Nancy announced that she and Sylvia Norton would be attending the ALA convention in Atlanta.  She asked that anyone with issues to take to ALA or AASL please e-mail her before May 14. 

Anyone interested in attending the October forum on National Board for Professional Teaching Standards in Chicago, please see Nancy.

The secretary's report was approved as written. 

The treasurer's report was approved as outlined on the handout.  It was noted that membership dues were coming in well.

Vice President Pam Goucher encouraged more people to get involved in the magic and fun of planning for Spring Conference.  The teamwork makes the process move very smoothl

OLD BUSINESS:  ofessional and Support Staff educational scholarships are available to MASL members of one year's standing.  FMI see the MASL webpage www.maslibraries.org or contact Nancy Grant, Donna Chale, or the Maine State Library.

               The Fall Conference will be held in early November at the new UMPI student center.  There will be an exciting keynote speaker.  Arrangements are being explored for overnight accommodations and a bus stopping at South Portland, Brunswick, Augusta, Bangor and Millinocket.  The conference costs will be kept low. 

NEW BUSINESS:  All members are welcome to attend Board meetings. Nominations are needed to fill MASL Board positions; anyone interested, please contact Nancy Grant. 

               The SMLD, CMLD, and NMLD consultants have been awarded a $25,000 grant for publicity for all Maine libraries.  MASL and MLA held a joint retreat to discuss what Maine libraries are doing and what we should be doing in regard to publicity.  MLA President Jay Scherma will put notes from the meeting in written form for the memberships.  All are welcome to add ideas. 

               MASL is planning a committee to create an Information Literacy assessment tool with research rubrics for our members to use.  An application is available at the door.  We are looking for 3-5 people with assessment experience to be paid to develop the tool during workdays this summer.  Please fill out the application and return it to Nancy Grant by June 1.

               A letter is being sent to Maine superintendents for Distinguished Educators to be part of Content Advisory Panels.  Development Institutes will be held in July and August.  MASL members are urged to be proactive in the assessment process.  Write a letter to your superintendent to find out if a representative has been chosen from your district.  If not, ask to be recommended.  If one has been chosen, make contact and ask to be kept informed.  Reassure superintendents that librarians have content knowledge.  We need to keep making requests to be involved in statewide educational initiatives, to keep our presence in front of them.  The deadline for the CAS is Spring, 2003.

               MASL is holding a grant writing workshop to prepare applications for the recently passed Reed amendment allocating $12.5 million in ESEA funds for school libraries this year.   The money will be given directly to local school districts. MASL will pay participants $30 for a submitted grant.  If many grants are submitted, it will give evidence of need and may increase the allocation of more funds for next year.  Heidi McGinley will direct the workshops June 5 in Turner and June 11 in Herman.  FMI contact Sylvia Norton.

               The Maine Learning Technology Initiative was discussed. 

• Lead teachers have already received laptops; schools will be wired by July; students will receive laptops by August. 
• The laptops are wireless and require an 'airport.' 
• They will hold a charge for 5-6 hours if IMovie is not used.  Districts must provide the recharging equipment.  It is important to pay attention to the low battery warning; they will need to be plugged in immediately as they go off line very quickly.  Knowing where and how many outlets are available in advance will facilitate laptop use in libraries. 
• Backup is to a central server in the school building. State servers are also being setup. 
• The laptops are loaded with World Book, Apple Works, First Class, Notepad, Acrobat Reader, IMovie and IPhoto. 
• By contract Apple must pay a fine if a student goes without a laptop for more than 24 hours. 
• They have extended warranties and have undergone extensive testing with some redesign after feedback from pilot schools. 
• Librarians will not receive laptops, unless they have been designated lead teachers.  Technology coordinators, guidance counselors, art, music and PE teachers will not receive them, nor will Ed Techs.The Maine State Library is looking into grants to get laptops to librarians.
• The discounted rate for hardware and software is still being negotiated.  Laptops can be leased, but the software might not be included at this time. 
• MASL urges all members to approach lead teachers to offer integrated Information Literacy instruction, EBSCO training, World Book instruction, awareness/instruction of cyber ethics like copyright and fair use issues (especially the use of images and music clips) and to be involved in the initiative as partners with other teachers.  It is important not only for MASL members in middle schools, but also those in feeder and receiving schools to know the programs and problems associated with the laptops and online learning in general. 
• Apple is training lead seventh grade teachers this year and eighth grade teachers next year.  MASL urges members to go to the training workshops with school teams if possible. 
• Acadia University in Nova Scotia offers one week workshops on how to use computers in classrooms.  Look for information under the heading "Acadia Advantage."
• Marco Polo has positioned itself with Apple to be the highlighted web presence on the laptops.  They offer prepackaged units of instruction on the knowledge level of learning and free training throughout the state.  MASL members are urged to partner with teachers to develop units with more critical thinking and higher level thinking skills.  And again, MASL members are urged to raise awareness of Information Literacy and the contributions that librarians can make.
• Policies concerning the laptops are up to individual districts: check out for home use, filtering, further training, training for parents, kinds of classroom use, purchase of additional software, etc. 
• Nancy asks that MASL be a medium for sharing what works.  For example: teachers in Guilford have a twenty minute typing practice every morning.  They also suggest that laptops be assigned individually for the year rather than randomly distributed each day.
• There are some mixed platform problems, especially involving access to card catalogs.  Appleworks is now available for Macs and PCs.  Transferring from one to the other is possible when saved in rich text format.  If Microsoft Office is added to the laptops, districts might have to purchase more licenses.  It is an important life skill for students to know both platforms.
• Ergonometric issues should be addressed.  There will be some constant, repetitive use possibly leading to carpal tunnel or tendonitis.  Dragon speaking is available for non typing students.  Enlarged text may be needed for some.  Additional information can be posted to the MASL webpage, and to ME-LIBS.
• Questions remain about whether the initiative will continue to be funded, and if not whether the laptops will be used for seventh graders or go with the students to eighth grade. 

Gail Garthwait spoke about upcoming educational offerings from UM.  Camp Laptop for educators, students and parents will be held in  mid-August.  A one week advance writing project will be the second week of July.  In the fall, "Computers and Cooperative Learning" for 3 credits will be offered on Mondays from 4 - 6:30 through ATM.  The ATM sites will be first come, first served.  The list of sites can be found on the Maine DOE webpage.  For 101 simplistic, but helpful tips and tricks with Macs, go to Edtogo.com. 

       David Anderson spoke for the Standards Committee about their Spring Conference workshop.  The committee is presently revising the standards for school library media programs and seeks input from MASL members. 

       The promised "best practices" display for Spring Conference was  postponed to Fall Conference because of construction conflicts with display space.  Nancy asked for more contributions for the display.  Please share with MASL whatever works well in your library.

COMMITTEES

ARCHIVES

Sue Leiter has been directing organization of archived material which will soon be available at the Maine State Library.

CONTINUING EDUCATION        

               Teri Caouette has been posting educational opportunities to the MASL webpage.   Other information can be found on the SMLD, CMLD and NMLD webpages.  Teri will be mailing members a survey and invites you to e-mail her with questions and/or information about new opportunities. 

CERTIFICATION:

MASL is looking for a certification chair at the moment.  Are you interested? 

FACILITIES:      

               The facilities standards are on the MASL webpage.  They are used widely by Maine architects and others.  LM-NET often refers people to our facilities standards.

INFORMATION LITERACY:

               Gerry Crocker presented workshops on Information Literacy at the MASL Fall Conference, the Maine Principal's Association, and the Fall Forum for the Coalition of Essential Schools.  She is also offering a workshop at this Spring Conference. 

INTELLECTUAL FREEDOM:

               Censorship and recessions often seem to go hand-in-hand.  If your material is challenge, contact MASL.  We have everything you need to deal with it. 

MAINE ENTRY

               This spring, Edna Comstock had a joint MASL/MLA meeting to discuss how to do Maine Entry in a new way.  More news forthcoming.

LEGISLATIVE:

               Anyone interested in becoming involved in legislative issues?

MASL-1:

               Betsy York has been leading meetings with a group in the northern part of the state. 

MEMBERSHIP:

               Edna reports a total of 267 members at this time

NEEMA:

               MASL needs a NEEMA representative at this time.  Many of the meetings are virtual.  FMI contact Sylvia Norton.  A NEEMA conference will be in Tyngsboro, MA on March 28, 2003  with keynote speaker Gary Hartzell, who wrote "The Invisible Librarian."

NEEMA has published a "White Paper" recommending that school libraries be moved from the "support services" area to the "teaching and learning" area in the NEASC accreditation process. 

PAST PRESIDENT:

               Suzan Nelson reminded members to nominate qualified people for Media Specialist of the Year and Administrator of the Year awards.  Nomination forms are on the MASL webpage. 

SCHOLARSHIPS:

               Scholarship information is published on the MASL webpage.

STANDARDS:

               David Anderson reminded members to attend the standards workshop, to give the committee input, and to think about using the media specialist job description for evaluation purposes. 

STATE BOARD LIAISON:

               A liaison to the Maine State Board of Education is needed at this time. 

SUPPORT STAFF:

               Since educational technicians need certification now, it is particularly important that we have a support staff committee chair for MASL.  Please contact Nancy Grant if you are interested or know someone who might be. 

TECHNOLOGY:

               Tamara Blesh would like additional members for her committee.  She suggests that the committee could meet by e-mail and work on laptop issues.  Please contact her if you are interested. 

WEBPAGE:        

               Gail Garthwait is always interested in new ideas or suggestions. 

The Maine DOE Orientation Day for new librarians will be in Belfast in August.  FMI please see the flyer at the door.

Upcoming MASL Board meetings will be June 1 at the Maine State Library, a September retreat, an October meeting at the new middle school library in Freeport, and  the Fall Conference at UMPI in November. 

The meeting was adjourned.

Respectfully submitted,

Margaret McNamee, Secretary