About
the Network
The purpose of the IRA CL/R SIG Network is to provide a mechanism
for members around the world interested in childrens literature
to communicate with one another so that we can work more concertedly
in spreading awareness of childrens literature and ideas for
using it to develop literacy.
The network concept, an idea of Kaye West (Anderson), was approved
by the Board of Directors in 1997. At this time the first two of
the three components are under active development:
A website
which describes our organization to members and potential members
so they are empowered to use their creativity to fully participate
in the group and assist in fulfilling its purposes,
A Network
Directory listing on our website members in the group
with email addresses / websites in order that people can readily
communicate with and take the initiative to collaborate with one
another, and
An unmonitored email Childrens
Literature Listserve which anyone, anywhere, anytime
(even nonmembers) can subscribe to in order to share information
related to childrens literature and the development of literacy
and to discuss ideas related to our common interests. (This feature
will be added in the future.)
Membership in this SIG is required to be listed on the Network
Directory, but everyone is welcome to use the information
on the website and to use the Listserve.
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Benefits
to Joining the Network:
As a member of the Network, we recognize you
as a leader for literacy via childrens literature. Our hope
is to facilitate networking and collaborating among other such leaders
near you. The more individuals who are listed on the Network
Directory, the more possibilities there are for initiating
and implementing projects in your area.
You can readily
Contact others in your geographic area to collaborate
on a common goal or problem area
Become acquainted with others in your geographic area who
have similar interests as you
Encourage others to join this group so they can share their
work and ideas
Contact our Executive
Committee, our Board of Directors, and Chairs
/ Members of various committees so that you can volunteer
your talents and/or share your ideas and influence with them.
As a leader in your area, you are also invited to
Volunteer to champion a suggested project related to childrens
literature and share your results with us (see goals below)
Make proposals to the Board
of Directors to initiate projects, establish partnerships with
other groups, etc.
And, when you establish your own website, tell us, and we will add
a link to your website so that you can readily
Advertise your programs, projects, and events
Share your work immediately and in as much detail as you
wish
There is more work which needs to be done than can be done by the
officers, board members, and committee members. This is YOUR organization,
and you are invited to help shape the implementation of our common
purposes. As we learn to use the Network to our advantage, we will
be able to do more than we ever dreamed of doing independently!
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How
to Join
To join, please send the following information to the Webmanager,
Kaye West (kanders@csulb.edu):
Name
Institutional affiliation (if applicable)
City and State
Email address
IRA Number and expiration date
Dragon Lode expiration date (from mailing label,
upper left-hand corner)
URL of your personal / professional website (if you have
one)
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Ideas to Extend
the Network
Duplicate the Membership
and Subscription Form and invite folks you know to join
this SIG and/or subscribe to The
Dragon Lode
Organize an IRA
State Special Interest Council (SIC) devoted to Childrens
Literature.
Read about other
ideas of things YOU can do in YOUR situation to help
enrich others lives by knowing about this group and the work
we are collectively doing.
Encourage everyone you know to sign up for our Childrens
Literature ListServe an ongoing, unmonitored
email chat experience regarding childrens literature open
to anyone and absolutely free.
More ideas.
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Possible
Future Goals
Working alone,
all of the following are IMPOSSIBLE. But working together, we can
accomplish much! Some possibilities include:
Encourage social service organizations you know to
purchase books from the Notable
Books for a Global Society and Los
Angeles 100 Best Books lists and donate them to schools
in their area so every school has ready access to these outstanding
books
List / Link to Childrens Literature Festivals,
Authors Conferences, University Childrens Literature Programs,
historic sites, etc. in every state (or province, region, nation)
List / Link to Young Reader Book Selection Programs
and other state award programs related to childrens literature
List / Link to Published Authors from each state
Arrange for presenters in every state (province, region,
nation) to share the most recent list of Notable
Books for a Global Society at their state* IRA conference
Arrange for presenters in every state (province, region,
nation) to share the most recent list of Los
Angeles 100 Best Books at their state* IRA conference
Find someone in every state (province, region, nation)
who will identify the childrens literature instructors (junior
college and university level) in their state and encourage them
to join our group
Find someone in every state (province, region, nation)
who will encourage every university library in their state* to subscribe
to The Dragon Lode
Find someone in every county in every state (province,
region, nation) who will encourage every public library in their
county to subscribe to The
Dragon Lode
Find someone in every school district who will encourage
every school in their district to subscribe to The
Dragon Lode
Establish topic watchers of childrens
literature who maintain an annotated book list related to a topic
of their special interest and ways to use the books to develop literacy
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How
Can YOU Help?
Contact the Webmanager, Kaye West
(kanders@csulb.edu),
to discuss what YOU would like to do or share news of what you HAVE
DONE!
No time to take on a big job? Perhaps you have a retired friend,
a student, or relative who would be willing to do work which you
supervise in exchange for mentoring (an interesting technique for
expanding your outreach)
Place a high priority of doing ONE thing, even a very small one,
each and every week. Fifty small things add up to something great
in a year. If 10 people do that, the result is 500 small things;
if 100 people do it, it results in 5,000 small things! If everyone
would do a small part on a regular basis, together, we WILL accomplish
these and other marvelous goals!
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