New on the Job? New eCourse/eBook bundle gives you the tools for success

For Immediate Release
Thu, 08/20/2015

Contact:

Liz Steiner

Marketing Manager

ALA Publishing

esteiner@ala.org

CHICAGO — ALA Editions announces an exciting, new eCourse/eBook bundle, New on the Job. Hilda Weisburg will serve as the instructor for this six-week facilitated eCourse starting on May 16, 2016.

Are you new on the job? Going from completing classwork to being on the job is a big shift… Much of what is expected and the politics of schools are not covered in library school. Moving from one school to another means you need to start from scratch to build your reputation. This eCourse gives you the tools and techniques to be successful from day one – and continue to build on that success. School librarians are often alone in their buildings and assumed to know everything about the job; yet as noted earlier, much of it is not covered in library school.

This course with Hilda Weisburg will cover all topics in her popular book New on the Job 2nd edition, allowing you to interact with the text, each other and Weisburg. You’ll come out of the eCourse with strategies for success from applying for the job through building relationships with students, teachers, administrators, and your community – becoming leaders in process.

Included in your course purchase is a free eBook of New on the Job.

eCourse Outline

Week 1 – Module 1: Preparing for the Job
  • Developing your philosophy and mission
  • Defining who you are/your role and title
  • From resume through interview follow-up

Week 2 – Module 2: Organizing for Action

  • Assessing your facility and your collection
  • Getting to know your school – the whole staff and the students
  • Understanding your district and community and how to work within its culture
  • Discovering what you have “inherited”
  • Policies and paper work
  • Working with your schedule
  • Modifying your environment

Week 3 – Module 3: Building Your Relationships with Students and Teachers

  • Reaching students – your first priority
  • Making the library a reflection of your mission and philosophy
  • Issue of grading
  • Role of co-curricular responsibilities
  • Making effective teacher connections
  • Becoming a partner – collaborating and recognizing teacher styles
  • How author visits can create an atmosphere for cooperation/collaboration

Week 4 – Module 4: Positioning Your Program

  • Knowing how to use communication channels
  • Avoiding pitfalls
  • Handling your observations and evaluations
  • Demonstrating your worth
  • Making PR, Marketing, and Advocacy work for you
  • Reaching the community
  • Vendors as a resource

Week 5 – Module 5: The Art and Science of Planning

  • From creation through budget and execution
  • Special projects and sources of funding
  • Planning acquisitions and the value of collection mapping
  • Working with the Technology Department needs careful planning
  • Balancing library technology with Technology Department guidelines and restrictions

Week 6 – Module 6: Being a Professional an a Wrap-up

  • The challenge of upholding library ethics
  • Preventing plagiarism
  • National standards – School Librarians and Common Core
  • Closing out the school year
  • Committing to professional growth
  • Focusing on positives – dealing with negatives
  • Best ideas of the course

About the Instructor

Hilda Weisburg “retired” after 31 years as a school librarian. Currently, she is the chair of AASL Advocacy Committee and is on the ALA Committee on Literacy. She gives numerous presentations and has written 13 books with Ruth Toor, including New on the Job: A School Librarian’s Guide to Success, Second Edition (2015), and has written a solo work for ALA Editions, The School Librarian’s Career Planner (2013). She has presented at ALA, AASL, and numerous state conferences.

Registration for this facilitated eCourse, which begins on May 16, 2016, can be purchased at the ALA Store. Participants in this course will need regular access to a computer with an internet connection for online message board participation, viewing online video, listening to streaming audio (MP3 files), and downloading and viewing PDF and PowerPoint files.

ALA Editions publishes resources used worldwide by tens of thousands of library and information professionals to improve programs, build on best practices, develop leadership, and for personal professional development. ALA authors and developers are leaders in their fields, and their content is published in a growing range of print and electronic formats. Contact ALA Editions at (800) 545-2433 ext. 3244 or editionscoursehelp@ala.org.

ALA Store purchases fund advocacy, awareness, and accreditation programs for library professionals worldwide.