Summer Timeout!!!

Over at Hi Miss Julie, Miss J. has a thoughtful and very passionate post up about summer library programs and their worth to libraries.  From questioning the need for summer vacations in a non-agrarian modern society; to whether schools are failing to support kids in reading during those months and putting the burden on public libraries to the overemphasis in many libraries of putting massive resources into the SLP at the expense of other times of the year, it is a meaty, thought-provoking piece.

As an inveterate children's librarian tinkerer, I like to make things easier and speedier and more fun for kids. I too deplore the time and effort spent on SLP at the expense of the rest of the year. I crave workshops regionally that address issues NOT related to SLP.

Each year, I want to see lots of school age kids using us during the summer and I don't mind encouraging them to read a little each day as a fun activity to keep their brains sharp.  I don't see what we are doing as replacing a school's responsibility - I see it as encouraging kids to love the library and spend time with us and our collections. We use trinkets but make sure a book prize is the best prize. The eternal optimist that I am says that kids who find that great space here in summer will visit us all year long. .

But still and all, I feel Julie's pain and am glad to hear a colleague share so honestly a needed perspective on the long SLP tradition in youth librarianship.  Time out indeed.

Summer Reading Fun has Begun...

To see PDF's of the bookmarks, stop here and here. 

(Note: To see what we are up to for summer 2014, stop here!)

...with a vengeance!
...with an exultation! 
...with a bang!

Holy smokers, what a first day!  We doubled our registrations over last year's first day and the place was rockin'.  There is nothing better, and with 95F+ heat and A/C struggling, we were the (but a wet) place to be!  Our Rubber Ducky Club got off to a great start but it was our school-aged and teen programs that really went through the ceiling.  We just re-vamped both and are we glad we did.  Today, let's look at the SLP materials for ages 3-10.

Our emphasis in past years for our SLP at this library was on encouraging kids to read.  When they registered, we handed them a folder and we asked them to read twenty to twenty-five hours over the course of our 8 week program.  Many kids came back after a week with the task completed, picked up incentives and announced that now that they were done, they were heading off to have fun (gulp). Others disappeared until the last week when they brought in completed folders, picked all the incentives and they were done.  Some came in once or twice a summer to check in and get incentives. Others simply never returned.

This wasn't working. So. How to create a more meaningful program? Over the years, research told us that summer reading is most effective when kids read a little every day over the whole course of summer vacation.  Beyond that, libraries are alot more than reading . They are a place to check out books, attend programs and a place where we promote literacy. We want to encourage check-out of our materials. We want kids to attend the fun events we plan. We want to be supportive of their literacy efforts on an ongoing basis. How could we include all this?

The answers were no farther than solutions we found at my former library. They evolved over a ten-fifteen year period when we experimented with alternative ways to complete the program in addition to reading  - and with collaborative work with our schools as we developed a mutual winter reading program.  I presented the re-designed program when I did system level SLP workshops around the state and colleagues suggested tweaks and more solutions.  We gave kids weekly bookmarks with a range of activities that reflect library use and literacy.

The results at my former library were amazing. By doing the program this way, we had kids coming into the library more frequently; checking out LOTS more books; attending programs and understanding that writing and games support their reading.

So we built on that model here this year and created "Travel Log" bookmarks:

Travel Log (pictured above)
1. Complete at least 7 activities (4 days must be reading) and have a parent or guardian initial.
2. Bring this list to the library and get a surprise and a different Travel Log each week! Surprises change on Monday.
3. You may complete up to 8 Travel Logs over the summer.
4. Compete 5 Travel Logs by July 30 and earn a free book! (pick-up between Aug 1 and Aug 14!)
__________________________________________
Day 1 - Read/Be Read to 10-20 minutes____
Day 2 -Read/Be Read to 10-20 minutes____
Day 3 -Read/Be Read to 10-20 minutes____
Day 4 -Read/Be Read to 10-20 minutes____
Day 5-Read/Be Read to 10-20 minutes_____
Check out books at your La Crosse Public Libraries ____
Attend a free program at your La Crosse Public Libraries _____
Play a special game at the library ____*
Write - a poem, a joke, facts about a favorite subject or a letter _____
Play a word game at home ____

We expect the same results here and just after the first day I am confident in the change! It makes the library experience multi-layered and very fun and gives us lots more time to interact with the kids.

*The best part of this activity is that you can create games that highlight the collection. This year we have put a recommended book by grade level into a lunch bag with a suggested grade level on the front (P-K, 1, 2, etc). Inside we put great non-fiction or fiction to entice the kids and if they check out the "mystery" book and try it, they played the game. In other years, we have made "dewey decimal" slips and put them in a hat. Kids draw out a number, find a book in that dewey and check it out.  We also do book character trivia. These are great ways to intrigue kids and promote the collection at the same time!

Samples of our various SLP designs can be found  at the Winding Rivers Library System website under Summer Library Program on the Youth Services page.

Doing the Summer Thing

Like the rest of our colleagues, we are about to launch into our summer busy season here at the library.  We are particularly excited  - and maybe a little anxious - to be premiering not one, not two, but three new re-vamped programs for our kids.  We totally redesigned our ages 3-10 program; have developed a brand new toddler/baby program and have re-invigorated our teen program.  Today let's look at the newest addition to our SLP family: The Rubber Ducky Club!

We have long invited our one and two year olds to be part of our summer reading club but the fit was always...uncomfortable.  Food coupons and geegaws didn't really fit the tiny tots' interests or needs. And most little prizes were definitely not recommended for under three year olds.  But we wanted to encourage parents reading to their children and using the six pre-literacy skills. What to do, what to do?

And then, like all good things in children's librarianship, we discovered that someone had an answer that would work for us!  We stumbled on the great idea of the Rubber Ducky Club when Karen Burke at the Naperville (IL) Library in Illinois shared their information on this club on ALSCConnect newsletter (another reason to be an ALA/ALSC member...great ideas are shared!). We were intrigued. A quick email exchange ensued and Karen generously shared their club materials.  And here is what we developed:

Our club is split into two months.  Each month features six simplified pre-literacy skills with activities to do often with 0-35 month old kids during that time.  After July 1, the June sheet can be returned, a rubber ducky is presented and the July sheet heads home with the family.  That sheet can be returned in August and redeemed for a brand new book.

Record keeping is minimal and the focus is on encouraging parents in their great work supporting early literacy at home. This completes a wonderful trio of early literacy activities we launched: 1000 Books Before Kindergarten; Play Learn Read centers and now our Rubber Ducky Club.

And to make it all even sweeter, staffers created this little promo video featuring our newest spokes-creatures: Babe and Todd (baby and toddler). Get outta town! This is fun!

Short-Staffed! Lunch with a Friend, Part 2

So we are at lunch, my out-of-town friend and I, and she asks what is happening with this blog. A librarian friend had wondered if it still existed and was I still writing it.  I started to say how tough it's been over the past five months while we've been down a position. And, wise woman that she is, she said "Blog about it!"

I'm not sure I have anything insightful to say about what it's been like. I know so many of my colleagues across the country have been under such extreme duress with positions, funding and hours slashed. Short-staffing affects us and our communities on so many levels.  This is just a personal reflection on what we were able to do and not do (um, this blog) while work-time marched on, minus 40 hours per week in our department.

Everyone in our department shouldered extra responsibilities and desk shifts. They covered for our lost colleague (and me during the lengthy interview process which stretched over holiday closures, vacations and ALA; essay question answering and analysis and final interviews).  Our able desk assistant became uber-Jill of all trades and showed a welcome acumen for all things YS. We cut back on our programming and outreach frequency but developed early literacy initiatives like 1000 Books Before Kindergarten; Early Literacy centers; "Between-Storytime" coupon books and a new summer reading club for birth - 35 month old kids (thank you Naperville (IL) Library for sharing the Rubber Ducky Club with us). We also worked hard to partner with our schools and colleagues including a highly successful collaboration with the high school to bring in an YA author and have a "One Book, One Community" reading program.  These initiatives involved advanced planning but literally ran themselves once developed.

Little things were hard to keep going. We kept up with collection development and weeding but our PR was tough to cover. We field newsletters, Facebook accounts, webpage event updates, info to the schools, handouts and etc. Much of that was on a "way-beyond-deadline-whew-we-made-it" schedule, if it happened at all.  We felt lucky to have fewer programs so our lack of PR fabulousness maybe wasn't noticed. I, for one, got even more rushed and sloppy and 40 hour weeks, crept into 42, 45 and 50 hour weeks just to keep things going. The storytimes I covered weren't as good as I like to have them and though I kept all appointments, I stayed awake nights trying to keep it all in order.

This blog...hah!  Lucky if I got anything in. The hardest thing for me, though, was finding time to work with and support my colleagues.  Time spent with each of them meant time away from deadline-specific work and that was a balance I couldn't find. These are strong, tough people and they brought amazing resilience to the fore during this stressful time.  While we were getting towards the end of our short-staffed period, our much appreciated half-time outreach librarian announced her retirement.   With budget constraints we knew we couldn't fill this position, but the team stepped up again. 

And now, as of six days ago, we have a new full-time team member. She will bring new skills and perspectives into the department. We will re-assess what we can realistically do and move forward to serve our public.  And I wouldn't want to be anywhere else and working with anyone other than the team at my library.   

Image: 'Ivi is crazy -20080804_0233edbw'   http://www.flickr.com/photos/99037763@N00/2805780029

Can You Tell the Difference? Lunch with a Friend, Part 1

Today I had lunch with a dear friend who was on her way across WI (and parts of Minnesota) to pick up her son for spring break.  This friend is someone I got to know many years ago at my former library. As a homeschooling parent, she and her family use and have used multiple libraries and read and studied voraciously. With the collections of many libraries at her fingertips, she is a sophisticated library patron who really knows libraries, literacy and information.  Her engineering background gives her an eye for detail, analysis and the smarts to navigate and assess libraries like no one I've ever worked with outside the world of library staffers.

Its been almost a year and a half since she stopped at our library.  As she waited for me to wrap up a meeting so we could head out to a favorite local eatery, she browsed through the Youth Department. The first thing she remarked on after we hugged is how much the department has changed and how improved it was.  Wow, the stuff that our department has worked so hard on plus collection and content improvement; room rearrangement;  better signage and the whole changed atmosphere is noticeable?!?!?  I beamed! 

She gave me props for the change. But guess what?  I didn't make the difference!  My colleagues are the ones who stepped up to the plate when I asked them to look in new directions and be the agents of change.  They chose the books and materials. They developed new initiatives. They took charge of creating a welcoming as well as well-managed environment. My job was to throw down the gauntlet and encourage and support them in helping the department grow in new ways.

My happiness is in my team and hearing from someone well outside our daily sphere that the changes we are making are having the effect we hoped for.  So much of what we do in our daily work makes very small or incremental changes that we don't always notice.  It's great when someone can bring new eyes to appreciate what has changed - and improved.  That's a difference I think we all can be proud of.

Image: 'difference in hardness' http://www.flickr.com/photos/96703781@N00/2407761354

Big Launch 2!!

During our planning for 1000 Books Before Kindergarten, we also challenged ourselves to develop Play Learn Read early literacy areas similar to what Hennepin County (MN) libraries did.  The idea is to create areas in the library that are print rich and use play to help encourage parents and children to discover the fun of literacy.

Our three early childhood specialists and storytime gurus on the Children's Department team took up the gauntlet thrown and began planning what they would develop in late summer of 2010. After a team meeting to look at what we could afford, they plunged ahead. They developed and prepared many activities including: a tabletop puppet theater for dramatic play; story boards to encourage kids to tell the story; and examples of print that show parents that their preschooler is already a reader. Also on tap is a growth chart and a "Letters in my Name" activity as well - even the bathrooms contain a color matching activity). The plan is for these activities to change often. We also decided to house the Early Childhood Resources (Parent/Teacher)collection in this area as well as a display of great picture books for families to share.

A logo was developed based on 1000 Books and the team developed identifying signs and bright big letters for the area.  Now when families enter the Children's area, they are greeted by an inviting area that encourages reading, quiet play and discovery.  We have simple encouraging statements and highlight the six pre-literacy skills in easy to understand language:

• I Like Books - Have fun reading together!
• I See Words -Share letters and words
• I Hear Words - Help children hear the sounds of words and letters
• I Know Letters - Help children identify letters and numbers
• I Know Words - Share books and stories to increase vocabulary
• I Can Tell a Story- Help children understand story structure

We rolled out the area at the same time that we launched 1000 Books B4K. We knew these were natural supports for each other.  For the past week, we have watched parents interact with their kids and use all the early literacy center areas.  It makes us feel really great to have encouraged a perfect use of our library and its spaces!

Whew! Launched!

This week saw the launch of two major initiatives in our Children's area: 1000 Books Before Kindergarten Club and the debut of our new Play Learn Read literacy centers. It was a crazy few months and frantic last few weeks pulling it all together but it looks like it will be worth the effort. This post is about the first initiative.

The 1000 Books Club is based on an idea that we had seen other libraries do (including at my former job). The program encourage parents of 1-5 year olds to read a wide range of books to their child to help them get a jumpstart on learning and school . We chose a 1 year old start because we wanted the little ones old enough to appreciate the fun of receiving stickers and little incentives. And we designed it to encourage frequent trips to the library to encourage families to use us often.

We used a flower/seed/rainbow theme to build the program on. The logo we are using is above...I designed it with the help of Windows clip art and a helpful techy staffer. Families are given a folder with a simple welcome letter (which includes the "how-to") and their first colored sheet of 100 lines to fill in as books are read.  Multiple readings of the same book each count; stapling date due slips to the sheet counts; putting hatch marks down for books read at a storytime or in daycare count too!  We want the process easy!

Each time a filled-in sheet is returned, the child receives a congratulatory sticker (Wow! 100 Books Read!), and their next sheet to record books in a new bright rainbow color.  And they get to put a big dot, whose color corresponds to the completed page, on one of the white flowers on our giant flower garden mural.  The more kids that get involved and the more they read, the more colorful the garden becomes!

We also have a few extra incentives to give out to the kids and parents along the way: lanyards; window clings and refrigerator magnet date due slip holders for the parents and cute nursery rhyme finger puppets and a book to keep for the kids.  When we first started planning the program, our focus group, made up of representatives from the schools, daycares, our Family Resource Center and families, all stressed that the grown-ups deserved some rewards for all they do to bring in their kids and read to them too.

We created a simple database (because we have three locations we are doing the program at) to keep track of levels achieved by each participant.  But an excel spreadsheet worked as well at my former library.

We also found that a project like this, which is completely funded by donations, is easy to raise money for. We received a memorial gift, a donation from our Kiwanis Club Foundation and raised quite a bit more from a fundraising letter. We had the support of the schools, the daycares, our local media and families themselves as we prepared for the big launch.  They helped us spread the word about the club. We wanted to keep the costs down so that we could afford to run the club over many years - we tell the parents that they have plenty of time to complete the goal and not to rush.

We kicked it all off a few days ago with a giant after-hours concert on a Friday night with noted children's singer Tom Pease.  Having the families in after we were closed made it into a special event. And it gave us ideas on how we can do more special evenings like this for club members. After three days we have over 100 readers participating.  Who knows how many more readers we can grow?

To find samples of our materials, check out our Winding Rivers Library System Youth website and scroll down towards the bottom of the page!

Next post: Our Play Learn Read Literacy Centers

Picture Books - Let Kids Be Free to Read!

Ever since the New York Times ran an article last October about the fading in importance of picture books in young children's lives, the blogosphere has been talking about the craziness of the premise.  The latest thoughtful post comes from my sister blogger in Australia, Susan, who blogs at the always fabulous Book Chook. She argues for the importance of picture books for preschoolers as well as kids well beyond the preschool years. Letting kids choose their reading is anathema to some parents and even some library staffers (WHAT?!?!)

That concept of "free reading" that many of us champion is one most notably advocated by Stephen Krasheen. He wrote a short article in SLJ in 2006 that explores the concept and importance based on his longer book, The Power of Reading: Insights from the Research published by Libraries Unlimited in 2004. Boiling it down to beyond basic and in Marge-speak, the concept is that all reading for pleasure is good reading and helps builds kids vocabulary, comprehension and reading skills .  When kids have a choice in selecting what they want to read, their interest and excitement in the act of reading becomes more sustained.

Picture books aren't just for little kids.  They are great reads for older kids as well.  I like to think of them as the first graphic novels that children are exposed to.  They have a visual as well as literacy component that blends together into a coherent whole. More complex books like ones by Patricia Polacco, Chris Van Allsburg, Emily McCully, Bill Peet, Lane Smith, David Wiesner and Jon Scieszka and many others beg to be shared with second, third and even fourth graders.

How can we help kids - and parents - make that transition to free them to use these great books?  Creating spaces in older fiction collections and cataloging more complex picture books into those collections is one way - whether by labeling or creating a special section of "Illustrated Fiction" - this brings these picture books to the attention and into the hands of older readers. And by locating them in  the collections for older kids, we give an implied boost to their worthiness to be considered and selected by older browsers .

Featuring these books in handselling and reader's advisory on a daily basis is also a great way to promote them to older readers.  Include one of these picture books among the fiction and non-fiction in booktalks at schools or a few in packs of books that you pull for schools and classrooms of older students. And when you have programs with older kids, include these in your book discussions and mini-promotions.

All these options and paths to worthy books will help you free the kids, the parents, teachers, staffers ...and you!

Image: 'Free Daddy and His Little Shadow Girls+at+The+Skate+Park+Creative+Commons'  http://www.flickr.com/photos/40645538@N00/179279964

Surefire Storytelling Hits for One World, Many Stories

A comment on my last post asked about ideas for good multicultural stories to use with this year's CLSP (Cooperative Summer Library Program) theme, One World, Many Stories. Here are a few that I love with sources if I could track them back (being a storyteller for twenty-five years has it's drawbacks!). Give them a try.

Anansi and the Moss-Covered Rock (Africa)- Eric Kimmel
Buy a spider glove puppet. Gather your jungle animals and a blanket or rug that is green and mossy looking. You play Anansi/Narrator and tell the story while the kids play the jungle animals part. The rest of the kids chant the magic words, “Isn’t that a strange-looking, moss-covered rock?”.  There are plenty of Anansi stories to share from many folklore collections..I have five or six in my storybag but this remains a favorite.

Wise Monkey Tale (Phillipines) - Guilio Maestro
Using a monkey puppet and other jungle animals, tell the story as Monkey/Narrator with kids as animals. Use a piece of rope in a circle to represent the hole and a construction paper banana leaf. Have the audience chant the banana leaf inscription: “If very wise you wish to be, come on down, wait and see!”

Fat Cat (Norway) - Jack Kent (there is also a version in print from Margaret Read McDonald)
Tie a flat sheet around yourself (or a helpful adult volunteer) like a huge bib. Have the kids play the eatees. As you chomp each one, the kids hide under the sheet. The audience chants “And now I’m going to eat you!”. You can use the same technique for the story of “The Old Woman Who Swallowed a Fly”

The Turnip  - (Russian) Traditional
Tie a rope to a door (important note: make it tight!). Have kids play part (use scarves, ears, headbands, masks) and tug rope as you narrate. Audience chants “And they pushed and they pulled and they pulled and they pushed”. When the time comes for the turnips appearance, bring out a turnip from behind a screen.

Bear and the Seven Kids - (Poland)  Traditional 
I've lost the original source beyond hearing it from another storyteller 20 years ago!  However, you can find it as the "Wolf and Seven Kids" and other variants in folktale collections. I use nesting dolls and pretend to forget how many kids are in the story and then reveal them one by one in the intro.  Great audience particiaption tale!

Tiger's Minister (Burma) - Various; teller Janice Harrington has this on CD/tape
A tiger tests a boar, a monkey and a rabbit to determine who should be his new minister by breathing on each one in turn and asking, "Is my breath fair or foul?". Of course it is disguting and the first two animals try truth, than flattery and are eaten. The rabbit claims, with a twitchy nose, that he "can't smell anything one way or the other" and becomes the minister (and ever after rabbits have twitched their noses and now you know why!)

Roly Poly Rice Ball - (Japan) - Margaret Read McDonald's Twenty Tellable Tales
Crab Eyes - (Caribbean) - Margaret Read McDonald's Twenty Tellable Tales
Just a pleasure to tell straight without props. McDonald does a masterful job at breaking down the telling and adding emphasis to help even novice tellers deliver the story like a pro!

The Mosquito (unsure of country of origin) - Anne Pellowski's The Story Vine
Anne Pellowski's books are chockfull of great stories from many cultures perfect for storytelling. This string story has excellent instructions/illustrations and is worth the time it takes to learn. This is perfect for school visits and produces "big-eyed" results each time for all ages!

I also have used Once Upon a Hodja (long out of print, that has some good Middle Eastern Nasrudin stories (in turns wise, foolish, a trickster and a storyteller) and Caroline Peterson books for additional ideas.

What other good stories do you have?


Illustration from 2011 CLSP Manual. Images are copyrighted. Contact the CSLP for more information

Using Storytelling with Small Groups

I did a storytelling workshop this week on the "One World, Many Stories" SLP theme with librarians from five systems in the southern part of the state.  I wanted to give everyone tips on finding sources for stories, tips on telling and some "can't miss" stories from a few different countries to put in their story bags.

One of the participants blogged later that that while there was good information on handling a beaucoup big crowd, it wasn't very "real-world" helpful for librarians who work with small numbers of kids in storytime - ten or less; or more typically three to five kids, who can be very passive without a crowd to rev them up.  So right!  I skipped that part completely!  So, as a  mea culpa, here are a few tips I use that help when bringing storytelling into storytimes with teeny crowds!

I make it a point in my storytimes to tell a story each and every week.  I believe strongly that kids need more than books and props to excite their imagination.  Stories help them picture the tale on their own.  Magic happens with the use of storytelling no matter how large or how small the crowd. In my years of storytimes, I have kept this practice up whether I have two kids or thirty two and it has always worked.

Although I have some large-cover-your-whole-arm puppets, I don't use these in the intimate atmosphere of storytimes.  I usually tell my stories without puppets or props, letting the magic of the words and the plot carry the tale. That being said, I am also one to make a splash before the story is started to get the kids excited about a form of listening that many of them don't have alot of experience with!

My favorite intro is to put a small prop or puppet that relates to the story inside a bag that I bring out when it is time to tell the story. I reach inside the bag, feel around, do some "oohing" and "aahing" and "Hmmm, what could this be?" before I bring out the prop. This little teasing part gets the kids focused on the what is inside the bag and gets them excited. When the prop comes out, I say, "That reminds me of our story today" and off we go.

Other times I will bring along a finger puppet or two or three to small storytimes and let the kids play with them before or after the story to reinforce the story...or to let the kids engage in story play and re-imagining or telling the story themselves.  When kids are too shy or the group too small to even have them engage in that much play I do a few little retellings of scenes with the puppets and hope that the next week brings more participation.

Small group storytelling can be some of the most rewarding because the stories shared can be quieter and more focused.  Any other tips out there on sharing storytelling with small groups?

Image: 'Day 138' http://www.flickr.com/photos/38451115@N04/4218226857

Two Great Blogs That I Hope You Follow

Travis Jonkers has been creating great content at 100 Scope Notes for awhile now. He does great links, creates great fun and I always discover something new in his short succinct posts.

A new blog that is a must stop now for me (thanks Travis!) is Read.Connect.Watch. created by John Schumacher (otherwise known in the blogosphere and on Twitter as Mr. Schu). The blog posts book trailers as well as related media for children's literature titles.  There is a rich depth to this blog which will help create endless content for school and public librarians.

Image: 'Two friends!!'  http://www.flickr.com/photos/13937854@N00

Looking Out at the Great Job Market

Abby the Librarian has a wonderfully helpful post for people thinking about going to library school or in the midst of their graduate work.  In it she talks in a very practical way about what a person should consider and how to increase one's marketability.

I want to second her suggestions.  As a mentor for three new librarians on ALAConnect, it is the advice I give again and again.  Finding meaningful volunteer/internship work that relates to the field you want to enter is worth gold. 

It is an opportunity to get practical experience as well as suggest projects that can enhance a library's resources ("Would you like me to develop a booklist on read-alikes for Diary of a Wimpy Kid?"; "I could develop a little book of coupons to give out to families between storytime sessions that encourage them to return to the library in the interim ['Get a hug from the librarian'; '$.50 off your fines';  'Come in for a sticker and a personal book suggestion form your librarian']; "Would you like a resource list of books and websites for that program you are doing on organic gardening?"; "Would you like me to update/redesign that flyer?"). Library staffers just might take you up on it and you get golden experience that translates into a money job search.

We are in the midst of searching for a new children's librarian to join our team and Abby's post reads like a roadmap that all our top candidates seem to have followed.  Taking the extra time to learn, work and play in the stacks and among librarians makes job searchers more valuable to future employers.  And you know you all can do it!!

Image: 'Free 3D Business Men Marching Concept' http://www.flickr.com/photos/22177648@N06/2136948367

Three Favorite ALA Midwinter Moments

1. Meeting blogger Eva from Eva's Book Addiction and her Los Angeles Public library coworkers at a reception held for SLJ reviewers.  It was better than putting a name to a face - it was meeting a woman whose mind, words and thoughts I have admired.  I love it when the blogosphere and the real world mash up to bring us together.

2. Finding this Facebook post from Nancy McC, a colleague attending ALA "Overheard a local asking a conference center security person,  'Is there some type of librarian festival going on here?' When I said "Why yes, there is a librarian festival," he replied "Librarians are cool...reading is fundamental!" Seriously. Probably 22, looked like Wilt Chamberlain, complete with girlfriend.  I am so wanting to rename our conferences "Librarian Festivals"!!

3. Having a set of recommendations on creating more opportunities to participate virtually accepted by the ALSC board. The subcommittee I was involved in worked long and thoughtfully and wrestled with this and it was great to help create a roadmap for our path to that goal.

Oooooohhh! Aaaahhhhh! Gasp! Snort! Wowser!

There is nothing quite like being at the press conference at ALA Midwinter to hear the announcement of the Youth Media Awards.  That 60 minutes is packed with tension, expectation, murmers (and screams) of surprise or acclamation, standing ovations and, in that dark, dark, cavernous room, a knit brow or two, gratefully hidden from one's peers.  Today's announcements of, by my count 23, awards in San Diego were no exception.

There were expected, unexpected and wholly delightful surprises from each committee.  One of the book bloggers I follow was frankly surprised at some of the buzzworthy books in the kidslitosphere getting no recognition.  I am never surprised at that result.  We are all readers and all passionate, but let's face it, few of us approach the rigor of reading and discussion that goes into these ALA award level committees.  These groups live these books and the passionate give and take that occurs throughout the year as they make their way to final discussions and voting is simply extraordinary.  They take special care and I always put my faith in their decisions because I know how profoundly seriously they take their work.

Now it is time to read, re-read, acquire and booktalk these best books and media of our children's and teen literary world. How lucky we are to have this spotlight on a passion that brings such great material into the hands of our kids! Congratulations to all the committees for a job well done!

ALA Midwinter - Distinctly Un-Winterish

I hate to be so supremely shallow but I REALLY love ALA midwinters that meet in warmer climes.  This year we are gathering in San Diego. Going from 6F to 60F in a mere 4 hours is a real treat for this Wisconsin woman. If you have to be in meetings, meetings, meetings, at least be in a place with pleasant warmth and incredible views.

I am on the ALSC board in my third and final year.  We will be wrestling with some interesting stuff as always.  It is a great group of people and I look forward to not only the camaraderie but the debate. I'll be reporting out recommendations from a subcommittee I chaired on moving our ALSC committee work to a more virtual model. It will be great to see where this all goes.  And there will be time to attend the ALSC All-Committee meetings where I will peek at the work of so many of our member leaders.

Of course the exhibits will take up a chunk of time, looking at new titles and picking up a few ARCS to bring back to share with the team.  There will be plenty of friendships renewed, hallway conversations, drinks clinked at after hours get-togethers and talk about how we are struggling to do good with fewer resources.

On the last day there will be the always amazing ALA Media Awards press conference where we get to ooooh, aaah and gasp at the announcements of the ALSC, YALSA and Coretta Scott King Awards.  My colleagues on award committees are working hard this conference to discuss and vote on the winners. What will they present us with on Monday?

So here's to midwinter and librarians gathering where they work hard...and enjoy the sunshine harder!

Image: '~ The Real Action ~'   http://www.flickr.com/photos/13898329@N00/12494645