Suzanne Larsen (Seekonk High School Library Media Specialist) and Barb Fecteau (Barb) lay out the stakes of the newest game in town: the MA Teen Choice Book Award. Listen up for how to get involved and get excited about this new statewide program. The MTCBA book list will be unveiled at the conference at the end of this month! We have a great discussion about the ins and outs, what to expect as we roll into April with this program, and what perspectives the work on this committee have given them.

We talk to Alix Woznick, school librarian at Beverly Middle School, about her role as the chair of the conference committee. If you still haven't regiestered, here's the link:

https://whova.com/portal/registration/msla_202203/

We mentioned a bunch of different previews for conference events to get hyped. Here are a few:

Pablo Cartaya: https://www.pablocartaya.com/

KC Boyd: http://www.kcboyd.com/about-kc.html

Disabled Activists and online meetings: https://prismreports.org/2021/12/28/a-return-to-normal-threatens-gains-disabled-activists-made-in-expanding-accessibility-through-virtual-and-hybrid-events/

L’anomalie by Hervé Le Tellier (The Anomaly)

While I Was Away by Waka T. Brown

MSLA's Jennifer Mason Stott, librarian at Graham & Parks School in Cambridge; Gillian Bartoo, a cataloger from CPS, and Maya Bery, librarian from Carlisle Public Schools join a conversation about the Dewey Decimal System.

Relevant links:

Maya's post on hacking: https://msberyslibrarysite.squarespace.com/writings/why-i-hacked-dewey-and-what-i-learned

METIS: https://schoollibrarycatologing.weebly.com/metis.html

Sex Education on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/title/80197526

Dress Codes: How the Laws of Fashion Made History, by Richard Thompson Ford: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54303114-dress-codes?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=CQkZeLWwJ8&rank=5

Finding Junie Kim, Ellen Oh:  https://www.netflix.com/title/80197526

In sharing our conversation with Gardner, Ella and I hope to dispel some of the anxiety you might be feeling about... well... climate anxiety. But also, anxiety about scheduling something around Climate Preparedness Week, which runs annually from Sept. 24th to 30th. Gardner is a tireless advocate for this issue, and she discusses resources, programming ideas, and how climate change is, for some, still discussed as an abstract concept. With her students at Dartmouth Middle School, Gardner uses the curriculum to move past concepts into action and service.

Initiatives discussed:

Books discussed:

Liza Halley is Library Teacher at Plympton Elementary School in Waltham, MA, who not only believes graphic novels are great-- but essential. In collaboration with Plympton Elementary’s visual art teachers, Liza is developing an “Art of the Comic'' class. Join us for a conversation about how literacy is-- crucially-- more than just about words on the page.

Liza on Twitter: @LizaLitDiva

Liza on Insta: lizahalley08

Media discussed:

In this episode, we talk to Barb Fecteau, librarian at Beverly High School. Barb is Barb. She wrote a great column in the last forum issue about one of her favorite subjects, Fun (https://www.maschoolibraries.org/newsletter/conference-fun-committee). Ella and I had fun talking to her, too.

Mentioned texts and hubub:

Renee Hobbs, Virtually Viral

Chernowitz! by Fran Arrick

My Antonia, by Willa Cather

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, by Betty Smith

Homegoing, by Yaa Gyasi

Are You My Mother? by PD Eastman

Readicide, by Kelly Gallagher

Beauty, by Robin McKinley

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Almost American Girl, Robin Ha

Dragon Hoops, Gene Luen Yang

All-of-a-Kind Family Uptown, Sidney Taylor

Maud Hart Lovelace

For our debut episode, we invite MSLA President Elect Jen Varney for a conversation about her start in cataloging and academic librarianship and her move to schools in and around Boston. Jen's term begins in July. She charts her involvement in MSLA and plans for the future of the organization.

Episode resources:

MLSA Website 

Massachusetts School Library Study: Equity and Access for Students in the Commonwealth

School Libraries Are the Bedrock of Freedom from Publisher's Weekly,  May 07, 2021

Jen's email: [email protected]

Cambridge PS Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cps.schools

Podcast email: [email protected]