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Assistant Commission of State Libraries Nicolle Davies talks to the crowd at the HEStL EDCon recently.

More than 200 school librarians from across Colorado gathered at a Douglas County Schools in early June for the HEStL EDCon, the Highly Effective Schools through Libraries program. 

Attendees listened to keynote speaker Shannon McClintock Miller, who has a blog called The Library Voice and who shared how educators can support students to change the world with their actions, creativity, words and voices. McClintock Miller gave examples of reaching out to authors. She has had such diverse experiences of people responding, including people like Mercer Mayer doing read alouds via Skype with her students to the inventor of Halo connecting with her students to live play the game. 

The gathering helped signify how the role of the school librarian is continuously evolving. School librarians now collaborate as teaching partners with classroom teachers, professional learning coaches, and instructional technology experts. School librarians are, of course, also supporting students to develop a lifelong love of reading. The conference also featured sessions on discovering and utilizing digital tools and apps within the library and classroom. For more information on the Highly Effective Schools through Libraries program and future events, visit the HEStL website.