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TL 10.1q 26 Ontario School Library Association In Secondary Book Talks, which was the name of the second session I attended, the notion that booktalks are a powerful way to turn students onto reading was reinforced. Devra Freedman's enthusiasm for young adult fiction was catching. Her mini reviews and book lists were timely and there was some great discussion on professional books to pro- mote literacy. And that was the only the first day! The second day, focusing on technology, began with Esther Rosenfeld, who introduced and gave an overview of the draft form of the TDSB Standards for Information and Communications Technologies Document, stressing that it should be used as a vehicle to knowledge and understanding, imbedded into all curriculum. I spent the rest of this day in front of a com- puter. The morning session, entitled Getting Inspired With Inspiration Software, was fascinat- ing and very useful. This software can be used by students of all ages, in any subject area, to increase their graphic literacy and meet various learning styles. Participants were led through a training session, whereby we created simple webs, using graphics, colours, symbols, and hid- den messages. Kendra Grant, the instructor, showed us numerous applications for student learning and teacher use. Her handouts exempli- fied the incredible range of activities that this software is capable of, from creating an in-depth literature circle for a novel study, to construct- ing a properly written paragraph, and every- thing in between. Teachers too could use Inspiration to plan units of study. All in all, a very valuable workshop! My last session was the one I had been look- ing forward to from the start - Enhancing Your School Library Web Page. Even though I'm not from the TDSB and don't have a proper library web page yet, I was very interested in gather- ing ideas so that I could get started immediate- ly. I now know exactly what I want on our web page, thanks to Mark Kaminski and others par- ticipating in the group. Lots of ideas were dis- cussed about making changes to the template that each library in the TDSB has, customizing it to meet the unique needs of the school. If I ever get my web page up and running - and this is one of my goals for this year - it should be our students' one stop for research, with links to all they need. I can't wait to get started! I would like to thank Esther and all of the organizers and presenters for two great days. Few of us can deny that there is always some aspect of managing a school library that needs attention or updating. And sessions such as these provide a real 'shot in the arm' for both new and veteran teacher-librarians. Judging from the number of participants, it appears that many teacher-librarians in the TDSB know how fortunate they are to have such an opportunity for professional growth. zz "Readers turn a library from a museum to a theatre." ~Claire Mackay Teacher-librarians participating in the summer workshops.