The Maine Association of School Libraries (MASL) is offering five $1,000 grants to Maine school libraries to support evidence-based practice. The application process is really simple.

To be eligible, the school library must:

• be part of a public or private primary, elementary, middle, junior high or high school in the state of Maine;
• have a certified school library media specialist (LMS) who is a member of MASL; and
• consent to present her/his project or program at the 2005 Maine Libraries Conference.

In one typed page of 500 words or less ...

Describe your project or program idea. Explain how your project or program impacts teaching and learning. You must include at least one method (survey, checklist, rubric, conference, journal, video, etc.) of gathering evidence showing how your project or program impacts teaching and learning.

Below are two examples of evidence-based practice:

Example #1 - using current research to make decisions about what you do as a Library Media Specialist and the learning needs of your students:

After reading numerous articles and attending workshops about graphic novels, you decide to add graphic novels to your library collection. You plan a celebration. You do some education with staff about using graphic novels in various content areas and prepare a comprehensive bibliography. At the end of the year, you document the circulation of your graphic novels, comparing it with the circulation of other sections of the collection. You collect book prompts and reading logs that include readings from graphic novels to show how the graphic novels have impacted learning. You survey teachers who have used graphic novels in their class and collect examples of successful teaching with graphic novels.

Budget

Item	Cost
Graphic Novels	$500
Supplies	$100
Stipend to pay teachers for professional development time (using graphic novels with students) in after school workshop ($25 x 12 teachers)	$300
Stipend for Librarian	$100
Total	$1,000

Example #2 - using informed assessment and evaluation of student learning by gathering evidence of student learning:

A social studies teacher and a language arts teacher are planning an interdisciplinary research project on the U.S. Civil War. They ask you to gather Civil War resources together, and you do; but you also suggest some ideas for research journals, as well as some research skills rubrics for the students' final projects You become a vital part of the project team, planning, teaching and grading. After the project is completed, you and the social studies teacher present to the rest of the social studies department about the research project you did together, using the students' journals as evidence of teaching and learning.

Budget

Item	Cost
Civil War Research Materials	$600
Substitute pay for collaborative planning time ($50 x 3)	$150
Stipend for Librarian	$100
Stipend for Teachers ($75 x 2)	$150
Total	$1,000

The application can be downloaded and printed from the MASL website - http://www.maslibraries.org - or, if you would would rather have a hard copy sent to you , send an e-mail, with your address or fax number, to mcdank@portlandschools.org.

Every effort will be made to ensure that the grants are distributed around the state (not concentrated in one region), and across grade levels and types of schools.

The winning proposals will be announced at this fall's Maine Libraries Conference. Good luck.

Please contact Kelley McDaniel - mcdank@portlandschools.org or 871.0477 - if you have any questions.

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