Summit photos

I've put my SLJ Summit photos on Flickr.

Now back home for a few days, I'm still thinking about all the rich conversations and provocative ideas I've taken away from this gathering of school library leaders and representatives of some of the major vendors that provide resources to school libraries.

It is clear that the rate of change is ever-accelerating and the ways that information is accessed and delivered are ever-evolving. It's hard to get a handle on what is best to do before something totally new and different presents itself, but one thing is certain - we are in an exciting and challenging period of transition for our profession and must all try to stay connected to help each other keep current.

Many thanks to Brian Kenney and School Libray Journal for what has become an annual meeting of the minds that is not-to-be-missed by the movers and shakers in our field.

Summit Day 2 in Hollywood, FL

Sunrise walk on Hollywood Beach. Knowing we'll be inside all day, we got up early and took a short walk along the beach. Heavenly!

Last night we stood on the same beach and watched the Space Shuttle launch to the applause of our fellow on-lookers.

Amusing aside: There is a yoga conference going on adjacent to ours. When we first got here yesterday and were riding up the escalator to our gathering in the Great Hall, coming down the escalator was an older woman in yoga attire doing a one-legged yoga pose. Sort of caught our eye as we passed. ;-)

Nice breakfast buffet in the Great Hall. We sit at the same table as yesterday with Beth and Caleb from Nebraska and David Bilmes from CASL. (They all got invited to dinner last night with the reps from Gareth Stevens. Cassandra Barnett was going out with the folks from Scholastic. We seem to have been dropped from the A-list this year.) The keynote speaker this morning is a game developer from Boston - Scott Traylor. His company is 360KID. They created National Geographic Kids Tomb Game.

Next it's a breakout session: Reference in the Digital Age. Moderator Shonda Brisco (Oklahoma State). Panelist Sue Polanka (Wright State, Ohio), Mark Cummins (Weekly Reader), Roger Rosen (Rosen Pub.), Becky Snyder (ABC-CLIO). Questions addressed are on the Summit ning. Discussion of how libraries are handling print reference materials, how Reference is currently defined, perceptions about what Reference is. Interesting, deep dialog between practitioners and providers of digital content. I appreciated the comments from librarians who work in higher-ed schools of education about how future teachers are being made aware of school library resources and services. This session highlighted for me that many people are working toward the same end - equity and ease of access to the best resources, regardless of format.

Next up this morning is a Summit-wide panel, Just for Me, Just in Time...not Just in Case. Joyce Valenza is the moderator. Panelists are Chris Harris (Genesee Valley BOCES), Jim Ulsh (ProQuest), Jay Flynn (Gale), and Terry Fredericka (INFOOhio)

This session took us beyond the present into various visions of future modes of accessing and mixing/mashing up information. While a bit overwhelming in some technical aspects, I enjoyed this peek at where we might be in 5 years or so.

Now finishing lunch and awaiting the start of sponsor presentations and the closing discussion and wrap-up.

Alice Yucht in leading the closing discussion: "What are the take-aways from this Summit?"

• Gaming and connection to Standards


• Insight into challenges of school librarains and vendors (from a public librarian)


• We are trying to engage our students in ways in which they are familiar


• Digital resources make resources available 24/7


• Thankful we are all working together

Friday Breakout Sessions

I. Can You Hear Me Now? Exploring the Audio/Ebook Experience

This is about digital audio books - ebooks - a panel discussion. four experts from companies that produce audio books: Sony reader, Playaway, OverDrive Media, Follett Library

"The package is different; the content is the same."

Each rep is speaking about how audio books are used in school libraries and impact on students.

Moderator Mary Burkey's audio book blog: http://audiobooker.blogspot.com/

What kind of containers will schools need 5 years in the future? Will things we buy today be outdated next year:

• containers will drop in price to $2.49, $1.99, $1.49 and become disposable.
• electronic paper - flexible, pliable displays; color
• growth in use of containers for more kinds of content
• more choice of formats/products for the listener
• we will all have our own personal IP address; access to unlimited storage; access to content on-demand through purchases, professional memberships, conferences you attend, delivered to you in a variety of ways

II. Print Books 2.0

So Books 2.0 are books with digital media added - "radical change" books.

Principles of radical change books:

• connectivity
• interactivity
• access

Recommended viewing: Are You Paying Attention? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_M_336pDWoM

Moderator: Eliza Dresang, Florida State University

Panelists: Lucretia Miller (SLMS Duval County, FL), Author Michael Dahl (Everything Kid's Joke Book), Rachael ?, Scholastic

Reader takes more active role. Authors, publishers more aware of characteristics of reader.

The skill of a true author and a compelling story still necessary - adding "bling" to a bad book won't make it good.

Not every book is changing because of the digital age - for example, Harry Potter; Twilight

Boundaries between types of media are blurring. Graphic novels themselves are changing. Cannibalization between formats?

Media has influenced not only the print book, but print book readers. Michael Dahl: People who grew up in the 50s dream only in black and white. Younger people dream in color. - Really??

This makes me wonder: In ten years, when we look back at all this analysis of the brains of today's kids, will we chuckle knowingly at our naivete?

Live from the SLJ Summit

I'm in Hollywood - the east coast one - in Florida - at the School Library Journal Leadership Summit, Remixing Library Collections for the Ditigal Age. Here on the beach at the Diplomat Hotel, it's sunny and in the mid-80s. We just had lunch and the opening keynote speaker, Anastasia Goodstein has just begun her talk. I won't hold it against her that she started her talk with "I love libraries", as almost every speaker who isn't a librarian does. I won't get into a rant about how those who "love libraries" can kill us with kindness by not putting their money to support library programs where their mouths are.

Anastasia is going to talk about today's teens - digital natives. How technology meets their core emotional and developmental needs and how we - school librarians - can understand their media consumption. She promises to give us tips to be "totally wired" librarians. She is author of the book Totally Wired: What Teens & Tweens Are Really Doing Online and the blog, Ypulse for teen/youth media and marketing professionals. She'll put all her stuff up on the wiki: http://sljsummit.pbwiki.com/

What's new and cool about this summit is that some people are using CoverItLive to post ongoing commentary about what's going in. They call it a "back channel conversaton." Sort of makes this blogging stuff so yesterday! You can follow it if you want on the SLJ Summit Ning at http://sljsummit.ning.com/ There are also photos there that people will continue add to throughout the event. Mostly of food and people eating it so far.