Welcome to RA for All School Librarians

Today I will be broadening my reach as I present RA for All: The School Library Edition for RAILS member libraries beginning at 4pm. This is a 100% BRAND NEW RA for All program.

I am very excited to offer this program for a few reasons.

1. One of my goals when I left daily library work and set out on this journey to train as many librarians as possible in the joys of RA service was to branch out into areas beyond the public library. This was my natural first step because, as you can see in the slides below, I have been volunteering at a school library for many years and have already worked to implement some public library RA tactics into the school library setting.  I am excited to share those with you today
2. The school library world has gone through immense change in the last ten years-- this is something I will talk about in the program-- but the short version is that the pendulum is swinging back toward a focus on the importance of leisure reading. Today's program will inject new energy and enthusiasm into your work with students in a school library setting.
3. This reason is more about me and my personal growth and training. In creating this program, I was forced to sit down and take a hard look at myself and how I train public librarians to provide superior RA service in order to be able to articulate it to you, a new audience.  For me this has been a personal training benefit. I know a few public librarians signed up for today's program too. Well, like me, I hope you use this opportunity to look at what you do from a slightly different angle. IT can only make you stronger at your job.
4. This final one is just pure luck of timing, but yesterday, the Every Student Succeeds Act was introduced into Congress and it includes language about the necessity of school librarians in our children's educational futures.  The ALA has a press release available here. 

So, if you are a first time visitor to RA for All, WELCOME. Spend some time poking around the archives or use the tags in the right gutter to explore topics of interest to you.  You can also click through to the All About Becky page for more about me including contact info. Feel free to contact me anytime.

And if you are a long time, public library reader of RA for All, I hope you think about #3 above as you read today's post and check out the slides. I have learned so much through my work in the school library, but I learned even more about the "whys" behind everything we do by creating this presentations.

You can find today’s slides here right now, and after today on the Recent Presentations page.

Click here for slide access