NewsLeader - 2006 Spring

Georgia School Library Media Specialist of the Year
Sponsored by
Georgia Library Media Association, Inc. (GLMA, Inc.)
An affiliate of the
Georgia Association of Educators (GAE)
National Educational Association (NEA)
And
American Association of School Librarians (AASL)
And
Georgia Association for Instructional Technology, Inc. (GAIT, Inc.)
An affiliate of the
Association for Education Communications and Technology (AECT)

Georgia Library Media Association, Inc. and Georgia Association for Instructional Technology, Inc. co-sponsor the Georgia School Library Media Specialist of the Year Award to recognize K-12 library media specialists who services have resulted in exemplary library media programs. Nominees must:

  • Be currently assigned to a building level library media center, and
  • Have three or more years of experience as a library media specialist, and
  • Be a member of one of the sponsoring organizations

Any member(s) of the governing board who is/are nominated for the award shall abstain from voting on matters related to the award during their term of office; however, current members of the GLMA & GAIT Board of Directors ARE eligible for the award.

Administrators, teachers, or other library media specialists may submit nominations for System Level Library Media Specialist of the Year to the System Library Media Committee. The System Library Media committee will review the nominations and select a Library Media Specialist of the Year to recognize and honor at the system level and will also handle local recognition in the news media. System level selection should be completed and sent to the GLMA District Chair for nomination from the system by April 30, 2006. Applications will be reviewed by the GLMA District Chair and appointed committee. Each District will select one nominee to receive the honor of District Media Specialist of the Year (DMSOTY). The District Chair will forward the DMSOTY application package to the GLMA/GAIT Awards Committee by June 15, 2006. The district winner should be aware that his/her name is being submitted for statewide recognition.

The GLMA/GAIT State Awards Committee will choose the Georgia Library Media Specialist of the Year from the nominations submitted by the districts. This state winner will be announced during the September, 2006 COMO conference at the Classic Center in Athens , Georgia . All district winners, as well as the state winner, along with their enablers, will be recognized and presented awards at the COMO general session. Each DMSOTY should plan to be at the COMO conference where awards are given and the state winner is announced.

“Enablers”

Because exemplary school library media programs do not exist in isolation, but are the heart of the instructional program, there is an individual who, more than anyone else, enables the library media specialist to provide the exemplary program. Therefore, GLMA, Inc. and GAIT, Inc. will also honor “enablers” chosen by the award recipients at the district and state levels at the COMO conference.

2006 School Library Media Specialist of the Year
Application Form and Award Guidelines

The entire application may not exceed six (6) pages, double-spaced, and must consist of:

  • A written narrative not to exceed three (3) double-spaced pages including:
    • The individual’s philosophy of information technology utilization in K-12 schools
    • A description of the individual’s personal leadership in using technology to expand access to and uses of information and ideas by students, teachers, and the community
    • A description of the innovative techniques used to provide media services in any of the following areas:
      • Collaborative planning
      • Productive use of media resources
      • Sharing ideas with others
    • A one page biographical sheet (Vitae or resume)
    • A letter of recommendation from a parent, student, teacher, principal, superintendent, or other supervising personnel.

Please provide the name, position, address, and telephone number of the person who has been more professional influential in enabling you to establish an exemplary library media program. Write a brief rationale (one to three sentences only).

Do not include materials not requested in the criteria above. Additional materials, which are not requested, will not be accepted for consideration.

Judging Criteria  

The School Library Media Specialist of the Year Award is for individual excellence in the library media field through service to students, teachers, and community at the K-12 levels. Factors to be considered are:

  • Evidence of personal leadership in fulfilling the roles of teacher, information specialist, and instruction consultant as defined in Information Power: Guidelines for School Library Media Programs;
  • Evidence of professional involvement in the library media field; and
  • Evidence of providing a quality library media program to K-12 students and teachers by imp[lamenting the individual’s personal philosophy of information technology utilization

Prizes for Recipients  

System Level Recipients

  • Up to the local system

District Level Recipients

  • $50.00
  • A plaque
  • A certificate for the enabler (Presented by the state organizations at COMO ; other recognition may be provided at the district level when the award is announced at district meetings.)

State Level Recipients

  • $200.00
  • A plaque
  • One-year membership in GAIT, Inc. and GLMA, Inc.
  • A plaque for the enabler

Each System Library Media Committee should mail one complete application package to the GLMA District Contact Person listed on the GLMA Website http://www.glma-inc.org

At the District level, after receiving all nominations by the deadline of April 30, 2006, the District Chair or designee will chair a committee to consider the nominees for the district. The committee is encouraged to make nominations from within the district, especially if there are few nominees. They should request that the nominee prepare an application. The announcement of this District Media Specialist of the Year may be made at a District Spring meeting. The District Chair or his/her delegate should see that area newspapers are notified of the selection of this person. The District winner should be made aware that his/her name will be submitted for statewide recognition. The District winner should plan to be at the COMO conference where district recognition and awards are given and where the state winner will be announced.

GLMA District Contacts will mail the completed DMSOTY application package to:

The 2006 GLMA LMSOTY Chair Person listed on the GLMA Website http://www.glma-inc.org