First of all, thanks so much for the positive feedback on my last (very honest) post. It’s nice to know that we’re not alone in the feelings over overwhelm that we face at the beginning of a new school year. Now that I’ve been officially back at school for four weeks (how did that happen?!), I’m finding my groove. I hope that many of you are starting to feel the same way.

There are lots of exciting things on the horizon in the coming weeks and months that I’m insanely excited about!

I am so excited that it’s time to kick of the new year of FREE TL Virtual Cafe Webinars! I’m honored to join my amazing friends Gwyneth Jones (The Daring Librarian) and Jennifer LaGarde (Library Girl) for the Back to School Special! Please join us next Monday, September 9th at 8 PM EST as we share ideas and get pumped up for the new school year!

This next one is big…one of those surreal things that makes you freak out when you see it in print! I was honored, humbled, and absolutely giddy when the Illinois School Library Media Association asked me to keynote at their conference in November! Seriously!! And then when I saw the brochure for the conference with yours truly as the Saturday Keynote Speaker, I was completely over the moon (okay, and a bit nervous…but in a totally awesome way)! I am so excited to share my keynote, Examining the Sacred Cows of School Librarianship, and meet awesome members of my PLN in Illinois! I’m telling you, I’m one blessed girl! And um, yeah, I’m on the flier with Tim Green and Sharon Draper…THAT probably blows my mind more than anything! Yowza!

Also in November (talk about a busy month!), I’ll be participating in several presentations at AASL in Hartford, Conneticut! I absolutely love AASL. I attended for the first time two years ago in Minneapolis, and I hope I always have the opportunity to attend. It’s so great to be surrounded by tons of awesome teacher-librarians ready to share and learn together!

I’m so excited to be able to present with so many of my library friends and mentors at this conference! First, I’ll be joining the party with the incredible Joyce Valenza, Gwyneth Jones, Michelle Luhtala, and Shannon Miller for the pre-conference workshop “A Library in Every Pocket.” Not able to make the pre-conference workshop? Plan to join us for the abbreviated encore on Friday!

A topic that sometimes seems to cause a stir is the idea of Ditching Dewey! This session with Kathy Burnette, Sherry Gick, Shannon Miller, Megan Scott, and I will focus on how we have genrefied our libraries!

Although I didn’t get to take part in the initial presentation of the AASL Best Apps for Teaching and Learning at ALA in Chicago, I am so excited to have the opportunity to help share our awesome list in Hartford! I’ve so enjoyed working on the Best Apps Task Force and I’m so proud of this inaugural list that has been released!

Even though some of these big events are still several months away, I can’t help but get pumped about all of these awesome things on the calendar! Are you planning to attend either of these conferences or the TL Cafe Back to School Webinar? I hope to see you there!