Pursuing excellence for library service to children and teens
Nature is full of materials just waiting to become craft supplies. Leaves, sticks, rocks, pinecones, and other natural treasures are free, sustainable, and offer children a chance to find new uses for the things they encounter outdoors. In this post, I’ll share simple nature-based craft ideas that can be used in storytime, in a classroom, or at home.
This year, I’m viewing “traditional” New Year’s resolutions through a library lens. So far, we’ve explored ways to exercise more, live life to the fullest, eat healthier, lose weight, save money, get organized, learn a new skill, and reduce harmful habits. This month, we’re focusing on reducing stress. While stress is an unavoidable part of library work, the systems and supports we put in place make a tremendous difference. Working harder isn’t the only answer. Instead, let’s look at ways that thoughtful planning, balanced workloads, and clear communication can create healthier, sustainable staff and programs.
Make Halloween greener by hosting a costume swap at your library! Halloween costumes tend to be one and done, but with a swap, ghosts of costumes past can be revived! National Costume Swap Day is the second Saturday in October so that can be a perfect start day for your swap! My library starts our swap then and leaves it up through Halloween. This year will mark our Fourth Annual Costume Swap!
Not to be hyperbolic in any way, but this year’s National Institute might be the most important ALSC Conference in years. This is the first time that YALSA and ALSC members will be together since the reunification, and it is also the first conference post-reunification where panels and presentations will include both children’s services and teen services. This is a big deal!
In my continuing series on tips from random ALSC National Institute attendees, our fifth interview is with first-time attendee, Max. Here’s his take on 10 rapid fire questions. My goal in this series of “Attendee Highlights” is to interview random ALSC Institute attendees and get their take on conference tips and tricks, including their takeaway from the day. But also, I’m hoping to share other little tid-bits of random answers pertaining to librarianship. My hope is to highlight members who are attending the conference and get their feedback. (Feature image at top of page is courtesy of guest blogger, Jen Woo.) Today’s Conference Blogger is Jen Woo (she/her/hers). Jen is the Family Engagement Coordinator at San Francisco Public Library (the unceded Ancestral homeland of the Ramaytush Ohlone peoples). With ten years of youth services librarianship, she is most looking forward to the Bill Morris Seminar, meeting folks, sharing ideas and later…
In the best way possible! SPCA’s PAWS FOR LOVE was an In-Kind sponsor of the Institute, which means we had dogs visiting us at the Hyatt. Every. Day!! For attendees, speakers, or staff having a RUFF, stressful, or exhausting day, a team of amazing, adorable pooches were on standby to give us their PAWSITIVELY unconditional love. It was so restorative to pop over between tasks and soak up a bit of the love, joy, and serenity that was radiating from Violet and Rosebud. (I regret that I was unable to spend any quality time with Trixie!) The furry and feathered friends from the PAWS FOR LOVE therapy pet visitation program travel all across Erie County (NY), bringing their special brand of comfort and delight to assisted living facilities, courts, group homes, children’s facilities, and other locations where they are needed. And, these pet volunteers aren’t just of the canine variety….
As a new(er) librarian, this was the first time that I had the opportunity to attend ALSC National Institute, and let me tell you – it did not disappoint!
Maybe they should be called “curiosity books” argued Marc Aronson, the inaugural winner of the Sibert Award in 2001. Lesa Cline-Ransome joined in the conversation stating that these books “should make clear what is unclear.” The stories they tell are not just about the past, but about the connections and echoes around us today, added Candace Fleming (winner of the Sibert in 2021, in addition to three Sibert honors in other years). At Saturday’s Big Ideas session, we had the enormous pleasure of listening to these three authors, who are each so gifted in making nonfiction topics come to life for children of all ages, as they discussed their research and writing of both past and forthcoming books. Their passion for their subjects was matched by their respect for their young audiences. One of the points that struck me the most was when Candace Fleming asserted that if a nonfiction…