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Teaching, Vol 8, No. 2 x 34 Ontario School Library Association have wide ranging teaching assignments, who are new to the position, who teach in districts with no central support or leadership. Members who are district co-ordinators or consultants are likely to have responsibilities expanded to include much more than school libraries and who indeed, may come to the leadership role with other subject specialties. With all this come changing needs and challenges for our Association to respond with new vision and new expressions of support. At the November Policy Forum Stephanie led a discus- sion in our division. Together we confirmed the clusters of members, identified possible needs and interests and brainstormed ways and means for the Association to respond now and in the future. All the input was recorded to carry the project forward this year. The OSLA representative on this OLA task force is Councillor Joyce Cunningham. Are you interested in helping? Contact Joyce at <jcunning- ham@mail.rrdsb.com> or Stephanie at <member- ship@accessola.com> Silver Birch Award and Red Maple Award Reading Project This project is now under way in many schools and public libraries. It continues to expand in popularity across the province and beyond with children reading Canadian books for pleasure and then voting for their choice of winning author. This is the first time that I'm experiencing first hand the excitement and joy of this OLA project. The circumstances around my involvement are not happy ones. It's because the new teacher- librarian at my granddaughter's school is stretched between two schools and is at Alison's only three afternoons a week. I'm so angry about the consequences of that situation. My grand- daughter was so disappointed that the Silver Birch Club could not run this year. Believe me, I'm telling all and sundry about this sad example of school library program cutbacks. It was even in the newspaper story that covered my contribu- tion of the $200 tax rebate cheque to the school library, specifically towards the cost of the Silver Birch project. OLA Action Plan For School Libraries At the Policy Forum, within the context of the half-day Advocacy focus, participants came to the conclusion that the task of revitalizing school proven leaders as new Portfolio Chairs and Regional Councillors Flavia Renon, Rose Dodgson, Kendra Godin-Svoboda and Bobbie Henley (see pp. 20-21) Council also extends a fond good-bye, along with a whole lot of gratitude and appreciation to Linsey Hammond, Cathi Gibson-Gates, Susan Markle, each of whom completed their three-year term on Council and Ruthanne Snider after one year because of other commitments. By the way, Cathi is now the OLA 's Treasurer and Chair of the 2002 Super Conference. Please post the Council list contained in this mail- ing for easy contact and reference. Remember that the Councillor's portfolio role is one of leadership and a conduit to Council not a mandate to do the actual work. So dear members please answer the call for active participation and get involved to the degree that you are able. You are urged to use com- munication structures such as the listserv, the web- site, e-mails or calls to individual Chairs. We all know the story by Dr. Seuss, Horton Hears a Who. INITIATIVES AND PROJECTS OSLA's Professional Institutes for Teacher-Librarians: Continuing the Series The topics and locations for the next two Institutes are in response to the requests of participants in the Summer 2000 Institutes in Oshawa, Sudbury and Guelph as well as members-at-large. They reflect a continuum that started with the Overview of Information Studies: A Curriculum For Student Success first held in the summer of 1999. They con- tinue to evolve into specific implementation strate- gies, always looking to exemplary practices in school library programs. The format continues to follow the 'train-the trainer' model with handouts, tools and strategies that encourage participants to use any of the ideas and materials to present their own workshops on their home front. OLA Membership Project In response to changes in the composition of our membership and the need for increased strength that comes with more members, OLA has initiated a membership project facilitated by Stephanie Parcher, Director of OLA Membership. Within our own division the profiles of our members has changed over the past few years. Increasingly it includes teacher-librarians who are part-time, who PRESIDENT'S REPORT