Today I had the opportunity to share and learn with a fantabulous group of librarians in Duplin County, North Carolina. We spent nearly 5 hours chatting, lunching and sharing about what's next for libraries and librarians. On the drive home, I couldn't help but reflect on what an honor it is to be invited to be a part of these kinds of conversations. This is a time of crisis for a lot of schools and, specifically, for school libraries - and I think most educators have realized that the time for weeping and gnashing of teeth has passed. At this point, we have no choice: we have to evolve or risk extinction. That said, to be asked to join in that conversation and to be a part, however small, of their plan of action is incredibly humbling.
Anyway, the presentation I used to guide the conversation is one I've used before - however, as this was a 5 hour session (as opposed to the typical 60-90 minute version), I spent some time updating and expanding my "Snapshot of a 21st Century Library Program" Prezi. I had fun beefing up the presentation and spending more time exploring its content. Truth be told, though, I had an internal debate about whether or not to include a section on my new "gaming" program - it's really new and I'm still fleshing out the details - but at the last minute, I threw it in. And I am so glad I did. Chatting about it publicly: telling the story of how I came to believe in the "gamification" of education, explaining the program as it currently exists and describing my vision for its future were all good for me. I look forward to my next opportunity to share this new part of what "library" means at my school.
Anyway, I'm including both the updated version of my presentation as well as the online message board I created for those who were too shy to ask questions/make comments. I'm hopeful these will be useful to both the folks in the session and to others whose thinking is currently consumed by similar conversations.
Again, a big juicy thank you to Kristen and all the folks in Duplin County for honoring me with an invitation to be part of their journey.
