KNOXVILLE — East Tennessee educators and school librarians can now earn continuing education credit when they visit the Center for Children’s and Young Adult Literature (CCYAL) at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
The center, housed in the School of Information Sciences in the College of Communication and Information, contains more than 2,000 book titles representing some of the best works in children’s literature published in the last eighteen months. The center is the only one of its kind in the state of Tennessee.
“We already offer continuing education certificates to educators who attend our author lectures and conferences,” said CCYAL Director Miranda Clark,” and we’re glad to extend that opportunity to professional educators who visit the collection.”
Educators who visit CCYAL receive guidance and advice from center staff on selecting the best new books for their school libraries or media centers. Going forward, they also will receive a certificate of attendance to use in satisfying their continuing-education requirements.
Visitors often find themselves spending a great deal of time examining the collection, Clark said.
“We have had educators come to the center and spend hours with the books, sometimes sitting on the floor, making out their wish lists for the next school year,” she said.
The CCYAL collection is not the same as the children-and-youth sections of the big retail booksellers. “Retailers focus on the titles they think will sell,” Clark said. “Our collection features a wide variety of books that may have less commercial appeal but that should be available in a school library.”
For more information about the center, visit http://www.sis.utk.edu/ccyal.
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C O N T A C T :
Miranda Clark (865-974-2305, mclark22@utk.edu)
Charles Primm (865-974-5180, primmc@utk.edu)