School librarians across the region came together on Thursday, April 10th to attend the second annual Regional Library Symposium.
This gathering offers school library staff the opportunity to connect with one another, learn from each other, and take home new skills or ideas to use in their own libraries.
Christie Boen, Library Media Specialist, opened the day with a read-aloud of the book So Tortoise Dug, encouraging the attendees to follow along with her.
During the first session, school library personnel were joined by School Library Consultant Jane Maurer, who focused her presentation on OSLIS, the Oregon School Library Information System database.
While the OSLIS database is extensive, navigating it can be overwhelming for first-time users. Maurer guided the group through various sections of the website and explained its features, including Citation Maker, resources for teaching the research process, and more.
Throughout the day, additional sessions were held. Canva workshops were offered at two levels: one for beginners and another for more advanced users. Canva is an online graphic design platform popular among educators for its user-friendly templates and graphics.
After lunch, librarians had the option to attend a panel discussion on classroom management or receive training on the library management program, Destiny.
The final session of the day focused on student engagement, offering tools and strategies to improve it across grade levels.
By the end of the symposium, attendees left with several new resources and strategies to help enhance their school libraries.