Mark your calendar for for the 16th Annual Summer Institute for School Librarians – June 12th – 13th, at Emporia State University. The 2013 Institute will focus on Reading Informational Text and Non-fiction—Text Complexity and the Growth of Comprehension in Kansas College and Career Ready Standards.

Learning to read effectively is an excursion toward increasing abilities to comprehend texts.  In today’s schools, school librarians and classroom teachers must evaluate text and recommend resources and materials that match age and ability levels, interests and needs of students.  We must enable students to increase their abilities to understand and use what they read.  Our students must stay on track toward required academic progress as well as to enjoy and appreciate what they read for pleasure.  The goal of this year’s Institute is to inform and prepare school libraries for this reality.

Day one of the Institute will once again focus on best, instructional practices.  The emphases this year will be on text evaluation, particularly the school librarian’s role in evaluation of informational and non-fiction texts.  Days one and two will include author presentations.  Author presentations will inspire instruction that includes reading and writing, and will highlight the importance of using informational and non-fiction texts from the school library collection in content area instruction.  Throughout the Institute, participants will focus on efforts to ensure that students and schools meet established goals, including the goal of ensuring all students graduate ready for college and careers.

Come to Emporia State University, The Teachers College (Visser Hall, Room 118).  Each day, doors will open at 8:30 a.m. Sessions will begin at 9:00 a.m.  There will be light snacks and drinks when you arrive.  Lunch and break drinks/food will provided on-site both days and is included in the registration fee.

Free parking will be in the gray parking lot, down the hill north of The Teachers College (not violet, not parking meters).  There are disability parking spaces available at the front door (east) of The Teachers College.  Cars parked in unauthorized areas will be ticketed.

Register now! Complete a  Summer Institute registration form  and send it by fax or mail to Northeast Kansas Library System, 4317 W. 6th St., Lawrence, KS 66049; FAX: 785-838-3989. The  registration fee is $130. Space is limited. A maximum of 125 participants will be accepted on first-come, first-served basis. The deadline to register is May 31, 2013.

To earn graduate course credit through Emporia State University for participating in Summer Institute, you must enroll as an ESU student and pay additional tuition. Enroll in LI755XI, Kansas Summer Institute for School Library Media Specialists, 1 credit hour, Dow.  Tuition is $373 for Kansas residents, $773 for nonresidents.  You may enroll by calling ESU’s Office of Distance Education, 1-877-332-4249 (toll free) or 620-341-5385.  Jan Gerstner is the administrative assistant who will be happy to assist you.

Please note that if you enroll for credit, you must also register for Summer Institute using the above form. The $130 Summer Institute registration fee must be paid in addition to your tuition payment to ESU.

Summer Institute Sponsors: Kansas Department of Education; School of Library and Information Management, Emporia State University; Northeast Kansas Library System; State Library of Kansas; and Kansas Association of School Librarians.