Deb Stafford

Deba and Rufus in front of the Wiesbaden Casino (if I remember correctly) circa 2005.

It was with sadness that I learned yesterday that Deb Stafford passed away. Besides our work together on the ISTE SIGMS Committee, Deb (and Rufus) were wonderful hosts and tour guides on a couple trips I made to the Frankfurt area when consulting for the DoDDS Schools in 2005 and 2006. Deb was a bit gruff, ran superior library programs, and cared very deeply about her students and their parents who were often deployed to very, very dangerous places.

Deb, you will be misssed.

You can view her complete obituary at: http://www.wyomingnews.com/articles/2010/09/27/obituaries/03obit_09-27-10.txt

T-L Cafe preso tonight

So then, if you're not doing much tonight stop by the T-L Cafe and visit for a bit. Ernie Cox and I will be trying to figure out how we need to change our physical library spaces to meet a digital future in Changed But Still Critical.

Here's the blurb:

Changed but Still Critical -Brick and Mortar School Libraries in the Digital Age

October 4th - 8pm EST
Guest: Doug Johnson
Host: Ernie Cox
Changed But Still Critical Wikipage
Today’s reality is that readers and information seekers are having increasingly less need to visit a physical library to meet their basic information needs. Digital information sources, readily accessed from classroom, home or mobile computing devices, are the choice of many learners and teachers. The “Net Generation” student increasingly prefers the visual and the virtual rather than the printed text. Why, many educators are asking, does a school need a physical library when seemingly all resources can be obtained using an inexpensive netbook and a wireless network connection? How can these large physical spaces in our schools be re-purposed for greater educational impact?

Be there or be square!

Inspiration from reality

We were fortunate to have Buffy Hamilton and Cathy Jo Nelson deliver keynote sessions at MEMO, our state school library conference this year. I am happy to report that despite severe speech impediments regional accents, they delivered.

Like the Amy Obert/Anita Beaman keynote team last year, Buffy and Cathy Jo were particularly inspirational because:

• They are practicing library media specialists
• They reflect the gender make up of the organization (See Is AASL Sexist?)
• They are pushing the envelope, but are also practical
• They exhibited good slide design sense and relaxed, confident presentation styles
• They don't pretend to have all the answers
• They encourage rather than scold
• They are hopeful
• They are real people
• They are low maintenance (we only had to pick one color of M&Ms out of the bags)

Book them for your next conference. You could do worse.

Buffy's slide deck for her keynote is here:  Beyond Balance: Participatory Librarianship for Creating, Connecting, Conversing, and Contributing

Cathy Jo's resources are here: 10 Tools to a More Relevant Library

Thanks to Buffy's Facebook page for the photo...