Professional Learning Opportunities April 2024

Happy April. I hope this post coincides with a term break for you. It’s been a busy first three months of the year. But downtime hopefully also means a bit of time to let your mind wander and learn new things. If that’s the case, I have the perfect list of professional learning opportunities for you. From AI to supporting reading for pleasure, webinars to articles, I hope you find something to encourage you and what’s happening in your school library.

You can now sign up to receive these posts delivered straight to your inbox each month. Subscribe

Webinars

The DANZ Awards Books that celebrate minority people and voices – ASLA with Kate Foster – 3 April 2024, 7:30pm AEST – members free, $40 non members.

Grant writing tips from Dustin Hensley – 11 April 2024. Free.

Playing for Keeps DnD and Roleplaying Games for Libraries and Library Outreach – ALIA – 17 April, 2024, 12noon – 1pm AEST – $15 members, $22.50 non members.

AI and Critical Thinking – QSLA with Jason Lodge – 23 April, 2024, 40pm – 5pm AEST – free for members, $30 non members.

Information Fluency Intensive – Eduwebinar with June Wall and Karen Bonanno. 29 April, 2024 – 3 May, 2024. 7pm – 8pm AEST. $125

Videos

Leap into the Future of School Library International Conference. Held in February by the San Jose State University School of Information, all the videos from this conference have been shared. There are lots of different topics to explore and enjoy.

Tech APPetizers by The Next Gen Librarian Amanda Hunt. Includes: Book Creator, Adobe Express, Loom, Mote, Quizizz and many more.

Podcasts

School Librarians United Podcast – recent episodes include Reimagining Makerspaces, Grant Writing, and Romance Book Club

ALIA Graphic Podcast – recent episodes include March Roundup and Creator Chat with Queenie Chan

Your Kid’s Next Read Podcast – recent episodes include Ask Us Anything 2.0, 10 Minutes with Nat Amoore, Kids and Creative Writing.

Engaging and Empowering School Libraries – AI with and Through the School Library

The Portable Magic Dispenser – First Line Library Lesson Ideas and More, World Book Day ideas (That won’t cost much).

Resources

Library lesson on misinformation by Lucas Maxwell.

Library 2.0. A massive range of webinars, recordings and resources.

Booklists

Notable Australian Graphic Novels of 2023 – The Longlist by ALIA Graphic.

Themed Booklists – AdLit.

Articles and Blog posts

Discovering a Good Read: Exploring book discovering and reading for pleasure among Australian Teens – Teen Reading in the Digital Era. The culminating report from the Deakin University Teen Reading in the Digital Era research. More on their website.

Academic integrity and copyright literacy policy and instruction in K-12 schools: a global study from the perspective of a school library professionals – Zakir Hossain, Ozgur Celik and Corinne Hertel.

Affirming Autism: How to choose books for girls who are Autistic – Sandra Nickel

Here’s how to set your reading goals and read more books in 2024 – Mansee Khurana.

20 Book Creator projects of Be An Author Month – Monica Burns

ChatGPT is bad at following copyright law, researchers say – Britney Nguyen

AASL April is School Library Month

ALIA Graphic March 2024 Roundup – ALIA Graphic. Do not miss this incredible post. As well as new manga, comic and graphic novel recommendations by age group, this post shares some awesome resources and articles. A few examples below.

Ask the Comics Librarians: Weeding Superhero Comics – Adam Kacy.

There’s not enough middle grade manga. US publishers are changing that – Brigid Alverson

7 Ways to support Australian teens in reading for pleasure – Australia Reads

What I mean when I say information literacy – Stephanie Gamble

New research on understanding Australian Teen Readers – Australia Reads

Special days to celebrate in your school library – Term 2 in Australia and New Zealand – Softlink

Sally Rippin’s Mission to get more kids reading – Australia Reads