October's featured council is the Mississippi Reading Association (MRA) in the Magnolia State. MRA Past President Stacy Reeves took a few moments to share what is so valuable about the diversity and enthusiam of MRA members with Reading Today Online.

MRA is a Kaleidoscope of Literacy Professionals: we have very different backgrounds while holding various titles and positions including classroom teachers, university and college professors, administrators, retired educators, preservice teachers, community leaders, assistant teachers, AmeriCorps tutors and trainers, and others. We are united by the belief that literacy benefits all people in our communities, our state, our nation, and our world.

We are a small group, but when we come together, unified in one voice for the progression of literacy, we are mighty in force. We lead by example in our classes, our teaching environments, our communities, and our centers of learning.

We are joined in agreement in the Mississippi Reading Association and we belong to our local reading councils, too; additionally, we guide our schools and districts to success, and many of us serve in various ways for the MS Department of Education, for national groups, and for international groups across a variety of subjects and areas. One of our coalescent factors is concern for the betterment of others through literacy teaching and learning.

We know that our state has far to go, but we also know the riches that it holds and that there are many resources which have not yet been tapped. We are not finished leading students to the treasures found in reading and the resources available in communicating through writing, speaking, and listening. We support IRA and one way we do that is through our 2012 State Conference titled, “Reading in 3-D” to be held December 2-5. Information which may be accessed at www.msreading.org. For more information about Mississippi Reading Association, please contact Stacy.Reeves@usm.edu, past president 2012-2013.

Pictured at the 2010 conference in Biloxi, MS, at the Beau Rivage Resort: an AmeriCorps tutor, Pat Ross (president 2010-2011); Janice Cate (treasurer for past several years), Anne Matheny (president 2012-2013), Phyllis Armstrong (Pine Belt Reading Council, Hattiesburg, MS), Stacy Reeves (past president 2012-2013), author Jon Scieszka, Stephanie Peets (membership director for past several years), Tracie Bernard (secretary 2010-2013), and Lauren Hutto (president of Pine Belt Reading Council, Hattiesburg, MS).

How does a book become an IRA Children’s and Young Adults’ Book Award winning title? Authors and publishers may nominate books for consideration, and IRA particularly invites publishers to submit eligible titles for consideration.

To be eligible, a book must be the first or second children’s book from the author and first published in English during the past year. Each book submitted is checked for eligibility and classified for consideration in one of the six categories. An average of about 200 eligible books are submitted in award cycles. 

In 2011-12, 14 IRA members served on the awards committee. For initial review, every committee member reads and rates each Primary fiction and nonfiction title, but the committee splits into two panels for the other books, with one focused on Intermediate titles and the other focused on Young Adult.

Committee members carefully review each book to find nominees that can serve as “a reading and literary standard by which a reader can measure other books,” (IRA, 2013). Books are rated on a four-point scale in the initial reviews, and committee members provide comments with their scores. Committee members may also join in electronic discussions of particular books as they read and assess.

At the end of the initial reviewing, scores are aggregated across all readers to determine the top ten to twelve finalist books in each category. The finalists are then read and reviewed by all committee members who rank the titles in order. Committee members examine the groups’ overall rankings and engage in extended discussion about the results, and the particular nature of the award to recognize new promising authors, before finally recommending award winners in each category. These recommendations are submitted to the IRA Board of Directors for final approval. The winners are announced at the IRA Annual Convention and appear in Reading Today.

This article is an addendum to an article from the October/November 2012 issue of Reading Today. IRA members can read the interactive digital version of the magazine here. Nonmembers: join today!

In observance of International Literacy Day, Arkansas First Lady Ginger Beebe will join the Alex Foundation and the Arkansas Reading Association to help distribute over 1,000 books.

100 books will be donated both to Our House and Dorcas House for transitional children residents; 100 books will be donated to St. Francis House to establish a library for transitional families; and 400 books will be donated to both Dermott Elementary School library and to CB King Memorial School for special needs children.

Approximately 1,100 recycled and new reading books are made available through purchases made by the Alex Foundation, and 123 new books are made available by its partner, First Book.

Long before she was First Lady of Arkansas, Ginger Beebe volunteered by reading to children to promote literacy, raising awareness about mental-health issues, advocating for people with special needs, and supporting the arts. Her work with the homeless, both individually and through organizations such as Our House in Little Rock, demonstrates her caring spirit. She also works to create better working and living environments for those with special needs, most recently creating an audio tour of the herb garden at the Governor’s Mansion for use by blind and visually impaired visitors. She is a member of the Advisory Board for Women and Children First, and in 2011, she was honored as the organization’s Woman of the Year.

The Alex Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, offers academic scholarship assistance and educational resources for students attending two Arkansas Delta schools, Dermott and McGehee High Schools, as well as Parkview High School in Little Rock. The mission of the Alex Foundation is to engage, engender and enlighten students to pursue careers and entrepreneurial opportunities in architecture, art and mathematics through mentoring, strengthening their capacity, and supporting their educational attainment and continued advancement to meet domestic and global challenges. The Foundation’s efforts are collaborated through a multiple intelligence approach that includes cooperative learning, experiential learning, project-based learning and multidisciplinary learning.

International Reading Association and Greater 1000 Islands Literacy Council member Sarah Parker Ada came up with a new way to promote the New York State Reading Association annual conference on October 28-30 in Liverpool.

In her YouTube video entitled “Read it Maybe (NYSRA 2012)” she encourages her community to read by parodying the popular song “Call Me Maybe” by Carly Rae Jepsen. In the video, she changes Jepsen’s “here’s my number, so call me maybe” lyrics to “here's a book, now, so read it maybe.” The video was filmed in various locations, including the Roswell P. Flower Memorial Library in Watertown, New York. 

“I go to the Flower Memorial Library and check out books there all the time,” Ada shares in an article in the Watertown Daily Times. “Growing up, I always loved ‘Weird Al.’ I’ve chosen two songs that are pretty popular with teens. It’s speaks to kids more. It gets them more into it.”

Earlier this year, Ada posted a YouTube video entitled “If You Love to Read (NYSRA 2012)” which has received over 13,000 views. It is a parody of Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep,” changing “We could have had it all; (You're gonna wish you never had met me); rolling in the deep; (tears are gonna fall, rolling in the deep)” to “You can have it all; (I really wish you, you would read to me); if you love to read; (pages gonna turn, when you love to read).” 

Ada also plays a news anchor in the “NYSRA 2012 Conference Update” video on the NYSRA website.

Ada is an adjunct professor for freshman composition at Jefferson Community College and is getting a degree in secondary English education, which she describes as her passion.

“I’m hoping to do more videos like this,” she says.

We hope so too!

International Reading Association Councils and Affiliates

Join the International Reading Association

International Reading Association Annual Convention

by Clarissa Hardcastle

The Tennessee Reading Association (TRA) is pleased to announce that its annual conference, Literacy: The Core to Learning, will be held December 2-4, 2012, at the Embassy Suites in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Over the past few years, annual conference attendance has steadily increased. In 2011, the conference had an attendance total of more than 600, and looks forward to the possibility of an even greater number of participants this year.

Because it values providing strong professional development for Tennessee teachers, TRA, along with TRA conference chair Angel Viera, announce that International Reading Association Past President Dr. Timothy Shanahan will be a keynote speaker. Vicki Gibson and Jan Hasbrouck will also serve as keynote speakers and share important information regarding the Common Core State Standards.

Annual Leadership Workshop

This summer, Randy Kincaid, the outgoing state coordinator who has served six years in this role, has once again made a leadership workshop possible for TRA through substantial donations and endless of hours of planning. He has made arrangements for the board and local council presidents to meet at a state park to learn more about the role of TRA across the state and how people can work together to make the TRA and local councils strong forces in Tennessee. In addition, Kincaid is bringing in Alan Sitomer to help members consider ways to integrate the common core standards across the curriculum. Jana Crosby, the incoming state coordinator, is looking forward to continuing the tradition of providing an annual TRA leadership workshop.

Tennessee Reading Association Website

To stay abreast of what is happening in TRA, please visit www.tnreads.org. Co-web designers Julie Baker and Jeremy Wendt have provided TRA with a professional and informative website that serves as a resource for TRA members, providing up to date information regarding current research and practices.

By the information posted on the website and the results of the four state meetings annual conference, one can see that TRA promotes literacy across the state and supports the standards set forth by the International Reading Association. Again, check out the website (www.tnreads.org) to attend the annual TRA conference in December.

Richard Peck autographs his book, A Teacher's Funeral, for Benita Bruster at the last TRA Conference. 

Jody Harris, Mollie Johnson, and Trudy Anderson served as student ambassadors at the 2011 TRA Conference—Literacy: Pass it on!

Clarissa Hardcastle is the strategic communications department intern at the International Reading Association.