NOVEMBER 6, 2016
New Librarian Professional Development Courses Offered Through Follett's Project Connect
Project Connect, formed by Follett to advocate for librarians to serve as leaders in their district and schools, will be debuting a set of professional development online courses this month. Designed for school and district librarians, these courses give librarians tangible skills needed in a future-ready world and help promote innovative models of school libraries.
According to Nader Qaimari, President of Follett School Solutions, the courses are an example of Project Connect continuing to “advocate for strong, empowered librarians and educators in their quest to become more future ready and recognized as respected leaders in their libraries, classrooms, and schools. These courses, coupled with our exclusive sponsorship of the Future Ready Librarians’ initiative, illustrate our commitment to transforming the role of the librarian.”
The first two PD courses have been announced – Educational Leadership and Digital Citizenship – and will be taught by Mark Ray, nationally recognized for transforming the role of the school librarian into a technological innovator in schools. A closer look:
• Educational Leadership: The course explores the challenges and opportunities of how to lead beyond the library, and how to develop future-ready learners. Participants will discover new concepts and techniques to stretch their professional skills in unique ways. Through individualized inquiry and work, they will develop strategies and insights to help them lead in their library and beyond. The course, inspired by the Future Ready Framework, is free for all participants.
• Digital Citizenship: Librarians must ensure schools are cultivating productive, safe and responsible members of a digital world. Aimed at educators who currently teach or plan to teach digital citizenship, the course will assess what librarians, their students and peers currently think about digital citizenship, evaluate current practices and create a plan for success in the digital age. The course is $125 per participant, with an opportunity to earn a micro-credential badge.
“As someone who went from teaching in a library to leading a district-wide digital implementation as Chief Digital Officer, I have learned many lessons about leadership,” says course instructor Ray, 2012 Washington State Teacher of the Year. “The Educational Leadership course will explore how to work and think differently so that librarians can effectively lead beyond the library. The Digital Citizenship course is a great opportunity for librarians to apply their leadership to a shared strategic challenge – how can librarians help ensure schools are cultivating productive, safe, and responsible members of our digital world?”
Recent News Releases
October 26, 2021
McHENRY, Ill., Oct. 26, 2021 – Follett School Solutions today announced Follett MyDestiny, its one-stop digital classroom library, now features 50,000 safe, vetted K-12 educational videos from leading and trusted content providers. The videos are the result of a new partnership between Follett and boclips, a provider of educationally rich, rights-cleared videos.Follett MyDestiny, launched earlier this year, also provides unlimited 24/7 access to 50,000 diverse, high-quality, multi-user eBooks from a variety of publishers; 100,000 educator-vetted resources; and learning tools. Moreover, MyDestiny leverages personalized recommendations to allow users to easily locate content, all aligned to national and individual state standards.“MyDestiny brings the best of...
Read more
Follett Aspen Student Information System Partners with MyFlexLearning
September 16, 2021
MCHENRY, Ill., Sept. 16, 2021 — Follett School Solutions and Nash Consulting, LLC, today announced a partnership to integrate the Follett Aspen Student Information System with Nash Consulting’s MyFlexLearning, a flexible scheduling platform. Together, the two systems give schools the benefit of the robust Aspen master scheduler and the ability to provide flexible and personalized daily offerings for students via MyFlexLearning.Officials from both companies explained that many schools are finding they need to schedule individual student periods on a just-in-time basis – more granularly, frequently and flexible than typical class schedules. Aspen provides powerful master scheduling capabilities for schools to...
Read more
September 15, 2021
MCHENRY, Ill., Sept. 15, 2021 — Children’s author Peter H. Reynolds, who is in the spotlight today with the global celebration of International Dot Day, will soon be participating in a live video conference with one lucky classroom, thanks to the Write to Connect program from Follett School Solutions.Reynolds, author of “The Dot” that serves as the inspiration for International Dot Day, will connect with students whose classroom is randomly selected as the winner of a giveaway open now and running through Sept. 30. Write to Connect, which debuted last year, asks students to send questions to an author about his or her book....
Read more
Francisco Partners Acquires Follett School Solutions
September 1, 2021
WESTCHESTER, Ill., Sept. 1, 2021 —Follett Corporation today announced the sale of Follett School Solutions (FSS), the company’s K-12 software and content division, to Francisco Partners, a leading technology-focused global investment firm.Follett School Solutions, based in McHenry, Ill., is a longtime trusted educational partner to K-12 schools and districts that provides software and content products, including Follett Destiny, FSS’ market-leading library management system with installations in more than 75,000 K-12 schools worldwide. FSS will join Francisco Partners’ growing portfolio of K-12 education-focused businesses and technologies, including Renaissance Learning, Discovery Education, Freckle, myON and Mystery Science.“FSS has played a pivotal leadership role...
Read more
Follett Promotes Linda Semmler to VP of Publisher Relations, Content, and Book Fair Merchandising
August 5, 2021
MCHENRY, IL - Linda Semmler has been promoted to vice president of publisher relations and content & book fair merchandising for Follett School Solutions, the company announced today. With 25 years of experience, Semmler most recently served as vice president of product & merchandising for Book Fairs and eFairs for Follett.Britten Follett, executive vice president of Follett School Solutions, said Semmler’s role with the company is expanding due to the success she has had driving Follett Book Fairs, which have been growing since debuting nearly four years ago. “Our fairs are so popular with our customers due to the great products Linda...
Read more
Start Reading Now Again Partners with Follett to Help Counter ‘Summer Slide,’ Pandemic Learning Loss
May 27, 2021
Almost 3,000 students from predominantly low-income families will be receiving free print books to read over the summer as the result of a continuing charitable effort led by Start Reading Now.
Read more
