District-Wide+Battle+of+the+Books+From+the+Ground+Up

Literacy/Literature • All //Room 104// Two years ago we were sitting in a meeting, waiting breathlessly for the Merced Union High School District Board of Trustees to vote on a proposal to cut TLs. Thanks to a lot of advocacy and community support the board voted unanimously to maintain our positions. Our district was one of the few in California that had had fully staffed libraries for as long as anyone could remember so the proposed cuts were both a shock and a wake-up call. Too much of our hard work goes unnoticed by the decision makers. TLs need to flaunt their abilities, especially the ability to get kids excited about reading. A district-wide Battle of the Books is a grand and very public gesture-- and it is tons of fun. Find out how the MUHSD TLs worked collaboratively to create a program from scratch and generated positive press for our schools and district and a tremendous amount of energy and excitement among staff and students.
 * District-Wide Battle Of The Books From The Ground Up**

This session will cover, among other things, title selection, writing questions, finding moderators, PR, transportation, managing teams, keeping score, using Google Docs, resolving challenges, and how to keeping going when it looks like everything is falling apart.


 * **Sarah Morgan** has been a teacher librarian for 9 years in elementary, middle and the high school setting. She is currently the teacher librarian at Merced High School. She has a Master’s Degree from Fresno Pacific University in Education with an emphasis in School Libraries and Information Technology. She is now adjunct faculty for FPU and teaches in the teacher librarian credential program, in addition to being a high school teacher librarian. She has presented at many local and state-wide conferences including CSLA, CRA and CAPHERD.
 * **Julie Cook** is a second year teacher librarian working on her Masters in Education with an emphasis in School Libraries and Information Technology at Fresno Pacific University. She has a BA in English and single subject teaching credential from CSU Stanislaus. Prior to her move into the library, she was a remedial reading and Advance Placement English Literature and Composition teacher. In her spare time at Buhach Colony High School, Julie is also the Character Counts Lead Teacher for the campus.
 * **Sheryl Garman** has been the TL at Atwater High School for 4 years. She has an MA in School Librarianship from Azusa Pacific University, an MA in Curriculum and Technology from University of Phoenix, a BA in Child Development from California State University at Sacramento, and K-12 Multiple Subject teaching credential. She is a member of Young Adult Library Services Assn, and has served as District Librarian, overseeing operations of eight elementary school libraries.
 * **Tony Doyle** has been the TL at Livingston High School for 15 years. He has an MLIS from San Jose State, a BA in Spanish from the University of Texas and teaching credentials in Math and Spanish. He has served as a technology grant reviewer for the CA State Dept. of Ed and has served on a WASC visiting committee. He has presented numerous times at CSLA conferences on technology and literacy issues.
 * **Jamie Dyra** is a second year teacher librarian at Golden Valley High School in Merced, California. She is currently working on her Masters in Education with an emphasis in School Libraries and Information Technology at Fresno Pacific University. She has a BA in English and single subject English teaching credential from CSU Fresno. Prior to her move into the library, she was an English teacher, specializing in Advance Placement English Language and Composition and American Literature. Jamie is also the lead Character Counts teacher at her campus.

MUHSD Battle of the Books titles: []