Connections ESC Region 11 Fall Library Conference 2024

Come see what’s new from the publishers and Children’s Plus, Inc. that will help you connect the perfect title to each reader on your campus.

Transform your school library with the power of bilingual stories! The Luminarias Book List offers a rich selection of engaging books in Spanish and English.  Develop students' language skills, expand their cultural understanding, and gain practical ideas for activities that foster a lifelong love of reading.

Through their professional practice, programs, and spaces, school librarians lead, teach, and support their educators, students, and families.  Utilizing the Future Ready Schools (FRS) framework, learn how you can utilize Discovery Education Experience to transform ordinary library experiences into to extraordinary student-centered learning experiences every day!

Promoting a positive reading culture with frequent reading contests is necessary to build a thriving library program. Promoting reading contests (not tied to grades or quizzes) improves literacy skills, fosters community engagement, provides opportunities for student recognition, supports different learning styles, and encourages the exploration of diverse literature.  Whether you create your own contests or have access to an online reading platform, the results are the same.  In this session, the audience will learn how to create your own reading contests using tech tools like Canva, Google Slides, with a bit of AI AND see the magic of Beanstack, our preferred district wide reading program, in creating book contests.  You will leave with a surplus of templates that can be efficiently adapted to your campus needs.

Join Jennifer LaBoon to learn how the Support Our Library program through Bound to Stay Bound Books offers librarians the ability to recruit donations, do book drives, run birthday book clubs, and build their libraries and classroom libraries with an automated website designed for them.  Attendees will leave this hands-on session with a customized donation website ready to receive donations with no money changing hands at the school.  Get a media kit to promote your campaign and watch fully processed titles from your custom wish list appear at your campus ready for the shelf each month.

Are you wanting the tea on new books (and current slang)? Come to our session for a book speed-dating that you can participate in and have a lesson to immediately take back to your students! We will also talk about our top 10 books we have read this year that left no crumbs! There will also be book giveaways! Getting a book for free just hits different!

Passive programming is a foundational element of a robust library program, offering your audience invaluable exposure to literature and resources while fostering a vibrant sense of community within the school library environment. Throughout this session, we'll delve into concrete examples of passive programming tailored for both students and staff. You'll gain access to a plethora of templates that you can effortlessly adapt ensuring that these initiatives will be viable on your own campus. We'll explore versatile platforms such as Canva, Google Slides, Genially, and leverage cutting-edge tools like ChatGPT & Copilot to enrich your library programming experience.

Reading Blackout is an optional reading incentive program designed to motivate and reward students for reading a variety of books.  Students begin reading books from the categories on the reading blackout card…it’s like a scavenger hunt.  After a book is read, the title is written in the square.  When the card is filled, the card is returned to the library.  After each due date, students receive prizes during library class. Students who complete all six reading blackout cards, receive an invitation to the Purple People Party.