School Libraries: What’s Next (an ebook project)

Share your vision for our future.  Please consider contributing to this exciting crowdsourced collaborative visioning project coordinated by Kristin Fontichiaro and Buffy Hamilton.

To coincide with the 2011 Treasure Mountain and AASL National Conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota, we are engaging in an ebook publishing experiment, and we want you to be a part of it!

We are delighted to accept submissions for a collection of crowdsourced short essays on the future of school libraries from multiple perspectives, to be published in e-book format. We believe this e-book is a way for librarians to take the lead as content creators and publishers with custom, community-significant content for patrons. We also believe that in doing so, we can shatter the limits of print books and allow all voices to be heard.

We’re posing a set of essential questions that will encourage you — and us! —  to think deeply about the future of school libraries in the areas of:

• Gaming
• 21st-Century Learners
• Who and When Do We Teach?
• Reading
• Emerging and Multiple Literacies
• Networks and Organizations
• The Physical Library
• The Virtual Library
• Collaboration
• Collection Development
• Librarian Coursework and Professional Development

You can learn more about our project, the topics we are exploring, and how to submit by visiting the links on the Submissions page. The Submission Guidelines document will let you know more about the length, style, and topics.

Thank you for your interest in our experiment – we hope you will join us!

Best,

Kristin Fontichiaro

Buffy Hamilton

schoollibrariesebook@umich.edu

Timeline

July 11, 2011 – Submissions open!

September 15, 2011 – submissions due

October 26 – November 16, 2011 – ebook available for free download

after November 16, 2011 – price may increase to $.99; possible print-on-demand release

Watch our book grow.

Filed under: advocacy, ala, ebooks, future, school libraries