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.

*****************************************************************************
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..

*****************************************************************************
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!

Women and Girls - Power or Not?

Kelly over at Stacked just wrote a powerful post on being a woman and speaking your mind. If you haven't already, head right over and read it. I'll wait for you. *quietly scrolling through tweets*

Ah, good. You're back. Kelly has a couple of, oh, ten or twenty cogent points, eh?  She is speaking truth to power - and to us.

The issues of gender and power, girls and power and the destructive subtlety of people speaking and working against women who wish to be themselves and self-directed has been a lifelong concern of mine. As a young fire-brand librarian I was active in Women Library Workers, a feminist library network and support group that now is in an embers stage of it's existence. I have stood down from much of my active work but I have never believed for a nano-second that we are in a "post-feminist" age.

My partner is a guy with a voice pitch that is slightly higher than encountered in most guys. He has spent considerable time on the phone in his jobs. When men on the other end of the phone mistakenly think they are talking to a women, to a man, they are patronizing, dismissive, abrupt and sassy. When the person on the other end thinks my partner is a man, he is treated completely differently.  This has been a conversational topic between us for over thirty years. "Post-feminist age," my eye.

When Kelly talks about the expectations that men and women have for women and girls I hear her talking. As I commented on her blogpost: "I was reminded of a photo going around FB where Jada Pinkett Smith was asked why she let her daughter shave her head. Pinkett Smith wrote, 'The question why I would LET Willow cut her hair. First the LET must be challenged. This is a world where women, girls are constantly reminded that they don't belong to themselves; that their bodies are not their own, nor their power, or self determination. I made a promise to endow my little girl with the power to always know that her body, spirit, and her mind are HER domain. Willow cut her hair because her beauty, her value, her worth is not measured by the length of her hair. It's also a statement that claims that even little girls have the RIGHT to own themselves and should not be a slave to even their mother's deepest insecurities, hopes, and desires. Even little girls should not be a slave to the preconceived ideas of what a culture believes a little girl should be.' "

This spring I attended a wonderful and empowering unconference at UW-Milwaukee called "Out of the Attic and into the Stacks: Feminism and LIS". Lots of students and lots of old-guard feminist librarians. It was great to be around that living timeline of  feminist librarians. One question that came up from the students to the vets was, "How do you bring feminism into your work?"

This is what I said: You bring feminism into your work every day in every way. By making sure that you purchase and display materials that highlight strong women and gentle men; that open up the hidden contributions of women and that highlight girls as strong and not just frilly.  You do programs that empower girls but also don't shut out either gender. When girls come in to your library, you compliment not their hair or clothes but tell them they are looking strong or tall or smart today. The messages that we give - no matter how small - matter.

We need to stand strong together on these issues of women and girls and power. It does make a difference and will make a difference for decades to come. But we have to commit to doing the support every day in every way.

Image: 'Superhero'  http://www.flickr.com/photos/51336161@N02/5416260011 Found on flickrcc.net

Stop Making a Divide!

It has been a rambunctious few weeks on the alsc-l listserv and then followed up on the ALSC blog. What is ruffling feathers and raising tempers?  The basic question of how we as youth librarians incorporate and curate digital content for kids - including very young kids.

A simple request to share thoughts with an app developer passed on to the listserv by Cen Campbell over at Little eLit blog elicited more action than I've seen on alscl in a while.  Some people got quite off topic with flame-worthy insistence that digital content had no place in the library lives of kids between 0-5. The ALSC blog guest posts followed - here, here and here.

I never weighed in on this brouhaha except in comments. I will tell you, though, I was dismayed at some of the attitudes displayed and the arguments made against including digital content for young kids. Although we haven't made much of a leap at our library, it is a direction I expect our team will be going much sooner rather than later.  Again, Cen pointed the way in her Wrestling Your Bear post at the beginning of November. That  coupled with the provocative posts in the Libraries and Transliteracy blog (now finished) really informed my thinking.

Cen's thoughts dovetail with mine. This semester I have been teaching a graduate level Children's and YA Services course for UW-Madison.  One of our textbooks, Adele Fasick's From Boardbook to Facebook, published in 2011, makes the case for the direction youth libraries will inevitably be moving in. It's a direction that seamlessly blends traditional print with digital content to meet the needs of our families. I would be remiss as an instructor - and as a practicing librarian - not to look further and more deeply into the future that is truly happening right now. My students need to be open to the possibilities they will experience at the beginning - as well as at the end - of their careers.

While I appreciate the hesitation and worry about screen time expressed by people, I also think it is incredibly short-sighted and darn near dereliction of duty not to stand-up, research-up, read-up, learn-up, understand-up AND change-up for positive support and curation of digital content for kids. Arguing as Luddites that screen time is a no-no below a certain age ignores the rich (and sometimes stupid and banal) content that parents are tapping into already. As youth librarians we need to understand and lead, model and recommend to help our families find the best for their kids.

I hope people stop thinking of why not and start thinking of why and how. We serve our communities best when we add to our knowledge base, bridge the divides - and change and evolve with the times. By learning from and collaborating with each other we all gain.

Image: 'Canyon do Buracão' http://www.flickr.com/photos/58817442@N00/352819555 Found on flickrcc.net

Making Books Holiday-ish!

Ok, Thanksgiving has passed so I can officially put up the tree. We usually head out and find a live tree to put on our window seat. But this year inspired by Pinterest and clever librarians everywhere, I made a book tree. So here is my baby.


It's a little crooked but it has lots of our favorite books (Ulysses!  1001 Arabian Nights!). The advantage is it never needs water. The disadvantage is that I can't pull out books from it to read...I must be patient. Gack!

If you are looking for more bookishly holiday things to make, check out Book Riot's post here!

Where Were You When I Was Young?

Ok, here's an Ohio YMCA summer camp that gets it!

Weeks are themed to popular book (and movie) series like Ranger's Apprentice, Harry Potter, Percy Jackson and the new Brotherband Chronicles by Flanagan.  The skills kids learn - horseback riding, survival skills, team building, archery - are much the same as any summer camp but with a literary twist that lets kids experience favorite books vicariously.

Hmm, sounds lots like some of the fun book-themed fun we create. You go, Ohio Y!

Brown Bear Brown Bear Birthday Bash

I heart book parties! No surprise there. They are the perfect storm of fun mixed with a laser focus on a book , character or series that resonates with kids. Whenever possible, we like to tie in parties with events about the book that are creating buzz - a book, movie or DVD debut; an anniversary of a book's publication; a tie-in with Kohl's stuffed book character promotion or a nationwide celebration (think Read for the Record or Read Across America).

When we were thinking about what would be our special 1000 Books Before Kindergarten event for the fall, we decided to celebrate the 45th anniversary of the classic Bill Martin- Eric Carle collaboration.  And the ingredients?

Thanks to Pinterest, I had found some easy to reproduce templates for the characters at 1+1+1+1 blog.  We used volunteer help over the summer to create a little take home packet in a baggie of cut-outs and the text of the book.  For the party I made some 8.5 x 11 sheets with each character on them. Our business manager had found loads of the Brown Bear titles on sale at Kohl's along with other titles by Martin and Carle and purchased 15. Those became our special "birthday presents" to be raffled off. The finishing touch - I ordered a few dozen mini-cupcakes (no cake cutting!).

On party day the families flocked in for some exclusive time before we opened. All families could enter their name for our book drawing. For the program we did a quick Itsy Bitsy Spider to settle the tots in. Then I invited kids from the audience to come up and hold a piece of the story and everyone told the story together. I thanked everyone in 1000 Books for their participation and encouraged those not signed up to join. We drew for the book prizes (displayed around the room - as names were called, kids could come up and make their book choice), then sang happy birthday to Brown Bear and ate our cupcakes (nom nom nom). Simple, effective and fun. That's MY kind of program!

Diary of a Wimpy Kid Party - Third Wheel Edition

I love nothing - nothing! - more than a good party based on a kid's book.  We had two home runs this week. In this post, let me tell you about our latest celebration - Jeff Kinney's publication of his seventh book  on 11/13/12, The Third Wheel.

I knew it was going to be good because I lucked out and picked up a 2013 Wimpy Kid calendar signed (in silver, no less) by Jeff Kinney at ALA. That would be the centerpiece of the party that we would schedule on the eve of the book's publication.

We downloaded the event kit from Abrams books to help us decide  what games and activities to use at the party. They have always been generous in making bookstores and libraries look good with the latest trivia, games and puzzles.  We chose the Shame Game and trivia from this year's event kit;  downloaded masks from the Wimpy Kids Club and used the "Worm Chase" activity from a previous party (a picture of a worm colored by the kids and glued on a craft stick in honor of Rowley being accused of chasing kindergartners with a worm on a stick).

It's not a Wimpy Kid party unless we take a toilet seat, prop it atop a wastebasket and let kids chuck mini-cereal boxes into it. And of course there were "Mom Bucks" aplenty that we made and gave out with abandon for any and no reason.

Best of all, School Library Journal and Abrams Books (bless their hearts) made a live webcast of Jeff Kinney available today at noon (our party started at 3pm).  During the webcast, I took screen shots and made notes to share with the kids in a word doc. To start the party off, we spent 15 minutes just recapping what Jeff had said. The kids were rapt. The webcast should be available more widely in an archived version in a week or so.

Finally, to the mad delight of the kids, we picked for the lucky winner of the calendar and six magnetic Wimpy kid bookmarks we had purchased. The rest of the kids received a ridiculous but highly prized monkey pen.  Everybody was happy and books and literacy = fun won again!

For other Wimpy Kid parties we've done, check here and here .

Raising $$ for the Library

Decorated library pre-opening

Our library held it's 10th annual Give-a-Gift (referred to by staffers, somewhat tongue-in-cheek, as GAG) fundraiser last night and it was an unbelievable success. We pre-purchased and processed over 600 books for all ages; decorated the library  (and ourselves) in an elegant style in a mere 3 hours; arranged for evening-long catered finger foods and celebratory champagne along with the traditional wine and lemonade. Then we opened the doors from 4-7 pm for people to come in and purchase the books for the library.

Nibblies

People come in, peruse the books and choose ones they will "donate" to the library. Each book has a tag with author, title and barcode that they fill out with their donor info and a book plate inscription. We put the book on a cart and they take the tag to the purchase area and pay for it.  The tag info is subsequently used to generate a bookplate, reserve the book for the donor and generate a thank you letter with tax exempt information. The laden book carts return to Tech Services at the end of the night to be dealt with in coming weeks.

An adult area display

The community always comes out in force but this time....well, we sold out of every book after 2.5 hours. Usually we sell maybe 60-70% of the books. To say the staff was giddily stunned would be an understatement. As the books were purchased at a mad pace, staffers kept closing down displays and shoring up remaining ones with stock. Every kind of book for every age sold, sold and sold.

We had advertised heavily because we wanted to hit an overall goal of raising $150,000 worth of books being sold during the ten years we've held the event. It clearly paid off. We won't get the final numbers until next week...but no books left - that's gotta be good.

A children's area display

The preparation for the event is pretty massive. Planners meet monthly year round to get ducks in line - from fancy invites, to live music and food and beverage choices. Selectors start buying stock in late May and the Technical Services dept catalogs and processes them all. After the night, they generate bookplates with donor's inscription and reserve the books so donor's get first check-out privileges.

Most of our crack YS team

In general, it's a very tough event - while good things happen, staffers often gag at GAG - so much work and effort in the months before and after. Decorating, breaking down and working the event in an eight hour span are all exhausting. But it also builds staff camaraderie and teamwork.  There is laughter and compliments  and the pleasure of working on a front-line crazy busy event.  Probably, most important for me, is a feeling that can't be beat when the public - from all income levels and age groups - comes in and buys books to thank us for our work. That warms my heart and keeps me willing to do this crazy thing!

Dear Teen Me

To celebrate the publication of Dear Teen Me: Authors Write Letters to Their Teen Selves ( a new book of letters from 70 different authors to their teenage selves), edited by Miranda Kenneally and E. Kristin Anderson, bloggers have been writing a note to their young selves as well. Although  I am not a part of the blog tour supporting this effort, I have a couple things to say to my young self anyway.

Dear Teen Me,

You will use those four years of Latin throughout your academic career and life and be counted as one smart cookie.

Ignore those bad boys and don't be in a hurry. You will meet your partner whom you cherish and who cherishes you in your old-maidhood-mid-20s and will truly live happily ever after.

Those cranky librarians who kept asking you "if you had checked the catalog first" every time you asked a question did steer you into librarianship. You swore you would be kinder and more friendly to the public...and you did it - mostly!

The library will remain your inspiration, your refuge and your university throughout your life. That will never change. It's good to know that there are stable things out there.

You will never lose the fire that makes you care deeply.  So keep speaking truth to power. It won't hurt you a jot.

Finally, never give up; never surrender! You will make all your dreams come true by hard work and caring. Really. Truly. 

And hang in there, tootsie, life does get better!

And NEVER Say You Don't Have a Program Idea...

Feeling like your tank is on empty? Then stop on by these two generous library association sites and grab some program ideas, wouldja?

Illinois Library Association Youth Forum's blog

ALSC Kickstarter - School Age Program Ideas

And don't EVER whine to me about why you don't think joining a professional association is important. Because now you know what they - and you - do!

Image: 'Ding! Ding! - Fill 'er Up!'  http://www.flickr.com/photos/98019953@N00/5343969456 Found on flickrcc.net

KidsLit Cares Auction Hurricane Relief Effort

Please head on over to author Kate Messner's blog  and consider bidding on one of a number of items to benefit the efforts of the Red Cross in helping victims of Hurricane Sandy. From Kate's website: "It’s an online talent auction to benefit the Red Cross relief effort for Sandy. Agents, editors, authors, and illustrators have donated various services to be auctioned off to the highest bidder, with donations being made directly to the Red Cross disaster relief fund."

So head on over and bid, my friends (but not on the people we want, OK?)

Thanks to Bookshelves of Doom and my colleague Linda Jerome for this "heads-up!"