This year’s Spring Assembly is all about “Community Pride” — pride in our state, our system, and our local communities. Spring Assembly will take place Thursday, April 21st, at the Holiday Inn in Lawrence. We’ll start the day with a presentation by Kathy Sexton, the City Manager of Derby, Kansas. We’ll be treated to a talk by Newbery Award winning author Clare Vanderpool (she’ll sign books, too). We’ll take care of business (NEKLS System Business) and then we will hear from Tom Averill with “What Kansas Means to Me”.
Here’s the agenda for the 2011 Spring Assembly:
9:00 Registration and continental breakfast
9:30 Welcome and announcements by board president
9:40 Kathy Sexton “Collaboration between local government and local libraries”
10:45 Break
11:00 Newbery award winning author Clare Vanderpool
12:00 Lunch and networking
1:00 System business and election of officers
1:30 Tom Averill “What Kansas Means to me”
2:15 Door prizes, wrap-up and adjourn at 2:30
Register now if you’d like to attend!
*** If you would like to be entered into a drawing for a free copy of Clare Vanderpool’s book, please leave a comment on this blog post (include your name) — telling us what your favorite previous Newbery Award winning title is (and why).
Brenda Hough is the Continuing Education Consultant at NEKLS. You can reach her by email (bhough (at) nekls.org), phone, or on several instant messaging platforms (look Brenda up by her email address). Visit the 
1968 Medal Winner: From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg. I loved this book so much as a child and still do as an adult. What a dream to live in the museum, I remember imagining that I could do the same.
I find that every year, the new winner appeals to me, because of the diversity of topics covered. My personal favorite will always be “My Side of the Mountain” by Jean Craighead George. Even in this day of high tech fantasy, it has never gone out of fashion. Each time that I have read it with kids, they too love the adventure.
oops, I think it was an honor book, not the winner! So, my next choice would be a 3-way tie: Number the Stars, A Single Shard, and the Witch of Blackbird Pond. Each has a great theme that shows children hardship and resilience under different circumstances. Each has a character that would be easy to identify with more most children also.
Thimble Summer by Elizabeth Enright The 1939 winner is my favorite because it was the year that my mother was born (Thank Goodness she does not know I put this on here) and so like Garnet believing her thimble is lucky I feel like I am lucky as I think of Mom when I read it.
1944: Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes (Houghton) – my 6th grade teacher read this to our class. I was smitten. A hero-kid in a hero-adult world. I wanted to be as brave.
The Tale of Despereaux was the 2004 winner. What a clever story of a mouse that figured out how to get things done! The setting reminded me of a dark place but the spunk of the mouse kept me reading.
My choice would be Shen of the Sea, the 1926 winner. Although it may not be an accurate compilation of Chinese stories, my daughter and I used this book when we honed our skills at a storytelling workshop while she was in high school. The stories lend themselves well to the storytelling experience. I believe this was a major influence in my daughter’s decision to become a teacher and it was a great mother-daughter event. I will always hold it close to my heart because of this.