BC Teacher-Librarians' Association

Susin Nielsen – presenting at the BCTLA October Conference – A Can’t Miss Presenter

“This is the first day I’ve written in a diary. The reason I am, is ’cos I love writing stories, and if I do grow up to be a famous writer, and later die, and they want to get a story of my life, I guess I should keep a diary.” Nielsen wrote this poorly constructed sentence when she was eleven. And while she isn’t exactly famous (although she likes to think she’s big in Belgium), and no one has written the story of her life, she did predict her future occupation. She got her start writing for the hit TV series Degrassi Junior High and went on to write for more than twenty Canadian shows.

Nielsen is the author of six critically acclaimed and award-winning novels, including the recently published No Fixed Address, Optimists Die First (nominated for the UK’s Carnegie Medal), We Are All Made of Molecules (winner of the Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children’s Book Award and long-listed for UK’s Carnegie Medal), Word Nerd (winner of multiple young readers’ choice awards) and The Reluctant Journal of Henry K. Larsen (winner of the Governor General’s Literary Award, the Canadian Library Association’s Children’s Book of the Year, and the UK Literacy Award and #27 on Rolling Stone magazine’s “Top 40 Best YA Novels” list).

Nielsen has been called the John Green of Canada. She once had a dream that John Green had been called the Susin Nielsen of the United States. Her books have been translated into many languages. She lives in Vancouver with her family and two naughty cats.

Susin presents from 10:30 to 11:30 am at the BCTLA Conference, October 19th at Richmond Senior Secondary School, 7171 Minoru Blvd, Richmond, BC. 

Features include:

• The President’s Message
• Update on the BCTLA Conference in October
• Reviewing the BCTLA Summer Institute
• DEAR
• Meeting your BCTLA Executive
• Contests!

Download your copy here.

On August 27, 2018 participants from around the province had the opportunity to explore the importance of oral stories and traditions within the Secwepemc culture (PowerPoint Resource link can be found here).  We started our day in the Assembly Hall, where Tk’emlups Councillor Rosanne Casimir welcomed us and shared a welcome song. The administrator of the First Nations Education Council, Judy Dunn, then addressed the group and shared the important history of the space. Kenthen Thomas and Roxane Letterlough immersed guests in the tradition of Aboriginal storytelling by sharing techniques, protocols and connections to family.

Later in the morning, participants toured the Heritage Grounds with Karen Aird and learned more about local plants, ethnobotany, pithouses and Secwepemc culture. Museum Educator, Jackie Jules, took guests through the Secwepemc Museum and the Residential School, sharing the history of the Kamloops Residential School.

In the afternoon, District Principal of Aboriginal Education, Mike Bowden and Library Coordinator, Andrea Wallin welcomed the group back from lunch. School District #73 Teacher-Librarians Nicole Gorman, Melisa Hunter, Kristin Bond and Rick Rhynolds shared their innovation grant project: Transformational Storytelling with Loose Parts. Participants ended the day by learning how to make pine needle medallions with local artisan, Wendy Leonard.

Such an inspiring day of learning, connecting and reflecting does not happen without the hard work of a dedicated team of educators who were willing to give up countless hours to plan and deliver the experience. The BCTLA would like to thank the Kamloops Teacher-Librarian’s Association for an amazing Summer Institute experience!

Our conference link for October 2018 is open!

Register with the BCTLA here: https://bctla.ourconference.ca/ 

The BC Teacher’s Librarian’s Association presents:

Friday, October 19, 2018

Richmond, BC.

Challenge Accepted: Librarianship and Human Rights

Keynote – Dr. Toni Samek

Professor & Chair at the School of Library and Information Studies, University of Alberta

Join us at Richmond Secondary School for a day filed with informative workshops and collegial connections (Lunch included)

You can download our conference poster here:

BC Teacher Librarians

We hope to see you there!

October is Library Month

Monday, October 22nd is BC School Library Day.

Share-Celebrate-Advocate. Everyone can participate:

• Drop Everything and Read! Participate in the BC DEAR challenge.
• Visit your school library soon!

BCTLA DEAR: Drop Everything and Read

The 2018 Drop Everything and Read Challenge will be held on Monday October 22, 2018!

BCTLA is excited to offer large pdf’s to promote the event. We have offered two choices in English/French. Posters may be downloaded and printed in any way by anyone in any jusrisdiction! However, if you wish to make alterations to the content included on any of the posters, please contact BCTLA regarding the necessary copyright permissions.

Follow DEAR: @bctla_dear on Twitter

Choose from the following selection of files.

To print letter-sized posters: try printing ‘scale to fit’ or ‘fit to page’. For larger posters: try scaling it up to 22 x 34.

2017 ENGLISH CHOICES		2017 FRENCH CHOICES
Click here to download pdf:  DEAR 2018-English (Light Blue)		Click here to download pdf: Dear 2018-French (Light Blue)
Click here to download pdf: Dear 2018-English		Click here to download pdf: Dear 2018-French