Della Anderson Curtis Baltimore County Public Schools 6901 Charles St. Towson, MD 21204 410 887-4035 dcurtis@bcps.org

Della Curtis is currently the Coordinator of the Office of Library Information Services for the Baltimore County Public Schools, the 24th largest school district in the United States. She is also a part time instructor at Towson University in the College of Education, Department of Instructional Technology and developer of many Maryland State Department of Education inservice courses for library media specialists and teachers. She received a B.A. degree from Salem-Teikyo University in Library Science, Secondary Education, and English (1968) and a M.S. degree from Towson University in Instructional Technology (1981). She has received many awards among which are: the 1998 Towson University's College of Education Dean's Recognition Award for Outstanding Contributions to Education; named by eSchool News as one of the top 30 technology leaders in the United States (Impact 30, 1999); the CyberAngels Distinguished Librarian (1998); Wired Kids Internet Safety Award (2002); the Baltimore County Public Schools' Outstanding Contributions Award (1996 an 1998); and, the Who's Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges (1964).

Among her many accomplishments as the leader of 166 school library media programs in Baltimore County Public Schools, she has provided the vision to launch school libraries into the Information Age. As early as 1981, she envisioned "libraries without walls" by connecting all secondary school libraries to online networks where students could located full text magazine and newspaper articles and other information for class assignments and research. By 1991, all school libraries were connected to the Internet, and, she along with a colleague, conducted a 30-hour staff development training program for 175 librarians to teach the technical aspects as well as how to utilize this powerful new technology for teaching and learning. In 1996, she provided leadership in the design and development of the county's first website - onLINE: The Librarians' Information Network for the Essential Curriculum < www.bcps.org/offices/lis >. She developed another comprehensive website to support school library media specialists in their roles as teacher, instructional partner, information specialist, and program administrator is the Baltimore County School Librarians' Online Procedures Manual < www.bcps.org/offices/lis/office >. In the July 2003 issue of School Library Journal, she was recognized in the Innovator's Spotlight feature article.

Her leadership in online education continues to demonstrate that technology is a powerful tool for teaching and learning, especially when students and teachers are provided pathways which make meaningful connections with curriculum and technologies. In 1999, the Online Research Modules Project was named by the Maryland State Department of Education and the Maryland Business Roundtable as one of 6 exemplary technology initiatives in Maryland <www.mbrt.org/effprac-tech.htm#c5>. The project was modeled after Dr. Jamie McKenzie's online learning concept and initiated to help guide students in their research efforts to focus upon higher level thinking using rich electronic resources <www.fno.org>. She attributes the success of this project to the many talented library media specialists who continue to work diligently with curriculum development teams to not only market the idea but also apply their technology savvy to launch and maintain the Online Research Modules website at < www.bcps.org/offices/lis/models/index.html >. The online research modules have not only impacted instruction in BCPS but also in South Africa where SchoolNet SA is incorporating several modules in a teacher education project to bring technology to disadvantaged communities in South Africa. In 2001, she presented "Online Research Models: Not Your Same Old Research Report" at the American Association Association of School Librarians Conference
< www.bcps.org/offices/lis/specialprograms/researchmodules_files/frame.htm >. In June 1999, she cooperated with Canter/Sylvan Learning on its video production, Using the Internet to Enhance Teaching and Learning by featuring outstanding Baltimore County Public School library media specialists and teachers modeling the use of the Internet and the online research modules with their classes <www.fno.org/feb2000/howtouse.html>. This summer will mark the fourth year that library media specialists will work with curriculum developers to design additional online research modules to support the delivery of curriculum in the Baltimore County Public Schools. The Online Research Modules were presented at the 2001 American Association of School Library Media Specialists national conference and in 2003 at the Massachusetts School Library Annual Conference.

She recently co-authored a model Telecommunications Policy for the Baltimore County Public Schools which was adopted by the Board of Education in 1997 < http://www.bcps.org/system/POLICIES/telecom >. This policy defines acceptable and safe use of the Internet by students and employees, copyright guidelines, and electronic publishing regulations for schools and offices. In 2003, a revision to the telecommunications policy was written and is currently up for public review and comment prior to adoption by the Baltimore County Board of Education <www.bcps.org/offices/lis/tele>. She has also authored the Baltimore County Public Schools' Selection Policies for Instructional Materials and Library Resources and worked on various writing teams to develop the following publications: (1) Online Procedures Manual for Library Media Specialists, (2) the Library Media Program of Instruction, (3) Facilities Guidelines for Library Media Programs in Maryland.; and, (4) Services of School Library Media Centers (1978).

She is also the creator of a national model Internet program for parents, Get a Piece of the P.I.E. (Parent Internet
Education ).<www.bcpl.net/~sullivan/pie/index.html>. In 1999, it was recognized by the Benton Foundation as an outstanding technology campaign for families. <www.connectforkids.org/benton_reviews1565/benton_reviews_show.htm?doc_id=9118>. In 2001, the Children's Partnership < http://www.childrenspartnership.org > recognized the program as a "promising practice in parental involvement." The purpose of this program is to create a family-friendly Internet by providing a series of workshops and television programs for parents that will teach online safety as well as the benefits of the Internet for lifelong learning. She is an active spokesperson in the community on Internet safety through speaking engagements at the Maryland Parent Teachers' Association, the Baltimore County PTA Council, and other community groups. In addition, she volunteers her time with CyberAngels as the Executive Director of Connect-ED, the world's largest online safety education service whose purpose is to ensure that the Internet is a safe environment for children and families. CyberAngels recently received the U.S. President's Service Award that honors outstanding individuals and organizations engaged in volunteer services directed at solving critical social problems. Recently, Della was appointed Chair of the UNESCO Task Force on School, Library, and Community Internet Access to study with other leading experts in the country the Internet safety and content issues for children.

She is also working to solve a national critical shortage of certified school library media specialists. She developed a strategic partnership with Towson University to form the School Library Media Cohort < www.bcpl.net/~dcurtis/cohort > and has been recruiting for 5 years outstanding teachers who have made a 3-year commitment to obtain a masters in instructional technology. She envisions a greater pool of qualified candidates that will teach children information literacy skills and administer library programs that provide the best information, ideas, and technologies for student problem solving and research. She currently is an adjunct faculty member at Towson University, College of Education, Department of Instructional Technology where she teaches graduate courses for the School Library Media Cohort. She models the use of technology for teaching and learning to her students as demonstrated by the online website for her current courses, Information Literacy and Access
<www.bcpl.net/~dcurtis/ila>, Media Selection and Evaluation <www.bcpl.net/~dcurtis/selection>, Advanced Reference
< www.bcpl.net/~dcurtis/reference >, Web-Based Instruction in Education < www.bcpl.net/~sullivan/web >, Organization and Administration of School Library Media Centers < www.bcpl.net/~dcurtis/organization >, and the 2003 Graduate Practicum - From the Ground Up: New Town High School Library Media Center < http://www.bcpl.net/~dcurtis/practicum >. In School Library Journal's articles, Biggest Challenges 2002 and 2003, she shares insight as to the critical staffing problem in the United States. Her passion for school librarianship reaches across the globe to Hong Kong, China. In 2001, she hosted SIT, Chun Ming Agatha's learning journey to Baltimore, Maryland where Agatha studied the district level library media program in the Baltimore County Public Schools.

She is currently addressing yet another critical problem in library media services to students and teachers by raising public awareness of the shocking conditions of library collections. In December 1999, all 165 schools in her district conducted a library collection analysis to prove the need for additional funding for school libraries. As a result, a 10.529 million dollar budget proposal was approved by the Baltimore County School Board and the Baltimore County Council for the 2000-01 school year. She states, "Baltimore County Public Schools is not alone on this issue. It is a national problem that our school library media centers have not been adequately funded. Our students deserve to have current and quality information resources in order to learn the curriculum and to be effective consumers of information for problem solving and lifelong learning. We do them injustice when all that we offer are out-dated collections and unappealing reading resources." She has launched a school library advocacy website, School Library Facts <www.bcpl.net/~dcurtis/libraryfacts>, to inform the community of the mission of school libraries and how libraries contribute to student achievement; to answer frequently asked questions; to keep the community abreast of the issues and solutions; and, to seek their support and involvement. In addition to the website, she has published an article in MultiMedia Schools Journal, "The Library Renaissance in Baltimore County Public Schools: An Open and Shut Case for Library Funding," and has given two presentations at Computers in Libraries and the Pennsylvania Library Association, "Turning Data Into Dollars: The Library Renaissance in Baltimore County." School Library Journal's article, A Recipe for Success provides more information on the 10.529 million funding to upgrade 50 school library media collections in one year.

Her projects for the 2002-2003 school year include raising public awareness of school library issues. Through her leadership Maryland received an 8 million dollar grant to develop the Maryland K-12 Digital Library <www.bcpl.net/~dcurtis/digital> portal to provide equitable access to all of Maryland's K-12 students (the portal will be available August 2003). Using her knowledge and skills as a library media specialist, she is leading her school district to use technology and library organization strategies to manage textbook resources
<www.bcps.org/offices/lis/specialprograms/text/index.htm> and School Library Journal
<slj.reviewsnews.com/index.asp?layout=articleArchive&articleId=CA254401&display=searchResults&stt=001>. New Town High School which will open in September 2003, is the first of 165 schools to implement a Total Textbook Management System. Also, she is currently designing an inservice course for teachers to equip them with the knowledge and skills to collaborate with library media specialists to plan instruction that requires students to use library media center resources for authentic research. The inservice course title is "Power Teaching and Learning@ Your Library Media Center." Future presentations regarding school librarianship include the Mass School Library Media Association (November 2-3, 2003), Taiwan Library Association (May 1-7, 2003), and Hong Kong Teacher-Librarians (May 8-10, 2003).

During the 2003-04 school year, she is providing the leadership in a collaborative venture with the K-12 Office of Science to Empower Science Educators with Information Literacy competencies to cope with the exponential growth rate of science information <http://www.bcps.org/offices/lis/scienceoffice/science_workshop_files/frame.htm>. At the completion of the training sessions, 240 science educators will have received instruction in the characteristics of the 21st century information landscape and how to effectively and efficiently access scientific information.

Her pastimes include spending time with her daughter Danielle, a 4rd year medical student at the University of Maryland Medical School, traveling to the Rhone Alps of France where she enjoys hiking, cooking, and wine making with friends in the area, and caring for her parents.