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.

Power Up Conference is Coming!

The University of WI iSchool Continuing Education Department has opened up registration for its 2nd Power Up Leadership Conference for Youth Library Managers and Staff, March 29-20, 2019.

This day and a half conference with inspiring keynotes and amazing sessions spans two days  at the beautiful UW-Madison campus' Pyle Center. There are 18 different presentations to choose from as well as amazing networking opportunities to share ideas and learn informally with youth services leader/peers.

Speakers from around the US and homegrown WI children's librarian powerhouses will be your guides to learning.

The first Power Up Conference filled up quickly so don't delay in registering for this extraordinary opportunity!

Power Up Conference - Last Call for Proposals

And now a word from our colleague, Meredith Lowe, Continuing Education Services at The Information School at UW-Madison:


Do you have ideas to share about management and leadership in Youth Services? The University of Wisconsin-Madison Information School is pleased to offer the second Power Up Conference to share your exciting ideas! The conference will take place in Madison, Wisconsin on March 28-29, 2019. The program committee will be accepting proposals until August 3, 2018.

Topics may include, but are not limited to: strategic planning, collaborations, ethics, leadership pathways, advocacy, mentorship, managing change, work/life balance, staff motivation, and innovation. Youth services librarians and staff from public libraries, schools, after-school programs, museums, etc. are invited to attend – we had 142 attendees from 20 states at the 2017 conference! More about the conference, including information about past conferences, is here

Our opening keynote address speaker is Andrew Medlar, former ALSC President and current director of BookOps, serving the New York Public Library and Brooklyn Public Library. Our closing keynote will be presented by Dr. Sarah Park Dahlen, Associate Professor of Library and Information Science at St. Catherine University in St. Paul, MN.

Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity Statement
The Program Committee encourages a diversity of presenters representing a variety of personal and professional backgrounds, perspectives, and voices. We encourage submissions from anyone who is interested in presenting, including students, new professionals, first-time presenters, and representatives of allied professions.

Proposal Evaluation
The committee will evaluate all of the submissions as individual entries, and how they fit within the balance of conference content as a whole. The Program Committee will evaluate all proposals submitted by the deadline using the following criteria:
• Clarity and completeness of the proposal, particularly having well-developed content and sufficient speakers to address all relevant aspects of the topic;
• Originality and relevance of the proposed topic;
• Uniqueness of content in relation to other conference presentations;
• A range of speaker experiences and representations
How to submit a proposal


Please submit a 200-250 word description of your proposed session to Meredith Lowe, by August 3, 2018. Sessions at the conference will be one hour. Please include an additional sentence or two about how this proposal aligns with our diversity, inclusion and equity statement outlined above. Note that the proposal will not be the finalized description for the conference program; the committee will contact selected proposal submitters for a final draft.

Panel presentations are accepted. All selected proposals will receive one complimentary conference registration ($300 value), which may be divided however the presenters of that session choose.

Let's Power Up Conference!

Do you have ideas to share about management and leadership in Youth Services?

The University of Wisconsin-Madison Information School announces their second Power Up conference on youth leadership and management March 28-29, 2019 and this is YOUR chance to pitch your exciting ideas for a session proposal. 

The first conference was amazing, deep, dynamic and 100% empowering. The second promises the same with new voices, content and powerful networking opportunities.

Topics can include (but aren't limited to): strategic planning, collaborations, ethics, leadership pathways, advocacy, mentorship, managing change, work/life balance, staff motivation and innovation.  Pitch a panel; pitch a solo prezi; pitch a session that pushes the envelope. Proposals are due August 3 but don't delay!

And stay updated on the conference's Facebook page.

And the First Ever Power Up Conference is a Wrap!

via GIPHY

Yep, that's how I feel about it! What a debut for a national conference addressing youth library leadership and management issues! From it's humble "Let's do this" in the summer of 2015 to its hatch last week, it was a magical process and result. As consultant to the conference I had an inside view and high hopes.

The aim was to have a national conference to support those both in - and aspiring to - library management/leadership. It was to have a conference with content given by and helpful to attendees and presenters from all sizes of libraries; a conference that would take us beyond "Library 101" sessions to content that stretched out all who came; and a conference that would appeal not just to in-state folks but to library staff across the country.

Thanks to our amazing UW-Madison SLIS CE conference leader Meredith Lowe for guiding and coordinating this conference every step of the way. She was the might behind the well-planned and executed event. And mighty as well - powering through despite being sick at the conference itself.

Thanks to our main speakers, Gretchen Caserotti and Deborah Taylor, who set the tone and inspired us throughout the conference. Thanks also go to the many speakers from all library sizes, from all age/experience groups and from teen and children's backgrounds who created sessions that rocked our socks off: Elizabeth McChesney, Bryan Wunar, Amy Commers, Lora Siebert, Leah Langby, Alea Perez, Katie Kiekhafer, Jenni Francham, Sharon Grover, K.T. Horning, Allison Tran, Jennifer Weeks, Amy Koester, Alicia Woodland, Krista Riggs, Shawn Brommer, Kevin King, Renee Wallace, Kelsey Johnson-Kaiser, Brooke Newberry, Lara Lakari, Erin Shaw, Lori Romero, Kristen Bodine, Mel Depper, Claudia Haines and Darrell Robertson. 

Thanks to the CCBC who hosted a delightful reception on Thursday evening so attendees could explore the legendary CCBC book examination center, chat and enjoy nibbles.

Thanks to UW-Madison SLIS who, in celebration of the Wisconsin Idea, offered ten full registration scholarships to WI library staff.

Thanks to the Pyle Center for a great venue - delightful food (ice cream at afternoon break!), top-notch AV and tech support, and space to make hallway networking connections a snap. The location on campus and near State St made social gatherings easy peasy.

Most importantly, thanks to all who attended. The energy was electric, the sharing sublime and it was a great opportunity to get to know new folks and say hi to old friends!

Don't be sad if you missed this first conference. You can get a taste of the conference on Twitter at #PowerUp17.  Abby the Librarian posted a list of books mentioned by speakers (truly "reading wildly!"). There will also be handouts and slidedecks shared on the main conference page in the next month or so,  so check back. 

The hope is that the conference will be offered again in the future (it would be a biennial event). So think spring 2019 and keep an eye out for a proposal call in early 2018.  

Overcoming Project Management Obstacles - Perseverance

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The final part of this series, based on a workshop (Walls, Windows and Doors: Overcoming Obstacles in Project Management) I presented in Eau Claire and the crowd-sourced wisdom of the attendees, addresses perseverance in how we manage obstacles.

Sometimes projects stretch out longer than we expect or, if they are an unending part of our job, take on a feeling of drudgery. They also can undergo significant change in the process that appear to be obstacles. Looking for the doorways through can feel discouraging. But persevering to what can be  unexpected outcomes can often strengthen not only the team but the project.

Perseverance Strategies

• Incorporate new information – stay current on the project but don’t be afraid to adjust as new info changes focus or as the project evolves
• Be Patient - projects take time. You may need to adjust deadlines and timelines to adjust for real library life
• Flexibility - be ready to change and adapt an idea to make it project stronger
• Keep vision of outcome ahead of you to stay on track/inspired
• Keep lines of communication open
• Be sure to nurture yourself to avoid burn-out
• Find others to build/maintain enthusiasm with you
• Know your strengths/limitations
• Be willing to allow “thinking stage” time to allow you to tackle parts of the project in a way that lets you work on those without swallowing the whole project.
• Make a chart that shows progress of project
• Consider narrowing focus to a smaller aspect to move project forward and make it more manageable
• Believe in yourself AND those who you are working with to bring change about. Be convinced you CAN do it! It helps you be a good advocate.
• Celebrate the success of each piece of the project and thank those who worked on the process 

Thanks for sharing the journey. Here are links to part one (process) and part two (personnel). And last but again not least,  huge thanks to the generous participants in the workshop who so kindly combined and shared their great ideas with us!

Overcoming Project Management Obstacles - Personnel

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This is the second in a series based on a workshop I recently presented on Project Management combined with the crowd-sourced input of the attendees who shared their strategies and wisdom.

The workshop was titled Walls, Windows and Doors: Overcoming Obstacles in Project Management. It is based on my belief that the most successful project leaders and managers, when confronted with a wall (obstacle) don't bang their heads against it and curse. Rather they look over it, around it, step off to the left or right until they find a window or door or a low point that let's them go forward. This going forward is simply another way of saying "problem solving".

Today, I'm sharing our crowd-sourced solutions that often happen around the "personnel" part of project management. People can be a project's greatest asset AND greatest liability. This includes not just a project team, but other staff members in the library and partner organization, stakeholders and the community. A reluctant partner, a prima donna on the team, a bully, a negative personality, an unbudgeable patron are just a few on the types of people who can impede project progress.

Personnel Strategies

• Coach – work with more difficult team members/partners on ways they can play a more positive role. Kindness and respect are the operative words in coaching
• Communicate – both listen and share in a way that keeps everyone informed and feeling like they are truly a stakeholder
• Support – through leadership and empathy everyone on the team and in the partnership
• Provide clear and careful vision and care of the project in your leadership
• Examine our strong “No!”s to see if they are age-based or based on the facts
• Strip away emotion from interaction in order to see what the facts are
• Gut check- if you are losing sleep over an interaction, take action to remediate it
• When working with a difficult person, be sure to listen to what s/he is saying
• Look at an unhappy stakeholder as a “devil’s advocate” who can improve the overall project
• Create a safe space to allow discussion to include difficult subjects or disagreements
• Easy to get caught up in “loud voices”; seek out quieter people for their perspective and support them
• Recommended reading/listening - Brene Brown – Rising Strong  - the power of vulnerability; learning to fail and get back up

Stop here for part three (perseverance) - and here again is the link to part one (process). A huge thanks to the wonderful participants in the workshop who so kindly combined and shared their great ideas with us!

Overcoming Project Management Obstacles - Process

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Whether we label what we do in youth services "project management" or not, it is actually, in essence, what we do.

On a day to day basis, we manage our seasonal programming offerings, our outreach, SLP,  collection development, displays, advocacy,  early literacy area, teen space, our school age areas, etc. We get from point A to point B with good planning, wise use of time (and staff time), careful consideration of desired outcomes, and reflection on how we are doing all along the way.

We also manage larger, more specialized projects that help us move our service to the community ahead and which we think of more traditionally as "projects." The project might be starting a 1000 Books Before Kindergarten program, creating a makerspace for teens, creating a new service with a community partner, creating Picture book neighborhood, etc.

No matter the project, obstacles or seeming dead ends can crop up. How we problem solve and "manage" those obstacles often contributes to the ultimate overall success of any project - whether day-to-day or a special project. Good project management suggests that rather than cursing the obstacle or banging our heads into a wall, looking for different routes or doors or windows along the wall can suggest ways to solve the problem encountered.

In a recent Community Engagement Project follow-up workshop at the Indianhead Federated Library System in Eau Claire, the attendees and I created a roadmap of ways to more successfully navigate obstacles in project management. Today, I'm sharing our crowd-sourced solutions to obstacles that crop up in the "process" portion of project management.

Process Strategies

• Make sure you have administrative/training support before you begin
• Do the groundwork – do your research, know justifications and what’s behind project
• Make sure everyone – from participants & partners to stakeholders -  know the goals
• Consider doing a smaller prototype project first to see how it goes
• Break your project into smaller, doable parts and work on them piece by piece
• Prioritize each smaller section so you can see your progress
• Delegate appropriately – don’t do it alone
• Renegotiate with partners/stakeholders if necessary
• Communicate and articulate project and outcomes clearly and make sure all stakeholders are in the loop (not just partners but staff, community as well)
• Build ongoing advocacy into the project to keep everyone informed
• Consistently re-examine and re-evaluate the project to stay on track
• Consider delaying less integral parts or expanding timelines if the project runs into trouble
• Be ready to bring in additional partners
• Set firm deadlines if the project begins to stretch out
• Attach your project goals to your annual professional goals to keep project in forefront
• Balance competence/confidence with being willing to take advice
• Reach out beyond original partners to involve other natural partners

Stop here for the parts two (personnel) and three (perseverance). A huge thanks to the wonderful participants in the workshop who so kindly combined and shared their great ideas with us!

How Do You Manage THAT?!?! Part Deux

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It's almost class time again!

The four week CE class exploring issues in youth management (personnel, advocacy, difficult patrons and partners) that I'm teaching offered by UW-Madison SLIS starts on Monday Jan 30. This crowd-sourced problem-solving adventure helps you navigate some of the stickier wickets you encounter in running a youth department.

Just a heads up - there is a 10% registration discount if you register by Monday January 16.

This version of the course covers different material from part one - and you don't need to have taken that before heading into part deux.

Hope to see you there!

Taming the Youth Management Dragon

How many times do you say, “They didn’t teach me this in school!” as you navigate some portion of your day as a youth librarian and/or manager?  There are so many conversations to be had that we are digging in to re-offer our online CE course How Did You Manage THAT?!?! - the Sequel running January 30 - February 24, 2017

Whether you were in our first class this fall 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 marshall 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.

Registration is now open for this course as well as other amazing courses for youth services librarians through the UW-Madison SLIS CE office. And you get a 10% discount if you register by January 16, so don't delay! Hope to see you next year!

Come to School with Me on Youth Management!

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I'm happy to say I have the opportunity to once again present "How Do You Manage THAT?!? Issues in Youth Services Management Part 1", October 17-November 11 for UW-Madison SLIS CE. This course was originally offered in fall 2014 so I'm pumped to examine the issues in this first version of the course.

What are we covering?

•  Collection Development Mojo – savvy selection, weeding, confounding conundrums (bindings, salespeople, cold calls, awards, earning a place on the shelf)
• Strategic Planning Power – big picture visioning; outcomes and goals; balancing services; statistics power
• Room Management and Space Issues- from chaos to calm; involving your public; creative space-making; managing behaviors
• Leadership from Within – fostering  relationships with other library staff; dealing with reluctant administration/board/patrons/co-workers/employees;
• Zen Balance and Creative Engagement – partnerships/collaboration; PLNs

Active participation in discussion, a short paper that helps you identify a goal to work on and presto! You've earned CEUs and valuable insight from this crowd-sourced course where we all help each other examine these issues. Problem-solving and sharing are hallmarks of this learning opportunity.

Registration is now open (with a 10% discount before Oct 2). But don't delay; the course tends to fill fast!

And please check out the other UW-Madison SLIS fall CE courses. My colleagues are knocking it out of the park and each class is dynamite!!!

Last Call for Power Up Conference Proposals

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The sands of time are quickly running out for putting in program proposals for the exciting national conference on youth leadership and management coming in spring 2017. This is a perfect opportunity to pitch your thoughts and ideas relating to that topic.

The audience will be be both staff and managers, leaders and those who want to become more effective leaders. It promises to be a thought-provoking two days that hone in on the power that youth librarians hold!

Here are the details. But don't wait. The deadline is Sunday July 31.

Power Up: A Conference in Leadership for Youth Services Managers and Staff

March 30-31, 2017

Keynote address by Gretchen Caserotti, Library Director, Meridian Library District (Idaho)

Closing address by Deborah Taylor, Coordinator of School and Student Services, Enoch Pratt Free Library, Baltimore

Call for Proposals:

Do you have ideas about management and leadership in Youth Services? UW-Madison, School of Library and Information Studies is pleased to offer Power Up, a brand new conference to share your exciting ideas! The conference will be accepting proposals until July 31, 2016. Topics may include, but are not limited to: strategic planning, collaborations, ethics, leadership pathways, advocacy, mentorship, managing change, work/life balance, staff motivation, and innovation. Youth services librarians and staff from all over the country are invited to attend!

Please submit a 200-250 word description of your proposed session to Meredith Lowe, mclowe@wisc.edu, by July 31, 2016. Sessions at the conference will be one hour (45 minutes of presentation, 15 minutes of discussion).

Panel presentations are accepted. All selected sessions will receive one complimentary conference registration and a discount for staff members they wish to join them at the conference.

Be sure to bookmark this page to stay updated on the conference itself!

Power Up! An Amazing Opportunity

Many of you know I'm been delving into and thinking about leadership and management issues (both being a manager and being managed) over the past few years. 

So it is with real excitement that I have been assisting in the development of a brand new national conference sponsored by the University of Wisconsin Madison Continuing Education Department. The conference is titled: Power Up –  A Conference in Leadership for Youth Services Managers and Staff and will be held March 30-31, 2017 on the beautiful campus of UW-Madison.  

The UW Madison CE team has been presenting the highly successful Back in Circulation conference for circulation staff and managers for years. The Power Up conference is based on that successful concept and it’s a leadership conference that is sure to be uber-useful for youth librarians at all levels in our careers.

I hope you will mark your calendars for this amazing opportunity. I also want you to consider submitting a program proposal and be one of our valued presenters at the conference.  Here’s the scoop:

Call for Proposals

Do you have ideas about management and leadership in Youth Services? UW-Madison, School of Library and Information Studies is pleased to offer Power Up, a brand new conference to share your exciting ideas! Gretchen Caserotti, Library Director at Meridian (ID) Library District, is kicking off our conference as the keynote speaker. The conference will take place in Madison, Wisconsin on March 30-31st, 2017 and will be accepting proposals until July 31, 2016. Topics may include, but are not limited to: strategic planning, collaborations, ethics, leadership pathways, advocacy, mentorship, managing change, work/life balance, staff motivation, and innovation. Youth services librarians and staff from all over the country are invited to attend!

Please submit  a 200-250 word description of your proposed session to Meredith Lowe,  mclowe@wisc.edu,  by July 31, 2016. Sessions at the conference will be one hour (45 minutes of presentation, 15 minutes of discussion).  Panel presentations are accepted. All selected sessions will receive one complimentary conference registration and a discount for staff members they wish to join them at the conference.

I’d love to see lots of youth librarians throw their hats in the ring to share thoughts on leadership and management and doing great youth services work. Bookmark this link for information about the conference now and in the coming months. And feel free to contact me if you need more information or want to bounce ideas at lochwouters at gmail dot com!

I'm All Ears

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Change and no-change is often a tug-of-war we face at work. Delving into the change sometimes reveals a distinct air of "let's do it because we can" - but does it really accomplish what we want or are we just rebranding or rediscovering something that already exists? It also can bring out the "don't change a thing" attitude from co-workers. Rather than beat on each other about it, it's important to move the process forward by listening.

Jessica Olin over at Letters to a Young Librarian recently addressed aspects of this issue.  She concludes, "The main thing I'm thinking about, though, is that I'm starting to understand why more experiences library professionals say things like, "we've always done it that way." I know it's easy to hear that phrase and think the speaker is stuck. But at this stage of my career, I can hear nuances in that much reviled statement. I can hear when someone means "but I really want to change it" versus when they mean "and I'm scared to try something new." More importantly, though, I've noticed an undercurrent of "I'm not afraid of change so much as I'm scared of uninformed progress for the sake of progress."

Things change. It's a fact so true that it sounds a bit cliched. But change without awareness of history can be worse than no change at all. Knowing where we came from can be a road map of sorts. After all, you want to void those million dead-end streets, don't you?"

I think in any situation of change and moving everyone to the same place of yes, it's important to listen to the many voices and to figure out what a change really means. Listening both to the yes and no perspectives and moving towards consensus is time consuming but worth it. Listening can make all the difference.

YS Manager's Corner - ALSC Power

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This is one in a series of posts about Youth Services management issues. We'll be looking at different aspects of working as a manager in YS including reflections, challenges and maybe a solution or two.

Now I know that there is some fear out there about whether these corners will just be alot of MLW blah-blah. And I would say some...but certainly not all because youth management is an important subject!

So important, that our smart-cookie colleagues over at ALSC are presenting, at this very moment, a free series of four monthly webinars on the very subject. Each hour-long webinar features panels made up of members of ALSC's Managing Children's Services committee as well as other youth managers/staffers willing to share their knowledge (Kendra Jones! Rachel Fryd! Kalsey Johnson-Kaiser! Megan Egbert! Claudia Wayland! Krissy WIck! Lisa Kropp! Amanda Yother! Madeline Walton-Hadlock!)

The webinars address communication, scheduling and time management, financials and supervision. The next one up is the third in the series, Managing Financials in a Youth Department, on March 15 at 11:00 am CST. You simply register and log-in instructions will be emailed to you!

What?!?! You missed the first two? No problem. They are archived on the ALSC site waiting for you to learn a ton. Just register and drop by! Hope to see you all there!

YS Manager's Corner - Our Place in Space

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This is one in a series of posts about Youth Services management issues. We'll be looking at different aspects of working as a manager in YS including reflections, challenges and maybe a solution or two.

As managers we often have far more leeway in our schedules, responsibilities and commitments than the staff we supervise. This is not to say that we aren't working hard and putting in some challenging hours and desperately trying to balance things. 

It is simply to say that we often have more agency in choosing what we do and when. It’s important to stay very aware of this and to know that our teams are just as aware of our work – or any backing away from work  - that we are doing.

What are our larger responsibilities to our staff?  I think it is important that we work at the same level that we expect of our staff. That means working the same hours and not fudging on coming in later or leaving earlier, taking the same time on lunch breaks as the rest of the team we manage. Sometimes people in management and administration cite the stress of their difficult work as reasons to short hours. Taking advantage of the flexibility of our position is no excuse. We are not owed by our community of taxpayers – we owe them our attention and time.

It also means being a good communicator with team members if we are, on occasion, taking time off after working extra at outside meetings or events on behalf of the library. Let team members know in advance that we plan to take time off and get it on the schedule. And be fair and offer the same accommodation to staffers who also do the same.

Note: It's important to make sure our manager agrees with this. We might hear from our director that "You are on salary and need to work as many hours as the job demands". Here it can helpful to point out to a director that while that is true, routinely working well over forty hours points out the need for additional staff (but then that's another post!!)

There are other ways we honor our staff and our place in space as a manager - and a front-line leader. These include (but in no way are limited to) participating in programming, working in the night and weekend rotation, filling in extra shifts at the desk when staff are sick, vacationing or need time to offer a tour, outreach or program. Allowing staff to have first picks at vacation times; volunteering to take less attractive pre-holiday hours or weekends are all subtle ways to both lead and to honor people whose pay is often far less than ours.  

Pitching in on the least of tasks  - straightening shelves daily; cleaning the breakroom; helping to clean up after someone else’s program; counting handouts  - let’s our staff at all levels know that we care about their work and see it as valuable. Lip service is one thing; showing by our actions our understanding and appreciation of their work is another.  Our leadership in these areas helps staffers in turn value their work and know that because we manage we are not above the day to day.

Welcome to YS Manager's Corner

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This is the first in a series of posts about Youth Services management issues. We'll be looking at different aspects of working as a manager in YS including reflections, challenges and maybe a solution or two.

I've been doing quite a bit of thinking, learning and teaching on youth services management.

Like many of us, I entered management very early in my career (18 months) and, except for a four year stint as a staffer under a manager I previously managed (whoa, baby that was fun!), spent the rest of  my day-to-day library career as manager.

I learned a ton as a newbie from my first manager (and career-long mentor) and loved working with her.  She encouraged me to take on my first management gig - her position when she left a short 1.5 years after I arrived.

I really didn't want to. I felt there was so much children's-librarianing I wanted to do! My manager pointed out that if I didn't try and a new manager came on board with a different philosophy than mine, it would be an adjustment. And she told me that no one is born being a manager - we learn along the way.

I was forever grateful for that advice. I went to the school of hard-knocks and learned a ton. In fact, that learning has been an ongoing part of my work life - right up to and including retirement.

When I recently shared some of my top mistakes in a webinar, the reaction I got from people surprised me. Some found it comforting ("You make mistakes?!?! Thank gods, me too!), and others found it revelatory ("You make mistakes???? Then I can too!!!). I am sure many also thought "Dork!" The reactions also told me that we all need to hear that we make mistakes and have positive takeaways  - whether we are managers or not -  and this needs to be shared.

The true mistake we make in any work we do is when we assume anybody knows anything. I sometimes read posts where people feel badly or inauthentic or imposter-ish or unworthy because they've made a mistake or had a fail in some aspect of work. But really, how else do we learn? For me, a day without learning, even from mistakes, is pretty much a wasted day. It's how we grow and deepen and get wiser about stuff.

So in "YS Manager's Corner", we'll walk along the path of discovery, reflection, failures - and recovery - and issues we encounter in managing - and being managed.  I hope you join me on this journey on the hills and valleys.

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!

Clean Up Your Act!

As we are wrapping up the CE course on management tips I'm teaching, the discussion has focused on ways to create zen in work life. Everyone has had a ton of ideas - from "eating the frog" first thing in the morning (getting the hardest thing done first) to list making to no email until later in the morning.

Everything in this thread fascinated me. But one that especially resonated was the suggestion to get your desk together and cleaned up/organized before you head out the door from work. A neat desk at work? That would not be me - as my team can attest. But maybe it could be?

My home desk is far less chaotic but probably just as busy. This is the spot where I create, write, record, research and do all.the.things. for my classes, my blog, my workshops, my presentations for in-state and out-of-state conferences and all the stuff that has nothing to do with my day job. My computer and "stuff" is on an old wooden table that my parents got when they were first married seventy years ago. Solid! I spend a couple of hours there most days of the week. It's tucked away so I'm not ignoring my sweetie while I'm diving in to the work.

For some darn reason I can stay perfectly organized there. Maybe because nothing is coming in to the "wonk workshop" (my name for this space) except the assignments I accept or pursue. And it's small so if I'm not organized and feng shui-ish, I can't create. Of course, what makes this space more concentrated is that I have the time to keep it together. Nothing comes in  - no phone calls, patrons, emergencies - unexpectedly.

So keeping organized there has been key to huge productivity for me. There is a finite amount of home time I want to spend on this stuff. Because my sweetie, my family and friends, gaming, cooking, getting outside, reading, learning and looking out the window to watch the birds, trees and seasons pass by.

So maybe I can turn my work chaos desk

into my wonk workshop desk

Zen awaits!

Books as Prizes - Where's the Money Coming From?

In the Afterschool Program Facebook group, we were chatting recently about books as prizes for SLP and the question came up, "How do you afford books as prizes?" We shared some ideas on inexpensive sources: Half Price books; Scholastic Literacy Partnership, Scholastic Book Fair Warehouse sales; ARCs from conferences.

But that begs the question - where does the money come from? After all,  books are our priciest prize.

One thing we did to find the money was change how we program.

We booked performers for years - singers, magicians, storytellers, performers of one kind and another.  A very few could generate a crowd of 100-150 kids in our auditorium. Most would result in crowds of 25-45 kids and adults - and this in a city of 51,000 population!

The costs involved with performers were substantial - $200 if we were lucky; $300-$500 and up more likely. Add mileage, hotel and expenses and ouch! When we had 25 people in the audience, it meant we were paying anywhere from $10-30 per person in attendance for the program. That didn't seem like a sustainable use of money.

We were also developing some amazing in-house programs led by staff.  It occurred to us that if we continued this strong staff programming and cut back on performers, we would have enough money to fund the hundreds of books that we want to give to kids as prizes.

So we made it so. We still book a performer or two for special events. The money we saved went directly to buying books as prizes for babies through teens. Parents and kids both love these books. Kids get to choose freely from a variety that we put out. We fill our program room for two weeks in August with books for kids to choose from who have completed their SLP in previous weeks.

Of course, we could also have written grants, looked for donors or sought money in other ways. But we chose to enfold books into existing programming money. By changing our priorities we made sure we could make a book in the hand of a child happen. Seems worth it!

(For more thoughts on sustainability and funding in Youth Services, see this series starting here that I wrote last fall).

Photo courtesy of Pixabay