SC&I faculty, students, staff, and alumni will attend this year's New Jersey Association of School Librarians (NJASL) 2023 conference at the Hard Rock Hotel in Atlantic City from Sunday, December 3, through Tuesday, December 5. The theme for the annual conference is "A World of Stories: A Celebration of Diversity in School Libraries."   

The conference's featured keynote speakers include Ellen Oh, author and CEO of We Need Diverse Books; Derrick Barnes, award-winning author and illustrator; and Vera Ahiyya, the Tutu Teacher, author, and educator. 

SC&I invites attendees to the second annual Ross Todd Memorial Research Panel, “Action Research in School Library: Rutgers Schoen Fellows Share,” led by Associate Teaching Professor of Library and Information Science Joyce Kasman Valenza and Brenda Boyer, NTT Lecturer in Library and Information Science.  

“In this session, we will highlight the work of our Schoen Research Fellow graduate students at Rutgers LIS,” noted Valenza. “The students’ work focuses on outdoor learning, use of primary sources, object-based museum learning, international children’s literature, and equity. Former and current fellows will describe their work and its contribution to the field. All resources—lessons, LibGuides, toolkits—will be shared for immediate use and to inspire replicable action research in your school library.”

Valenza is leading an AI workshop, “AI in Teaching and Learning: An Interactive Petting Zoo,” where attendees will explore and test-drive applications for productivity, research, and instructional design and consider the framing of new norms for integration of AI platforms in learning.

Library and Information Science Associate Professor of Practice Marc Aronson will give two presentations on Sunday, December 3. Of the first, “Building a Global Youth Literature Collection 101” with Samantha Bremekamp MI’16, Aronson said, “We will discuss the International Youth Literature Collection at Alexander Library the ‘traveling selection of international books’ that we are making available, the forthcoming Celebration of the International Children's Book, and how school librarians can work with us to make use of the IYLC.”

In Aronson’s second presentation, “Want to Add Books for Children and Teenagers From Other Countries to Your Library But You Don't Know Where to Start: We Can Help,” he will introduce librarians to the “starter kit" that he is creating with Dr. Annette Goldsmith of Kent State and the Japanese translator David Jacobson that gives librarians tools for identifying international youth literature that would serve their needs.

NJASL is New Jersey's only statewide organization for school librarians. As noted on their website, they believe that every student in every New Jersey school deserves to be taught by state-certified full-time school library media specialists and supported by a resource-rich school library program. NJASL's 2023-2024 executive board of trustees includes four Rutgers SC&I alumni: President Beth Raff MI'18, President-Elect Karen Grant MLIS'15, Vice President Gabrielle Casieri SCILS’09, and Past President Ewa Dziedzic-Elliott MLIS'14.

NJASL's programs and initiatives focus on leadership, evaluation, and advocacy tools that promote national technology, information, and digital standards. View NJASL 2023 conference schedule for more details.

Image from NJASL 2023 website.