Wakemedia Monthly

October/November 2023

October/November checklist


Information overload? These are the most important DLL things to know to stay on track: 

Convergence 2023


Have you registered for Convergence? Mark your calendars for November 28, 2023, at the McKimmon Center. As we have done in recent years, we are inviting all school library media coordinators, tech contacts, elementary tech teachers, and one additional MTAC member from each school to attend this one-day professional learning conference presented by Digital Learning and Libraries (DLL). 


If you will need a substitute, DLL will pay for the cost of the sub. To do so, you need to request a sub form (see link below). You’re responsible for securing the individual who will cover for you, and you may want to take care of that earlier than later.


Important Links:


Please complete registration and request  a sub form by November 10.

Convergence Schedule

You can begin planning which sessions you’ll attend  by viewing the Convergence schedule in Sched. 


We recommend using Sched on the day of the event, rather than printing your schedule. You can view the Sched site in any mobile browser on your phone, and can save a shortcut on your homescreen for easy access. This will allow you to access presenter slides and collaborative notes, as well as make sure you don’t miss any last-minute changes in room assignment. 

Revision to Board Policy 3210


At the November 7th board meeting, the board approved a revision to Policy 3210. It was a minor change in wording in the section about the inspection of materials and in the legal references at the end of the policy. The change was made in order to align with recommendations by the North Carolina School Boards Association. Other board policies are undergoing similar small revisions. 


Additional language was added to state that:


"Parents who would like to inspect and review instructional materials should make a request in writing to the principal, identifying with reasonable specificity the instructional materials the parent would like to inspect. Within ten (10) business days of receiving the request, the principal shall either (1) provide access to the requested information or (2) provide an extension notice to the parent explaining that, due to the volume or complexity of the request, access to some or all of the information will be provided no later than twenty (20) business days from the date of request. Access shall be provided either by providing the parent with copies of the materials in question and/or by scheduling a time when the parent may inspect some or all of the materials in person or online."


Operationally for our libraries, very little changes. One, as we've continued to state, our Destiny catalog is publicly available, and parents may review the school collection online at any time. If, however, a parent requests to review physical materials in the collection, this new language thus means that they will need to schedule a time during regular business hours for the school to visit the library. Materials will not leave the room with the parent; they can access the collection as one would a reading room. If a specific title of interest to the parent is currently checked out, we will not retrieve the material from the patron. Rather, the parent will be told, if there are no other copies, that the material is with a patron and can be reviewed once returned per the item's normal circulation behavior. (aka we won't track a kid down and make them give us back the book just because a parent requests it)


If the parent wishes to challenge material in the school library collection, the process outlined in Section B of Policy 3210 continues to apply. 

Updating the IMPACT guidelines


NCDPI is forming a workgroup to begin the process of updating guidelines for school libraries across the state. Much like the previous IMPACT guidelines, this work has the potential to influence the standards that are set for quality school library programs for many years to come. We encourage experienced school librarians to consider applying to participate in this workgroup; we recognize the importance of having WCPSS representation in this very important work. The application is due by November 19th:  bit.ly/LMGApplication 

Elementary Lesson Plan Support


There is a lot of sharing happening in the Thursday morning Elementary Library Instruction PLC and the related Canvas course. Check the Elementary Lesson Plan Bank for updated lesson ideas for Quarter 2. New content is marked with a ⭐. If you can’t make the PLC but still want to be part of the conversation, you can self-enroll in the Canvas course. (Note: This Canvas course is not set up to award CEUs for participation. It is a place for us to curate artifacts and conversations for this PLC.)


Similarly, if you would like to participate in this PLC but the 8am time is not convenient for you, please take a moment to complete this brief form. Susan is considering adding an alternate meeting time to the schedule  and would like feedback about what would work best. 


Secondary Library Instruction Support

Our Secondary Librarian Instructional PLC is going strong with a group of about 70 signed up and 35-40 regular participants.  We meet the last Tuesday of each month at 1pm at the Google Meet code secondarylibplc, but we will not meet in November due to Convergence.  Through this PLC, we are also busy reviewing many hot-off-the-press books.  We’d love to have you join us (Learning Central Course) either synchronously or asynchronously.  We had a great session on Chat GPT with Charles Patton last week.  A new resource that we will continue to grow is our Secondary Library Instruction Notebook (tutorial).  The hope is that we can build this resource into a lesson bank for secondary SLMCs. 

Collection Management Support


The Collection Management PLC is in full swing, but it’s also not too late to join! You can earn asynchronous credit for any meetings you missed by completing assignments in the Collection Management Canvas course. Content for the August, September, and October meetings is posted. 

The Right to Read movie - free screening


Wake Up and Read is hosting a free screening of the documentary The Right to Read at Marbles IMAX Theater from 6pm-8:30pm on Tuesday, November 28th. 

Updated Report in Destiny


Follett recently made a software update to Destiny software with minor enhancements to reports. The Patron Statistics-Summary report can now be configured to show circulation by grade level, homeroom and other variables. BACK OFFICE>PATRON REPORTS>Patron Statistics-Summary.

📢Shout-outs