LM_NETers Meeting at California School Library Association!

[Peter Milbury <pmilbury@ERICIR.SYR.EDU>]

Hello LM_NET!

What a great morning it has been at the Annual Conference of the
California School Library Association, meeting in Sacramento!

It was SRO at the LM_NET Interest Group breakfast meeting, despite the
7:00 a.m. time slot, filling two conference rooms. We started with free
form social time as LM_NETers visited with each other and enjoyed
scrumptious munchies (thanks to Linworth and Infonautics). Lots of LM_NET
stickers (fro Oryx) were applied to conference badges, so the
conversations will continue as people recognize each other over the next
few days.

Halfway through we had round-robin individual introductions, despite the
fact that there appeared to be well over 100 in attendance. People had
come from the far northern rural areas to the southern border cities (plus
some from other states.)  Quite a number of non-members were there too,
and heard lots of testimonials for the valuable things they were missing.
We handed out a lot of "Understanding LM_NET Quickly!" brochures, provided
by Follett.

Mike Eisenberg sent an inspirational greeting, including an invitation to
the Portland AASL gathering in April 1997, where there will be an evening
event for LM_NETers, one which we will want "to tell our grandchildren
about."

A special treat was the introduction of an honored visitor, Ann Symons.
She is a school librarian from Alaska, and is a long time LM_NETer. We
learned that she is running for ALA President. Imagine, we now have a
chance to have one of our own as president of ALA! ALA!

Another honored guest was Jackie Siminitus, from Pacific Bell, our
California telephone company that gives free ISDN connections to schools,
and a year's free service as well. Jackie is a librarian, and is in the
leadership of a new "Best Sellers" program, to get community, business,
and political people speaking out for school libraries.


Then, immediately after the LM_NET social, many of us went to the AASL
interest group. I was asked to say something about LM_NET, and also
plugged CALIBK12, our official California School Library Association
discussion group to focus on issues of concern to California Library Media
Teachers. As many of you know, we have been in dire straits out here for
many years, and CALIBK12 is one of the tools that we can use to pull
together to improve our situation.

Our featured keynote speaker of the first official general session was
noted futurist, author and visionary, Howard Rheingold. He told us that he
is a strong library user/supporter, which sprung from a personal
relationship in childhood, after being sent to the library at school, then
befriended by his librarian. This led to a love of books and a successful
career as a writer. He talked a lot about information skills being
desperately needed, and how it is essential for school librarians to be
there to help youngsters learn how to filter out the valuable information
from the multitude of chaff. I highly recommend his book, The Virtual
Community: Homesteading On the Electronic Frontier. It offers a wealth of
insights into the dynamics that occur when we join groups like LM_NET.

Concurrent sessions start this afternoon. There are many dealing with
technology and information literacy issues. Hard to choose. Wonderful to
have so many excellent choices

Peter Milbury   pmilbury@ericir.syr.edu
Librarian, Chico High School, Chico, CA
A National Blue Ribbon School & California Distinguished School
LM_NET Co-owner: 6,000+ in the School Library Media Community
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+Peter Milbury's School Library & School Librarian Web Pages+
          http://www.cusd.chico.k12.ca.us/~pmilbury/lib.html
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