On the Eve of the Awards

I served on the 1995 Newbery and 2002 Caldecott committees. These remain two special moments in my career. Like dessert, it was sweet. But I can't have that diet all the time - that's why I love the meat and potatoes of the many "process" committees I serve on. I wish the experience of being on an award committee to each and every ALSC and YALSA member at least once in their careers and I hope that each member, having served once or twice on a prestigious award committee, makes room for others who wish to have the experience.

It's the night before the American Library Association's Youth Media Awards announcements. By now the discussion, the deliberation, the voting and the annotations are done.  The frisson of excitement within each committee as the top honored book, recording or film has been determined is palpable. The committee members are as proud as new parents at their award titles and honorees. But it's still secret.

Roommates teasingly pry; spouses look for hints; colleagues wonder and give an extra squeeze to hands and shoulders of committee members, knowing the intense work of the past year. The committee members, though excited, appear serene. The decision that will echo through youth literature down through the ensuing years is done. It's finished. Often committee members spend some time together after the final meeting just to have people to talk with. Hearts are very full.

The ALA Public Information Office has kicked into high gear. They are reaching out to obtain phone numbers; writing press releases and press conference scripts; determining if there are immediate media opportunities for winners; scheduling committees for their Monday morning phone calls - yes, the honorees are called by the committee chairs backed by their committees prior to the press conference. In Seattle, it will be at a blessedly decent time - when at an east coast ALA midwinter, west coasters often get the call pre-dawn.

There is a little note of trepidation in many a committee person's heart on this night. How will the crowd of 500 librarians, publishers and booksellers present at the press conference and the audience of teachers, librarians, book creators, and makers and sellers around the world react to their committee's choice - with screams of approbation or the gasp of in-taken breath? I have heard both. That moment when the committee stands to face the dais, backs to the audience, and have their choices announced is nerve-wracking.

But that's tomorrow. Tonight, there is the sweet feeling of a job well done; a challenge met and the camaraderie of a group of people who have read, pored over, reflected and discussed books together in a rarefied atmosphere to winnow and seek that golden best. And that is enough.

For more insights on the award process, stop at this Nerdy Book Club post and read Monica Edinger's outstanding post myth-busting the Newbery Committee process and drop by Something Different Every Day blog for a peek at the day between the big days of an award committee member.

Image: 'Poesia'  http://www.flickr.com/photos/58929717@N00/93235624 Found on flickrcc.net
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1000 Books Before Kindergarten is Still Rockin!

I love the organic feel of how 1000 Books Before Kindergarten programs have spread. Started a few years ago in Bremen IN by the mighty Sandy Krost, it has popped up here, there and everywhere around the country. Recently, a colleague, Kathleen Larson at From the Short Stacks, posted my all-time favorite working graphic - a google doc map of places where 1000 Books Before Kindergarten programs have been developed.

Beth Crist of the Colorado State Library produced an excellent summary of what the program is about along with some great links. She also recently hosted a webinar on 1000 Bks B4K with Sandy. My colleague, Sara Bryce did an outstanding job of gathering research to buttress requests for grants, funds and convincing administration on the worth of programs like this at her blog S. Bryce Kozla.  I continue to pin programs on my Let 1000 Books Bloom Pinterest board. (And in a 2014 update, Kelsey Cole at Library Bonanza created a hugely helpful set of FAQs and tips  and Luci Bledsoe on Library Program Mojo shares her planning process to make it easy to start a 1000 Books program at your library!)

While every program has a different feel and approach and theme, every program is alike in encouraging parents to read widely and muchly to their preschooler. Parents are always pleasantly surprised at how easy and fun the process is. And kids are proud of their achievements.

We have really enjoyed this stealth program here at our library. Kids and parents continue to participate as we near our 2nd anniversary. The program has resulted in over 2,500 return visits (plus  families have read almost 197,600 books with La Crosse preschoolers who are in the Club!!) and fun interactions with kids and parents. We continue to improve on it - going from writing titles on 8"x11" sheets to bookmarks with 100 seeds to mark off books read; thinking about decreasing prizes and sticking to stickers and working to keep it publicized for new families coming in.

Our state also recently added a category in their annual report request that allows libraries to report out these statistics for stealth and DIY programs - a sea-change for us since only active program stats and SLP registrations were previously gathered on those reports.

For other links to 1000 Books posts I've done, stop here, here, here, here, and here.  You can also view a webinar I did linked here. And as always, to find samples of our materials, check out our Winding Rivers Library System Youth website and scroll down towards the bottom of the page!

And for a 2014 update on our adventures here at LPL, please stop here!)

Part 5 - Keeping a Torch Lit - School Public Library Partnerships

And now back to the present...

The posts in this series came to mind first after a School Library Journal article last year reported  that overall school/public library collaboration was very poor. I wrote a post about tag-team librarianship to share thoughts when that came out. The recent article in SLJ referenced in Part 1 of this series focused on some fairly large libraries and systems with big staff infrastructures - a sure recipe for the vast majority of libraries that serve far smaller populations to feel, "Well, jeez, we can't do that - we so lack those resources/staff/time."

I.do.not.believe.that. No matter size, staff, budget or time, we all can be great partners.

Here and there, over the years, I've heard a few librarians say  they "couldn't get in at the schools". Then a story is shared about how that librarian purchased "useful" teacher books - without consulting school colleagues - and these materials were never checked out. Or I hear that a colleague refuses to collaborate or look for ways to do outreach in the schools because if the public library starts, it will be an excuse to remove school librarians.Or a homework center isn't well-used but in further conversation, I find out that the library has not mentioned a word of it's existence except through in-house PR. The link in all these "fails" is that the public librarian has not talked and listened to, explored or partnered with their school colleagues. Building a service in a vacuum is never a good idea.

If we want to create those links, we truly have to forge a partnership of mutual respect and listening. School colleagues are under alot of pressure. We need to think in ways that address those pressures and make the case that partnerships will benefit kids and staff  and make a positive difference. It's good to be low-maintenance in terms of what we propose or ask of school colleagues. It's worth it to be a good listener and investigator - what is needed; what would help them or what suggestions do they have for us. And I find that flexibility on our part always makes the partnership better.

A first small step can open doors.  Jen the Youth Services Librarian, who started a new job in August, was out in the schools promoting Teen Read Week programs in October. Colleagues I know invite their school partners to breakfast, for cocktails; initiate youth book discussion groups; invite them along to conferences and workshops or to visit the Cooperative Children's Book Center in Madison; give short, snappy presentations at in-services.They set up an occasional meeting with school media colleagues and see what ideas and conversations result.

With Common Core state standards coming into play, there are even more opportunities to chat, talk, plan and collaborate with school colleagues. Many public libraries have strong collections of narrative non-fiction that can be explored and celebrated.

The possibilities are exciting and endless.We can keep the fires burning and do amazing outreach with our school colleagues. Partnerships work - no matter what size library you work at. 

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4


Image: 'Tiki torch'  http://www.flickr.com/photos/83261600@N00/8189871269 Found on flickrcc.net

Part 4 - Embrace the Embers - School/Library Partnerships - Take 2

This is the fourth post in a series I did in 2009 on school and public library cooperation. Any effort we make to partner with schools is a great effort and the simplest thing can reap rich rewards for all the kids in our community!

4/29/09
"But Marge", you say, "we just are so overwhelmed. We want to do great partnerships but time, money, staff and energy are hard to come by. What can we do?" Lots! There are plenty of laid-back partnerships and efforts that even a part-time, one person library staffer can do.

Email Newsletters to School
Periodically mail out a brief, colorful newsletter to school staff (through each school's office - with permission of the principal of course) with children's lit or book news; services you offer; invites to take field trips to the library; suggestions of great new book read-alouds and maybe an announcement or two of perfect programs for school-agers. This kind of communication breaks down barriers and let's your colleagues know about the library and your services and collections.

Invite Classes to Visit
Field trips are fun and you can make them more inviting by using a stuffed book character as tour host for younger kids (Clifford; Very Hungry Caterpillar; Maisy) or jazzing up field trips for older kids by exploring non-fiction and making origami or cataloging and shelving the kids or playing Book Character Bingo in the fiction. Make the library fun and they will come!

Outreach Visits to the Schools
These are absolute bread-and-butter! Outreach gets you out of the library and into the schools where kids are. Offer to come to Literacy Nights and Parent Nights, do storytelling at schools, present book talks - and leave the books in the classroom for a month for kids to devour - and never forget - summer reading promotional visits are some of the best times to reach out to kids and entice them into good reading fun in the summer.

Art Displays
Offer to transform the library into an art gallery for student art and host a reception for the young artists and their families. Art teachers are often looking for end-of-the-year venues to display their students' creativity and the library makes a great gallery!

Book Lists
We often develop these to help staff and patrons find goodies in the collection. But consider developing graded booklists before summer and distributing to the schools. By recommending books that are age appropriate and in the collection, you make kids successful searchers during the summer for reads. Many teachers support these efforts and would love a list like this.

No matter where you are in partnerships with your schools, these ideas can really sparkle and help you create closer relationships with your school colleagues. A big tip of the hat to all my peeps on PUBYAC for sharing ideas and making me think about the vitality of school and library partnerships!

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 5

You Picked That Up From Where?!?!?

A recent post from a widely read blog, which will itself remain uncited, described a library's program for  kids. It looked fun and had a ton of good ideas. It is a program we have done too. All was well and good until I reached the point in the post where I read about an activity that I had created and originated and blogged widely - and more than once - about. Sadly, I didn't see a link back here. Sigh.

I definitely like to scatter idea seeds - both ones I've thought up and ones I've learned from others.  I let them fall where they may. I always hope for fertile soil;  for sprouts and gardens to grow that let kids experience something amazing that they couldn't if their youth librarian didn't try something new they heard from me - or discovered on a listserv, blog post, workshop or book .

But truly, as much as I have scattered, I have also gathered from others. I have learned and borrowed and recreated ideas that others have pioneered. Each time I do, I have said, "Hey, I found it here; or this library or librarian was the founding mother or here was the acorn that produced this oak." Everything comes from somewhere and I appreciate the person that hatched the first egg of the idea.

Every time I read a post that describes a program, I love to see where it came from (the writer's mind; another colleague; a chance conversation; an adaptation of an article; like that). It leads me to that first place and adds a colleague and their work to my blog roll, my reading pile or my bookmarks.

I have been mellow about seeing stuff I've created go viral ("Oh, there's my little baby," I coo proudly, "all grown up") even if my hand in it is long gone. I rarely pitch a fit.  But, somehow, this time, this missing link bothered me. I will totally get over it. I understand how in this world of Pinterest and links to links to links, things can easily fall between the cracks. But I send out a plea to my sister and brother pinners and bloggers and blog administrators - please remember to ask yourself and your writers to link to original content or at least lay a path that helps others find their way.

After all, everything starts somewhere.

Note: I composed this post last month and scheduled it for next week. But three incredible posts of the last 24 hours moved this up since they touch on aspects of support for each other in what I am writing: Hi Miss Julie's questions about who gets tapped for rock stardom vs. the librarians truly working in the trenches of youth librarianship; Kelly over at Stacked who thoughtfully and reflectively explores how we support each other in our work and blogging; and KM Librarian who thinks about networks and support that matter. All these posts are knock-your-socks-off thoughtful.


Image: '382e nestled in'  http://www.flickr.com/photos/25171569@N02/6298805160 Found on flickrcc.net

Part 3 - Starting a Blaze - School/Library Partnerships - Take 2

This is the third in a series of blog posts I wrote in 2009 sharing ideas that worked for us when I worked in a library in a smallish (15k) community. I believe no matter what size the library, staff or budget, amazing collaborations can make a win-win situation happen for kids. Into the wayback machine, my friends!

4/21/09
Now you are cooking - teachers use your services, you have some great partner mojo working....what else can you do to make your school partnerships smoke?

School-Created Programs
Talk to school staffers who have cool hobbies, skills, passions and see if they would like to be part of a program or present a program for kids - or be open to them suggesting programs. It is amazing what colleagues who are knowledgable in how to talk to and reach kids can do. I have had teachers present Japanese and German culture programs for kids, a National Adoption Day program, as well as spearheading a monthly bi-lingual Spanish program series.

Shared Book Collections
If you and your school library media colleagues identify a mutual area of both of your collections that need beefing up, consider sharing a collection. We wrote a small grant for easy readers (90 at each school) housed at the schools Sept-May and then at the public library during the summer rush. It was a wonderful project and when we no longer needed to share the collection, simply divided it up between the public library and schools. It took a little oversight but really worked well to make more materials available to kids.

Kids as Book Buyers
What's better than getting a kids-eye-view of what books your collection should have. Book buying with kids for the library is a treat. We worked with our schools to identify at-risk third grade readers to join a public library club and visit a bookstore to select a non-fiction book for the public library. The kids picked carefully, we let them keep the books in their classroom for the first month and then had a party at the public library where the books were housed in a special display. It made a huge difference to the kids and us!

Early Literacy Projects
Gaining school support for library efforts to prepare kids for success in school is golden. If we can make the sale and help staffers see how we are helping them by working with preschoolers to increase literacy, school staffers can become our strongest advocates. It's worth the effort to bring them on board in initial efforts - or ask for a place at the table as they are planning literacy activities so you can let them know how many preschoolers and their families that you see!!

We'll tamp our fire down to embers for our final post and look at some simple ways to be a great partner even if you have no time, money or staff.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 4
Part 5

Part 2 - Nurturing the Fire - School/Library Partnerships - Take 2

The second in my series of 2009-era blog posts on ideas that actually work for any size public library to do collaborative magic with their schools. Hop in the wayback machine please!

4/21/09
Ok, your teachers have fine-free and extended loan cards; you provide classroom collections and you are getting to know the schoool folks. What's next?

School Van Delivery
Many districts have a van(s) that make deliveries between sites. If you can arrange weekly or biweekly school van stops at the library to pick up and drop off materials, it is money in the bank. This takes a little initial negotiation but if this can be arranged, it creates a way to get materials, information and projects back and forth between the school and public libraries. For parochial schools, seek out willing parent-partners from each school willing to help with these kinds of deliveries.

Outreach Visits to the Schools
This is bread and butter stuff! Let your schools know you are available to come to Literacy Nights, offer storytelling at schools, consider book talking, present at parent nights, and the ubiquitous summer reading promo visits. All these activities stress the public library's literacy role and expertise.

Cooperative Winter Reading Program
Many schools run their own winter reading-encouragement programs -why not see if school staffers are interested in pooling resources, talent and ideas to create one community-wide effort. Working together can result in a program run by the schools and supported by the public library. Perhaps the library can provide design or printing muscle; extra programs and even small incentives to encourage kids to stop by during the reading program weeks.

Kids Read One Book
Classrooms make great partners in this kind of project. Work closely with a committee from the school to select a title; seek out funding together and provide book discussions at the schools as well as the library. With enough lead time this can be a tremendous project.

Author/Illustrator Visits
Another gimme! If you are bringing in a book creator, partner with the schools and other local organizations to give the author plenty of places to present and a great way to support both schools and public library. Our most successful ongoing project involved working with colleagues to bring in authors for third graders on an annual basis. We were able to sustain interest and funding from the library, PTOs and community funding sources for many years.

Watch for Part 3 when we start to get really jiggy with it.

Part 1
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5

Part 1 - Starting a Fire - School/Library Partnerships - Take 2

I had the privilege of being interviewed for an article that was just published in the January 2013 issue of School Library Journal on partnerships between schools and public libraries. While only a quote each from my school collaborator and me made it into the article, it really showed some of the breadth of work we can do as collaborators.

One concern I have with the article is that the profiled libraries are fairly large. I have learned that dynamic school/public library partnerships happen in the smallest of libraries and communities with small staffs and budgets. I think it's important that we never say, "We can't do that; we're too little."

It seems like a good time to go back to the well with four posts I wrote in 2009 about this issue and experiences I had while I worked in a smallish community (15K) and share them with TTFLF readers. I'll finish up with a fifth new post to pull together other ideas to bring us into 2013. So step into the wayback machine with me....

4/16/09
School and public partnerships are one of THE most vital indicators of success in a community for a library. They are not always easy relationships to establish (who do I talk to; why don't they return my calls; why don't I return their calls; why do the projects we plan seem to fizzle?), but just like nurturing the tiny flames of a twiggy little fire, the results of that hard work are warming and renewing.

I just finished talking to an elementary ed student at our local university who wanted to know how teachers could benefit from the library. Between that visit and requests for ideas on school/public library partnerships that I see on various listservs, I decided to explore some ways that I have found success with schools in my public library career. Some are simple things we all do; some may be a re-working of ideas you have seen or done; some may be brand new.

Getting to Know You
Contact, talk to and meet your school colleagues. Don't just get to know your Library Media Center colleagues, though - include the reading coordinators, reading specialists, principals and staffers at each of the schools. They all need to be part of the partnerships and can bring many different skills, talents and ideas to the table. And they can help guide you to true success by being awesome collaborators with important insight and ideas to make any school service or project successful.

Teacher Cards
Providing cards that allow teachers to check out materials fine-free and often for extended periods of time for the classroom are an easy gimme. They are great PR; help teachers and caregivers expand their book offerings to kids and it means that teachers don't have to incur fines for classroom books. The trick with these is having great communication with the teachers and stopping abusers of the service cold (rather than making rules or guidelines that penalize everyone).

Deposit Collections
You are a Children's Literature specialist. Helping select great books for teachers on a variety of subjects is a real perk of the job! The collection materials can be prepared automatically on a rotating basis or by specific subject request from teachers. By preparing these collections you save teachers time and lend your expertise. And the subjects and authors requested give you insight into areas of the collection to boost in order to support community education efforts. Win-win-win!

Stay tuned for Part II where we explore a few more partnerships outside of the basics!

Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5

Unprogram Your Programs

Sometimes it seems like programs are planned to a fare-thee-well. Massive amounts of time, sweat, money, prep and pain go into what is essentially a 45 minute adventure with kids.  If you have a massive turn-out (The room is full! The self-check-outs are swamped! The staff is scrambling!), that kind of preparation and staff time commitment seems to be worth the investment. Then again, if you get a small turn-out, is all the prep worth it?

I've thought alot about this issue over the years. This post was sparked by my friend Georgia's post over at Come into Delight, many of the program ideas from Amy over at Show Me Librarian and watching the work of my colleague Sara, someone new to librarianship discovering the wonders of "stuff" readily available in our basement storage area and putting together programs with some thought and what amounts to a couple of bobby pins and scotch tape.

I wonder sometimes if over-preparation for programs happens because of pure dog fear - what if we don't fill up the time or the kids are bored? While it's realistic to have concerns about how substantive the content of an hour-long program is, planning so much "stuff" for kids that it would take three hours to do them all, simply isn't.  Accepting that the program may end a little early is fine - and so is giving kids enough time to explore or experience each part of a program without rushing them from activity to activity.

It's hard for me to justify spending more staff time in planning and preparation for an actual event than the amount of time the event actually lasts. Ten hours of staff time for discussion, planning and preparation for a program is nine hours too many. I'm not being lazy here or uncaring. But I wonder if over-preparing for an event isn't a bit of a waste of time? I think balance is important.  And fun is important. So it leads me to thinking of programs as un-programs so we can do them and still make time to be creative in other ways in our youth work (tackling change in collections, directions, and pushing the envelope on service).

I like to see programs that can be useful whether 10 kids or 110 kids show up. If time is spent making or buying a special prop, I like to see it used numerous times in numerous ways for numerous programs.  Since numbers on the low side are more realistic at the libraries I work at, these things are especially important.

To unprogram programs, I stop and ask, "How does what I'm doing connect kids to a book or books; an author or illustrator; the library or our services or some aspect of kids' interests that relate back to the library?" I just can't do something that doesn't have that connection. But more than that, is what I'm doing and choosing relevant to kids right now - not 20 years ago; not 10 years ago; not 5 years ago - but right now with my community of kids right here? It's way easy to make the mistake of thinking because a program once worked, it's time to trot it out again. S. Bryce Kozla has a great post on how she addresses the issue of what kids currently respond to.

Thinking about this informs the choices for programs and activities. It may be letting the kids free play or explore activities on their own with gentle guidance from us. If it's not a DIY craft or activity event, I think about how I want to incorporate books into the program - booktalking, talking about the book creator or their art or writing style or life or what people are talking about in relation to them, or starting a conversation with the kids and letting them talk about the books and reading - stuff that unlocks the books for the kids and gets them excited about the material. It's like extending and enriching the story.

Most kids are using the library and coming to programs because they like reading or books or our materials or us in some way.  So rather than  ignoring that aspect I look for ways to celebrate it in fun and creative ways. The result is a relaxed preparation, less emphasis on crafting and more on chatting and activities that tie directly into books or the library. Kids like it. Boom! Unprogrammed!

I hope to explore the concept of unprogramming and playing with programs a few more times in coming months (this is my first stab; I've been noodling at it for awhile which clearly accounts for its wandering nature). I am in good company with more and more bloggers sharing not just program content but their thinking beyond what they do - seems like there's plenty to talk about!

Get Up, Get Out!

Cen Campbell has a guest post up at ALSC blog that encourages youth librarians in particular to get out of the echo chamber and really interact with and respond to their community.  I love her seven steps that are a literal kick in the butt to engage and be engaged.

We all need reminders to get out of the lanes we're in and think beyond what we've always done. It's challenging; it's hard but it's worth it. What are you going to do this year to shake up your routine and really learn, build and serve your community?

Image: 'Grace and poise?'  http://www.flickr.com/photos/92814092@N00/477256270 Found on flickrcc.net

Zen Breaks

I was happy to see this post from my colleague Leah Langby over at Keeping Up with Kids.  She discusses a number of good reasons to create breaks in storytime sessions. Her list is clear, encouraging and concise.

I am a big advocate of this concept and have blogged about it before. Some people pile too much on their plates and keep jamming more on to serve all the needs - no breaks and just keep doing more. Some people are happily comfortable with routine and love storytime so much they just can't give it up - and are fearful of trying something new. No breaks for this person means things can stay at status quo.  Some people are so fearful of people leaving and not coming back that they just keep grinding out sessions.

It's ok to recharge and re-group. It's ok to take time for other tasks on the job - from collection development to developing partnerships to outreach. It's ok to give yourself the space and time to evaluate, re-work, blue sky and improve the content of not just your storytimes but all your programs.

Talk to your families and let them know that what you are doing in storytime is giving them the tools to enhance literacy with their children.  Talk to your families and let them know you serve many ages of children and you balance the many needs. Talk to your families and ask them what other types of do-it-yourself spaces and stealth programs you might develop to engage them while they are at the library. Talk to your families and let them know you are also there to help them to connect with great books, media and digital content. Letting them know the reasons behind changes helps them navigate that break.

Not only will they get zen, but so will you!

It's the End of the Year As We Know It

I really like end of the year lists - great books and materials; accomplishments; even adventures my friends have experienced - from the craptastic to the truly profound. I seldom have any round-up though.

For those of you who have met me, you know that I am starting to get, ahem, up there in years.  So thinking back over the year to remember exactly what book I've read, accomplishment that got accomplished or place I've been has become blurrier than it once was. I am mindful of my mom who sweetly went into dementia and can only hope that I can follow that mellow path rather than my usual cranky one. So indulge me a bit while I write a holiday letter to see if I can keep track.

At the library, we kept an ongoing list of new, good stuff. A few team highlights:

Library Star 2nd grade tours, high-energy field trips targeted at every 2nd grade class were developed, funded and were a huge mega-hit.

Reading is Key Club, a successful stealth program for tots was developed to encourage use of lots of collections besides Picture books

Partnered with pediactrics clinic for Reach Out and Read, a long-held dream

Introduced ECRR concepts into monthly Childcare Provider CE Meetings

      Sunset the CD-rom collection

      Started a Juvenile illustrated fiction - for 3-5th graders

Redesigned our Play, Learn, Read area into a more friendly, usable space for tots.

Added internet terminals in the Teen area - now they have their own space

All in all we made some good progress. We tried some fun new programs and are looking forward to more experimentation there. Had some highs; had some lows. The team did good.

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In my professional life this year, I tried some new stuff too: Twitter and Pinterest; ALA Council and our WLA board of directors; National Legislative day; served on the brand new South Asia Book Award and the ALSC School Age Services committee; traveled out of state to KS for two weeks to present SLP workshops there and taught an online graduate SLIS class. It was very stretchy and good for me to try LOTS of new stuff..

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On the blog front, Blogger happily keeps my stats and tells me things. This year, on the very same day last week, I hit 100 followers and 100,000 hits. Holy smollies. Thanks for reading the blog! I have met amazing people through this venue and it has been fun to be able to think, chat and rant with you all. I look forward to more of the same next year!  Have a great holiday season!

I Can. I Can't. I Won't. Well, Maybe.

Recently a blogger had a thoughtful post in which she explored how she creates and how she solves problems the way she does. In her typical matter-of-fact way, she describes her reality and how that has led to an adaptability and level of experimentation that directly influences her creativity. Best money quote: "everything is possible if its definition is malleable."

Over a long career working with people at libraries, in associations, at workshops and on committees, I've met a boatload of creative - and un-creative - people. What is that ineffable thing that helps creators, create; innovators, innovate or librarians, succeed? I've been a manager for all but a few years at the beginning of my career so I've had plenty of time to chew on this particular nut.  Although I sure don't have all the answers, here are a couple of thoughts.

There are some people who are innately pretty darn creative. Whether it's how their brain is wired or just a fascination with problem solving or tinkering, they are playing and adapting consistently. Collaboration and partnering seems to play a big part in  their creativity.

There are also people who, while feeling less naturally creative, try and fail and try again until they find the right combination; they seem to find the path to creativity through learning/observing/applying how it all fits together. One of the things that happens as people tap into their creativity is they learn to take one and one and make something much greater than two. I think the degree of problem solving that happens is because these people are thinking, "I can". These two kinds of people are the ones we go, "Wow, I like that thing/program/service you thought up. I want to try that too!"

There are also people that, for whatever reason, think more in terms of "I can't" or if they are foot-draggers or pretty negative are more in the "I won't" category. Trying anything is a big step and one failure or idea that doesn't pan out stops them dead. These are often the people who say, "We tried that before..." or "We've always done it this way..." or "See, I tried it and it was a miserable failure."  These seem to be people (as I commented in Sara's post) who want lanes and doorways; paths and clues. When something happens that gets them out of the lane or off the path, they try their hardest to get back in or on. It feels safer there - but not very creative.

Sometimes when people hatch an idea and  hit a wall, they just back up and hit it repeatedly - "Well", they say, "I can't go forward" or "You stop me from going forward." or "There is no forward. In any case, guess I'll stop". I think creative people and problem solvers keep tapping along the wall until they find a door or window or weak point in that wall to break through. They just keep trying until the right combination happens. It's not their  first thought or attempt but maybe their second or fifth or tenth and they hit the right combination. It might be a few minutes, a few weeks or longer but that "Well maybe" keeps driving on the problem solving.

It's being open to creative solutions and collaborating along the way to achieve them that makes a difference. It's getting out of the box; into the weeds and off into the forest to explore the possibilities that leads to that experimentation. And that pursuit of possibilities; that willingness to collaborate and being open to change leads inevitably to a more creative approach.

Where are you on that continuum?

Image: 'untitled'  http://www.flickr.com/photos/14064991@N04/3885841075 Found on flickrcc.net

Where You Been, Loch-Wouters?

Just seconds ago, I hit the "submit" button for grades to go to the registrar. Yep, I've been an instructor this past semester. At the graduate level. For my alma mater UW-Madison SLIS. Teaching Public Library Service for Children and Teens. On my off time. Online.

When the job opening came up in June for a fall online graduate-level 3-credit course instructor in my career field, I was like, "Oh I could do this." I've thought off and on about whether I could teach at some point in my career. It was a long-time (albeit, secret) dream. After all the workshops I've given on youth services I thought SNAP! After looking at a syllabus from the last online instructor (about five pages), I applied with confidence and was hired in early July.

From there, I can only compare the past 5.5 months to a wildly careening run down a steep ski hill by a skier who had never strapped on downhill skis before. Syllabus building; learning the online component; going through piles of books to finalize my textbooks; driving the five-hour round trip weekly to consult with faculty; meeting and talking with generous and supportive teaching colleagues to get up to speed - that's a peek into those first two hectic months. And everything felt completely Alice-in-Wonderland nuts.

There wasn't a minute of that time that I wasn't worried and scared. What HAD I gotten myself into? This was...hard!  And challenging! And intellectually stimulating! And freaking time consuming.  The online component was a little challenging and I sucked alot of the ever-patient Distance TA's time away holding my hand. I was glad I had vacation (sorry, honey, the Utah hiking trip is off). And I got used to getting up at 4am daily to do my course prep and saying goodbye to weekends.

The very worst moment was discovering that each of my online lectures needed to be very short and concise - no more than ten-twelve minutes. Whaaa?!?!?!  For a chatty person like me, that was a hellish nightmare and THE number one most difficult challenge. I think I kept them down to that length once.And to get there usually took 7-8 hours of writing, thinking and composing per lecture.

I woke up thinking about my readings, lectures, class discussions and students and went to bed thinking about them. That concentration really pulled me through. But it didn't leave much time for anything else.

By the beginning of October, after the first assignment was in, with a month of lectures under my belt and the students really bringing it on in the course, I calmed down and began to enjoy the experience. I felt more comfortable with the software. I wanted to stimulate my students to see the big picture of youth librarianship and they really responded. It wasn't a fancy course and if I ever get the chance I will make it a little more interesting ("OMG," I can imagine the students saying, "Not another lecture/discussion AGAIN? Can't she mix it up a little to create a more interesting format?")

I'm a little wistful it's over. I loved watching students learn over the couple of months and share their discoveries. As challenging as it was, it was THAT satisfying. But what will I do with all my free time? Hello, blog. Hello, family. Hello, friends. Hello, reading for pleasure. And that's good too!

Gift Kids with THESE Books

There is always a flurry of recommended book lists that appear in November in anticipation of the holiday buying season. Most (my own included) concentrate on gems and somewhat gauzy suggestions that appeal to the gifted kid, grandkid, great niece or nephew. Not that most kids are that gifted but adults in their lives sometimes make picks that they think the kids might like.

Sara over at Bryce Don't Play takes holiday book selection in a delightful new direction, steering adults away from their insanely stupid inclinations to more practical and soon-to-be-devoured-by-reluctant-readers picks. If you missed this, get on her feed and make sure you follow this blogger!