Professional Learning Opportunities May 2022

The start of a new month means just one thing…. It’s time for more professional learning. If you are like me, you still haven’t caught up on last month’s list. That’s okay – that’s kind of the point of me putting them all in a list so we can go back and access these resources whenever we can. I’d love to hear from you if you have registered for an event or have recently listened to a great podcast or read a great article so I can include it and share it in the next list. Until then, happy learning. 

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Webinars

Reading for Wellbeing: Implementing reading programs to support student wellbeing – SLANSW with Karen Seeneevassen – 3 May 2022, 7pm AEST – members free, $35 non members – online. Register here. 

Communicating with Impact – Caval with Sian Gard – 3 May 2022, 3:30pm AEST – free – online. Register here.

Creating Internal Wide Reading Challenges – ASLA and Fabian Amuso – 4 May 2022, 7:30pm AEST – Members $20, $40 non members – online. Register here. 

Communicate with Purpose – Caval with Amanda Belton, Patrick Splawa-Neyman and Simon Huggard – 5 May 2022, 11am AEST – free – online. Register here. 

Virtual Roundtable Forum: Using Social Media Channels to Promote the School Library – EduWebinar – 5 May 2022, 7pm AEST – free – online. Register here.

Marketing tools – SLAV – 5 May 2022, 4pm – $40 non member – online. Register here. 

Serving All Communities: Navigating the Banned Books, Censorship and Intellectual Freedom Debates – Infobase and panelists – 10 May 2022, 4pm EST – free – online. Register here. 

Bring Me a Book Literacy Innovators Forum: Librarians Live! – 11 May 2022, 7:30pm ET – free – online. Register here. 

Exploring Verse – SLAV – 12 May 2022, 4:30pm – $40 non members – online. Register here. 

Libraries Today Current Challenges and Future Opportunities – Libraries Today – 16, 18, 21 May – online. More information and register here. 

Teaching 21st Century Skills using STEM Makerspaces – EduWebinar with Leonie McIlvenny and Dr Rachel Sheffield – 18 May, 2022 7pm AEST – $40 non members, free for members – online. Register here.

Activating Core Values in the Library: Strategies for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion – ABC CLIO with Meg Boisseau Allison, Erika Long and Julie Stivers – 25 May 2022, 5pm EST – free – online. Register here.

Content Curation for Teaching and Learning with Concord LibPaths – EduWebinar with Andrea Engler – 25 May 2022, 7pm AEST – free – online. Register here. 

Conferences

ASLA 2022 Advocacy Summit – 14 May 2022 – $150 members, $200 non members – hybrid. Register here.

Courses

Introducing Micro-Credentialing in Your School Library – SLANSW – 9 May – 24 June 2022 – $60 SLANSW members – online. Register here. 

Podcasts

I’ve been listening to the How I Build This podcast in preparation for my Entrepreneurship class and I loved listening to the origin story of Goodreads. It’s part love story, part love of books story and as a Goodreads user and lover, it was an interesting insight into making one of the largest online catalogues and reading communities. Goodreads: Otis and Elizabeth Chandler. 

I could fill this section every single month with amazing podcast episodes from School Librarians United. This is just a friendly reminder that if you are not already listening every week to the amazing guests Amy Hermon welcomes to the podcast, you need to start now. Recent episodes include Audiobooks, Preparing to Interview, R-E-S-P-E-C-T and Passive Programming. 

Articles and Blog posts

Sally Turbitt explores diving into the world of social media, sharing your library story and content creation in this post, along with helpful tips and resources for getting started. Diving into storytelling and content creation with library and information students. 

Every wanted to conduct your own research? Ever wanted to know what Open Research is? Niamh Quigley shares a quick guide on open research, benefits, examples and how to get started. Open Research: A Five-minute Guide. 

Is your school getting the most out of their school library? This is an ideal article for sharing with school leaders. Elizabeth Hutchinson shares the article How school leaders can get the most out of their libraries. 

If you are a librarian in the Northern Hemisphere and getting ready for supporting your students for the summer ahead, a very important time for supporting reading, then you definitely need to check out this post from Kelly Jensen. Libraries revamp summer reading, offer greater choice in books and where to participate, including outdoors. 

You might be ensuring you have a diverse collection, but how do we ensure these resources get borrowed? Increasing circulation of your inclusive library collection. 

Book Lists

Need more LGBTQIA+ books for your school library? (because who isn’t?!!!). Mikkaka Overstreet shares 11 LGBTQ Books Every High School Library Should Have. 

Resources

The amazing Sam Wasson @_Sam_Wasson_ shared a Canva template for her Book Speed Dating on Twitter. Check out her post to access the templates. 

Needing a tool for resource citations? Anne Weaver shares how to use Edge Collections and Citations. 

I’m putting this one under resources but it’s part webinar, part podcast, part resource and so much more. A group of US school librarians regularly get together to chat about big topics in the world of school libraries. If you can’t make the live chats, you can listen to the recordings and access the padlet. In April the team discussed the names school librarians call themselves and the meaning and power behind them. Access It’s All In A Name recording and padlet. 

What if a bot could recommend a good book for you? Have you heard of Huey the Bookbot? A tool to help promote reading and make finding books for children fun. Try out Huey the Bookbot. 

Need a new Library Bingo card challenge? Check out this one Lauren Mobley shared on Twitter. Library Bingo Challenge. 

Twitter Threads

When Kelsey Bogan put the call out on Twitter for makerspace ideas, especially for passive programs, she received lots of great replies. There are definitely some ideas I want to try.  

Want more professional learning?

Check out my professional learning series or have a look through last month’s professional learning list.