The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

Teaching Librarian Re ONTARIO SCHOOL LIBRARY port derful new challenge as she embraces motherhood. Sya Van Geest has stepped down as past- president, but will continue to work diligently on the many library initia- tives she so passionately supports. Our 2003 council worked hard together but had many, many laughs. We will miss them all so much. We now welcome several fresh faces who will be working diligently on your behalf. Sharon Rowlandson will represent the northern region, Peggy Thomas the Toronto area, Jim Neill the Eastern region, and Anne Coleman the Central East. Michael Rossettis, from York Catholic, will be our new Treasurer/Secretary, and Brenda Dillon has accepted the posi- tion of editor of The Teaching Librarian. With the expertise of Anita Brooks- Kirkland as our vice-presi- dent, Esther Rosenfeld as past-presi- dent, and Linda Girardo, Terri Lyons and Mark Kaminski (OSLA Web site edi- tor) staying on, our 2004 council is sure to be a productive and dynamic team. As always, we look forward to input from you. I am very excit- ed to move into the role of president. My intention is to continue to for- ward our mission of advocacy on as many fronts as possible. Members responded very favourably to the brochure for parents. The brochures for teachers and principals, which were also designed by council mem- bers, are now available on our Web site in .pdf format and are included with this mailing. It is critical that these reach the hands of people who can help make change. Although the ministry does not have a new policy document in its plans at the current time, we will continue to work towards that goal. We anticipate a meeting with Education Minister Gerard Kennedy to discuss our pro- posals for change to the state of our school libraries. Recently, articles outlining the deplorable situation of our school libraries and questioning the inten- tions of the new government were featured in the February 2004 Quill & Quire; The Hamilton Spectator on January 22, 2004; and OSSTF's Update on Jan. 13, 2004. This media coverage comes at an excellent time and supports the notion that we are valued, and indeed, indispensable. Our upcoming year will not be without its challenges, but we are ready, willing, and equipped to face them head on in our effort to increase our presence in our schools. z dateline TL The OLA Education Institute 8 weeks ON LINE starting April 26 from Your Desktop SEARCHING FASTER AND SMARTER ON THE WEB Rita Vine OLA member, $189.00 Non-member, $239.00. The OLA Education Institute April 30-May 1 Toronto TEENS @ YOUR LIBRARY: THE CONFERENCE Michael Ignatieff Theatre and Trinity College, University of Toronto Michael Cart, Hal Niedzviecki, Tim Wynne-Jones, Rachel Ward, Ken Setterington and over a dozen other speakers, as well as poster sessions and displays. Limited to 160 delegates. OLA member, $189.00. Non-member, $249.00. (One day registration, $119.00 and $169.00 members/non-members.) The OLA Education Institute in association with the Australian School Library Association ON LINE FROM YOUR DESKTOP May 15-31 CONSTRUCTING COMMUNITIES OF LEARNING AND LITERACY A world wide school library event See page 6 COMNG IN FEBRUARY February 3-5 SUPER CONFERENCE 2005 the event Over 300 speakers, 200 workshops, 225 booth exhibit, social events and over 4100 of your peers and friends! Metro Toronto Convention Centre. See the OLA's web site for the full program of the Education Institute: http://www.accessola.com Your OLA information source. ur library® Esther Rosenfeld