Up to 100 classroom teachers will have the opportunity to learn more about the value of teacher/librarian collaboration through specially designed activities, including conference sessions, guest speakers, and other engaging  activities at this one-day special event during the TLA conference.

The goal of Teacher Day @ TLA is for classroom teachers, who experience this event and a TLA conference, to return to their districts as library advocates and collaborators – and perhaps become librarians themselves.

Librarians ‘sponsor’ up to two teachers (preferably) from their schools, encouraging the teachers to apply, attending the Teacher Day @ TLA sessions, and helping them navigate a day at the TLA Annual Conference. TLA is an event open to current in-service classroom teachers who would like to learn innovative ways for collaborating with their school librarian and who are not currently pursuing higher education in library science (Library school students who are are already pursuing a path for school librarianship are able to register for the conference at discounted student rates).

Teacher Day @ TLA is Thursday, March 26, 2020. Registration is $180 for teachers and includes:

• An invitation-only breakfast
• Activities designed to strengthen teacher/librarian collaboration and partnership
• Access to conference sessions that are perfect for teachers and librarians to attend together
• Full conference registration so teachers may attend one or more days of the conference
• A one-year TLA individual membership

Steps to Attend Teacher Day @ TLA

1. Teacher and Librarian discuss attending this together; secure funding and days off first; then work through application with your librarian.
2. Application opens Nov. 1, 2019 – via link below- and the deadline to apply is January 31, 2020.
3. Once accepted, you must register for TLA using the link provided by the Teacher Day Committee in your acceptance communication.
4. All payments are due by February 28, 2020.

When teachers and librarians collaborate, students benefit from the rich learning experience. Get your principals and administrators on-board and ask them to encourage teachers to participate, and provide the funds necessary when needed. This is a truly unique professional development opportunity! We’ve compiled information for principals and administrators for you to use as needed.

“This experience really opened my mind to the vastness of library resources and the true potential of these resources for teachers and our students”
-2018 Teacher Day @ TLA teacher participant

Featured Speaker at Teacher Day

Pam Muñoz Ryan is the recipient of the Newbery Honor Medal and the Kirkus Prize for her New York Times bestselling novel, Echo, as well as the NEA’s Human and Civil Rights Award and the Virginia Hamilton Literary Award for multicultural literature for her body of work. Her celebrated novels, Echo, Esperanza Rising, The Dreamer, Riding Freedom, Becoming Naomi Léon, and Paint the Wind, have received countless accolades, among them two Pura Belpré Awards, a NAPPA Gold Award, a Jane Addams Children’s Book Award, and two Américas Awards. Her acclaimed picture books include Amelia and Eleanor Go for a Ride and When Marian Sang, both illustrated by Brian Selznick, and Tony Baloney, illustrated by Edwin Fotheringham, as well as a beginning reader series featuring Tony Baloney. Ryan lives near San Diego, California, with her family.

Thank you to our sponsors!