Allison's
Speech
2005 SLSA Distinguished Service Award
Presentation Remarks: Allison Wheeler, President Elect, School Library Systems Association
SLMS Conference, Melville Marriot, Melville, New York
May 6, 2005
“The School Library Systems Association of New York State, Incorporated, better known as SLSA, is pleased and proud to present its 2005 Distinguished Service Award to John Monahan, School Library System Director of Putnam-Northern Westchester BOCES.
John is an active participant in SLSA and well respected by his colleagues, who appreciate his sense of humor, his voice of reason, and his genuine willingness to share. In these financially challenging times, John helps all of us think creatively about how to deliver quality school library system services on a shoestring.
John is a dedicated member of many professional organizations. Representing SLSA, he served on the original NOVEL Steering Committee. He currently serves on the NYLA Legislative Committee. Regionally he has represented School Library Systems on the Metro Nominating Committee.
John is a tireless library advocate. During his term as SLSA President, John worked to pave the way for future meetings between SLSA and Commissioner Mills. He continues to represent school libraries and school library systems as an eloquent spokesperson at countless public hearings. His professional relationship with Sandra Galef, Chair of the Assembly Committee on Libraries and Education Technology, has been beneficial to the ENTIRE school library community.
Finally, John is well respected by district library colleagues and students at C.W. Post, where he is an effective adjunct instructor. We know his skill and professionalism have an influence on today’s students, who will be tomorrow’s colleagues.
Please join SLSA in congratulating John Monahan on this award!"
page top
John's Speech
2005 SLSA Distinguished Service Award
Acceptance Remarks: John Monahan
SLMS Conference, Melville Marriot, Melville, New York
May 6, 2005
I am very happy and proud to be standing here. I will share with you that when I received the call from Donna Hanus, Chair of the SLSA Distinguished Service Award Committee letting me know that I had received this recognition, I was surprised.
Folks, there are a good number of SLSA Directors who are deserving of this special recognition. These are my colleagues who I respect for the contributions that they have made toward furthering school library systems in support of school libraries and library media specialists. I will however stand here and accept this award and dedicate it to the 47 SLS Directors serving in 38 BOCES and in 5 Big Cities covering all 62 counties of NY State.
The position of School Library System Director includes a multi-faceted menu of responsibilities that is often dictated by the specific BOCES or Big City in which we serve. We are the least funded among the library systems in New York State yet our members state wide include 4,264 public schools and almost 500 non public school library media centers. These numbers become more significant when you consider that there are approximately 6,300 libraries in NY that are part of a library system. So school libraries represent the overwhelming majority of library system members.
As many of you know, School Library System Directors help to provide resource sharing, ILL services, access to NOVEL databases and we offer a number of technical workshops to further the professional development of school library media specialists. We try to replicate the services that a public library system would offer, but our key focus in the support of K-12 instruction and curriculum enrichment, places us in a different and ever evolving realm of opportunity to closely serve library media specialists, teachers and students. This reality will continue to transform in the foreseeable future as districts reach out for instructional partners to meet the requirements of No Child Left Behind. In addition, the mission of the School Library System continues to follow another collaborative path because our state is so very unique.
Unlike many states where county school districts are more of the norm, New York State has approximately 700 school districts and only a few of these have district library media coordinators. In most districts, our school librarians watch their classroom teachers meet in grade level meetings to review instructional needs or they observe subject area teachers in Social Studies, Science, Math, English, Health, Music, Art and others meet and share professional topics in monthly meeting with Dept Heads or Coordinators. The school library media specialist is usually the only “Library Media Professional” in the school and with no formal library media specialist meeting structure in place in most districts, the librarians are often left in isolation. Even during scheduled Superintendent’s Conference Days, the staff development needs of district librarians are not addressed at the local district level. The School Library System Director may fill this void and take on the tasks of offering professional support and staff development initiatives.
The School Library System Director will provide information, professional guidance and may even offer an affective dimension or nurturing role through a simple phone call or in network, liaison and council meetings. The BOCES regional network for school librarians can be a haven at several levels and library media specialists love to have a place to gather for information sharing about best practices or to just talk about or hear about things in someone else’s library media program.
We School Library System Directors respect and cherish our school library media specialists. We strive to support their work with students and teachers and we perennially promote the significant role that the media specialist performs in the teaching and learning process and in the overall instructional program of each school. SLSA Directors that I know, proactively articulate to administrators in the BOCES and in the Big City Regions everywhere, that the mandates of Information Power 1998 are clear. Your library media specialist has the potential to be the essential member of your instructional team. Your library media specialist as teacher, information specialist and as a curriculum partner with other teachers takes the lead in teaching information literacy skills and in working with teachers to develop engaging curriculum to help all students learn. Your library media specialist manages a facility and has the instructional resources to work with administrators, teachers, students, parents and all members of the learning community to work toward success in implementing the NY State Learning Standards. We must work to achieve this model of excellence in Library Media Center Programs. We have the state studies that prove that good school library programs support student achievement and I know that my SLSA colleagues and I will continue to do what it takes to support our school library media specialists, their teacher partners and especially the students. This commitment is at the essence of our core set of values.
As I close, I am grateful to the many colleagues I worked with over the years from Middletown, Warwick Valley, Wappingers Central SD, the Sewanhaka Central HS District and Putnam Northern Westchester BOCES. You have all contributed to my development as an educator. I especially thank the library media specialists from the Putnam Northern Westchester BOCES SLS. They have been considerate and supportive of even the smallest initiative we have introduced and they have been the driving force and the inspiration to our growth into a very fine school library system. This year we have been furthered honored as one of our own members, Rocco Staino, has served all of us this year as President of NYLA.
Finally I would like to thank SLSA President Sue Bartle, President elect Allison Wheeler for her generous introduction earlier, my SLSA colleagues for their guidance, friendship and especially for the honor of the 2005 SLSA Distinguished Service Award. I am also grateful to the members of SLMS for the opportunity to share these thoughts. I will always remember this special night, in this the 20th Anniversary year of School Library Systems.
Thank you
page top
Reception Pictures
2005 SLSA Distinguished Service Award
Presentation Remarks: Allison Wheeler, President Elect, School Library Systems Association
SLMS Conference, Melville Marriot, Melville, New York
May 6, 2005
“The School Library Systems Association of New York State, Incorporated, better known as SLSA, is pleased and proud to present its 2005 Distinguished Service Award to John Monahan, School Library System Director of Putnam-Northern Westchester BOCES.
John is an active participant in SLSA and well respected by his colleagues, who appreciate his sense of humor, his voice of reason, and his genuine willingness to share. In these financially challenging times, John helps all of us think creatively about how to deliver quality school library system services on a shoestring.
John is a dedicated member of many professional organizations. Representing SLSA, he served on the original NOVEL Steering Committee. He currently serves on the NYLA Legislative Committee. Regionally he has represented School Library Systems on the Metro Nominating Committee.
John is a tireless library advocate. During his term as SLSA President, John worked to pave the way for future meetings between SLSA and Commissioner Mills. He continues to represent school libraries and school library systems as an eloquent spokesperson at countless public hearings. His professional relationship with Sandra Galef, Chair of the Assembly Committee on Libraries and Education Technology, has been beneficial to the ENTIRE school library community.
Finally, John is well respected by district library colleagues and students at C.W. Post, where he is an effective adjunct instructor. We know his skill and professionalism have an influence on today’s students, who will be tomorrow’s colleagues.
Please join SLSA in congratulating John Monahan on this award!"
page top
John's Speech
2005 SLSA Distinguished Service Award
Acceptance Remarks: John Monahan
SLMS Conference, Melville Marriot, Melville, New York
May 6, 2005
I am very happy and proud to be standing here. I will share with you that when I received the call from Donna Hanus, Chair of the SLSA Distinguished Service Award Committee letting me know that I had received this recognition, I was surprised.
Folks, there are a good number of SLSA Directors who are deserving of this special recognition. These are my colleagues who I respect for the contributions that they have made toward furthering school library systems in support of school libraries and library media specialists. I will however stand here and accept this award and dedicate it to the 47 SLS Directors serving in 38 BOCES and in 5 Big Cities covering all 62 counties of NY State.
The position of School Library System Director includes a multi-faceted menu of responsibilities that is often dictated by the specific BOCES or Big City in which we serve. We are the least funded among the library systems in New York State yet our members state wide include 4,264 public schools and almost 500 non public school library media centers. These numbers become more significant when you consider that there are approximately 6,300 libraries in NY that are part of a library system. So school libraries represent the overwhelming majority of library system members.
As many of you know, School Library System Directors help to provide resource sharing, ILL services, access to NOVEL databases and we offer a number of technical workshops to further the professional development of school library media specialists. We try to replicate the services that a public library system would offer, but our key focus in the support of K-12 instruction and curriculum enrichment, places us in a different and ever evolving realm of opportunity to closely serve library media specialists, teachers and students. This reality will continue to transform in the foreseeable future as districts reach out for instructional partners to meet the requirements of No Child Left Behind. In addition, the mission of the School Library System continues to follow another collaborative path because our state is so very unique.
Unlike many states where county school districts are more of the norm, New York State has approximately 700 school districts and only a few of these have district library media coordinators. In most districts, our school librarians watch their classroom teachers meet in grade level meetings to review instructional needs or they observe subject area teachers in Social Studies, Science, Math, English, Health, Music, Art and others meet and share professional topics in monthly meeting with Dept Heads or Coordinators. The school library media specialist is usually the only “Library Media Professional” in the school and with no formal library media specialist meeting structure in place in most districts, the librarians are often left in isolation. Even during scheduled Superintendent’s Conference Days, the staff development needs of district librarians are not addressed at the local district level. The School Library System Director may fill this void and take on the tasks of offering professional support and staff development initiatives.
The School Library System Director will provide information, professional guidance and may even offer an affective dimension or nurturing role through a simple phone call or in network, liaison and council meetings. The BOCES regional network for school librarians can be a haven at several levels and library media specialists love to have a place to gather for information sharing about best practices or to just talk about or hear about things in someone else’s library media program.
We School Library System Directors respect and cherish our school library media specialists. We strive to support their work with students and teachers and we perennially promote the significant role that the media specialist performs in the teaching and learning process and in the overall instructional program of each school. SLSA Directors that I know, proactively articulate to administrators in the BOCES and in the Big City Regions everywhere, that the mandates of Information Power 1998 are clear. Your library media specialist has the potential to be the essential member of your instructional team. Your library media specialist as teacher, information specialist and as a curriculum partner with other teachers takes the lead in teaching information literacy skills and in working with teachers to develop engaging curriculum to help all students learn. Your library media specialist manages a facility and has the instructional resources to work with administrators, teachers, students, parents and all members of the learning community to work toward success in implementing the NY State Learning Standards. We must work to achieve this model of excellence in Library Media Center Programs. We have the state studies that prove that good school library programs support student achievement and I know that my SLSA colleagues and I will continue to do what it takes to support our school library media specialists, their teacher partners and especially the students. This commitment is at the essence of our core set of values.
As I close, I am grateful to the many colleagues I worked with over the years from Middletown, Warwick Valley, Wappingers Central SD, the Sewanhaka Central HS District and Putnam Northern Westchester BOCES. You have all contributed to my development as an educator. I especially thank the library media specialists from the Putnam Northern Westchester BOCES SLS. They have been considerate and supportive of even the smallest initiative we have introduced and they have been the driving force and the inspiration to our growth into a very fine school library system. This year we have been furthered honored as one of our own members, Rocco Staino, has served all of us this year as President of NYLA.
Finally I would like to thank SLSA President Sue Bartle, President elect Allison Wheeler for her generous introduction earlier, my SLSA colleagues for their guidance, friendship and especially for the honor of the 2005 SLSA Distinguished Service Award. I am also grateful to the members of SLMS for the opportunity to share these thoughts. I will always remember this special night, in this the 20th Anniversary year of School Library Systems.
Thank you
page top
Reception Pictures