History.
Year 1, 2012-2013 #txlchat, the Twitter chat for Texas school librarians (but not limited to Texas librarians), was co-founded in early April 2013 by Sharon Gullett, Michelle Cooper and Marsha Edney. Four additional Texas school librarians were invited to join the team as co-moderators: Sonja Schulz, Sandra Carswell, Sue Fitzgerald, and Naomi Bates. The first chat occurred on April 9, 2013 and was followed with weekly hour-long chats through May 25th. A wiki was created to curate archives and other important chat information.
Year 2, 2013-2014 The original seven librarians continued the Twitter chat beginning in August, 2013, but the time frame was changed to the 2nd and 4th week of each month beginning in August and continued until late May 2014. The archives were moved from the wiki to a website: http://txlchat.weebly.com
Year 3, 2014-2015 A few changes to the team were made. Naomi Bates left the project, but six other school librarians were added as co-moderators. Shawna Ford, Nancy Jo Lambert, Neil Krasnoff, Becky Calzada, Jan Hodge, and Teresa Garrett became chat moderators in year 3. Twitter chats were changed to a Tuesday weekly 30-minute format at 8:00pm CST. After a couple of months, Teresa Garret left the team mid year because of some personal scheduling conflicts. Dr. Judy Moreillon, TWU library science professor, conducted an ethnographic study using #txlchat chats for data. She presented her findings at the International Association of School Librarians Conference 2015 and published an article in Knowledge Quest, the journal of the American Association of School Librarians. During the 2015 TLA conference, #txlchat presented a poster session and was awarded the MVP Award by the Texas Association of School Librarians (TASL).
The chat also received the Edublog Runner-Up Award for the Best Twitter Hashtag or Chat.
Year 4, 2015-2016 Twitter chats continued as a weekly Tuesday chat at 8:00pm CST. Sharon Gullett, Michelle Cooper, Marsha Edney, Becky Calzada, Jan Hodge, Sonja Schulz, Shawna Ford, Nancy Jo Lambert, Sandra Carswell, Neil Krasnoff, and Sue Fitzgerald remained as weekly moderators. The Branding Iron Award for Social Media was awarded to Sharon Gullett, Michelle Cooper, and Marsha Edney for co-founding this grass-roots effort to build an active digital community of Texas school librarians.
Year 5, 2016-2017 We began the year by adding another moderator, Lucy Podmore, in place of Sandra Carswell.
Year 6, 2017-2018 We began the year on a high note. #txlchat received a Commendation from the American Association of School Librarians for being a virtual community that provides professional support for librarians across the state and country. Although #txlchat was not the first Twitter chat for school librarians, it was the first state-based chat and continues to be a grass-roots effort because it has no official affiliation with any librarian organization. During the fall semester, Nancy Jo Lambert and Sue Fitzgerald left the moderator team.
Year 7, 2018-2019
Year 8, 2019-2020 This conversation was discontinued in 2020.
Year 1, 2012-2013 #txlchat, the Twitter chat for Texas school librarians (but not limited to Texas librarians), was co-founded in early April 2013 by Sharon Gullett, Michelle Cooper and Marsha Edney. Four additional Texas school librarians were invited to join the team as co-moderators: Sonja Schulz, Sandra Carswell, Sue Fitzgerald, and Naomi Bates. The first chat occurred on April 9, 2013 and was followed with weekly hour-long chats through May 25th. A wiki was created to curate archives and other important chat information.
Year 2, 2013-2014 The original seven librarians continued the Twitter chat beginning in August, 2013, but the time frame was changed to the 2nd and 4th week of each month beginning in August and continued until late May 2014. The archives were moved from the wiki to a website: http://txlchat.weebly.com
Year 3, 2014-2015 A few changes to the team were made. Naomi Bates left the project, but six other school librarians were added as co-moderators. Shawna Ford, Nancy Jo Lambert, Neil Krasnoff, Becky Calzada, Jan Hodge, and Teresa Garrett became chat moderators in year 3. Twitter chats were changed to a Tuesday weekly 30-minute format at 8:00pm CST. After a couple of months, Teresa Garret left the team mid year because of some personal scheduling conflicts. Dr. Judy Moreillon, TWU library science professor, conducted an ethnographic study using #txlchat chats for data. She presented her findings at the International Association of School Librarians Conference 2015 and published an article in Knowledge Quest, the journal of the American Association of School Librarians. During the 2015 TLA conference, #txlchat presented a poster session and was awarded the MVP Award by the Texas Association of School Librarians (TASL).
The chat also received the Edublog Runner-Up Award for the Best Twitter Hashtag or Chat.
Year 4, 2015-2016 Twitter chats continued as a weekly Tuesday chat at 8:00pm CST. Sharon Gullett, Michelle Cooper, Marsha Edney, Becky Calzada, Jan Hodge, Sonja Schulz, Shawna Ford, Nancy Jo Lambert, Sandra Carswell, Neil Krasnoff, and Sue Fitzgerald remained as weekly moderators. The Branding Iron Award for Social Media was awarded to Sharon Gullett, Michelle Cooper, and Marsha Edney for co-founding this grass-roots effort to build an active digital community of Texas school librarians.
Year 5, 2016-2017 We began the year by adding another moderator, Lucy Podmore, in place of Sandra Carswell.
Year 6, 2017-2018 We began the year on a high note. #txlchat received a Commendation from the American Association of School Librarians for being a virtual community that provides professional support for librarians across the state and country. Although #txlchat was not the first Twitter chat for school librarians, it was the first state-based chat and continues to be a grass-roots effort because it has no official affiliation with any librarian organization. During the fall semester, Nancy Jo Lambert and Sue Fitzgerald left the moderator team.
Year 7, 2018-2019
Year 8, 2019-2020 This conversation was discontinued in 2020.