Continuing Education Workshops

The CAL Continuing Education Committee is calling for proposals for Workshops to host this year.  It sounds like the CE Committee helps set up all the logistics if you have a topic that you’d like to present sometime this year.  (This is different from a workshop at the CAL Conference.)  I just heard about this yesterday, and the proposals are due on December 15th, so there’s not much time, but I wanted to make everyone aware of it.  Here are the proposal guidelines in PDF format:

CAL CE Workshop Proposal Guidelines

Please let me know if you are interested, and can forward the forms to you.  The Children’s Services Interest Group would be glad to sponsor your workshop idea.

Thanks,

Cliff.

Great Meeting at CAL

We recently had 25 CSIG members get together on Friday the 20th at the CAL Conference in Denver.  It was great to meet some of you in person, and I’m sorry the meeting was so rushed that we weren’t able to do better introductions.  I wanted to post an overview here, and allow you to read a slightly more detailed description by downloading the Meeting Minutes if you are interested.

The main topics covered are as follows:

1. The new CAL-CSIG Google Group will allow the group to communicate better via email.  Everyone should have received an invitation by email.  Please click on the link to accept the invitation, and then you should begin receiving emails from the group.  Please let Cliff know if you don’t receive an invitation, or have trouble getting signed up.  (FYI: You don’t have to have a Google account to participate by email.)

2. Several CSIG members are also part of the Colorado Libraries for Early Literacy (CLEL) group, and they were present to the share about some of the exciting projects they are working on.  For more info, check out their website, CLEL.org

3. Members expressed a desire to use the group’s brainpower to generate lots of ideas for CAL workshops in 2010.  We will be using the Google Group and this website to facilitate this conversation, so please accept your invitation!

4. We are also going to be having quarterly meetings at various locations.  One member has already offered to host a meeting.  More info will come as the dates and locations are determined.

Thank you to all the CSIG members that were able to attend our meeting!  I appreciate your enthusiasm and passion for serving the Children of Colorado.  If any of you have an interest in being more involved in CAL, then the Children’s Services Interest Group is a great way to get started.  Contact the group Chair, Cliff Davidson, if you would like to take a more active role in the group.

Next Meeting – CAL Conference

The Children’s Services Interest Group will next be meeting on Friday, November 20, 2009 at the CAL Conference.  The Pikes Peak meeting room has been reserved for our group from 11:30 to Noon.  With only 30 minutes to meet and discuss the upcoming year, we’ll have to really be ready to go!  One of our members will be passing out a flyer about another exciting group, the “Colorado Libraries for Early Literacy” (CLEL).  Please also come prepared to discuss the following:

1. How could we improve communication among group members?
2. What would you like the group to focus on in the upcoming year?
3. Any ideas for CAL presentations to work on for next year?

Thank you all for your participation in the group and your commitment to serving the children of Colorado through Libraries!

CSIG Meeting

CSIG Members,

The next CYAAL meeting date is May 7th at the Aurora Central Library. This might be a good opportunity for some of the local members and those who will be in the area for the CYAAL meeting to get together and begin discussing some ideas for potential fall CAL workshops.

Who would be interested in attending? Possibly the afternoon before (Wed. the 6th) or the morning after (Fri. the 8th)? If there are some interested parties, then I can begin coordinating a hosting facility – either the Aurora Central Library to stay consistent, or possibly another area library if it is not available (Is there anyone from Aurora who would like to check on this for us?)

Also, in advance of this meeting, it would be nice to get some ideas and conversation flowing. Please let me know which of the following methods of online communication you would be willing to participate in, and I will get them set up – we can always experiment with a few and see which one works the best:

1. Email Listserv – this would facilitate conversation in the tried and true medium of email.
2. Google Group – online forum type of format with a password for member participation.
3. Group Blog – this would be better suited to sharing information and updates than communicating.
4. Group Wiki – this is currently set up, but doesn’t get a lot of use. Should we try to revive it?
5. Facebook Group – this would be a way to connect, but only for members of Facebook.
6. Anything else? – Feel free to suggest something else in addition to these if you have had a positive experience with a particular online venue.

Thanks, and I look forward to hearing from you!

Cliff.