By Judith Sykes
Canadian School Libraries (CSL) is once again seeking nominees from Canadian provinces and territories for the Angela Thacker Memorial Award and the Leading Learning Implementation Award. Find more information and nominations procedures on the Awards page of the CSL website, and consider honouring individuals and districts/jurisdictions dedicated to leading and growing the school library learning commons with your nomination. The deadline for nominations is June 30th, 2022.
The Angela Thacker Memorial Award
The Angela Thacker Memorial Award was established in 2001 in memory of Angela Thacker; teacher-librarian, library coordinator, and school library colleague, mentor, leader and advocate from British Columbia who served the Association for Teacher-Librarianship in Canada (ATLC) and the Canada School Library Association (CSLA) in many capacities. It is presented to teacher-librarians who have made contributions to the profession through publications, productions, research or professional development activities that deal with topics relevant to teacher-librarianship and/or school library learning commons.
Initially established by the Association for Teacher-Librarianship in Canada (ATLC), the award moved to the Canada School Library Association (CSLA), then the Canadian Association for School Libraries (CASL) under the CLA umbrella and upon the dissolution of CLA in 2016, the moved to CSL, fully incorporated in February, 2017. The award is presented bi-annually at the CSL Treasure Mountain Canada (TMC) Research Symposium dinner with an engraved plaque and complementary registration to TMC. Commencing in 2022 award recipients will be invited to jury current nominees through the CSL awards committee.
Three outstanding teacher-librarians were honoured in 2020 and were able to receive the honour in person at TMC 6, held in partnership with the Ontario School Library Association (OSLA) at the Ontario Library Association (OLA) Super Conference in February 2020, mere weeks prior to the first mass COVID lockdown. It seems fitting now that as CSL partners with the British Columbia Teacher Librarians’ Association (BCTLA) for TMC7 CSL returns to the home province of Angela Thacker this coming October.
Meet the CSL 2020 Angela Thacker Memorial Award Recipients
Alison Bodner, teacher-librarian at Bairdmore Elementary School in the Pembina Trails School Division, Winnipeg, Manitoba, has provided outstanding contributions and leadership in the field of school libraries, school library learning commons, and teacher-librarianship across the district and province. Her expertise as co-teacher and collaborator provide the best possible educational outcomes for her students and role model for colleagues including serving in leadership positions and leading activities with the Manitoba School Library Association, where she received the 2019 Manitoba School Library Association’s Outstanding Teacher-Librarian of the Year award.
Alanna King is a very active and innovative teacher-librarian and a leader for Ontario’s school libraries. Her exceptional expertise and leadership in the field of school libraries, school library learning commons, and teacher-librarianship has been continually demonstrated in schools, school districts, the province, nation and internationally including contributions to the Treasure Mountain Canada Research Symposium and the Canadian School Libraries Research Archive. Alanna’s written contributions to the field of school librarianship can be found at on her blog and her presentations including her most recent, Jornada de Bibliotecas Escolares, September 2019, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Sarah Wethered has provided outstanding expertise and contributions to the field of school libraries, school library learning commons, and teacher-librarianship which has been noted and applauded in her school, district, and province including leadership with the British Columbia Teacher Librarians’ Association and implementation of an innovation grant aimed at improving school library learning commons programs in areas identified in Leading Learning: Standards of Practice for School Library Learning Commons in Canada.
Find more information about the 2020 recipients here.
The Leading Learning Implementation Award
The Leading Learning Implementation Award was established for February, 2020 in celebration of the fifth anniversary of Leading Learning: Standards of Practice for School Library Learning Commons in Canada. The Leading Learning Implementation Award has been established to recognize, honour and applaud school districts, provinces and territories who have developed and/or enhanced their school library learning commons on a systemic basis, founded on the tenets, principles and continuous growth and renewal focus of the five standards of Leading Learning.
This award honours school districts, provinces and territories that focus on the impact that implementing Leading Learning standards has had on student/teacher/community learning, with relevance at local, provincial or national levels.
The Leading Learning Implementation Award is also presented bi-annually at the CSL Treasure Mountain Research Symposium dinner with a framed certificate for the school district, province or territory and complementary registration to TMC for one school district, provincial or territorial representative. Commencing in 2022 one award recipient representative will be invited to jury current nominees through the CSL awards committee.
Meet the CSL 2020 Leading Learning Implementation Award Recipient
The inaugural 2020 Leading Learning Implementation Award recipient was Pembina Trails School Division, Winnipeg, Manitoba. A district representative was able to receive the honor in person at TMC 6. Involvement in the creation of, and as a direct result of the Leading Learning document, school libraries in Pembina Trails have embraced the learning commons model. Collaborations between classroom teachers and teacher-librarians occur on a regular basis, multi-modal literacies are embraced, and learners are driven by their own questions and curiosities led by the library learning commons team. Pembina Trails library learning commons impacts and empowers learners by designing learning opportunities that allow students to become constructors of knowledge, to find their own voices, to become global collaborators seeking justice and environmental stewardship, and to creatively communicate their learning and passions with others.
Pembina Trails School Division library staff members continue to use Leading Learning as a guide for continual improvement. To help guide their practice, every year new teacher-librarians in the division receive a copy of Leading Learning. During the year, every teacher-librarian in Pembina Trails uses Leading Learning to guide their practice based on the theme that the Library Learning Commons Consultant has chosen for that year and the needs of their learning.
Find more information about the 2020 recipient here.
AND REMEMBER…NOMINATIONS ARE DUE JUNE 30th, 2022!
Judith Sykes is a member of the CSL Board of Directors, and chair of the CSL Awards Committee.