Border Regional Library Association | Reforma El Pa so Chapter | TLA District 6
Annual Conference 2023
Saturday, December 2nd
El Paso Community College - Northwest Campus
6701 Desert Blvd. | El Paso, Texas 79932
CELEBRATING UNITY,
CHAMPIONING FREEDOM:
Librarians as Agents
of Community Change
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 1st
6:00-8:00pm An Evening with Author Phillip Cortez
Join us at Mama's Mexican Restaurant for some delicious tacos and wonderful conversation with Author Phillip Cortez! www.phillipcortez.com. Mama's Mexican Restaurant is located at 1461 Lee Trevino Dr. , El Paso, TX 79936
@ Registration select the Social Night Option - only $5.00 per person
Phillip Dominic Cortez was born in El Paso, Texas where he became fascinated with books and stories at a very early age. It wasn’t long before he wanted to write his own stories. Cortez began his career as a freelance sports writer, writing stories for his local paper and later moving onto writing editorials and feature stories for different publications. His children’s book, Night Rhythms, was published in 2011 followed by When I Close My Eyes in 2013. Cortez turned his attention to Social Emotional Learning and the well-being of the children reading his books in the 2018 book, #TheHappyManifesto - Three Rules For Happier Students. As a result, The Better Than Good Blog was launched in 2019. Cortez still loves to read and, with his wife, Patty, is now fascinated by the many stories told by their four children: Ivan, Cameron, Ava and Zoe.
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 2nd
8:00-8:30am REGISTRATION and BREAKFAST
8:30-9:00am WELCOME and BREAKFAST
9:00-9:50am SESSIONS
DECONSTRUCTING THE PROPOSED TSLAC COLLECTION POLICY - Rebecca Calderon, Ysleta ISD; Armando Loera, El Paso ISD and Marcy Sparks, Socorro ISD
Understanding the proposed TSLAC Collection Development Policy. How does this impact your library and leveraging it to have a positive impact.
WRITING WORKSHOPS FOR YOUNG READERS: BUILDING A COMMUNITY OF READERS AND THINKERS - Leslie Lutz
Do you want more opportunities for engaging programming that brings young readers into your library? Join young adult author Leslie Lutz to learn about how you can collaborate with young adult and middle grade authors and produce active learning opportunities for preteens and teens--on a budget. We'll also learn about trends in YA and how you can help your patrons find these new, exciting voices.
BEYOND THE BOOKS: BUILDING A COMMUNITY OF READERS THROUGH SPECIAL PROGRAMMING; THE LOW COST, LOW PREP EVENTS TO ENCOURAGE READING YEAR ROUND - Olga Elbancol, Chester Jordan Elementary-Socorro ISD and Cristina Bustillos, Librarian-STEAM Academy Socorro ISD
Get tips for planning and hosting fun and engaging events including a fall and Valentine's lock in. Engage teachers, students and staff to promote the library program and literacy.
**Door prizes for session participants, bookish handmade items courtesy of Mrs. Elbancol!**
MENTAL HEALTH, A LIBRARY, LAB, AND OFFICE APPROACH | PART ONE - Sonia Santana, LPC, EPCC NW Counselor and Oscar R. Velasquez, EPCC District-Wide Counseling Coordinator/EPCC NW Counseling Coordinator
Mental illnesses are health problems that affect the way we think about ourselves, relate to others, and interact with the world around us. Come and learn some techniques on how to identify the warning signs of mental illnesses in the work environment.
GENERATIVE AI BEYOND COPY-PASTE: STRATEGIES FOR PROMOTING ACADEMIC INTEGRITY AND AUTHENTIC SCHOLARSHIP - Lorely Ambriz, Head Librarian/Associate Professor-EPCC Northwest Campus, Dr. Melissa Esmacher, History Faculty/Associate Professor-EPCC Northwest Campus and Jorge Gomez, English Faculty/Associate Professor-EPCC Rio Grande Campus
For all instruction librarians that want to earn how to use Generative AI, including ChatGPT, responsibly and avoid plagiarism in the context of education. We will discuss how to create a culture of academic integrity in library instruction and establish clear expectations and guidelines for your students when citing sources and using outside materials, more specifically how to use Artificial Intelligence (AI) models including ChatGPT and an image generatos among others, that can now be accessed online for free. Participants will be better equipped to help students avoid plagiarism and promote academic integrity in their courses; learn about practical tools and strategies to create a positive learning environment that supports ethical and effective research and writing practices, how to choose relevant and appropriate prompts to ensure high-quality responses and strategies for evaluating the accuracy and reliability of Generative AI responses.
10:00-10:50am SESSIONS
TEACHING WITH PRIMARY SOURCES USING LIBRARY OF CONGRESS RESOURCES - Neysa Hardin, Librarian, Americas High School-Socorro ISD
During Summer 2023, Neysa Hardin participated in a primary source workshop at the Library of Congress. She will share a variety of hands-on, inquiry-based teaching strategies for using primary sources to engage students, build critical thinking skills, construct knowledge, and launch original research. Activities will feature some of the millions of historical artifacts from the Library of Congress collections – photographs, prints, manuscripts, maps, multimedia, and more – which are digitized and freely available online.
TOOLS TO MAKE LIBRARY WEBSITES MORE ACCESSIBLE - Priscilla Moreno, Digital Services Librarian and Erly Moya Machuca, Digital Library Services Specialist-Ilumina Public Library, El Paso County's All-Digital Library
Participants will be equipped with the knowledge and skills to successfully implement AI chatbots using Tawk.to and integrate accessibility widgets from UserWay into their library websites, fostering enhanced user experiences and inclusivity.
USE YOUR HIGH SCHOOL LMS TO SUPPORT YOUR SOCIAL STUDIES TEACHERS WRITING INITIATIVE - Nancy Rodriguez, Librarian, Socorro ISD
All across our state, reading and writing, skills are not where the Texas standards indicate they should be. At our campus we have combined efforts to support writing practices with merging best practices for reading and writing. The goal is that the English and Social Studies departments will support each other to encourage students to write well by using vetted resources. We can curate those resources in a school LMS, such as Schoology. Other districts might use Blackboard or Canva, for example. My presentation focuses on how I use my background in teaching AP History courses (20 years) to support our SS teachers with best practices. Our LMS is Schoology. I will show you how to get into your databases from the LMS with only a few clicks. We also have use of Writable and MackinVia.
MENTAL HEALTH, A LIBRARY, LAB, AND OFFICE APPROACH | PART ONE - Sonia Santana, LPC, EPCC NW Counselor and Oscar R. Velasquez, EPCC District-Wide Counseling Coordinator/EPCC NW Counseling Coordinator
Mental illnesses are health problems that affect the way we think about ourselves, relate to others, and interact with the world around us. Come and learn some techniques on how to identify the warning signs of mental illnesses in the work environment.
IMMIGRATION AND MIGRATION: BRAVE JOURNEYS - Border Regional Library Association's Children's and Young Adult Literature SIG
Learn about recent fiction and nonfiction that focus on this compelling topic for ages Kinder-YA. Presented by the BRLA Children’s and Young Adult Literature SIG, a group that has been a resource for local librarians for 50+ years.
COPYRIGHT-OPARDY - Les Arms, University of Texas at El Paso Library
Jeopardy, but for Copyright! Join me for a team-based flipped classroom quiz. Readings are provided at https://libguides.utep.edu/CopyrightHomework.
11:00-11:30am SESSIONS
COLLABORATIVE CONNECTIONS: BUILDING LITERACY THROUGH SCHOOL AND PUBLIC LIBRARY PARTNERSHIPS - Dorita Resendez, School Librarian, SGT Jose F. Carrasco Elementary School, Socorro ISD and Molly Walter, Regional Branch Manager, Esperanza Acosta Moreno Library, El Paso Public Library
Unlock the power of collaboration! Join our workshop led by an experienced school and public librarian to see how we are building a relationship to increase literacy in our community and expand access to information and resources.
HOW TO SELF PUBLISH YOUR BOOK - Yamel Ibarguen, Dual Language Teacher, Ysleta ISD
After many years of dreaming about publishing a book, I self published my first book in Spanish. Let me tell you how I did it.
GAMIFYING THE LIBRARY WITH GENIALLY - Maria Nunez, Eastlake Middle School, Socorro ISD
Genial.ly is a great tool for making interactive elements to promote the library. Interactive bookshelves and gamification of the classroom are the main tools to learn.
PEDAGOGY AND PRAXIS: CREATING TEACHING PHILOSOPHIES FOR LIBRARY INSTRUCTION - Jennifer Urban-Flores, Librarian, University of Texas at El Paso
During the summer of 2023, Librarians at the University of Texas at El Paso met to discuss and establish individualized teaching philosophies. Over the course of eight weeks, librarians crafted their teaching philosophies and considered how they could be applied in their work.
11:30-12:00pm SESSIONS
DON'T BE YELLOW-BELLIED, APPLY FOR TALL TEXANS - Marcy Sparks, Socorro ISD and Rebecca Calderon, Ysleta ISD
During the summer of 2023, Librarians at the University of Texas at El Paso met to discuss and establish individualized teaching philosophies. Over the course of eight weeks, librarians crafted their teaching philosophies and considered how they could be applied in their work.
OER AND INCLUSIVE ACCESS - Diana Olivares, El Paso Community College
The Texas Higher Education College Board launched a repository and awarded grants for content creation in an effort to combat ever rising textbook costs. Come learn more about open access textbooks and other resources, what they are and where to find them. The Inclusive Access model offers a lower cost option of major publisher e-textbooks and ancillary instructional tools.
USING WAKELET IN THE LIBRARY - Norma Medina, Librarian, Putnam Elementary, Bernadette Valenzuela, Librarian, Western Hills Elementary, and Cynthia Silva, Zavala Elementary, El Paso ISD
Wakelet is a free resource that can create beautiful newsletters, presentations, and organize your library lessons. It allows you to easily create and share QR codes to make sure parents and teachers have access to the information you are trying to promote.
HYBRID LIBRARY MODEL: ACADEMIC AND PUBLIC IN ONE PLACE - Lorely Ambriz, Leonardo Alferez-Carrasco and John Salas, El Paso Community College NW
The Jenna Welch and Laura Bush Community Library has a dual mission it serves the college students at El Paso Community College Northwest Campus, the dual credit students at four surrounding high schools, and the students of the Northwest Early College High School. It also serves as a branch of the El Paso Public Library serving an underserved community of a 15-20 miles radius where there is no other county library.
12:00-12:30pm TLA DISTRICT 6 MEETING & LUNCH
District 6 Chair, Becky Calderon, welcomes everyone to the TLA District 6 Meeting.
12:30-1:30pm KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Leslie Karen Lutz is a devoted fan of scuba diving and creature horror. Her writing has appeared in Kaaterskill Basin Literary Journal, Typishly, Alluvian, The Lyric, Orca Literary Journal, and Raintown Review. Her YA thriller Fractured TIde was a 2020 Junior Library Guild pick and was voted "Best of 2020" by Suspense Magazine in the YA category. She has been a speaker at writing and fan conventions, including DFWCon and TomeCon in Atlanta, and she's excited to be a featured speaker in 2023 at Thrillerfest in New York. Her next book, Sweetest Darkness, published by Holiday House, will launch in the fall of 2024.
REGISTRATION - Deadline is Friday, November 17th
To register for the Saturday event; select "District 6 Meeting" at the following:
https://txla.org/tla-groups/tla-districts/district-meetings/upcoming-district-meetings/