NSLANewsNebraskaSchoolLibrariansAssociation

Volume5,Issue3 Fall2016

President’sMessageOurpastpresident,LauraPietsch,beganhertermwithareflectivelookon“theevolutionofourorganizationsinceitsinceptionin1969.”Shesharedhowourroleshavevastlychangedandhowourwallsare“virtuallynon-existent”today.Shesharedthevastinnovationssheseesinourprograms.Ourlibrarians“embrace”thischangeandsheurgedustobeaparticipant.Shewasn’tbeingnostalgic,butratherlookingforwardtowhatwasyettobe.Thethemeforthisyear’scombinedNLA/NSLAConferenceinOctoberisLibrariesTransformTManditiswithgreatexcitementthatIaskyoutodefinehowtheroleoftheschoollibrarianisbeingtransformed.Itiswithasenseofurgency,aswell,becausewearetheoneswhoshouldbesharinghowourroleischangingandhowweareembracingthatchange,ratherthanwaitingforotherstodefineandchangeitforus.Feelingnostalgicforasimplertimeorareyou

TheControversyofWeeding

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MembershipHasItsRewards

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anxioustoforgeahead?IrecentlyreadanarticleinCurriculumInquirybyJessicaHochmanentitled“SchoolLibraryNostalgias”aboutreformandtheeffectofnostalgiaoneducationalpolicy.Sheassertsthatlibrariansaremoreessentialthanever,yetthetrenddoesnotindicatethisshift.Shewritesoftheimpactstudiesthatshowtheimportanceofaschoollibrarianandstronglibraryprograms,“yetinspiteofthesepositiveimpactstudiesandadvocacyefforts,schoollibrarians’jobsaredisappearingintheU.S.andelsewhere”(Hochman,2016).Sheattributespartofthisproblemtothelackofknowledge Cont.page2

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TheControversyofWeedingPresident’sMessagecont.

MARKYOURCALENDAR!

administratorsandotherpolicymakershaveabouttheworkoflibrarians.Theyrememberthelibraryorlibrarianoftheirownschooldaysquitefondly,buthavenoideawhatalibrarianoftodaybringstotheeducationalsetting.Basedonnostalgia,andtheworkweoftendobehindthescenesthatothersdonotsee,sheproposesthatprincipalsandotherswhoholdthereinsdonotseethecurrentrelevanceoftoday’slibrarian.Thisiswhereyouenterthepicture.ThepurposeoftheNebraskaSchoolLibrariansAssociationistoadvocateforschoollibraryprograms,provideprofessionaldevelopmentopportunitiesforschoollibrarians,anddevelopleadersintheschoollibraryfield.However,itisyourvoicethatwillguidethecontinuationofourprofession.Showotherswhatyouaredoing,shareyourvision,andcreatethetransformationinyourlibrary.Beapartofit;tweetit,shareit,showit,andtellaboutit!

PaulaMcClungNSLAPresident

Weallknowthatweedingalibrarycollectioncanbecontroversial.Withweedingscandalssometimespoppingupinthelocalnews,“therootoftheproblemisthatthemajorityofpeopleseemostbooksaspermanentlyvaluable,andformanythatistrue”(Berry,2013).Becausethissortingoutcanbeacontroversialprocess,itisimperativethatweusesolidcriteriafortheprocess.ArecentLibraryJournalarticleentitled“TheWeedingWar”states,“lowcirculationorinfrequentusenumbersarenotenoughevidencetoscrapabook.Publicationoracquisitiondatesprovenothingaboutabook’svalue”(Berry,2013).Thankfully,thereareguidelinestohelpalllibrarianssuccessfullycompletethis“controversial”andoft-challengingprocess.Evenifweedingcanbefraughtwithdifficulty,itISnecessary,especiallywhenitcomestoweedingnonfictionmaterial.Inthiscase,“anup-do-datecollection,evenifsmall,isbetterthanonefilledwithoutdatedorwornmaterial”(Ford,2015).Anotherarticle,“ToWeedorNottoWeed”(publishedinSchoolLibraryJournal)remindsusthatthereareguidelineswecanfollowtowalkusthroughthisprocess,especiallythefirsttimeweweed.TheCREW(ContinuousReview,Evaluation,&Wedding)Methodisagreatadditiontomyfuturelibrarybestpractices.CreatedbytheTexasStateLibraryandArchiveCommission,thistoolutilizesthreecriteriatoconsiderwhenweedingnonfictioncollections:thecopyrightdatethebookwasprinted,thelasttimethebookwasused,andthebook’scondition.Thisappearstobeabitsimplistic,sotofurtherhelpwithweeding,MUSTIEprovidesmoredetailedcriteriatohelpindeterminingifa

Cont.page3http://www.nebraskalibraries.org/page/Neblib2016

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MembershipHasItsReward,cont.

Inatighteconomy,everydollarcounts.Isbelongingtoyourstateassociationreallyworththecost?Youbetitis!TheNebraskaSchoolLibrariansAssociationexiststosupport,educateandprovideresourcesforschoollibrariansthroughoutthestate.Infact,itistheonlystateprofessionalorganizationwhosesolepurposeistosupportschoollibrarians.Sowhatdoesthatsupportlooklike?

TheControversyofWeeding,cont.

titleshouldbetossed.TheshorthandversionofMUSTIEisasfollows:Misleading,Ugly,Supersededbynew/betterbook,Trivial,Irrelevant,Elsewhere(Ford,2015).Thesearegreatresourcestotuckawayforthosetimeswemustweedthelibrary!Becauseitcanbecontroversial,it’scrucialtoutilizeatriedandtrueandtestedmethodfordoingthisprofessionally.CREWandMUSTIEareinvaluabletools.ReferencesBerryIII,J.N.(2013).TheWeedingWar.LibraryJournal,138(18),10.Retrievedfromhttp://libguides.unomaha.edu/az.phpFord,D.B.(2015).ToWeedorNottoWeed?.SchoolLibraryJournal,61(8),13.Retrievedfromhttp://libguides.unomaha.edu/az.php-ElizabethWalker,recipientoftheKarlaWendelinandtheNSLAContinuingEducationScholarships

MembershipHasItsRewards

Networking:Asaschoollibrarian,youareoftentimestheonlypersoninyourbuildingwhodoeswhatyoudo.Itcanbescarytoreachouttostrangersandaskforhelpwithyourjob.AsamemberofNSLA,thatdifficultyiseasedthroughconferences,professionaldevelopmentopportunitiesandalistservwherenetworkingisactivelyencouraged.Scholarships:DidyouknowthatNSLAoffersscholarshipopportunitiesforitsmembers?Wedo!Fromcontinuingeducation,topresenters,tofirsttimeconferenceattendees,thereareavarietyofscholarshipopportunitiesavailableforourmembers.Nowthereisamembershipperkyoucanreallytakeadvantageof!Advocacy:Wewillstandwithyouandforyou!That’sright!NSLAsupportsandadvocatesforitsmembershipwhetherthatiskeepingabreastofwhatishappeninginthestatelegislatureandtheNebraskaDepartmentofEducationinordertosupportschoollibrariansorprovidinglinkstoadvocacyresourcesviaourwebsite,weworktoensurethatourmembershavethetoolstosupportadvocateforthemselvesandthesupportoftheorganizationtoadvocateforallitsmembers.Allinall,yourmembershipisafabulousdeal!Joinorrenewtodaybyvisitingusatneschoollibrarians.orgLauraPietschNSLAPast-President

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President:PaulaMcClung,pmcclung@lps.org

President-elect:AngieRicheson,richesonac@unk.edu

Past-president:LauraPietsch,laura.pietsch@ops.org

Secretary:CaroleMatthews,carole.matthews1@gmail.com

Treasurer:CynthiaStogdill,cynthia.stogdill@fpsmail.org

Members-at-large

MaryRoesler,marroesler@kearneycats.com KimmieVogt,vogtteacher226@gmail.com

CrysBauermeister,cbauermeister@gmail.com MandyPeterson,mandy.peterson@schuylercommunityschools.org

NSLA2016-2017Board

We’reontheWeb!

www.neschoollibrarians.org

Twitter:@NSLAorg

Listserv:https://groups.google.com/d/forum/nslalistserv

ContactInformation:

KimGangwishNSLAExecutiveSecretary4905ChennaultSt.Papillion,NE68133Phone:(402)554-3653

Email:contactnsla@gmail.com

Volume5,Issue3 Fall2016