President's Message

As President of the Kentucky School Media Association, I want to welcome you to our website. KSMA is an affiliate of the American Library Association and the Kentucky Library Association. We are a professional organization supporting library media specialists throughout the state of Kentucky.

This is an exciting time to be a school library media specialist. AASL has issued the new Standards for 21 st Century Learners which explains our vision for teaching and learning in the 21 st century. We also have our new guidelines explaining the library media specialists' role in teaching and learning in Empowering Learners: Guidelines for School Library Media Programs. We are learning to incorporate these standards and guidelines through AASL's implementation plan, Learning for Life.

While we are leaders in 21 st century teaching and learning, it is more important now than ever to be strong advocates of our profession. As budget cuts loom over us, it is crucial that students, parents, teachers, and administrators see the important role we play in the school and in the curriculum.

Please join us for our Summer Refresher on July 20, 2010 at Dixie Heights High School in Edgewood, Kentucky. We will have a day full of sessions for school library media specialists presented by school library media specialists. We are currently accepting proposals. If you have great programs or activities to share, please let us know! Another opportunity for professional development will be the KLA/KSMA Joint Conference on September 17 and 18 in Louisville, Kentucky.

Again, welcome to our site. We hope you will become involved in our wonderful organization.

Sincerely,

Melissa Gardner