The School Librarians of the Southern Tier
Met on January 20, 2011 at the
MacArthur Elementary School in Bighamton.
Members present:
Lonna Pierce, Karen Vill, Amy Merrill, Sara-Jo Sites, Rita Foran, Sue Carey, Cheryl Naslund, Annarose Foley, Colleen Kuno, Kathy Starks, Carrie Randall, Nadine Ferguson, Rick Gridley, MaryAnn Karre, Sandy Stiles, Teena Lauth, Maureen Squier, Doris Roach, Sandy Harrington
After introductions and welcoming new members, the minutes that were posted on the SLST East Ning were approved. Carrie Randall then explained the Treasurer’s Report, which was approved unanimously.
Lonna Pierce than gave a tour of her lovely library, which this month features displays of Medieval artwork, costumes and armament. Lonna was preparing for a Medieval Feast, which will culminate her schools’ study of the Middle Ages,
Department at SUNY visited her students.
Upcoming events were discussed;
- the SLMS 2011 Conference will take place in Buffalo, and members were instructed to contact Katie Bertrand to ask about scholarship opportunities.
- BOCES will be presenting two literature programs: Best in Recent Books for PreK -5 by Starr Latronica and Best New Young Adult Books by Kathleen Odean are both recommended for librarians who are interested in the new literature.
- Lonna announced that the Countywide Poetry Recitation will take place on Saturday, April 9 this year, and all schools are encouraged to take part.
- WSKG will once again sponsor the PBS Kids Go! Writers Contest, despite the lack of sponsorship by PBS. SLST East members Sara-Jo Site, Lonna Pierce, MaryAnn Karre and Sandy Stiles will assist with judging and the awards ceremony. WSKG has added SLST East to the list on sponsors in all advertising.
SLST-East members once again participated in the Discovery Center Book Fest, helping participants make greeting cards from recycled materials. A big thank you to Jennifer Jones for all of the preparation, which made the day fun and easy.
Discussion then turned to preparations SLMS 2012 –
- We have wonderful logo, thanks to Sue Carey’s daughter. We can use two, one with and one without the four strands, perhaps using “Ideas will flow" in the program or other promotional materials. We can now use the log to create more “save the date” materials for SLMS 2011.
- Kathy Starks has made arrangements with Joyce Valenza to be our keynote speaker. She has requested an honorarium of $2500 and a visit to Pat Mitchell’s. It was suggested that a gift certificate for ice cream and a visit to Sharkey’s would be in order. Joyce has said that she will work river theme into keynote
- We have a proposal from the Binghamton Regency, now the RiverWalk at Binghamton. The hotel is undergoing renovations, and will have room for vendors, ballroom, indoor pool and Hospitality Rooms for officers and vendors.
- Entertainment for the Saturday evening was discussed. The hotel has a lovely, unused nightclub in the lower level, and it was suggested that we hold a Cabaret Night. Sue Carey suggested contacting The Puzzled Players, other suggestions include a magician, singers and Improv groups.
- It was suggested that we request a sign outside hotel welcoming librarians, and ask how we can put a banner across the street as they do with the other citywide celebrations.
- We need to contact Gina Kress of the Chamber of Commerce, who has offered to provide maps, brochures and other materials to welcome visitors. She could perhaps help us contact the Mayor and request that he designate the Friday of the Conference as “School Librarians’ Day”.
- Starr Latronic reported that David Wiesner is still possibility as a luncheon speaker. He favors an art supply company in this area, and may be persuaded to address the librarians on a trip here for supplies. She also suggested that we contact Andrea Davis Pinkney, who is from Elmira, and who has written a new historical novel set in Elmira. It was suggested that we include a Young Adult speaker, and Starr had some suggestions. We also discussed inviting local authors, such as Liz Rosenberg, to present workshops and sign books.
- As the SLMS suggested timeline for conference planners was reviewed, it was decided that we are well on track, and need only to get approvals at the SLMS Board meeting in February. Kathy and MaryAnn will represent the Region and the Conference Committees.
The May meeting will be a dinner meeting with a speaker. Several members said that they would like to meet at Little Venice, and Kathy has since reported that Amy Dickinson, author of The Mighty Queens of Freeville, and writer of the syndicated advice column “Ask Amy” will be the guest speaker.
The next meeting will be held at the newly renovated Endicott Middle School on Marh 30,k and will feature our Annual Best New Books for Youth by Starr Latronica.
The meeting adjourned at 6:30pm.