2005 annual report

Purpose and goals as stated in ALIA group application

To encourage collegiality among its members.
To promote the interests of school libraries and teacher librarians.
To provide opportunities for professional development for personnel in school libraries.
To lobby for school libraries with state and local groups.
To liaise with other professional groups in the field, for example ASLA, VCTL and SLAV.
To identify and analyse current trends in teacher librarianship.
To maintain the profile of teacher librarians within the ALIA structure.
To hold regular meetings and to disseminate information in print and electronic format.

Activities from January to December 2005 including an evaluation of the achievement of the group in relation to the purpose and goals.

On 26 February, ALIA Schools Victoria conducted a professional development session titled What next? This seminar included sessions on the standards of professional excellence for teacher librarians and the framework of essential learning, subsequently known as Victorian Essential Learning Standards (VELS). In their evaluation of the seminar, the participants rated the seminar as very good to excellent and they were grateful that this seminar raised their awareness of current developments in both education and teacher librarianship. This activity fulfilled the following goals: 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 and 7.
28 May Maximizing literature. Drawing on the expertise of practitioners, this seminar focused on a range of strategies to promote literature. Including committee members, there were over seventy people in attendance. The topic had wide appeal especially for the staff of primary libraries. Participants were grateful for the opportunity to network and share ideas in the spirit of collegiality. This activity fulfilled the following goals: 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 and 7.
Between 1-13 August the group's online forum was held on The standards of professional excellence for teacher librarians. The forum had three phases: Read, query and comment; applying the standards and proving that they are being met; moving forward. The direct posts to the forum were mainly from the committee, however, more members did join the list-serv as a result of the forum. Kris Johnstone moderated the discussion. This activity fulfilled the following goals: 1, 2, 3, 6, 7 and 8.
On October 22, the group's final professional development session for 2005, Designing a do-able assignment, was held. In the introductory session, Kris Johnstone set the context by outlining the teacher librarians' role in relation to the principles of learning and teaching. This was followed by three concurrent workshops: developing thinking skills, assessment rubrics and ICTs. The final workshop brought together ideas from the concurrent sessions and participants developed do-able assignments. The participants appreciated the combination of theory and practice and enjoyed the hands on nature of the sessions. This activity fulfilled the following goals: 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 and 7.
The group has held scheduled meetings on January 29, February 26, March 19, May 28, July 16, August 13, October 22 and November 19. At the meetings in January, March and August mail outs to members were collated. Each of these contained a newsletter and a flyer inviting participation in the scheduled professional development sessions. These meetings and mail outs fulfilled the following goals: 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7 and 8.
ALIA is represented on the joint ALIA/ASLA Policy Advisory Group by three members of ALIA Schools Victoria. Anne Girolami is the chairperson of the group and Kris Johnstone and Sandra Ryan are committee members. Regular teleconferences have been held and reports/submissions have been prepared for ALIA, ASLA and other peak bodies. Following the launch of the Standards of professional excellence for teacher librarians at the ASLA Conference in April, committee members have been involved in conducting workshops on the standards with the broader teacher librarian community. There are three projects currently on the agenda: the alliances sub committee; the ALIA/ASLA/ECU partnership to gather statistical information about the staffing and resourcing levels in school libraries; and education for teacher librarianship. In representing ALIA on this joint committee, ALIA Schools Victoria is fulfilling the following goals: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8.
Anne Girolami represented school libraries on the Australian Library Week Committee. Anne has participated in regular meetings and she will continue as a member of this committee. By representing school libraries on this broadly based committee Anne has enabled ALIA Schools Victoria to fulfill the following goals: 2, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8.
ALIA Schools Victoria continues to liaise with the Victorian Catholic Teacher Librarians group (VCTL) and a draft Manual of procedures has been published on a website accessed by Catholic teacher librarians. The high rate of attendance at the May professional development session was, in part, the result of this liaison with the VCTL. Four VCTL meetings were held in conjunction with those of ALIA Schools Victoria. This liaison has been productive and it has enabled ALIA Schools Victoria to fulfil the following goals 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 8.

Forward planning for 2006

The proposed professional development sessions for next year are as follows:

February/March: Online forum on copyright
April: VELS
August: Thinking curriculum
October: Literature

Sandra Ryan and Barbara Bugg, co-convenors, ALIA Schools Victoria

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