The talk at the Illinois School Library Media Association conference, last night, seemed to go well.  Much was working against me.  I’m much more of a morning person, and I’d already done two presentations.  I ate a full dinner at the banquet, but rejected the birthday cake (ISLMA’s 20th birthday).  The sugar crash that was certain to happen in the audience about 20 minutes into the address also concerned me.  But all indications were that it went well.

During the afternoon, I saw the metaphor for school libraries that I’d been looking for become revealed.  I watched a presentation by Anne O’Malley (New Trier High School),  Carolyn Roys (Lake Park High School), and Penny Swartz (Niles West High School) deliver a breakout session called Print vs Online in the Library.  The session was not so much about the difference and preference of print versus online, as much as it was about the qualities of each and how they can and should be integrated into the work of learning.

The best thing about this presentation was that there were three media specialists who were sharing their experiences from three high schools, and what I saw in their work was that they were viruses.  It’s not really such an appealing image for librarians.  But it’s perfect for today’s schools that are operating in an atmosphere of information, information that’s participatory, infinitely connectible, and abundant.  These librarians were infecting their schools with the desire to evolve.