AASL's b there offers on-demand access to keynote address

Contact: Melissa Jacobsen


AASL Communications Specialist


(312) 280-4381


mjacobsen@ala.org

NEWS


For Immediate Release


October 12, 2009

CHICAGO – b there – Your Virtual Track Pass, the American Association of School Librarians' (AASL) virtual component to its national conference, is revving up opportunities for registrants offering danah boyd's key note address on demand. The address from the "high priestess" of networked social media will be posted just hours after she speaks and will be available to the b there community for an entire year after the AASL conference. Find out more at
www.ala.org/aasl/bthere.

In addition, boyd will give an exclusive interview for the b there community. Aligning with her keynote address, boyd will speak to her unique and controversial perspective on how America's youth is engaging in sites such as MySpace, Facebook and YouTube, as well as the need for school library media specialists to understand this virtual reality shift in our culture, changing the way students are communicating with each other and representing themselves online. The b there community will be invited to take part in a discussion on key topics addressed during the session and interview.

b there – Your Virtual Track Pass is a national conference experience in a virtual setting. For an entire year, members of the b there community will have access to eight live webinars; speaker updates, materials and chats; discussion threads on closing speaker Marco Torres; materials for group professional development activities; real-time research symposium; and access to webcasts, presenter materials, on-line networking and virtual exhibits. For those school library media specialists with reduced support for professional development, b there is a great way to leverage a small investment into large learning opportunities.

For those attending AASL's National Conference in Charlotte, the virtual conference is included in the registration fee.

The AASL 14th National Conference & Exhibition, "Rev up learning @ your library," is the only national conference dedicated solely to the needs of school library media specialists and their roles as educational leaders. AASL National Conference will feature 10 preconferences, numerous concurrent sessions, more than 200 exhibiting companies, educational and school tours, a storytelling festival and special appearances by award-winning authors. For more information on AASL's 14th National Conference & Exhibition, visit
http://www.ala.org/aasl/charlotte.

The American Association of School Librarians,
www.aasl.org, a division of the American Library Association (ALA), promotes the improvement and extension of library media services in elementary and secondary schools as a means of strengthening the total education program. Its mission is to advocate excellence, facilitate change and develop leaders in the school library media field.