NJASL: NJ Assoc. of School Librarians (It's "En-JAY-sul"!)

@njasl.bsky.social

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This is the (currently) unofficial account of the New Jersey Association of School Librarians. We advocate high standards for librarianship & library media programs in NJ schools to ensure students & staff are effective users & producers of info.

A black background with white writing that reads "Awards". At the bottom, the NJASL logo.
April is School Library Month! If your school doesn't have a certified School Library Media Specialist, advocate to fill that vacancy. If you do, celebrate the work they do - especially this month!
April is School Library Month! If your school doesn't have a certified School Library Media Specialist, advocate to fill that vacancy. If you do, celebrate the work they do - especially this month!
Top 10 Reasons Every School Needs a Librarian: #1: Welcoming, Safe Spaces School Librarians welcome all, ensuring that students have a safe space not only to complete schoolwork, but also to dream, explore, and imagine!
Top 10 Reasons Every School Needs a Librarian: #2: Educate the Whole Student School Librarians support students' academic, social, and emotional learning, starting with a greeting at the door & continuing through conversations & lessons that foster student success.
Top 10 Reasons Every School Needs a Librarian: #3: College and Careers School Librarians often take a leading role in college and career readiness programming, including helping students analyze strengths and interests.
Top 10 Reasons Every School Needs a Librarian: #4: Support for Colleagues School Librarians offer resources to support curriculum and NJ Student Learning Standards, provide PD, and are positioned to assist with strategic planning, technology initiatives, and more.
Top 10 Reasons Every School Needs a Librarian: #5: STEM and Maker Activities School Librarians support maker activities - often based in STEM curriculum - that focus on the development of creativity, critical thinking, communication, and collaboration.
Top 10 Reasons Every School Needs a Librarian: #6: Foster a Love of Reading School Librarians know how to foster a love of reading in students by getting to know the students and matching their interests with that "just right" title.
Top 10 Reasons Every School Needs a Librarian: #7: Technology & Equity of Access School Librarians share expertise & assist students, colleagues, & even community members with technology housed in the school library, a place that promotes equity of access.
Top 10 Reasons Every School Needs a Librarian: #8: Digital Citizenship School Librarians build upon information literacy skills to teach digital citizenship in order to prepare students for responsible and effective use of technology.
Top 10 Reasons Every School Needs a Librarian: #9: Information and Media Literacy Skills School Librarians help students develop information and media literacy skills critical for analyzing content for credibility and accuracy, especially in today's world.
Top 10 Reasons Every School Needs a Librarian: #10: Information Access School Librarians provide access to information - vast amounts of it - and guidance for how to research, understand, and apply it - all skills necessary for lifelong learning!
Be a part of a new chapter Save the date for the inaugural 2026 NJLA - NJASL Joint Conference Event details Feb. 18-20,2026 Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City, NJ An event that will bring together New Jersey librarians to EXPLORE new ideas, SHARE innovations, and SHAPE the future of libraries! A new chapter Imagine the possibilities 2026 logo contest winner Jason Cascais, Ocean County Library Imagine of a light bulb whose filament is shaped like the state of NJ, topped by the acronyms NJLA and NJASL.
NJASL president Karen Grant, Senator Andrew Wicker, and Mary Moyer pose with Sen. Zwicker's award.
Picture of the meeting, with NJASL President Karen Grant standing at the podium addressing attendees.
Top Ten Reasons Every School Needs a School Librarian #1: Welcoming Safe Spaces. School librarians welcome all, ensuring that students have a safe space not only to complete schoolwork, but also to dream, explore, and imagine!
Top Ten Reasons Every School Needs a School Librarian. #2: Educate the Whole Student. School librarians help educate the whole student through academic, social, and emotional learning that starts with a kind greeting at the door and continues with meaningful conversations and lessons that foster student success.
Top Ten Reasons Every School Needs a School Librarian. #3: College and Career Readiness. School librarians often take a lead role in college & career readiness programming, which includes helping students analyze strengths & interests.
Top Ten Reasons Every School Needs a School Librarian. #4: Support for Colleagues. School librarians aid colleagues, offering resources to support curriculum and NJ Student Learning Standards, as well as professional development; and with a global view of the school, they are in an ideal position to assist with strategic planning, one-to-one technology initiatives, & more.
Top Ten Reasons Every School Needs a School Librarian. #5: STEM and Maker Activities. School librarians support maker activities that are based in a STEM curriculum, but most importantly, focus on the development of competencies like creativity, critical thinking, communication, and collaboration.
Top Ten Reasons Every School Needs a School Librarian. #6: Foster a Love of Reading. School librarians know how to foster a love of reading in students by getting to know the students and then matching their interests with just the right title.
Top Ten Reasons Every School Needs a School Librarian #7: Technology and Equity of Access School librarians share expertise and assist students, colleagues, and often even community members with technology housed in the school library, which is a place that promotes equity of access.
Top Ten Reasons Every School Needs a Librarian #8: Digital Citizenship School librarians build upon media literacy skills to teach digital citizenship in order to prepare students for responsible and effective use of technology.
#9: Information & Media Literacy Skills. School librarians help students develop information and media literacy skills, which are critical for analyzing content for credibility & accuracy, especially in today's digital world.
Top 10 Reasons Every School Needs a School Librarian! #10: Access to Information School librarians provide access & guide students in researching, understanding, & applying info - skills necessary for lifelong learning!
8:50 9:00 Welcome 9:00 9:50 Session 1 A Empowering students in the age of misinformation Brittney Smith B A Succession Plan!: Creating a Legacy Fit For the Next Christopher Stewart C Market Your Library: Tips and Tricks Melissa Corey and Matt King D "Lights, Camera, Literacy: Teaching Media Skills Through Video Production" Kelsey LaPort E Empowering Student Voice: Teaching the Freedom to Read in an Age of Censorship Andrea Caporale 9:50 10:00 Intermezzo 1 Let's Share / Talk About It - A space for congregating, chatting, and sharing NJASL Membership & Benefits Discussion 10:00 10:50 Session 2 A Irrigating Book Deserts and Spreading Book Culture For All Children Larry Abrams B 4 Levels of Collaboration Kelly HIncks C Light a Spark with Your Library Lessons with Adobe Express Amanda Hunt D Hot manga titles for voracious readers Sara Smith E Integrating Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) in the School Library Angela "Ang" Coxen 10:50 11:00 Intermezzo 2 Library Kahoot! NJASL Membership & Benefits Discussion 11:00 11:50 Session 3 A Best Books - A Celebration of Reading Jessica Donovan B Active Learning in the School Library Wendy Garland C "Curate, Collaborate, Create, Communicate: Transforming Learning with Wakelet in the Library" Deborah Zeman D Building Community While Promoting Social-Emotional Learning Day Andrea Caporale E Success Starts with You Hilda Weisburg 11:50 12:00 Dance Party! 12:00 12:50 Session 4 A Digital Detox: Prioritizing Mindfulness and IRL Time Katie McNamara B "Dynamic Shelving: Creating engaging and accessible (& exciting) library collections!" Kelsey Bogan C Prompt Engineering using AI for Teacher-Librarians Christina Advento D "Shared Adventures: Bridging Special Needs Education and Library Resources" Andrea Keller E You got your STEM in My Literacy!!! Marci Klein M.D. F "Virtual Safe Space Circle from the NJASL EDI Cmt" Ang Coxen & Ellen Pozi 12:50 1:00 Wrap-up & Raffles
The Return of the NJASL Virtual Mini-Con! Mon, Feb 17, 2025. 9am-1pm ET. Winter Warm-Up: Hot Topics in School Librarianship. Join us for: Virtual PD! Prize raffles! Fellowship! Fun! Registration: <bit.ly/NJASLVIRTUALCON>.
The Return of the NJASL Virtual Mini-Con! Mon, Feb 17, 2025. 9am-1pm ET. Winter Warm-Up: Hot Topics in School Librarianship. Join us for: Virtual PD! Prize raffles! Fellowship! Fun! Registration: <bit.ly/NJASLVIRTUALCON>.
The Return of the NJASL Virtual Mini-Con! Mon., Feb 17, 2025. 9am-1pm ET. Winter Warm-Up: Hot Topics in School Librarianship. Join us for: Virtual PD! Prize Raffles! Fellowship! Fun! Registration: <bit.ly/NJASLVIRTUALCON>.
NJASL PD Virtual Event: "Great Books to Order" Swap Meet Share a title others should J ow at NJASL's Swap Meet! People in attendance will have the chance to WIN a great book! Wed. JULY 10 7PM EST Register at: bit.ly/JUL2024GREATBOOKS
STEAM into Spring: STEAM Activities for ALL Students NJASL's Chrissy Holcombe, an elementary school librarian, will share books and hands-on activities focused on sensory input. While these activities can be particularly beneficial for special education students, the activities will interest all students. Participants will leave with a selection of titles and STEAM activities perfect for spring, along with tips and tricks for modifying activities for a variety of ages and abilities. March 25th @ 7 pm bit.ly/MAR2024SENSORY NJASL New Jersey Association of School Librarians
Screencap of X post: Martha Hickson @sassy_librarian. Library peeps: Help a girl out. By Jan. 23, please email my principal, superintendent & BOE prez to let them know it's their job to defend the right to read & protect staff from harassment. Addresses and details at tinyurl.com/supportNHVstaff BOOK BANNERS ARE BACK @ NORTH HUNTERDON-VOORHEES Extremists are targeting books and attacking the librarian ... again! Defend students' right to read, and tell the board to protect staff from harassment. Show up and speak up at the next BOE meeting. Wear red. NH-V BOE meeting Tuesday, Jan. 23, 7 p.m. NH-V Board Office 1445 Route 31, Annandale tinyurl.com/supportNHVstaff
Screen cap of the Sched app showing the "My Account" gear icon in the lower right corner, circled in red, with a red arrow pointing to the very last option in that menu, "Refresh All Data", also circled in red.
Author, educator, and now school librarian Vera Ahiyya begins her keynote. On the projection screen to her right, text that reads "Finding ourselves in the story"
A view of the Atlantic City Boardwalk, 12/5/23, 8am
Hillside Elementary School Principal Carlos Gramata
Amy expressing her appreciation with Martha nearby.
The Atlantic City Boardwalk by dawn's early light.
Incredible panel of authors sharing their thoughts & insights at the Authors Luncheon! From right to left: #NJASL23 Derrick Barnes, Ellen Oh, Daniel Nayeri, and Chaz Hayden, moderated by our own Amy G.!
NJLA's Executive Director Brett Bonfield addresses the NJASL general membership meeting.
Author & illustrator Rashad M. Davis and his family
Author Daniel Nayieri striking a regal profile pose and holding up a picture frame adorned with the words Celebration, Success, Hospitality, NJASL 2023
Author @ElloEllenOh and our @MackinLibrary Rep @GottliebJessica smiling and holding up a picture frame adorned with the words Celebration, Success, Hospitality, NJASL 2023 celebrating!
The NJASL PD Committee Table in the Authors and Vendors room - stop by for some free stuff & to let us know what NJASL PD can do for you!
Infographic showing the US, color codes to show states with no, pending, or passed anti-LGBT+ legislation. Only 13 states do not have current or pending legislation.
Ellen Oh speaking. To her right is a projected slide that reads, "Empathy is about finding echoes of another person in yourself." Quote attributed to Mohsin Hamid
Ellen Oh begins her opening keynote.
NJASL President-Elect Karen Grant during her welcome address, with the logo for the conference to her right. Logo is a globe rising from an open book. Around the globe are figures of various hues, each linked by a book. The title: A World of Stories: A Celebration of Diversity in School Libraries
Picture of Atlantic City, mostly obscured by fog.
Flyer: The World In Words: Creating Book Clubs in Your School Monday, November 20, 2023 at 7pm Let's get our students reading and discussing about their favorite genres of books! Click the link or scan the QR code to register: bit.ly/NOV2023BOOKCLUBS