Conferences

For professional stimulation and energizing, there is nothing like going to a conference with colleagues. Fortunately Atlanta is home to a number of professional conferences each year. We are encouraged to attend these and share tips, lessons and new ideas with our staff and fellow media specialists.

Some conferences to consider are: ALA: American Library Association, [|www.ala.org] (June, Midwinter in January) AASL: American Association of School Librarians, [|www.ala.org/aasl] (November every other year) AECT: Association of Educational and Computer Technology BER: Bureau of Educational Research: www.ber.org Gerogia COMO:Council of Media Organizations: http://www.georgiacomo.org/ (October) Children's Literature Conference in Athens, sponsored by the University of Georgia: http://www.coe.uga.edu/gcba/ Children's Literature Conference in Kennesaw, sponsored by Kennesaw College and State University: http://www.kennesaw.edu/education/eece/childlit/ (End of April) GAIT: Georgia Association for Instructional Technology: http://www.gait-inc.org/ GaETC: Georgia Educational Technology Conference: http://www.gaetc.org/ GLMA: Georgia Library Media Association:http://glma-inc.org/ IRA.org: International Reading Association: (May) NECC: National Educcational Computing Conference: http://center.uoregon.edu/ISTE/NECC2008/ Summer Institute sponsored by GLMA. Watch for details from GLMA or check the website. (June)

Conferences vary greatly in price. Occassionally funds may be available from Media Services, but more likely this will rest upon the local school to assist in funding. Check with Media Services Coordinator or the school principal for details. If you complete a Duty Leave form and have it approved/signed by your principal (even for summer conferences), you may use book fair/PTA funds to cover expenses (i.e. mileage, registration, lodging).