Meeting Report: Maryland Library Organization Council
(Volume 55, Issue 1/2, May 2007)
Tracy Landfried , SLA Maryland Chapter President-Elect, tlandfri@arl.army.mil
Many Maryland library organizations were represented at the first meeting of the Maryland Library Membership Organization Council on April 20, 2007. The Maryland Chapter of SLA was represented by current President Edna Paulson and President-elect Tracy Landfried.
The meeting was arranged by Irene Padilla, Assistant State Superintendent for Library Development Library Services, Maryland State Library. Padilla welcomed us and described the impetus for this meeting, the first of its kind since 2002. She wanted to get input from every type of library association in the state of Maryland. We learned about the other organizations represented and discussed what we have in common, including advocacy issues.
This meeting brought together the President and President-elect of different public, academic, and special library associations with chapters in Maryland. The intent is to get the current and future leadership of these associations involved so that the council gets embedded in the corporate memory of the associations represented.
After a brief introduction, Host Margaret Carty, MLA, described the MLA Events Calender. Nina Beegaf described its use and workings. Participants were promised a brief training memo on the use of the Calender. http://www.mdlib.org/ Click on events calendar. You can subscribe to events and be notified of new items in your area of interest.
Advocacy for School Library Media Specialists to be added to the “No Child Left Behind Act” was discussed. The 2001 “No Child Left Behind Act” is scheduled for re-authorization in 2007. We were all encouraged to contact our congressional representatives by email - and also by phone, fax, and letter – as email is sometimes blocked. Advocacy is needed by the end of this summer. School Library Media Specialists are currently classified as Support Staff – though no other group classified as Support Staff teach. Getting “into the Act” would mean recruitment funds for new Library media specialists and it would require a qualified library media specialist in the School Library, not a substitute or volunteer. That means better information literacy training for students, a better understanding of plagiarism and copyright, and professionally selected materials for the school curriculum.
Check out the following links:
"No Child Left Behind," American Library Association, October 11, 2006.
http://www.ala.org/ala/washoff/woissues/schoollibraries/nochildleftbehind/nochildleftbehind.cfm (Accessed April 27, 2007)
Document ID: 222066
"National Library Legislative Day," American Library Association, October 11, 2006.
http://www.ala.org/ala/washoff/washevents/nlld/nlld2007.cfm (Accessed April 27, 2007)
Document ID: 221345
"Take Action!." American Library Association. 2006.
http://www.ala.org/takeaction (Accessed 27 Apr, 2007)
According to Leona Mundt, statewide studies in Alaska, Colorado, and Pennsylvania have shown that schools with good Library media programs have students who do well on standardized tests.
Each group was also asked to think about or agree to reciprocity for other groups in their programs and professional development training. The Maryland Chapter SLA originally agreed to such reciprocity in 2001/2002.
One program in planning stages has already come out of this meeting.
Mark your calendar for September 8, 2007 for a joint MLA/SLA-Maryland Chapter picnic at Quietwaters, a nice park in Annapolis. More details will follow.
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