What Makes a Great Youth Librarian?

After talking to children's librarian peers, directors, library educators and library users, I've got some ideas to share on what makes a great children's librarian.

Join me Wednesday, January 23 1-2:00 pm CST for a webinar session at the online Wild Wisconsin Winter Web Conference sponsored by Wisco's library systems. Registration is still open for this and all 15 webinars presented by national and state speakers.

Session description:
You know them, you’ve seen them, you may even be one! But what factors contribute to making someone a great children’s librarian? You may be surprised at both the universality of the answer as well as the specialized skills and talents that separate the ho-hum from the wowsers! We’ll look at nature vs. nurture; perception vs. reality; what top children’s librarians say are the “must-haves” and the “definitely-don’t-needs; ” and reflect on getting to greatness. Learn how you can step up your game at any time or place in your career (or, if you are a director, coach your staff) to achieve amazingness in youth work.​

Power Up Conference Scholarship Applications Due January 11

Who doesn't want a chance at a free registration at a national conference?!?!

The second Power Up Leadership Conference for Youth Managers and Staff (btw, that's all of us who work with youth in libraries; we all lead no matter where we are in an organization) is happening March 28-29, 2019 in Madison WI at the Pyle Center.

This national conference brings speakers and attendees from across the country together to explore leadership, advocacy, developing leadership skills and leading from where you are. The one and a half day conference is a great opportunity to immerse yourself in thinking about leadership and management and advocacy.

Scholarships to cover the full registration for ten lucky recipients are still open. Scholarship applications are due by January 11. Click here to read about the scholarships and access application form.

"Fine Free Libraries" Local TEDX Talk Goes National

I want to share some fun news about a colleague of ours, Dawn Wacek.

Earlier this year Dawn was invited by the local TedX hosts at UW-La Crosse to share an "idea worth spreading" - her ideas about creating fine-free libraries. Her talk caught the attention of the curation team at the international TED level and today, her talk was featured on the main page of the national TedX website! It's been fun watching the views head towards 180K.

Dawn, who is the manager of youth services at La Crosse (WI) Public Library, has been a fierce advocate for equitable access in the libraries she works at. It has been great watching the transformation of the youth area and the approach she has brought and encouraged among the staff to make the library more welcoming, more inclusive and a focal point of community for youth and caregivers. 

We're all happy to see this issue so eloquently advocated for by Dawn!

The Importance of Being at the Table

I'm at the ALSC institute this week in Cincinnati with a few hundred sister and brother youth librarians learning a ton and meeting many new colleagues. What I love about these biennial Institutes is the concentrated sessions with plenty of time network with regional librarians who don't often get the opportunity to attend ALA conferences. There is no committee work so all our time is learning and connecting with new friends.

This year, the overarching theme is the importance of making sure we get everyone at the table. We in youth librarianship should be leaders in inclusion, equity and diversity.

The programs so far have really celebrated this concept with thoughtful reflections and stirring calls to action on identity in children's programming; decolonializing our book selection methods; demystifying advocacy; true advocacy that recognizes every child and so much more yet to come in the next two days.

I will be presenting on the importance of reaching out and being a leader in connecting community and library to benefit all kids. It's exciting to be part of the group of energetic and innovative colleagues sharing programs, thoughts and action..

The next Institute will be held in Minneapolis MN Oct 1-3, 2020. You might want to mark your calendars now for this immersive experience.

For Director's Ears Only:10 Secret Tips to Support Youth Services

The webinar is on the books. If you'd like to see what youth librarians identified as the most important tips that directors need to be amazing supporters of youth services and youth services staff, please click here to view the University of Wisconsin- Madison iSchool CE webinar.

For Director's Ears Only - Supporting Youth Services Webinar

For many years, in hallway conversations, across meals and anywhere youth services staff gather, we have shared tales and instances in which our library co-workers have been less than...shall we say...supportive?

We all know the stories. Sometimes it is treating youth staffers as if we are children; sometimes a cluelessness about how programming is more than 30 minutes of face-to-face time (Oh the planning! Oh the prep! Oh the cleanup! Oh the energy of presenting! Oh the humanity!); sometimes the sheer inequality of disparate pay and task expectations.

It seems to me we need to get out the echo chamber of talking among ourselves. We know what we do, the value of our services and expertise and the need for equity with our peers in adult services.

Now we need to step up to leadership and advocacy by bringing the conversation to our directors, managers and administration. We need to help them understand what we know.

In that spirit, I will be presenting a free webinar for directors on Tuesday February 27 at noon CST through UW-Madison iSchool. Thanks to the generosity of peers in Wisconsin who shared their stories and Storytime Undergrounders from throughout the country who shared their thoughts, directors will have some great food for thought. I hope you encourage folks in your administration to spend an hour getting more in-depth on how everyone in the library can support youth services.

2019 Power Up Youth Leadership Conference is ON!!

Great news, peeps! The uber amazing Power Up: A Leadership Conference for Youth Managers and Staff will be back. Mark your calendars for March 28-29, 2019 and join us at the beautiful Pyle Conference Center right on the UW-Madison campus for all things youth library staff and leadership.

Watch for requests for conference proposals to be out in early 2018 and registration to open in early fall 2018!

What Does IMLS Do for You?

I am over at the Wisconsin Library Association's Youth Services Shout-out blog today sharing links and action to take to save IMLS. Leah Langby writes an important reminder of the many state-wide and system-wide projects and initiatives that WI libraries have benefited from thanks to federal money through IMLS.

As always I am inspired by the work of my colleagues in WI and across the nation as we continue to take action on behalf of libraries and our communities.

Happy Library Week!!

Pixabay image

A big MWAAAAAA to all my library friends and colleagues out there!

Thanks for all your passion and work serving your community in your library work! Like most of us, the reason you get up and go into work is that opportunity to serve your patrons - whether it is the public in public, academic and special library work or other librarians in your role as consultant or educator. That bread and butter focus is what informs our work and helps us push through challenges and change.

While I used to tell the kids that Library Week is like a "birthday for libraries," it is just as much a celebration of each and every staffer who cares enough to work so tirelessly in every aspect of library work to bring great services to their communities. Your dedication makes the library tick like the heart of the community that it is. Libraries transform - and so do you!

So here's to you, my friends!

We Need YOUR Voice

ALA Washington Office shares:

We did it!

After ten years of advocacy, thousands of emails, hundreds of calls and scores of meetings last night the House of Representatives passed the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), school libraries included! Thank you to everyone who made calls, sent emails, posted Tweets, and sent our alert out to their contacts and listservs. After years of needing reform to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), we are on the cusp of getting it and we couldn't have done it without you.

But we’re not there yet!

The House voted to approve the Every Student Succeeds Act and now it’s the Senate’s turn. Please, take a moment on two vital actions:

1. Contact your Senators to let them know how essential this bill is to our children’s education and futures.  
2. Contact absolutely everyone you know and ask them to do the same thing.

An overview of the library provisions found in the Every Student Succeeds Act can be found here.

 To find out who your Senator is & what their contact information is, visit this ALA page & type in your zip code in the box on the right side of the page

Talking points 

• Vote Yes on the Every Student Succeeds Act Conference Report.
• School libraries are critical to our children’s future and the Conference Report includes critical language to support effective school library programs.
• This language is historic: For the first time in half a century Congress has underscored the importance of effective school library programs by expressly including them in multiple parts of this watershed reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.

Everyday Advocates, let's go!!

Conquering Management Issues

It's time again for CE school to start at my alma mater, UW-Madison SLIS! And I'll be returning to teach with How Did You Manage That: The Sequel.

This four week course is for you if:

• you want to delve deeper into the hows and whys of youth services management
• you want to create a community of practice and supporters to learn management tips
• you are working at a library of any size or are a manager or are thinking about stepping into management
• you like working at your own pace in this asynchronous course taught between Jan. 29-Feb 19

It isn't necessary to have taken the first iteration on this course offered in fall 2014 because we'll be looking at brand new issues and brand new solutions. We'll also be using a marvelous "great-to-have-always-on-hand: text: Fasick and Holt's Managing Children's Services in Libraries

Here's what's in store:

“They didn’t teach me this in school!” Last fall, we explored youth services management issues in the first version of this class. There were so many more conversations to be had that we decided to offer a sequel! Whether you were in the first class or not, join us to take this hands-on, hearts-out course on youth management issues.  We’ll explore the delicate dance of navigating personnel issues (library staff, patrons and partners) as well as discover  tips to more effectively balance, advocate for and marshal resources to make smart management decisions. The course will be collaborative as you share your own experiences and ideas that have worked in managing your youth services area.

Topics

Don’t Take it Personnel – tips on managing staff, co-workers and administrators(!); hiring strategies; staff motivating/encouragement (and conversely, discouragement!); fostering  positive relationships with other library staff

Marketing vs. Advocacy – getting to “yes’ with colleagues and patrons; creating powerful collaborations/outreach; saying what you mean – and why

Success with Difficult Patrons and Partners – tips on respectfully working with (or ejecting) difficult patrons; strategies to create success with reluctant or difficult partners or library colleagues in nearby libraries; navigating complaints.

Strategic Moves towards Zen Balance  – creating the service you dream of,  getting on top of the grind on the way to vision; work/life balance; letting go (insert “Frozen” music)

Get all the details and register (including a 10% discount for early registration by January 10), stop here. And don't forget to check out all the great UW-Madison SLIS CE courses by my friends and colleagues. 2016 will be a great learning year!

Talk it Up: Promo Power

Pixabay image

I've been thinking lately about how promotion of our services can really make a difference in the public's response to our efforts.

There are traditional methods of promotion in getting the word out: flyers, handouts, posters, press releases to the media and youth serving organizations, online newsletters, social media, email blasts and so on.

Then there is the more subtle - and I might suggest more successful - methods of simple word-of-mouth advocacy.  The information we relay while on the desk working with patrons AND wherever we see our community members - at the grocery store, place of worship, gym, bar, 5K, trail or across the fence - becomes a personal invitation that's hard to turn down.

I've seen some great examples of this over the years:

• An early literacy librarian who inevitably found her way to each new parent she saw (whether at the library or outside in her civilian life), cooed over their baby and personally invited them to baby storytime. She always carried a business card with the days and times of our storytimes to leave with the family. Our storytimes never lacked for attendees.

• Desk assistants who, while checking people out, always mentioned upcoming programs of interest to their various children. They relayed excitement and a hint of the fun to come. Our programs were always full of eager kids.

• Storytime presenters who, when interest in 1000 Books initiative started to falter, promoted the program in their sessions. Sign-ups and participation perked up again.

• Librarians attending community meetings chatting about our programs and services with tablemates and putting our literacy efforts out front for people to discover. Amazing opportunities resulted.

Like any kind of advocacy, these personal conversations and invites work best if they are ongoing and consistent. Once word-of-mouth promotion becomes a habit for staff, it's as easy as falling off a log to promote services, programs and initiatives. And the results can be amazing!

Programming Superheroes

Image: Pixabay

That's what we youth librarians are, you know.

I've been thinking alot about programming over the past couple of years. I've been writing about it, teaching about it, listening to ideas about it, revising my thinking about it and considering it in the context of all we do as youth librarians in our work day.

And one consistent theme that has struck me is that programming for kids in libraries - while not all we do - is the part of our jobs that is most visible, touches children's hearts most closely and consumes a great deal of our creative and imaginative energy.

We come into work, don our superhero librarian costume and plan and present amazing early literacy storytimes; school age programs, outreach visits and more. We think about how to involve kids through passive programs, DIY programs, partnerships with other organizations.

Back in our "Barbara Gordon" street clothes, we scan Pinterest, blogs and journals for new programming ideas. We talk to our colleagues, watch webinars, brainstorm and dream new ways to reach kids through our programming. We see program possibilities while we shop for groceries, stop by a festival, in our jammies while watching TV.

All the ideas get tucked away and pop back out when we don our superhero duds back at the library.

Part of being a superhero is finding ways to take those ideas and balance them to serve people without burning out. So we share tips on how to do programming and collection development and planning and advocacy and all the background tasks that make up a whole youth librarian's M.O. in a sane, fun and sustainable way. The hidden secret identity parts of our work are less visible to our public but just as heroic.

We recently received a lovely tribute to our youth staff- both past and present - from a patron whose children's reading lives were touched by staff helping the find the perfect book and presenting great programs.  These glimpses into the change we make as very public programming superheroes and quieter reader's advisors and information professionals reveal the depth of our good work. We all receive these positive boosts from our patrons and they warm our superhero hearts.

Whether thanks are expressed or not, the work we do to shine a light on literacy, learning experiences, and reading through our programming touches the lives of children and brings us out to them and them into our libraries.  Shine on, my superhero colleagues, shine on!

Nurturing Ideas - and Each Other

Stellar Nursery in Orion

This is one of my favorite photos at the always amazing Astronomy Picture of the Day. It shows the Great Nebula in Orion - a huge cloud of gas and energy where suns are forming in a stellar nursery. While the science intrigues me, I see it as a metaphor for what we can do best in youth services - help support and lift up our colleagues anywhere on their career path.

I've been thinking alot about this lately - partly because I've been teaching. There is this aspect of giving information in the act of teaching but a far deeper piece where the students give just as much -  sharing, problem solving, teaching and supporting each other. I always learn when I teach.

I've also been thinking about this - partly because I have been looking at management and hiring not just in our own library but also as I develop workshops, presentations and courses on  youth services management. Part of what you do every day as a manager is look for ways to open a path for the team members to work more smoothly - whether its removing a rock from the path, helping re-find the way, putting the brakes on a cart careening off the path or providing a little muscle to help ease the passage up a tough hill.

Partly because I have been in so many conversations with colleagues all over the country about how to encourage the sharing so we can preserve knowledge but also build on it. We should each want to plug into librarians at all points in their career to network, to share and to encourage their work and passion. Whether new or a vet, we can lift each other up by asking for our colleague's opinions, program ideas, and youth librarianship thoughts.

Amy Koester wrote recently about this is Storytime Underground and I couldn't agree more. We all have something to share, to learn and to gain. It isn't just the bloggers and presenters who have a platform though. It is every youth librarian every day in their work pushing that envelope further out. The stellar nursery isn't just for the beginners in librarianship - it is for everyone along their career's path. We all need that nurturing and support - and we all can give it.

Maybe, in addition to our PLN (personal learning networks), we need to commit to a ULN (universal learning network). Open ourselves up not just to our familiar network but build further and more openly outside of our tribe and our group and our lanes of connectivity. If we each think ourselves as a mentor - even if we are just six months into our first position - and our job is to lift each other up, how powerful could that be?!?!

We can then consciously support a youth librarian idea nursery that spreads and supports the work of us all by connecting to the unconnected, the un-cohorted, the un-MLISed. We can build the network by including never-before-presenters to panels we are creating to present at CE/conferences/webinars at all levels. We can make sure our blogs are open for guest posts. We can nurture those who don't have a path to leadership or an audience and are hesitant to step forward.

Flannel Friday, Storytime Underground, Thrive Thursdays and lots of bloggers are leading the way to this kind of universal support. Our challenge is to continue and reach more deeply out to those unconnected who can use the support just as much. I know we do it. But can we do it more? Oh yeah, we're youth librarians and we all are that nursery for each other.

Image Credit: R. Villaverde, Hubble Legacy Archive, NASA

Sharing the Love - and the Reality!

Our guest blogger today is Renee Bush Wallace, Head of Youth Services at the Clark Co. Public Library in Winchester KY. A chance comment gave her the opportunity to tell the real story of what happens in libraries in a positive, powerful way. She shares the encounter with us!

Last night, I was at physical therapy (for weird knees!) when my therapist proudly told me she had just "joined" the library.  (She had gotten a library card that very afternoon!)  She had even tried to see me, but alas, it was a half-day for me, so I missed her.

The other patient nearby said what a great job I had, since all I do is "sit and read for 40 hours a week."  I never get angry at this comment, because it always reminds me of how little our patrons know about what goes on in the library.

Instead, I pleasantly explained that I actually do very little reading at work, and what I do read while there is always for work purposes, though I do enjoy it anyway!

So, I had to answer the question: if you are not READING at work, what ARE you doing?This was great fun, because I love what I do, and love for people to catch the desire to improve literacy among the children of our community.

Soon I had an audience of three, all of whom peppered me with questions about how the library is funded, how do I get the money for book prizes, SRP prizes, etc.  One person even asked me if librarians make so much money, (!), why do we need to ask for donations?

I stayed past my appointment time in order to answer all the questions, and it got deeper and deeper into things that really make for great PR: how to get a library card, who can sign up a child for one, what SRP is about, why we do it, and so on.

When I could finally get away, one of the audience said, "Wow.  I never knew the library did so much, nor that it was so much fun."

I tell my staff frequently: we tend to forget that most people do not "get" what goes on in the public library.  We need to always be ready with a patient, pleasant, informative "chat" about just what the goals of the public library are, and why we are so excited about our jobs!  We even have one of our civic groups that has me back regularly to speak at their monthly luncheons, all because way back in 2004, I said while there that I get up every morning SO THANKFUL that I am going to a job I LOVE.  

PEOPLE WANT TO BE WITH EXCITED PEOPLE.  Word-of-mouth is invaluable to us in our work!  Also, a wise counselor once told me that if people do not have the facts, they make up their own, so I like to provide them with the FACTS about what we do, and about how much we want THEM to be a part of it!

Sorry about the religious fervor there, but... no, I am not, really!  ;-)

Image: 'Questions Answered...' http://www.flickr.com/photos/45082883@N00/223839049
Found on flickrcc.net

Guerrilla Storytime - the Real Meaning

When the idea for Guerrilla Storytime first started birthing in the late spring/early summer 2013,  part of the conversation was doing the storytimes in a public venue that showed people the importance of storytime work.  That's why the Networking Uncommons at ALA was booked. It put the storytime ninjas front and center among non-youth librarians. It was a huge success and created a buzz-worthy atmosphere at the conference.

Youth librarians gathered again at ALA Midwinter at the Networking Uncommons and again had a great turn-out and created a stir.  Probably my favorite write-up about the event is one that bystander Kate Kosturski just shared on INALJ.  It is a wonderful view of a non-youth librarian recognizing the magic of the Guerrilla Storytime moments.  She filmed a number of ninjas that day and shared those videos at ALA.

I got to know Kate a bit last year when discussions of feminism in librarianship started to pop up into conversation. She hosted a Circulating Ideas podcast panel with Coral Sheldon-Hess and me that addressed some of these issues. It was great for me to listen to these interesting people and to think outside my youth librarian bubble. I got more interested in LITA at ALA because of that conversation.

For me, this IS what librarianship is all about - each type of librarian sharing the power and joy of our passions with folks outside our more narrow library-interest tribe.  I think librarians are willing to hear from each other and discover. We just need to listen, to talk to them - not just at ALA or our state conferences but at our institutions. We learn, we create powerful connections and we strengthen ourselves.

I thank my deep-thinking pals Cory, Amy and Kendra for bringing our part of the conversation front and center to conferences where librarians of all types and stripes gather. And I thank my non-youth librarian colleagues for the warm embrace!

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!

Building the Ship

Long-time colleagues and readers know that I hate standing still. I have been a children's librarian for all 36 years of my career and have been privileged to serve my communities in that capacity. I have never wished for more or less than what my career has happily been - serving youth and families in libraries.

This is my passion and my calling. So I have pushed hard in my jobs and profession to look for ways to offer the best. Looking for more and adapting to changing needs is what drives me.  I can't stand still when every tide brings a new treasure to the beach of my library. It often drives co-workers and professional colleagues crazy but most of those found treasures that generous colleagues have tossed out on the sea of youth librarianship have made a positive difference in how youth are served at the library.

But I always thought, "Just imagine, if rather than a flotsam of ideas, we could build a ship of them!" Yesterday, something happened that makes me believe that dream might come true in our state.

It was with real pleasure that I attended a pre-conference at my state library's association's fall conference on youth services. It was, of course, a wonderful experience. But more than that it represented a sea change in attitudes, power shifting and conversation from what has been going on in youth services in our state for awhile.Too often individuals looked to an ephemeral "someone else" to lead. Networking was hit-and-miss or concentrated on a few issues without looking at the bigger picture. Colleagues from large and small libraries just weren't linking.

But times have been changing in the state. Rather than popsicle sticks and lamentations, participants yesterday were treated to a power-producing afternoon that demonstrated concretely that our state level children's consultant, our WLA Youth Services Section leaders, our system level consultants and youth librarians were ready to enter a bold world of action, support and innovation. WE are what we make of youth services. I am ready for the ship we are creating - come on board with me!

I Want to Tell You a Story

We have a favorite partnership in our community. It's with our La Crosse Storyelling Festival.  As part of my job, I represent the library on the planning committee for this annual festival, held the first weekend after Labor Day for over 800 avid storytelling fans. The festival features tellers from our local guild, from the state and national tellers.

The library began as a partner years ago by sponsoring children's crafts during breaks in the children's tent storytelling. When I started work at the library four years ago, the fest steering committee asked me to serve on their board - they are all storytelling colleagues that I had known for years in my storytelling circles. Our library wants library staff to serve, on library time, on local organizations and boards (Rotary, Jaycees, Optimists, Earth Day planning committee) so this fit right in with the library goals. And it was storytelling. As a free lance storyteller, it was a great fit!

As a board member, I've been able to work on behalf of the festival - but also on the library's behalf.  I look for ways to make our contribution meaningful and to highlight the library beyond having our logo displayed. The library now co-sponsors the Friday night spooky tales. I host the evening as the "Wizard of Reading" and get to plug the library and reading.  Anyone who shows their library card gets $3 off their admission. The library, pays the difference - we consider it part of our programming.

The Saturday craft area that we sponsor has mellowed into an activity area with one or two book-related activities (bookmark making, writing or drawing activities) and a space for reading and books.  I also do storytelling in the children's tent off and on during the afternoon. It's also a great chance to spend time with folks who are regular library users, chatting about their thoughts on the library;  promote our services to non- and new- users and be there for support of literacy through storytelling.

So the twelve and fourteen hour days I work at the festival are about as fun as they can be for work hours. And the partnership between storytelling and the library...well, it's perfect.

Touching My Heart

Today I spent a wonderful four hours with sixty librarians and system staff from the South East Kansas Library System in Iola Kansas. These wonderful librarians were from communities that range in population from under 100 to a few thousands to a few larger communities serving 12K-20K. And man, they are bringing the service.

It struck me once again.  Communities who care about education, knowledge, reading and literacy put their hands and hearts together and make sure they have not just a school, but a library that serves the needs of all ages. That is an amazing statement. In America, most communities don't have "math houses" or science museums. But almost all communities have libraries.

This support of reading and literacy - from major urban communities to tiny 87-person townships - is fundamental and important to our democracy and an informed and knowledgeable citizenry. It touches my heart and makes me proud of my country and the people who care so deeply for literacy and education. And it makes me feel even more strongly about the importance of libraries while communities struggle financially and try to keep all their services intact. I think we can make the case for libraries and their importance by speaking about these fundamental truths.

And I know my colleagues in Kansas will keep on bringing it.

Picture of a SEKLS workshop