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TL8-3Larry 36 Ontario School Library Association To that end Joyce is planning a Think Tank for this fall when teacher-librarian and library technician voices will be invited to pool ideas for a plan to focus our strengths and build collaboration. Please respond to the call or take the initiative to come for- ward when Joyce calls. By the way, Joyce has retired this June but she is con- tinuing to work for school librarianship. We are most grateful! Joyce will soon discover that the term 'retirement' is an oxymoron. Portfolio: OSLA's PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTES led by Michelle Regina Work is well on the way for the third annual two- day OSLA Summer Institute on August 27th-28th at four sites - Hamilton, Toronto, Whitby and London. (See the back cover, the OLA web site and the sepa- rate brochure in this mailing for registration details.) The topics are the two of greatest current need and interest to all educators and to us specifically. Day One is Literacy @ your library. Literacy is gain- ing focus in Ontario and is backed by Ministry fund- ing. The day focuses on areas such as the latest liter- acy research linked to school libraries, the ways that we can do what we're doing better in the area of col- lection development, teaching and unit planning with practical strategies such as WebQuests and tak- ing a leadership role in school literacy teams. Day Two's focus is on advocacy, with topics such as the latest research linking student learning and school librarianship, T-L competencies and develop- ment of individual action plans. Teams of teacher-librarians to present at each site are established. Each day will consist of a half day's lab work. The format continues to follow the 'train- the-trainer' model with handouts, tools and strate- gies that encourage participants to use any of the ideas and materials in their home front. The exciting part of the planning day for this as well as the 3-day OTF Institute, plus the teaching teams organized to facilitate the sessions, is the inclusion of six practicing teacher-librarians from schools. Yes, we are widening the circle of participation! Portfolio: PARTNERSHIPS led by Esther Rosenfeld Ministry of Education connections Active participation on the part of OSLA contin- ues in a variety of ways, including several recent new projects. We continue to work as members of Ministry Associations, Subject / Division Association and OTF's Curriculum Forum. OSLA representation through Esther's voice has result- ed in increased library-specific participation in Ministry-funded projects complemented by Linsey Hammond's work as she represents us at the Curriculum Forum. One of these projects is within the continued unfolding of the new Ontario curriculum - this September the grade 11 courses, 127 in all. Course Profiles will consist of only two units with invita- tions to Subject Associations to create support materials and the sharing of materials developed at the school levels. Here's another big task, teacher-librarians, as you become familiar with those of the 127 possibles offered in your school and the inquiry research expectations in those courses. It is still true that only one policy document implicitly names the school library program. The Ontario Curriculum, Grades 9 to 12: Program Planning and Assessment, 2000 states, "effective school library programs play an important role in the development of information literacy skills among students by supporting and co-ordinating the collaborative planning and implementation of reading programs, inquiry and research tasks, and independent study." Quote this descriptive statement often. It rein- forces the importance of the OLA document, Information Studies: Kindergarten to Grade 12 (99) with its links to the new curriculum. OTF summer institutes This year school libraries are again included as a course in the three-day Curriculum Summer Institutes in August for teachers. This is the third year of this joint venture of the Ministry, Teachers' Federations and Subject Associations. Since their focus is subject implementation, we do not come to mind but active participation in PRESIDENT'S REPORT