The Action is Non Stop!!!

Reno is an amazing city seemingly dropped into a bowl of desert sand with mountain edges. Known as the "Biggest Little City in the World" it is a combination of awesome natural beauty, Times Square neon lights and friendly people.

I am amazed at the overwhelming number of attendees here from Massachusetts and the east. It was a long trip but well worth the time and effort to get here. The conference has been excellent, well planned and organized, much variety and offering fabulous opportunities for networking with the top practitioners and resource providers in the U.S.

The theme that has stayed with me throughout this week has been from Dan Pink's speech at the Opening Session. We all need to remember we are educating our students for "their futures NOT our past." Knowing that in 2 weeks our own conference theme is School Libraries in a 2.0 World, I am looking for the ways I can do just that, educate my students for their future knowing my own education is from a different time! I know that my colleagues are of a similar background while the children we teach are digital natives and thinkers who's brains function in different and interesting ways and who need to be creative thinkers and innovators to be successful in their future...That is a TALL order!!

The best way, maybe the only way we can succeed at our mission is to stay informed and be the cutting edge resource for our schools. If you are "on the fence" about attending our annual conference just remember, YOU are the only true advocate for your own job in your school. Your professional organization is your best source of professional development to stay on top of latest initiatives and cutting edge resources. Your membership provides you advocacy and representation in times of need. I am very excited to be bringing back to you our new national information literacy standards, hot off the press and released here in Reno for the first time. Join me with AASL President Sarah Kelly Johns, Chris Harris, Allison Zmuda, Meredith Farkas and other 2.0 innovators at our conference....
Get your hands on the new standards, Scholastic's third and latest release of School Libraries Work AND....the hottest release for Massachusetts' school library teachers and technology professionals....the first ever joint statement of the Massachusetts School Library Association and MassCUE!!! Make an investment in your future, I promise you will not regret the decision. Sandy :-)