Honor your peers: nominate them for an award today!

Honor (noun) According to Dictionary.com honor is defined as "a source of credit or distinction; high respect, as for worth, merit, or rank; high public esteem." Does this describe someone you know or yourself?  If you answer this with a "yes" please nominate this person for one of the many WEMTA Awards.  Application deadline is January 15, 2016.  Apply today at http://www.wemta.org/awards/index.cfm

Award DEADLINE Approaching! Nominate someone TODAY!

DEADLINE Fast approaching on all nominations for WEMTA Awards: January 15, 2016. Need more information? see: http://www.wemta.org/awards/index.cfm

Battle of the Books team hard at work!

Your Wisconsin Battle of the Books team was hard at work this Saturday selecting questions for the annual battle! 

Thank you to everyone involved in Battle of the Books, from being on the committee to participating in the program. Together we make this one of the best book battles in the country. 

If you are interested in volunteering on the Battle committee, please email battle@wemta.org with your name and grade level interest. 

Nominate someone or apply for a WEMTA Award today!

Do you know a true library professional?  In the words of past winner Joan Evans:  “The Professional of the Year award was the ultimate affirmation of my Educator Effectiveness process! My administrator has used the award as an opportunity to promote the value of an LMS to fellow administrators. She believes an effective LMS collaborates to build a culture of reading, inquiry and critical thinking which ultimately impacts student achievement.”

Joan Evans

Library Media Specialist  l  Waubesa Intermediate School

Nominate someone or apply today!  http://www.wemta.org/awards/

Banned Book Week and Banned Website Awareness

​Banned Book Week is next week! Looking for last minute ideas?​

Visit http://www.bannedbooksweek.org/ for ideas, resources and more!

Don't forget about Banned Website Awareness Day, September 30, 2015

Visit http://www.ala.org/aasl/advocacy/bwad/resources

Battle of the Books Registration Open!

WEMTA's Battle of the Books program is beginning its 16th year and if your students haven't had the opportunity to participate, give it a try! There are elementary, middle level, and high school divisions. You need to organize the teams in your building. The booklists are available on the WEMTA website along with the timeline, rules, and FAQs. The battle committee supplies practice questions, online practice, and the final competition is conducted online also.

Early bird deadline is November 15, 2015.  Registration will only be accepted through December 15, 2015. Early bird fees are $15 through November 15, 2015.  November 16 through December 15, 2015, fees will be $30.  

Registration information is available here.   If you have changed districts and need to use a new email address, have trouble logging in or remembering your password,  DO NOT make a new profile record. Please contact the WEMTA office at wemta@wiscow.com or (608) 848-1232 to update your record with your new district and email or for a new password. Once it is updated, you will receive notification that you can then log into your old account and sign up for the Battle. Happy reading!

Forward Award: this could be YOU!

Teresa Voss: Forward Award Winner 2011, 2015  "Going through this process really gave me a chance to be reflective about my teaching and the library program. In addition, it provided a starting point for a wonderful conversation with my principal about what the library does and where the program should be going."

Award Applications are being accepted now! See http://www.wemta.org/awards/

for more information!

Awards season starts early!

Get an early start to the WEMTA Awards season!  Start thinking now of deserving individuals whom support the library program or whom are outstanding in what they do!  Recognize them!  See http://www.wemta.org/awards/ for more details!

2016 Golden Archer Award Nominees

The students of Wisconsin have nominated the titles for the 2016 Golden Archer Awards!

The nominees are...

PRIMARY (Students in kindergarten and early grades)

• The Adventures of Beekle: the unimaginary friend by Dan Santat (2014)
• The Book with No Pictures by BJ Novak (2014)
• Ivan: the remarkable true story of the shopping mall gorilla by Katherine Applegate (2014)
• The Nuts: bedtime at the Nut house by Eric Litwin (2014)
• Sam and Dave Dig a Hole by Mac Barnett (2014)

INTERMEDIATE (Students in middle elementary grades)

• Diary of a Wimpy Kid: the long haul by Jeff Kinney (2014)
• El Deafo by Cece Bell (2014)
• The Fourteenth Goldfish by Jennifer Holm (2014)
• Malcolm at Midnight by W. H Beck (2012)
• Ungifted by Gordon Korman (2012)

 

MIDDLE/JUNIOR HIGH (Students in upper grades, middle school, or junior high school)

• Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys (2011)
• The Blood of Olympus by Rick Riordan (2014)
• The Crossover by Kwame Alexander (2014)
• Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt (2015)
• Sisters by Raina Telgemeier (2014)

For full details on the Golden Archer Award program, please visit our website. Happy reading!

2015 Golden Archer Award Winners

The 2015 Golden Archer Award winners are...

Primary: The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt

Intermediate: Wonder by RJ Palacio

Middle/Junior High: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

Congratulations to all of the authors and thank you to all who participated!

For more information on WI's student chosen book award, the Golden Archer Award, please visit our website.

Marti Koller Wins 2015 Intellectual Freedom Award

Marti Koller, English Department Chair at the Baldwin-Woodville High School, is the winner of the 2015 Intellectual Freedom Award. The award is given jointly by the Wisconsin Library Association (WLA) and the Wisconsin Educational Media and Technology Association (WEMTA).

A long-time advocate of intellectual freedom, Koller has battled censorship and educated students about the principles of intellectual freedom and first amendment rights. In her work as a classroom teacher she has incorporated awareness of free speech, censorship, and intellectual freedom into the curriculum to inform and empower students on their academic journeys and beyond into their adult lives. Koller has resisted efforts to restrict content and materials, as well as holding administration accountable for following school board policy in formal reconsideration of materials both in her classes and in others’.

The authors of the nomination letter recommending Koller wrote “on multiple occasions, she has lead a charge to protect the shelves at Baldwin-Woodville High School. She has defended not only content in our district, but also the proper process of challenges” and “she has pioneered a focus on censorship issues in each of her classes…her leadership has been essential in the growth of staff, students, and community.” Furthermore, “as a result [of her efforts] I believe there is increased reluctance by school officials to circumvent the established process and arbitrarily remove or restrict materials.”

Koller will be honored at the WEMTA Awards Luncheon on Monday, March 23, 2015 in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin. Recognition will also be given during the WLA Conference in the Fall, 2015.

Since 2010, WLA and WEMTA have collaborated to give the annual intellectual freedom award. This award recognizes the contribution of an individual or group who has actively promoted intellectual freedom in Wisconsin.

The award is given based on the following criteria:

• Role in actively promoting intellectual freedom in their sphere of influence and beyond;
• Degree to which an individual or group exemplifies the spirit of intellectual freedom; and
• Efforts to promote intellectual freedom and challenge censorship.

Funding for the award is generously provided by TeachingBooks.net and the Center for Information Policy Research and the School of Information Studies, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Recipients are selected by a joint WLA/WEMTA Intellectual Freedom Award Committee.  

Members of 2015 Committee were: Sarah Cournoyer, chair (Assistant Director/Children’s Librarian, Horicon Public Library, Horicon, Wisconsin);  Carin Bringelson, (Director of Online Content & Collections, TeachingBooks.net, Madison, Wisconsin); Kristina Gómez (Librarian/Events & Programming, Milwaukee Public Library, Milwaukee, Wisconsin); Brionne Roberts-Bray (Library Media Specialist, Parkside School, Wautoma, Wisconsin); Susan Siel (Library Media Teacher, Bradford High School, Kenosha, Wisconsin); and Rachel Muchin Young (Director, Franklin Public Library, Franklin, Wisconsin).