” If you have not Hungary; ASEAN nations
started making plans to attend, please do so;
gets require access to and use of information. congress; IASL on Social
the Japanese Organizing Committee is wait-
And what better place to lay the foundations
of accessing information than the school li-
ing to welcome you. Media; Chinese World Fo-
brary? The students of today will be the Best wishes, rum; Italy
emerging leaders of 2030. The school library
Diljit Singh,
of today is part of the global information in- President
frastructure, with its ability to provide access
International Association TOKYO
to information and the teaching of infor-
of School Librarianship
mation literacy skills. As you go through the
goals, targets and the associated indicators

FIRST IASL LATIN AMERICA REGIONAL CONFERENCE

2016!

F
irst IASL Regional Conference for institutions or have an interest in school li-
Latin America and the Caribbean July brary to submit proposals for recent re-
12-15, Jamaica search/professional papers/poster presenta-
tions for the conference to be held on the IASL Secretariat
Conference theme: “Unlocking the
campus of The University of the West Indies, 65 E. Wacker Pl., Suite 900
Full Potential of the 21st Century School Li-
Chicago, IL 60601-7246, USA
brary: Emerging Trends for Librarians and Us- Mona, Jamaica.
E-mail: iasl@mlahq.org
ers.” This conference aims at exposing infor-
Web: www.iasl-online.org
IASL Latin American and the Caribbean mation professionals in Latin America and the
Newsletter editor:
Caribbean to cutting edge 21st century ap-
invites information professionals/educators/ Mrs. Carol C. Youssif
proaches to librarian-
researchers who either work in educational (continued on page 2) iaslnewsletter@gmail.com
IASL Newsletter | October 2015 | Vol. 44, Issue 4 Page 2

FIRST IASL LATIN AMERICA REGIONAL CONFERENCE (CONT.)

ship, library management and media and information literacy Sub-themes
instruction, and to provide support through partnership/ 1. Practical information technology solutions: Exploring
collaboration.
open-source options
Opening Keynote Speaker: Rev. The Hon. Ronald Thwaites
2. Rebranding the school librarian in a “Pocket Library” soci-
Minister of Education, Jamaica ety
Conference Keynote Speaker: Dr. Ross Todd Assistant Pro-
3. From library skills to life skills: Media and information liter-
fessor, Rutgers University acy education
Topic guidelines
4. Media and information literacy and intercultural dialogue
Research/ Professional Paper/Poster presentations must (MILID) curriculum for the 21st Century school library
speak to one of the sub-themes. Proposals should be submit-
5. Redesigning and redefining learning spaces in 21st Centu-
ted by e-mail and must include:
ry school libraries
 Title of paper 6. Greater access to information: Web 3.0 tools in school
 Abstract (200-500 words) libraries
 Name of the presenter (s) 7. Resource provision: Getting a byte of the shrinking budg-
et.
 E-mail address(es)
8. Developing and maintaining school libraries: The adminis-
 Telephone numbers trator’s role
 Presentation format 9. Academic excellence: The role of school libraries
Paper presentation 10. Children’s literature in the digital age
Each presenter will be given twenty (20) minutes maximum Important Dates
to present his/her paper. An additional ten (10) minutes will be
allowed for questions and answers. Deadline for submission of proposals November 30, 2015.
Notification of acceptance of proposals January 31, 2016
Poster Presentation
Please send all proposals to:
 Posters should be 3 feet wide x 4 feet high (36 x 48 inch-
es) rosemarie.heath02@uwimona.edu.jm

 Screen prints, charts, drawings, photographs, and other Endorsed by

graphics along with text, to illustrate the presentation,
are encouraged IASL • Ministry of Education, Ja-
maica • Dept. of Lib. & Infor-

Image by A. Boekhurst
 Lettering should be simple, bold, and easily legible from a mation Studies, UWI • Library &
distance of four feet Info. Association of Jamaica • Ja-
 Posters may be accompanied by handouts maica Library Service

N.B. Papers/Posters must be presented in English

THE SCHOOL LIBRARY ROCKS WELL! MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE

I
f you ever need to see an ecofriendly culture, travel level. What the conference did on the professional level is
through the Netherlands… It is a perfect country for what I am so eager to share with my colleagues and also im-
bicycle tours & trips, as the territory is mostly flat and plement some new ideas that I acquired from various presen-
there are kilometers of bicycle paths on the road. This is tations, workshops, and the interactive sessions with the in-
one of the most ecofriendly places in Europe. Another im- ternational presenters and participants.
portant thing I felt was that that was one of the safest and The 21st century is the era of knowledge explosion and so
most secure place for tourists to enjoy their trip without fear.
as a concomitant the library should be the place to provide
We know that the travelling broadens the mind, but just the right and latest information to its users. The librarian has
stepping out of the back yard for a week changed my to carry out his/her role more effectively and efficiently to
view and perspective on librarianship. That's on a personal provide the resource and service
(continued on page 3)
IASL Newsletter | October 2015 | Vol. 44, Issue 4 Page 3

THE SCHOOL LIBRARY ROCKS WELL! MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE (CONT.)

to the users. This is not a question of the technical methods in activity has made a tremendous positive impact on our stu-
the field of Library Science, but the library staff should be bet- dents’ reading habits. The aim is to portray how a reading
ter equipped to ensure and to provide the best possible ser- challenge activity has given better results to our students’
vice to the regular library users. reading habits, as well as increasing the circulation of library
books. The awards and certificates are given based on the
My presentation topic was, “The School Libraries as win-
dows to the world.” It was about the possibilities of school performance criteria of students at the end of the academic
year. Good readers can be good leaders, they are recommend-
libraries as windows to the world of information through vari-
ed to be library volunteers and leaders for various activities.
ous activities. These activities covered various 21st Century
learning skills like collaborative learning, improving the use of I would also like to mention the commitment of the IASL
ICT for learning and skilled communication, problem solving leadership for worldwide involvement in the field of librarian-
skills, self-regulation, knowledge construction, multiple intelli- ship in the last 44 years. It was a great opportunity in my pro-
gence, multi-cultural working skills, and more. This paper out- fessional life to attend the IASL 2015 conference. I really en-
lined and discussed the last few years of successful profes- joyed every part of it.
sional experience on Project Based Learning activity in the
As a member of the GEMS family from the United Arab
Westminster School library along with Reading Challenge ac- Emirates, I felt extremely proud to present my professional
tivities. paper for the first time in front of an international audience. I
The Westminster school library is a 21st century work place, can say proudly now that the IASL will be there along with the
which is why it is referred to as a Learning Resource Centre. innovative movement of the 21st Century Librarianship. I
Curriculum based researches and project presentations are thank the IASL 2015 Organizing Committee and the IASL lead-
being conducted on a regular basis. Students not only learn ership for selecting me as one of the presenters in the
the content in depth, but also learn how to share responsibili- 44th Annual Conference at Maastricht, The Netherlands.
ties and build confidence, solve problems, work collaborative- My presentation can be found at this link.
ly, communicate ideas, encourage leadership and be creative
innovators. Students do research with their team and present With Regards,
the project during their library period. The ICT section of the Raghunathan. M.O.
library supports the curriculum based research, online project Head Librarian,
preparation, blogging, etc. The librarian coordinates the activi- The Westminster School,
ties with the proper collaboration of teachers, head of sub- Dubai- UAE.
jects, and supervisors by extending their hours of operation http://librarytwsdxb.weebly.com/
during school hours. http://www.gemsws-ghusais.com/
The significant implementation of the Reading Challenge

Images by Raghunathan M.O.

IASL has a new Social Media presence!

Be our friend on Facebook (115 friends) and fol-
low us on Twitter (579 followers)
IASL Newsletter | October 2015 | Vol. 44, Issue 4 Page 4

INTERNATIONAL LITERACY DAY 2015 IN INDIA

T
he theme of International Literacy Day 2015 was Lit-for Reading Promotion. Team members had shared infor-
eracy and Sustainable Societies. Literacy is a key driv-
mation on e-books and an interactive session on Importance
er for sustainable development. Literacy skills are the
of e-books in the future. They educated the students to use
prerequisite for the learning of a broader set of International Children’s Digital Library which is a valuable free
knowledge, skills, attitudes and values, required for creating
online resource for any age group of students. There was an
sustainable societies. overwhelming response from the students. This reading pro-
motion service has been linked with UN goal of ‘Universal
Social Service League and CAS students of G. D. Goenka
Primary Literacy’ using technology.
World School have pledged to take up service to the commu-
nity of underprivileged children by collaborating with NGOs On 8th September another group of senior school students
and village schools around the campus. visited Vivek Bharti High School, Sohna for English Language
Teaching to primary and middle school students using teach-
The Social Service League has linked with some of UN
‘Millennium Development Goals and targets’: ing aids and technology.
On 12th September another group of senior students visit-
1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
ed NGO SUBHAG FOUNDATION www.subhagfoundation.org
2. Achieve universal primary education to share literacy skills where they not only taught basics of
3. Ensure environmental sustainability English Language Grammar and Mathematics to 42 students
of various levels of literacy and age but also performed story
Social Service League and CAS students started their crea- telling sessions for them.
tivity much before International Literacy Day on September
8th 2015 and followed an action plan on ‘Achieve Universal Madhu Bhargava,
Primary Education’ which was serviced by Primary, Middle and LRP-Social Service League
Senior School students linking various aspects of the goal. G. D. Goenka World School
madhu_bhargava@msn.com
The Primary and Middle school SSL team visited Vivek Bhar-
ti High School, Ghamdoj Village, Sohna on 27th August 2015

Images by Madhu Bhargava

MERLOT: INTEGRATING INFORMATION AND DIGITAL LITERACIES

M
ERLOT stands for Multimedia Educational Re-
source for Learning and Online Teaching. Es-
tablished by the California State University sys-
tem, MERLOT is a community-built repository
of learning objects, with an emphasis on higher education
resources. However, it also has thousands of learning objects
for K12 (as well as many resources for pre-service teachers).
This year I am spearheading CSU’s ICT (Information and
Communication Technology) Literacy Initiative, which focuses
on integrating ICT literacy into subject curricula. The main
source of resources is MERLOT, to which I have added over a
hundred learning objects as well as ten bookmark collections,
and a couple of courses and learning exercises.
The following video introduces MERLOT. It shows the sev-
eral ways that you can locate relevant and developmentally
appropriate learning objects: by keyword, by advanced search
with its several field options, by community, and by their cate-
gory index (which is their taxonomy). You can also browse
the bookmark collection and learning exercises, If you search
by keyword, the results can be broken down by material type,
subject matter and learning exercise.
Several bookmark collections address ICT literacy. Here are
the ones that I have added:
 Faculty Readiness for Online Instruction
 ICT Legal Issues
 ICT Literacy Assessment
 Aural Literacy (continued on page 5)
IASL Newsletter | October 2015 | Vol. 44, Issue 4 Page 5

MONEY MATTERS
 Media Literacy assignments, and CSU library ICT websites. I have also devel-
oped a four-part workshop on integrating ICT literacy into the
 Visual Literacy
curriculum which you can do as a self-paced tutorial, and use
 Social Media Literacy as a framework for conducting workshops at your own site:
 Social Media in Instruction Consider joining MERLOT (for free). As a member, you can
contribute materials to MERLOT’s database, become a review-
 Writing Research Papers
er, join a community, and become part of a speakers’ bureau.
If you see a need for another bookmark collection within When you contribute to MERLOT, be sure to add all the possi-
the scope of ICT literacy, contact me. As a MERLOT member, ble categories that would be appropriate to search, and tag
you can copy and modify existing bookmark collections for generously to aid users in locating the learning object. Be-
your own use as well as serving as a centralized URL for your cause the tagging is a folksonomy, you can add tags such as
students to access. To see all bookmark collections, go to IASL and teacher librarian to facilitate users retrieving re-
“Add to Collection.” Then click on “Browse all material.” sources by these important terms.
Bookmark collections is a button on the left side. As a MER-
Take advantage of MERLOT to help integrate ICT literacy –
LOT member, you can also create bookmark collections, which
and your information expertise – into your school’s and dis-
will be added to MERLOT automatically.
trict’s curricular program.
To further optimize your selection and use of MERLOT, I
Lesley Farmer,
have revised the ICT Literacy community, providing an over-
Library Education SIG Chair
view of MERLOT and how to find ICT literacy learning objects,
Lesley.Farmer@csulb.edu
ICT literacy standards, guidelines for ICT literacy enhanced

SIXTH WORLD CHINESE SCHOOL LIBRARIAN’S FORUM

T
he Sixth World Chinese School Librarians’ Forum was
successfully completed on 20th-21st July 2015, at the
University of Macau Library, which was organized by
Macau Library & Information Management Associa-
tion, Macau University Library, and the International Associa-
tion of Chinese School Libraries, and sponsored by the Cultur-
al Affairs Bureau of the Macau SAR Government.
143 scholars from the Mainland China, Malaysia, Japan,
Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau participated in, and Mainland
China's scholars were from Tianjin , Shanxi, Hunan and
Guangdong. There were 19 papers received during the Forum
and a total of 21 guests from Malaysia, Shanxi, Tianjin, Hong
Kong, Taiwan and Macau had given speeches. In addition, the
forum organizers led the guests to visit Macau Pui-Ching Mid-
dle School Library, Taipa Public Library of Cultural Affairs Bu-
reau and the Taipa Educational Activity Center of the Educa-
tion and Youth Affairs Bureau.
Throughout the activities, the guests and participants
around the world gathered to exchange experiences of
school library management, these precipitating the academic
research of school library services in the Chinese district and
promote the development of the industry to a new mile-
stone.
The World Chinese School Librarians’ Forum is held bienni-
ally. It will also be held annually if necessary. The next Forum
will be in 2017 and the venue is to be confirmed.
Gloria Ip Ka Wun
gloriaipkw@gmail.com
Whatsapp: 853-66326067
Mobile: 852-93075627 ; 853-66326067

Opening ceremony Mr. R. Wang, president of Macau Library Macau University Library
& Information Management Association
IASL Newsletter | October 2015 | Vol. 44, Issue 4 Page 6

NEWS FROM HUNGARY

I
nternational School Library Month is rocking in Hungary! conference will be the changes of our educational system and
Our country and our association have been participating how they take effect on school libraries and librarians. This is
in the programs of the ISLM nearly since the beginning, where we're going to celebrate the new winners of the SLA
in 2002. This month is a great opportunity for us to show Memorial Awards, which is given to those colleagues who
our vocation, challenges, functions, problems, and questions have done something great for the profession of teacher li-
to our ambience. Our schools are preparing to have school brarians in Hungary, or to those young ones, who are hopeful-
library nights, thematic days, games and quizzes, and much ly the future of this wonderful vocation.
more with many special programs.
On a more somber note, this autumn has brought very sad
This year the Association of Teacher Librarians' of Hungary
news for our association: Erika Bondor, former president of
has announced a contest for teacher librarians, in which they
the SLA Hungary, has passed away. During her leadership our
can participate with lesson plans with the title “This is how I
association had been renewed, she was the one who started
teach information searching.” many great initiatives for the teacher librarians in our country
- just as the SLA Memorial Awards and a professional book
Even for us it was a wonderful surprise to see how many
series about school librarianship with the title Little SLA
Hungarian students are attending the International Bookmark
Exchange Project: nearly 4000 pupils have registered, which Books. Her death is a great loss to the school librarian ship of
is four times more than in the last year. Hungary.
Veronika Kámán,
We're going to close this month in November, when our
traditional Autumn Conference will be held for our members ktegyesulet@gmail.com
Responsible for International Relations
and for all the teacher librarians in Budapest. The focus of our
SLA Hungary, www.ktep.hu

The late Erika Bondor SLA Summer Camp SLA Autumn Conference

CONGRESS OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN LIBRARIANS HELD IN THAILAND

T
he 16th Congress of Southeast Asian Librarians ment of an information literate citizenry.
Meeting and General Conference (CONSAL XVI) has With this in mind, the School Library Committee of the Thai
been held on 10-13 June 2015 at the Bangkok Interna-
Library Association, Department of Library & Information
tional Trade and Exhibition Centre (BITEC) Bang-Na,
Science, Srinakharinwirot University, Bangkok, and the Inter-
Bangkok, Thailand with the theme “ASEAN Aspirations: Librar-
national Association of School Librarianship (IASL) held a
ies for Sustainable Advancement”. Workshop on the Development of School Libraries in the
One area in the development of librarianship that needs ASEAN Countries in Bangkok as a pre-conference activity pre-
attention is that of school libraries. School libraries in the As- ceding the CONSAL XVI meeting on June 10th, 2015.
sociation of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries are
The objectives of the workshop were:
at various stages of development; some countries have well-
established and managed school libraries, others have very  To gather information on the current status of the school
basic needs met. libraries in the ASEAN countries, their development plans,
and the challenges they face
With the establishment of the ASEAN Community 2015 and
the ASEAN Free Trade Agreement and many other develop-  To share ideas and experiences drawn from best practices
ments in the region, it is important that school libraries be and lessons learned in the development of school libraries
given attention, for they represent the base for the develop- in the ASEAN countries
(continued on page 7)
IASL Newsletter | October 2015 | Vol. 44, Issue 4 Page 7

CONGRESS OF S.E. ASIAN LIBRARIANS HELD IN THAILAND (CONT.)

 To create awareness of the effects of ASEAN regional and plans for school library development in ASEAN countries.
international developments that provide opportunities for We are examining the country reports received and hope-
the development of school libraries fully we will come up with some topics or ideas to improve
 To develop a preliminary strategic plan for the development and sharpen the existing development and future improve-
of school librarianship in the ASEAN countries ment not only in each country but also at the regional level.
We are approaching Indonesia to host this similar event next
The workshop that comprised presentations by partici-
year.
pants, discussions and group work was attended by around
50 people who came from ASEAN countries, not only school To maintain a continuity of communication among mem-
librarians but also those who were from ministries of educa- bers, Shyh Mee Tan from Malaysia has kindly volunteered set-
tion; national libraries; library associations; school library asso- ting up the Facebook account “ASEAN School Libraries” and a
ciations, and universities. Google group. We would like to see these two media plat-
forms accommodating any active, fruitful, and lively discus-
We may say that the expected outcomes have been
sions about school librarianship among countries.
reached and we received reports on current status of school
libraries in ASEAN countries, including report on experiences Hanna Chaterina George,
and best practices in school library development, as well as Regional Director from Asia, IASL
strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats for school Head of APISI, www.apisi.org
library development in the region, and preliminary strategic hanna@apisi.org

ONGOING SCHOOL LIBRARY ADVOCACY IN ITALY

S
ummer is usually a time for vacation, relaxing, having The new school reform is funded by the Government with 3
good time, recharging ones’ own batteries. billion euros. Digital education, critical use of social networks
and media, coding, etc. are among its several focuses
Usually but not ALWAYS! In fact, the current season
(meritocracy, increased school autonomy, etc.). Unfortunate-
has been particularly busy for the author of the fol-
ly nothing is said about reading, reading education and librar-
lowing notes, as soon as the IASL 2015 Conference in Maas-
tricht ended. Here are some highlights of such an intense (in ies, despite a number of auditions and an open consultation
on the draft law (see it here), where the need for enhancing
professional terms) Summer.
the literacy and information literacy rate was underlined. The
The new Education Act (called “La buona scuola”, i.e., The implementing regulation, that will soon follow, should specify
Good Schools Law 107/2015; text available here) was approved how to reach the goals set by the new law. School library ad-
on the 13th of July, after a long discussion and several de- vocacy will aim at having the school library included in the
bates, as reported also by International media (see, for exam- regulations.
ples, articles by Giulia Segreti in “Financial Times,” or by Isla
Even though the school library piece is missing from the
Binnie, in “Reuters – U.S.”).
law, an increasing number of school principals seem to be
more sensitive to it. Several meetings were held, where the
features of an innovative and effective learning environment
as a well functioning school library space, service and pro-
gram can be, were highlighted by the author. Hard work took
place to help schools in developing projects that aim at
spreading and enhancing scientific culture in innovative ways,
according to the Law 6/2000. The win-
(continued on page 8)
IASL Newsletter | October 2015 | Vol. 44, Issue 4 Page 8

FIRST TIME DELEGATE’S REPORT OF IASL 2015 (CONT.)

ning projects can be funded with up to 50,000.00 euros per suffered from the big earthquake of 1915, that took place right
school and 100,000.00 euros per institution/s that collaborate a century ago and hit and destroyed 700 towns and villages
with schools to foster STEM education. The school library as (where 30,000 people died), and the more recent one of April
an innovative learning commons (for STEM, too!) is at the 2009. The open call to mayors and headmasters of that area
crossroads of the projects developed from the collaboration to invest in implementing a public and school library net-
between the author and some sensitive headmasters and work whose aims are to enhance reading, literacy, cultural
school teachers. The submission deadline was August 6th: we heritage awareness, etc. and facilitate the access to infor-
are now keeping our fingers crossed! It would be quite a revo- mation, education and culture, was well received and the
lution to have at least one or two projects with the school Mayor of Pescina, Hon. Stefano Iulianella, enthusiastically ac-
library at their heart funded! cepted the invitation and took a coordination role. After a
number of exploratory meetings (Aug. 7 and 21, Sept. 2), two
Developing libraries for inmates
formal meetings were held on September 10 and 30.
The re-organization of Vocational Education and Training
The first one took place at the State Archives of Avezzano,
and Adult Education (stated by a recent law) offers an oppor-
in a beautiful venue – the Torlonia Palace - where 25 people
tunity for developing (school) library services to support in-
mates’ learning process. A pilot project was designed by the representing city councils (and some schools of different
author and then implemented, with the collaboration of Prof. grades and types, too) convened, under the coordination of
the Pescina City Council. The anniversary of the big earth-
Anna Grazia Stammati, president of the “Centro per la Scuola
quake and related events that are being organized provide
Pubblica” - CESP (i.e., Public Schools Association) and teacher
of Italian Language and Literature in a high school branch at schools and councils with some opportunities to sensitize the
population that investing in education and culture is key to
Rebibbia Prison in Rome.
personal, social and economic development, especially in a
25 inmates (from the male section), who attend the high challenged area. The draft text of the network agreement was
school, were involved in a stimulating learning experience that then discussed, integrated and approved and sent to all of the
took place at the “Biblioteca Papillon”, the prison’s main li- City Councils of the area.
brary. For most of them it was the first time ever in a library
and such an unusual experience: being free to explore the The following meeting, addressed to school principals, was
held on the 30th of September at the “Torlonia Grammar
collection, handle books and analyze them, discovering the
School” in Avezzano, where several headmasters and school
meaning of the cryptic (DDC) numbers, building up their per-
teachers convened. The panel (made up by local representa-
sonal reading path (concerning a special author or a specific
topic, feeling, etc.) and developing a personal story from that, tives - The Mayor of Pescina, the former headmaster Prof. Ilio
Leonio, and the State Archive Director Dr. Sebastiana Ferrari –
combining different codes (for example, including images
and the Romans - Prof. Stammati from CESP, Dr. Assunta Di
etc.), the production of “bibliographic narrations,” were some
of the features. The positive learning and motivational out- Febo from the National Book Centre of the Ministry of Cultural
comes of the first pilot phase form the basis for further devel- Heritage and the author from the Roma Tre University) ex-
plained the features of the project. In a time of severe money
opments. In Autumn a second phase of this project, that is
constraints, the interesting opportunities provided by a new
being supported by the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, is taking
place at the same prison. call for projects that aim at contrasting the NEET phenome-
non and the unemployment rate, were presented by Stamma-
ti. Successful network projects can be funded up to
750,000.00 euros (for ten years). School library advocacy initi-
atives – the ISLM and the national ones – were also detailed
presented in those meetings.
Photos by L. Marquardt

Rebibbia prison

Abruzzo region projects Pescina Meeting (Aug. 21, 2015)

Anna Grazia Stammati and the author were also instrumen- Library advocacy and International School Library Month
tal to the establishment of a public and school library network
in an area the so-called Marsica, Abruzzo Region - that heavily About school library advocacy, the ISLM and its activities
have been constantly presented and
(continued on page 9)
IASL Newsletter | October 2015 | Vol. 44, Issue 4 Page 9

FIRST TIME DELEGATE’S REPORT OF IASL 2015 (CONT.)

promoted in many ways (list-servs, round letters to headmas- at the Department of Education, “Roma Tre” University; info
ter’s associations, blogs etc.) and, of course, face to face and update of the program are available here.
meetings. Several schools are joining it and there is a strong
Collaboration is key to the enhancement of school librari-
hope to have a god number of Italian schools and institutions
anship across countries: information sharing, joint meetings,
actively involved at last!
reciprocal support are some of the ways of keeping in touch
The National Book Centre has endorsed the ISLM, too, and and helping each other. Some gatherings of researchers and
its reading campaign called “Libriamoci a scuola” (i.e., Let’s colleagues from different countries, and professional and
fly with books), that is taking place the last week of October, cultural visits took place; new ideas of a possible twinning or
has been included in the ISLM activities. Italian schools have partnership between different schools and institutions have
to approve their triennial educational plan (including both been explored.
curricular and extra-curricular activities) by the end of Octo-
Looking back at the author’s summer agenda, it was in-
ber: the author advised them to have the ISLM activities for- credibly packed, indeed, but the one of the upcoming months
mally included, too, and being implemented on an ongoing
seems to be totally full either, with the deep hope of listing,
basis. For instance, the Garibaldi Agricultural High School of
at least, some positive outcomes from such a range of rest-
Rome has recently endorsed them and formally approved; its less efforts!
school library is coordinating them.
Luisa Marquardt,
A series of international seminal meetings among the
Director Europe for IASL
speakers, Lourense Das (Ensil Foundation), Holly Murten (US IFLA SLRC Section Member
Embassy) and Beth Holland (EdTech Educator), is taking place
luisa.marquardt@gmail.com

“FEATURED LIBRARIAN” EVENT TO START IN DECEMBER

Do you know any school librarians who tire- the nominees
lessly advocate for his or her students? A librarian Once a “Featured Librarian” has been chosen,
who deserves to be recognized for his or her out- Mrs. Youssif will send a short questionnaire to the
standing efforts? nominee. He or she will receive a certificate and
IASL’s Social Media will begin a new event his or her photo and story will be shared across
called “Featured Librarian” which will run bi- IASL’s Social Media platforms.
monthly, where a member of the Association will We want to see the faces of IASL members,
be highlighted on Facebook and Twitter. learn more about their libraries and projects, and
Here are the general guidelines: be inspired by their actions. This is in no way a
 Members can only nominate other members, competition, but a much needed opportunity to
recognize those who do so much for others.
not self. Non-IASL members are not eligible
Nominations for the first “Featured Librarian”
 Candidates’ must have a valid e-mail and
can now be sent to the Information Coordinator.
mailing address
For any questions, please get in touch with her.
 Those who wish to nominate a librarian must
send an email to the Information Coordinator, Carol Youssif
IASL Information Coordinator
Mrs. Carol Youssif, for review
Taipei American School, Middle School Library
 Only the Information Coordinator will contact youssifc@tas.tw