NSLA News - November 2018: Conference Recap & Upcoming Events

The 2018 NLA/NSLA conference was a success for many reasons. The main reason is that we had 20 fantastic school library focused sessions for attendees to choose from - 10 each day! If you are interested in any of the conference materials, you can view almost all of them on the NSLA website under the professional development tab. I would like to personally thank all of the NSLA board members for their hard work on the conference, the fabulous presenters who shared their experiences and expertise, and the attendees who were able to join us for this professional learning and networking opportunity.  Keep reading for announcements about upcoming opportunities!
​
We also launched our Nebraska Needs Librarians shirts in both red and blue—and nearly sold out! We will have these fabulous items for sale again for just $10 at NETA March 28-29, 2019 and Nebraska School Librarians Day on April 6, 2019 (coming to 4 locations across the state!). We are not making a profit on these shirts, but we are spreading advocacy far and wide! If you purchased one of these shirts at conference, please post a picture when you are sporting one in your library and tag our social media @nslaorg on Twitter and/or Facebook. We were inspired by Raygun's "America Needs Librarians" shirts, and they love librarians so they gave us permission to print these exclusive shirts!
 
At our business meeting on Saturday, we covered how NSLA is working to revitalize the relevance of your AASL state affiliated professional organization. We introduced out 2018-2019 Action Plan.  We also covered several other items of note:

1. Addition of a Distinguished Administrator Award to honor an administrator that has been supportive of school libraries. We plan to use the same language as the AASL Distinguished Administrator Award. http://www.ala.org/aasl/awards/administrator 
2. Scholarship deadlines will be changing so as to allow for payment to be received closer to the beginning of the fall and spring semesters.  New due dates will be July 1st for fall and December 1st for spring--beginning this Dec 1 for the spring 2019 semester.
3. Additional Praxis scholarships. Instead of 1 Praxis scholarship each semester, up to 2 in the fall and 4 in the spring will be awarded. Scholarship recipients must be NSLA members.
4. Beginning in 2019, there will be a universal membership renewal date of September 30th. All memberships will run now from September 30th to the following September 29th.  We will not be prorating membership costs.  As such, memberships paid any time after September 30th will be at the full rate and will run through September 29th of the following year.  I f your current membership happens to expire prior to September 30th, 2019, no worries!  Your membership (and all of the benefits you receive from it) will be extended from the expiration date until September 30th, 2019.  At that time, you would need to pay the renewal rate.  If you have a 3 year membership, it will be extended until Sept 30th of the year it expires. 
5. Mileage reimbursement will now be available for NSLA board members if they travel over 50 miles round trip for NSLA activities instead of over 160 miles round trip.  Reimbursement is available for the board retreat and board led events like Nebraska School Librarians Day.
6. Elimination of the publications committee as a traditional newsletter with multiple authors has been replaced by single author blog posts.
7. Mentor Network. We need volunteers to be mentors and new school librarians in need of mentors. More information coming soon about this opportunity! Fill out form attached here:  Mentor Form      Mentee Form
   
8. Library Spotlight. We will be showcasing school libraries from around the state on social media. Check out our featured libraries in the Library Spotlight page on our website.  For the chance to be featured, fill out the form here: Spotlight

We also announced several upcoming professional learning opportunities
Webinars - We are working on adding more webinars to help support professional learning. Check out previous webinars on our YouTube Channel and look for upcoming webinar opportunities in our listserv.
 
NETA - March 28-29, 2019
CHI Conference Center, Omaha, NE
Featured Speaker: The Daring Librarian @GwynethJones on March 29th
 
NSLD - Saturday, April 6, 2019
9:00-12:30 in Omaha, Norfolk, Kearney, & Scottsbluff
Free for members; $30 for non-members (membership is included)

Joint ILA/NLA/NSLA Conference - Oct 3-4, 2019
Embassy Suites,  LaVista, NE
Keynote Speaker: Jaime Casap, @jcasap, on Thursday October 3rd
Session Submissions are open from NOW until February 8th, 2019

NSLA Fall Spectacular - Saturday October 5, 2019
8:30 AM-2:30 PM
Papillion La Vista South High School

Based on feedback from the survey conducted in November 2017, we know it is difficult for many people to attend conferences during the school week and that these opportunities can at times be cost prohibitive. As such, beginning in 2019, we will offer a Saturday option for school librarians after the annual fall conference at a fraction of the price of a traditional conference. This opportunity will follow the fall conference as it moves between Omaha and Kearney each year. (We are still looking to name this event, Fall Spectacular is a place holder, so please send suggestions our way if you have one!)
This Saturday offering will consist of concurrent sessions relating to school library. Session submissions are welcome here! from now until February 8, 2019.
$30 for Members; $60 for non-Members. Presenters will have a discounted registration rate of $20 for members and $50 for non-members. Non-Members will gain membership status with their registration for this event and be eligible for all member benefits until September 29th of the following year.
 
We are so excited for this next year with NSLA, and we hope that you will join in as often as you can and please keep sending feedback our way, so we can continue to strengthen our professional organization!
 
Courtney Pentland
NSLA President

---