From the President's Desk

September 2025
OASL President Amy Page

Dear OASL Members,

Welcome back to a new school year! We hope your fall is off to a strong and inspiring start as you reconnect with students, colleagues, and your library spaces.

We are excited to invite you to join us for OASL’s 2025 Fall Conference at North Eugene High School in Eugene on October 4th for an incredible day of learning and connecting.

This year’s conference will feature School Library Journal’s 2022 National Librarian of the Year, K.C. Boyd! Known for “Bringing the zeal back to librarianship,” Boyd is a teacher librarian in the District of Columbia Public Schools and is a highly sought-after keynote speaker and national presenter.

We’re also excited to welcome authors Makiia Lucier (Dragonfruit), Trudy Ludwig (Calling the Wind), and Will Ritter (The Jackaby Series) for our author breakfast panel and as session presenters.

The conference will offer a full schedule of sessions covering the breadth of our work in school libraries​, including library learning, innovative technology, staff development, advocacy, best practices, and more.

And great news​, our Legendary School Library Bus Tour is back as a pre-conference event! On October 3rd, we’ll visit a high school, two middle schools, and two elementary schools. Check out the registration page on the website for details. Space is limited, so register soon!

In addition, the OASL Board is looking for members who are ready to step into leadership roles and help shape the future of our organization. Serving on the board is a meaningful way to support school libraries statewide while building your professional network and growing your leadership skills. We currently have openings for:

• Region 5 Representative

• Publishing Chair

• Publishing Newsletter Representative

• Publishing Promotions Representative (Social Media)

If you are interested in learning more about these positions or would like to nominate yourself (or a colleague), please reach out (president@oasl.olaweb.org)—we’d love to connect with you!

Thank you for all you do to empower students and communities through your libraries. We look forward to seeing many of you at the fall conference and working alongside you to strengthen our library community.

On a positive note, I am in the home stretch of becoming Dr. McKenzie!  I am earning my EdD in Educational and Professional Practice and Social Justice Leadership from Antioch University.  My doctoral research has been devoted to Oregon school library advocacy, and you will see an invitation to participate in focus group research soon via the OASL listserv.  My dissertation topic is exploring “Status-Based Microaggressions Experienced by Teacher-Librarians and Possible Strategies to Address Them.”  My aim is to amplify the voices of Oregon school library workers, and I need your input - stay tuned!

You will find a plethora of valuable resources in this month’s newsletter, to include:  the OSLIS Anniversary, the standards website update, the State of School Libraries report, and information about Lincoln High’s Romance Book Club.

AASL E-Newsletters - Sign Up & Stay Informed:

It’s absolutely worth the investment to be a member of the American Association of School Librarians.  You can sign up for the following e-newsletters, even if you’re not a member:

• AASL Digest: AASL Digest is your one-stop shop for the latest news and events going on at AASL. The newsletter includes: the latest news, including updates on Knowledge Quest issues and School Library Research articles, governance information, and new resources.

• AASL Friday Forecast:  The AASL Friday Forecast is a quick and easy reference to view upcoming deadlines, events, and the work of the association.

• Knowledge Quest:  Sent on Wednesdays, this newsletter curates together the links and a snapshot of the last five blogs posted on Knowledge Quest.

• School Library SmartBrief:  this highlights school library and education news.

AASL School Library Promotional Events:

Check out this list of upcoming events with links to resources from AASL:

• March 16 - Freedom of Information Day

• April - School Library Month

• April - Neurodiversity Celebration Month

• April 6-12 - National Library Week

• April 7 - Right to Read Day

• April 8 - National Library Workers Day

• April 9 - National Library Outreach Day

• April 10 - Take Action for Libraries Day

• April 12 - D.E.A.R - Drop Everything and Read Day

December 2024
OASL President Jen McKenzie

Happy Holidays!

This issue is dedicated to school library advocacy strategies.  All Oregon school library folx are everyday heroes, and we have amazing OASL and OLA library leadership leading the charge!  Thank you all for your tireless efforts on behalf of our students. 

One success story to highlight from Siuslaw School District is that through continual advocacy efforts, we now have a district library budget that exceeds state recommended QEM spending. Our rural learning community serves 1,300 students and staff; we have 1.0 FTE District Teacher Librarian with a flexible point-of-need schedule and 3.0 FTE Library Assistants covering three buildings. Our district library budget, to include building library budgets, equals $55,300. To garner the support of our school board and community, my library team engaged in school board presentations, budget meeting attendance, collaboration with our PTA, community messaging through our local radio stations, weekly library highlight and curriculum slides sent to our learning community and families through Parentsquare, regular cross-curricular and K-12 collaborations, and so much more. We captured the hearts and minds of our community through weekly Makerspace kits, collabs with our Oregon Coast Humane Society and by introducing Scout, our new robot dog, to our schools.  Every (creative) advocacy effort counts!

AASL E-Newsletters - Sign Up & Stay Informed!

It’s absolutely worth the investment to be a member of the American Association of School Librarians.  You can sign up for the following e-newsletters, even if you’re not a member:

• AASL Digest:  AASL Digest is your one-stop shop for the latest news and events going on at AASL. The newsletter includes: the latest news, including updates on Knowledge Quest issues and School Library Research articles, governance information, and new resources.

• AASL Friday Forecast:  The AASL Friday Forecast is a quick and easy reference to view upcoming deadlines, events, and the work of the association.

• Knowledge Quest:  Sent on Wednesdays, this newsletter curates together the links and a snapshot of the last five blogs posted on Knowledge Quest.

• School Library SmartBrief:  this highlights school library and education news.

November 2024
OASL President Jen McKenzie

Happy November and End of Quarter 1

The first quarter of the school year is a sprint; I hope everyone has had a lovely start as well as a chance to catch your breath. We had an amazing conference in October. Thank you to everyone who helped plan and make the day a huge success. Conference Chair Paige Battle outdid herself! 

Thanks to some amazing grants from the Oregon Department of Education, some of our rural libraries updated their collections and got amazing facelifts this past year. Congratulations to all those libraries! We look forward to seeing your programs grow with this infusion of funds.

One of my favorite parts of OASL is knowledge sharing, and in that spirit, please enjoy these resources!

OASL Fall Conference Legendary School Library Bus Tour Insta Reel Round-Up!

We had an ABSOLUTE BLAST on our first annual school library bus tour.  I love creating Instagram reels to catch the magic of every library I visit.  Check them out:

Buckman Elementary with Darcy Rudnick

Sellwood Middle School with Tini Maier

Bridger Creative Science School with Laura Axon

McDaniel High School with Nancy Sullivan

Indigenous Peoples Heritage Month

November is Indigenous Peoples Heritage Month; check out these fabulous resources, and scroll below for info on Senate Bill 13: Tribal History / Shared History information. I’d specifically like to draw your attention to the Abundance Map created by the Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw people; it’s absolutely gorgeous!  Another curricular resource that has been extremely useful for my learning community are the aligned K12 Tribal History / Shared History curricular lessons below.

• Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw People: Abundance Storymap

• K12 Cross-curricular Tribal History Lesson Spreadsheet

• Library of Congress Native American Heritage Month Resources

• Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian

• Native Knowledge 360 Project

Senate Bill 13: Tribal History / Shared History (ODE)

In 2017, the Oregon Legislature enacted Senate Bill (SB) 13, now known as Tribal History/Shared History. This law directs the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) to create K-12 Native American Curriculum for inclusion in Oregon public schools and provide professional development to educators. The law also directs the ODE to provide funds to each of the nine federally recognized tribes in Oregon to create individual place-based curriculum.

• The OASL Board of Directors & Committee Members 2024-25:  It takes a village, friends!  Check out our current roster of ROCKSTAR volunteers and really take a look at how we make OASL happen via shared leadership positions. THANK YOU to friends who just cycled out of or into positions this year.  

• We're in dire need of a Region 1 (Clatsop, Columbia, Tillamook, Washington counties) and Region 5 Representative (Curry, Jackson, Josephine, Klamath, Lake counties). Shake the bushes! No rep means we could have a strategic information sharing gap! Our OASL board meeting calendar for 2024-25 is set; board members attend, and committee members / others are welcome. Reach out to me if needed! 

• Intellectual Freedom Week (Banned Books) Sept 22-24, 2024: You can find more information about this annual event here. As a reminder, if you EVER need to report incidents of censorship from your school district or need guidance or assistance from our Intellectual Freedom team, visit this reporting site https://libguides.osl.state.or.us/oifc/report, this toolkit https://libguides.osl.state.or.us/iftoolkit/home or reach out to our new chair, Marie Felgentrager: intellectualfreedom@oasl.olaweb.org.

• Social Media - Follow and Repost!: Some of us avoid it, some of us embrace it! My professional opinion = we NEED to MODEL digital citizenship for our learning communities. Running a library is like running a business; if it's not on social media, it didn't happen! Ayn Frazee (our NEW OLA President 🎉🎉🎉) is mapping out a strategic communication plan for us this next year. We need your help; please follow these accounts and repost content as FREQUENTLY as you can! SEND US YOUR LIBRARY HIGHLIGHTS to post as well!

• Instagram:  @oasloregon (https://www.instagram.com/oasloregon/)
  Facebook:  @oaslibs (https://www.facebook.com/OASLibs/)

OASL President’s Virtual Book Club Invitation September 2024

All are invited to join Jen McKenzie & Siuslaw School District’s virtual PD Book Club, Braiding Sweetgrass For Young Adults: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teaching of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer! I'm super excited to engage in this text with y'all!  

• The virtual book club will run 8 weeks: 9/15-11/8.

• You'll read an assigned section each week (see Padlet below).

• You'll respond on this Padlet to the prompt each week (or feel free to share any thoughts, passages that resonated with you, images that connect, etc).

• As I'm working towards an EdD in Education and Social Justice Leadership, I wanted to share this article written by Four Arrows (Dr. Donald Jacobs), a research expert in the field of Indigenous Studies and Ecological Social Justice. It speaks to the need for us all to expand our understanding of social justice to include (or center) ecological and environmental considerations.  

• Reach out to jmckenzie@siuslaw.k12.or.us for more information.

OASL President’s Virtual Book Club Invitation January 2025

Stay tuned for our next virtual book club title, The 21st Century School Library: A Model For Innovative Teaching and Learning by Ryan Bani Tahmaseb.

OASL Fall 2024 Conference, October 5th, Grant High School, Portland, OR

OASL 2024 Fall Conference Website (you can find everything you need here!)

Join us - keep those registrations coming! We are thrilled to welcome a fantastic panel of talent to this year’s conference. Author Phil Bildner will be our keynote speaker and join author Dashka Slater and cartoonist Breena Bard for a breakfast panel and session presentations. Additionally, we have a full schedule of sessions that address the breadth of our work in school libraries and focus on best practice, program implementation, innovation in technology, and staff development.    

Pre-Conference

The Legendary Library Bus Tour Pre-Conference Registration Link is Live!

Pre-conference Description

Join your fellow school library staffers on a tour of 4 diverse school libraries in the Portland Public Schools District:

• Buckman Elementary

• Sellwood Middle

• Bridger Creative Science School K-8

• McDaniel High School

Tour begins at the conference hotel: Hyatt Place Portland Airport, 9750 NE Cascades Pkwy, Portland, OR 97220
Tour starts PROMPTLY at 9:00 AM, so plan to arrive before then.
It ends at the same spot around 4:00 PM. 

 We'll stop for lunch along the way, but it's not included in the price, so bring some lunch money.

Registration costs:  $25.00

Join the fun! 

Can't wait to see you there! #BetterTogether!

November 2023
OASL President Ayn Reyes Frazee

Our community of dedicated school library professionals continues to inspire and innovate, and I continue to feel honored to be in leadership for such a powerful organization. Thank you for all you do! 

Grants can have a transformative impact on our libraries. Several years ago, I was fortunate to receive the Connie Hull mini-grant, which played a pivotal role in initiating the Milk and Bookies tradition in my elementary school library. This heartwarming evening event brought students together in their pajamas, immersed in a captivating storytime with a local storyteller. The joy of receiving milk, cookies, and a free book to keep added a special touch, fostering a love for reading in our young learners.

I also owe my initial involvement with OASL to the First Timers Scholarship, which allowed me to attend my first ever OASL Conference in Seaside, OR. This experience not only enriched my professional growth but ignited a lasting commitment to our association. It is a testament to the powerful ripple effect that grants and scholarships can have on the trajectory of our careers.

I encourage each of you to explore the various grant opportunities available through OASL and other dynamic organizations. These grants are designed to empower you to bring innovative projects to life, enhance your library programs, and contribute to the flourishing of our vibrant school library community. Whether you have a vision for a new literacy initiative, technology enhancement, or community engagement project, grants are out there to support your endeavors.

The newest grant added to the OASL repertoire is the Gregory Lum AASL National Conference Grant. This generous grant supports the attendance of one OASL member to the national AASL conference biannually. Truly, and enriching professional development experience.  Each of the OASL grant and scholarship opportunities aims to recognize and support the ingenuity and dedication of our Oregon school library staff.

I want to extend my heartfelt appreciation to all our members who contribute to the success of our association. Your passion for education, commitment to literacy, and innovative spirit make our school libraries vibrant hubs of learning.

As we approach the end of the calendar year, let us celebrate the achievements of our school libraries and look forward to the possibilities that the coming year holds. I encourage you to explore the grant opportunities, share your ideas, and continue to make a lasting impact on the lives of the students we serve.

September 2023
OASL President Ayn Frazee

Mark your calendars and get ready for an incredible learning experience at the Oregon Association of School Libraries Fall 2023 Conference, taking place on October 13-14 in beautiful Lincoln City, Oregon! We're thrilled to announce that our conference website and registration links are live, and you can secure your spot today. Breakfast and lunch on Saturday are included. 

Our conference theme, "Literacy's Liferaft" reflects the dynamic role we play in fostering creativity and lifelong learning within our schools. Whether you're a veteran librarian or new to the field, this event offers valuable insights, networking opportunities, and inspiration. We can't wait to come together as a community of passionate librarians, educators, and learners. Let's make the Oregon Association of School Libraries Fall 2023 Conference a memorable event filled with inspiration, knowledge sharing, professional growth, and some fantastic opportunities to connect.

Event Details

Dates: October 13-14th, 2023

Location: Taft High School in Lincoln City, Oregon

What to Expect

Exciting Friday Evening: Join us on Friday evening from 3-7 p.m. for an array of festivities, including a book repair workshop, book talks, and author dessert. It's the perfect way to kick off a weekend of inspiration!

Saturday Sessions: On Saturday, our conference runs from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. These sessions, led by professionals from across the state, cater to all library staff and supporters. Topics range from book repair and teaching about dyslexia to addressing book challenges and bans, harnessing the power of AI tools like Chat GPT, teaching databases and research skills, and crafting engaging lesson designs that captivate your students' imaginations.

Be inspired by keynote speakers who are making waves in education and literature. Their stories and insights will energize your passion for your work. We're thrilled to welcome a dynamic lineup of authors and illustrators, including Aidan Thomas, Aida Salazar, Breena Bard, and illustrator Molly Mendoza. 

We've also planned networking and social opportunities to help you connect with colleagues, share ideas, and build lasting relationships within our community.

Visit our vendor area, where you'll have the chance to win exciting giveaways and explore the latest resources and technologies that can enhance your library services.

Awards and Recognition: Celebrate the outstanding contributions of our colleagues at the Oregon School Librarian Awards ceremony.

Discounts: We have special discount codes available for retired OASL members, presenters, scholarship winners, and group discounts for districts registering more than 5 attendees. Act fast to enjoy early bird prices until October 1st!

Graduate Credit Opportunity: Stay tuned for more details on how you can earn a graduate credit for salary advancement through our conference.

To get registered and access all the conference details, including the evolving schedule of sessions, please visit our https://sites.google.com/oasl.olaweb.org/oasl2023/home and secure your spot by registering https://ola.memberclicks.net/oasl-fall-conference-registration-2023#!/

We can't wait to come together as a community of passionate librarians, educators, and learners. Let's make the Oregon Association of School Libraries Fall 2023 Conference a memorable event filled with inspiration, knowledge sharing, professional growth, and some fantastic opportunities to connect.

See you in Lincoln City!

May/June 2023
OASL President Jessica Lorentz Smith

Happy Almost Summer!

I don't know about you, but this school year seems to be the longest on record for me. I think it has a lot to do with the unknown. Our union is currently negotiating our next biannual contract so there is stress around that. In my building we are saying goodbye to 18 staff members and only four are to retirement. We are also waiting to see what happens with the advocacy of hiring a school librarian representative at ODE. 

However, there are many things to celebrate as well. I finished my year as OASL President, and I would strongly encourage all members to get involved with the Board. This experience provided me with a lot of gratification and kept me in the know about statewide issues and was a positive networking opportunity. We have lots of opportunities to get involved and that can start with volunteering to help with our annual conference in October. Please reach out to our conference chair, Sarah Reams, ​​sarah.reames@msd549c.org  or current president Ayn Frazee, president@oasl.olaweb.org. 

For the end of the year we are spending our time checking out seniors who have to return their iPads/bricks/cords and all textbooks. It is a time to celebrate, but also can be challenging as many are mentally already checked out. Senioritis is real!

In addition to preparing the library for the summer I would suggest conducting an inventory of items so that you can create a list of lost books for replacements in the fall. Inventory also provides a perfect opportunity to do some weeding while you scan each book. Don’t be afraid to dispose of books that are damaged and well-loved. I know we all have numerous copies of books from past OBOB lists. Consider removing copies from the catalog and putting those into a giveaway for a reading contest next year.

If you haven’t already, connect with your local public library about their summer reading programs and be sure to endorse those to your students during their last school library visits.  You can also create a summer reading Bingo card like the one below. I modified one from Canva. I print off a few of these and leave them on my desk for students to grab as they are returning items. I make sure to request purchasing a gift card right when I get back in the fall to give away for a prize. I also will collect things when I go to ALA in Chicago in June to give away for prizes. This is where I collect ARCs (advanced reading copies) of books to use throughout the year for prizes.

If you haven’t ever been to a conference you should consider applying for the Gregory Lum AASL National Conference grant where you can pick up some book swag and get some great ideas to apply to your own libraries.

Have you ever wanted to move to Bend? Well our district just posted a district librarian position. Our job postings page is a nightmare to navigate, but if you search categories by media, the posting shows up. We have 32 schools in our district with five certified teacher librarians to help support the district librarian.

My final message to you all is to take some time for yourselves this summer. Read for fun! Take naps and have adult beverages in the middle of the day. You have earned a respite. My oldest daughter will be joining me at BSHS in the fall so I will be returning here. Please feel free to reach out to me at any time. jessica.lorentzsmith@bend.k12.or.us

March/April 2023
OASL President Jessica Lorentz Smith

Hello Library Friends, 

Somehow March has come and gone, but what hasn’t slipped by unnoticed is our need for library advocacy. What even is that? How do I get started? Who do I need to talk to? What is my strategy? The good thing is, most of us who work in libraries are already advocating. Sometimes it is passive and other times we are face-to-face with stakeholders. Either way, both are important.  ALA refers to it as Frontline Advocacy and offers plenty of tools including a Ten Step Guide. These are all planned advocacy tools that help define what advocacy looks like in a school setting.

Locally in Oregon, hopefully you have been following our OASL Advocacy team and the progress that they have made with SB 1075 led by Kate Weber and Jean Gritter. They have worked tirelessly to make this a reality and put it on ODE’s radar. Thank you Kate and Jean!

There are many things that you can do within your own schools and you are probably doing them every day, but just don’t recognize them as advocacy. Do you talk with teachers about upcoming curricular units and gather library books related to that topic? Advocacy! Do you invite the PTO and other community groups to have their meetings in your space so they can see all of your book displays and current themes? Advocacy! Do you talk to other parents about how many classes come into the library and the fun new books that you are reading aloud to them while waiting to pick up your own kids from soccer? Advocacy! Do you organize a book fair or read-a-thon? Advocacy! Did you organize and schedule battles for our recent Battle of Books before regionals and state? Advocacy!

Promoting your library and sharing the love of books is its own form of advocacy. It is not limited to writing letters to politicians, completing surveys sent out from the district, and attending school board meetings.  When you come to school and value your students and space, you are the best advocate. So in case I haven’t made it clear, we have tools available nationally, a team of dedicated professionals at the state level, and you, people who love books and libraries to help us in our advocacy journey.  Keep up the good work!

February 2023
OASL President Jessica Lorentz Smith

Phew, we made it through January! I don’t know about you, but my district pays us on the last working day of the month so we were paid on December 16, 2022, and had to budget through Christmas and the longest month of the year (January) until we were finally paid on January 31! It was a very long six and a half weeks.  

As a librarian, keeping up with displays is one of the best ways to engage readers - both regulars and newcomers. Just like displays catch our eye in stores, our students easily spot changes and new additions as we swap out themes. 

I am excited that February has arrived when we can honor African American authors and illustrators in our libraries. It's also the perfect month to justify all our hearts, not because of Valentine’s Day, but because it is also American Heart Association month. Here is an example of my table displays that show this. On each table, I have a heart table runner (purchased at 40% from Hobby Lobby so they came in at under $3.00 each) and a tray that I filled with felt letters, little Valentine-themed wooden cutout pieces (same 40% off sale) and these cute pairs that are holding hands from the seasonal bins at Target. I have eggs and bacon, avocado with and without a pit, peanut butter and jelly, and cheese and crackers.

I also brought back a duology bulletin board that I first created in 2018 where we made a paper chain and hung hearts from it with the titles of popular duologies. We hung that over a bulletin board with photos of famous duos like hammer and nails, Scooby and Shaggy, and R2-D2 and C3PO. I placed examples of dualogies in front of the board so that my patrons have easy access to checking out a pair.

I also have to give a shout again to The Book Wrangler who shared this item that I printed on cardstock and laminated to also insert into duologies placed on my bistro tables throughout the library.

We also can’t overlook another huge February event; the Superbowl. This is another way to celebrate more books in February. You could feature books with football, or any major competition or challenge where you could hype the stakes being just as high as the Superbowl. Maybe even have a giveaway for game-watching snacks like microwave popcorn, Milkduds, Raisinettes, or mixed nuts. You could even try and get your football coach to donate some school football swag to help your reading engagement.

I would also recommend utilizing all of these free posters from Alexandria Library. I discovered them while at an ALA conference a few years ago and think they are so cute for each season. I currently have the Valentine’s ones, from all years, on display in my windows, but have used most of them throughout the year.

Staying motivated to change displays and decorations can be a lot of work. I think the best thing we can do is keep digital or physical files of ideas to shuffle through so that each time feels new for your students even if you repeat every three or four years. I suggest keeping a Destiny Collection of titles for each month or covering each of these topics. That way as you get new books and weed out old ones you can add to those hearts, African American History, or Superbowl books as soon as you get them in your collection.

I love reading and hope my students do too. It doesn’t take much and students always notice the changes. What will you do this February to encourage reading? Please share your ideas over the OASL list serve at oasl-all@ola.memberclicks.net. 

January 2023
OASL President Jessica Lorentz Smith

Happy New Year, School Library Staff!

January is traditionally the month for renewal and rejuvenation in whatever form that takes for each of us. Are you setting a new reading goal for the year? Making a commitment to volunteer for the OASL fall conference planning committee (hint, hint, wink, wink)? For OASL, that can look like the restart of our monthly newsletter spearheaded by Kate Dutro! Thank you, Kate, for taking this on. Each month will have a different theme and for January that theme is advocacy.

For some of us advocacy can seem like a sensitive topic as employees in school libraries on the forefront of book challenges, or potential book challenges. However, advocacy can also mean advocating for fully-staffed school libraries, opportunities for professional development and conference attendance, starting a new book group or afterschool program, and maybe even a public library partnership.  Did you know that OASL has an active, informed and motivated advocacy team? This group is chaired by our own Jean Gritter with help from Kate Weber, Tricia Snyder, Andee Zomeran and Mark Hardin. Thank you all for your time and commitment to this cause. In case you missed the update sent by Jean to the list serve on December 21, 2022, this team is working with OLA (Oregon Library Association) to put forward three bills and one is school library specific to fund a full-time school library specialist position at ODE. How can you help? First, put Library Legislative Day on your calendar, February 15, 2023. There will be opportunities to participate both in person and online. Please pay attention to upcoming list serve information and invitations to participate.

In addition, there are many resources available from professionals who have either experienced book challenges, or are helping to prepare library staff against them. One that I recently read is and article by Jayne Walters published in the winter edition of the ALSC journal that clearly describes some simple things that library staff can do to prepare for any kind of pushback on books. The certified staff in my district (team of five) were able to get together to watch School Library Journal’s webinar on Resisting Book Bans. Key takeaways from this were that each district needs to have a board-adopted selection policy specific to library materials, not just instructional materials, and a reconsideration of materials policy that is reviewed every few years, along with instructions on what to do after the challenge has taken place. Do you write a written response, make a phone call, what kind of follow-up happens? Some other valuable questions to consider in your reconsideration policy and form is who is on the reconsideration team? We decided that a full team for our district should include a certified school library staff member, the library staff from the school where the challenge is coming, an administrator from that building, another teacher, a parent, a district representative, and a student. We also agreed that the following questions would be integral in our policy,

• Have you read this book in its entirety?

• Can you tell me what your concern is?

• How did this impact your child?

• What specific things do you not want your child to access?

• Is this something that no child should be able to read as opposed to your own child?

Book challenges are difficult to discuss, but thankfully we have many people continuing to advocate for keeping books in students’ hands. Thank you for working in libraries and continuing to share the love of literature and books with students.

Jessica Lorentz Smith
Teacher Librarian
Bend Senior High School
jessica.lorentzsmith@bend.k12.or.us