Librarians from across the region gathered at Capital Region BOCES on Oct. 21 for their first Communication Coordinators meetings of the year.  

The meeting began with an icebreaker followed by a special introduction to the Library Services team and their newest member,  Librarian Leah Silecchia. The agenda also included School Library Systems (SLS) updates, a conversation about interlibrary loans and an overview of Monarch, a federated search engine across library resources.

Communication Coordinators provide two-way communication between the SLS and their school districts. Hosted by the Educational Support Services Library Services team, the group meets at least four times a year to share information, build community and for professional development and networking opportunities. 

The second half of the meeting was dedicated to state education’s New York Inspires initiative, specifically Portrait of a Graduate. Capital Region BOCES Professional Development Manager Jennifer Case gave an overview of the new framework and how it pertains to the role of school librarians. 

“My goal for us today is to spend some time looking at the portrait attributes  and give you a chance to reflect on what they need in your space, how they are currently showing up in your role,” she said. 

NY Inspires is expected to be fully implemented in public schools by the 2029-30 school year.

“This year is an exploratory year. It’s a chance to build foundational understanding and a common language, but we all need to know where we are to figure out where to head next if we want to get to that ultimate vision for the 2030 school year,” Case said.  

“Your role, I think, is a unique one, in that you have your own standards that connect to the purpose, but you also have such an essential role in magnifying and supporting the standards in other content areas, too.”

“So you might think about what your are doing with your own standards, but you might also think about the content area projects, the grade level  work that you help to support also, because I think that other departments cannot get where they need to go without the information, resources and knowledge that you all help to give them.”

Communication Coordinators will meet again at Capital Region BOCES on January 12, 2027 for their annual Showcase of Excellence. 

Congrats to the Library Services team,  Library and Arts Program Manager Annie Gersztoff; Library Media Specialist Anna Winters; Silecchia; Information Processing Specialist Danica Smith; and Administrative Aide Katie Engel, on the success of their Communication Coordinators kick-off meeting!