ALSC student sessions

Contact: Jenny Najduch


ALSC Marketing Specialist


(312) 280-4026


jnajduch@ala.org

For Immediate Release


October 6, 2009

Join the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) once again this year to interact, network and learn virtually though its online workshop series, ALSC Student Sessions. These one-hour programs, taking place in OPAL (Online Programming for All Libraries), give students the opportunity to learn first-hand about hot library issues from ALSC members around the country.

Although the sessions were designed with students in mind, all who are interested are welcome to attend. For more information about ALSC Student Sessions or OPAL visit:
www.tinyurl.com/alscstudents. All participants need to attend is a computer with speakers and willingness to learn.

The first session, “Hosting a Mock Newbery @ your library®” is being lead by Kiera Parrott & Anna McKay from the Darien (Conn.) Library at6 p.m. CST on Wednesday Oct. 14, 2009 in the American Library Association 100 room, located at www.tinyurl.com/alaopal100. This session will discuss the details of hosting a mock Newbery program at your library, from how to provide a reading list to leading discussions about the books.

The second session of the year, “Marketing Your Library on the Web” is being led by Jill Bickford from the West Bloomfield Township (Mich.) Public Library at 6 p.m. CST on Tuesday, Nov. 10 in the American Library Association 100 room, located at
www.tinyurl.com/alaopal100. This enlightening discussion will teach participants how to market library programs electronically, getting parents and caregivers the information they need through a medium they are already comfortable with. The session will also cover cool new tools on the Web, as well as how to use these tools to their fullest.

“Connecting Kids with Great Website” will be led by Meagan Albright and Sharon Haupt at 7 p.m. CST on Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2009 in American Library Association 100 room, located at
www.tinyurl.com/alaopal100. This session will show participants how to find, evaluate and use Web sites for kids. Albright and Haupt are the chairs of the ALSC Great Web Sites for Kids Committee, which evaluates hundreds of sites every year to find fun and educational tools for children and families. They will show you how the committee comes up with its widely used “Great Web Sites for Kids” list and how librarians can incorporate these resources into library programming.

Back by popular demand, “Getting Your First Library Job: Tips from Library Directors” with Therese Bigelow and Gene Nelson will be held at 6 p.m. CST on Wednesday, March 17, 2010 in American Library Association 100 room, www.tinyurl.com/alaopal100. In today’s economy, recent grads need an extra edge to land that first library job, and ALSC can help. This session will discuss the skills that make new librarians more marketable, new technologies that directors will hope librarians know how to use and, most importantly, how to can stand out in a sea of new graduates. The session will include ample time for Q&A.

Please log on to OPAL a few minutes prior to the session starting by entering a username. Your username is how other participants will identify you; there is no registration or password necessary. If you have never used OPAL before, you will need to download a small piece of software called “tcConference,” which is free and available when you enter the OPAL room.

OPAL provides online rooms for live events, allowing participants to interact via voice-over-IP, text chatting, synchronized browsing, and other functions. To learn more about OPAL visit
www.opal-online.org. If you have any questions about ALSC’s Student Sessions, please contact Jenny Najduch, ALSC marketing specialist, at
jnajduch@ala.org or (312) 280-4026. We hope to “see” you there!

ALSC, a division of the American Library Association (ALA), is the world’s largest organization dedicated to the support and enhancement of library service to children. With a network of more than 4,300 children’s and youth librarians, literature experts, publishers and educational faculty, ALSC is committed to creating a better future for children through libraries. To learn more about ALSC, visit ALSC’s Web site at
www.ala.org/alsc.