Community Membership

I am a bit of an anomaly when it comes to being a school librarian.  I work with a team, I am in an independent school that does not participate in standardized testing, and common core is not a factor.  So many of the issues that face so many school librarians do not necessarily apply to me.

That said, even if I feel like a bit of spare peg, it is incredibly important to take part in the larger conversations happening in the field.  While attending the SLJ Leadership Summit in Austin in September, I was lucky enough to share a table with Elissa Malespina ( @SOMSlibrary ) and she told me about #tlchat (teacher librarian chat) on twitter.  #tlchat is a monthly chat filled with concerns of teacher librarians, and each month the topics are broad strokes like “Collaboration”, “Participatory Culture”, “Building Your PLN”.

I took part for the first time this past Monday during the collaboration chat.  Not only did I get a few new ideas, I also found inspiration.  Inspiration, as I have said before, is fuel for me.  Even though I work with a team in a progressive environment, it is pretty incredible to connect across geography with professional peers.

If you have never participated in a library related chat on twitter, I encourage you to do so.  Here is a list of chats that may help you find some inspiration!

• #readadv – Reader’s Advisory Chat
• #edtechchat – Educational Technology Chat
• #storyappchat – Chat about writers creating storybook apps for the iPad
• #titletalk – A chat about books and promoting reading and readers
• #pblitchat – A chat about picture books
• #alscchat – And of course the chat hosted by alsc members focusing on a variety of topics.

Please add any other chats you find valuable into the comments!