Staff from NYC’s three library systems and Science Baby presented about holding playdates at your library. Brooklyn Public Library hosts an annual Big Brooklyn Playdate, full of curated activities for ages 0-3. Their playdate activities or “play recipes” are open ended activities and use a lot of materials that parents and caregivers have at home so they can easily be recreated. Play recipes are designed to: Make and Takes Additionally, they host an annual staff make and take training where supplies are put out and each staff can make ten items for their location. Doesn’t this sound fabulous? For instance, one such example is below. Scalability While the idea of a big playdate may sound intimidating, what I appreciate about the presenters is that they provided scalable ideas for all sizes. Are you interested in exploring more? Links for the presentation slides, play recipes, and much more are included on…
Author: Lisa Mulvenna
Lisa is the Head of Youth/YA Services at the Clinton-Macomb Public Library in Clinton Twp., MI.
Getting Inspired by Teen Librarians at #alsc26
I was so excited to see Teen Services Development Day (TSDD) added to the beginning of the ALSC Institute. As a manager of both children’s and teen librarians, it was always more important for me to send my teen librarians to YALSA and not take their place. With TSDD taking place on Thursday, I was able to attend my first teen-specific professional development event!
Great Lunch Time Conversations at #PLA2026
One of the invaluable outcomes of attending conferences is the sharing and networking that goes on in between sessions, at lunch, and at various events. Today a coworker and I were out to lunch and discussing morning sessions, and she had attended “Becoming One Library: How to Build Better Internal Communications,” presented by Mary Kapusta from the Calgary Public Library. This led to a discussion, because communication is a staple of what we do, but we have to communicate in different ways with different people in order to achieve the best result. My coworker shared this photo with me and it was on target for me. Gen X here! Yes, I am the person who will email you and then follow it up with a visit. If you are communicating with others, whether public or staff members, and want the best result, it may be worth adapting your communication style…
#PLA2026 Visit the Minneapolis Central Library
One of my favorite parts about conferences is visiting the home city’s library. My coworkers and I did a self-tour of the Minneapolis Central Library. One of the first eye-catching things that we saw was the “i” sign above every reference desk. We really appreciated the “Vote for your favorite flannel” voting board. After you add a sticker to your favorite (mine was purple!), there was a pin in that color that you could take. There were many playful elements in the Children’s Room and their messaging emphasized the importance of play. Check out this fabulous food truck! Play isn’t just for the little kids! A structure in the middle of the room had opportunities to create, construct, compose, and collaborate. My favorite was collaborate! If you have time this week, it is definitely worth your time to stop by the local public library! Conference Blogger Lisa Mulvenna (she/her/hers) is the Head…
#ALSC24 How Do I Present?
I have a unique take on ALSC National Institute this year as I am presenting twice on very different topics. The first was after lunch today and was “Climbing the Leadership Ladder: What You Need to Know Before the First Rung and How to Decide Where to Stop” with Uma Nori and Mary Fellows from the Managing Children’s Services committee. You may see me pop up again tomorrow afternoon when my coworkers and I discuss outreach. For those who are unsure about presenting or are nervous about presenting on a national stage, here are some helpful tips that I have learned or used along the way: So while you are watching and listening around your presentations and discussions this weekend, remember that it is never too soon to start thinking of ideas! Conference Blogger Lisa Mulvenna (she/her/hers) is the Head of Children’s and Teen Services at Clinton-Macomb Public Library. You can also find…
#ALSC24 Bill Morris Seminar
I started my Institute with something special this year–the Bill Morris Seminar. This is something special that ALSC offers as a way to train and mentor book evaluators for possible future ALSC evaluation committees. The process started in the spring with an application process and we received notification that we were accepted in late April. Then we spent May-September reading some preparation materials, including Kathleen T. Horning’s From Cover to Cover: Evaluating and Reviewing Children’s Books. We received a title list of 5 picture books and 5 chapter books that were selected by the 2024 Morris Co-Chairs that needed to be read before today. Then we came prepared to engage, learn, and discuss.
#PLA2024 Day 3
I started off the morning at the Children’s Author Breakfast, which is always a “must see” moment for attending as a Children’s Librarian. We got to listen to Gennifer Choldenko, Loren Long, Daniel Nayeri, and Maleeha Siddiqui discuss their current and upcoming titles. Plus, Daniel Nayeri is a bit of a Chicago fan, and we were serenaded by their various hits as a part of his talk. Another fun tidbit is that Loren Long spent six weeks creating a large diorama of the town for The Yellow Bus. This allowed him to better draw the path that the bus took on its drive. Next up was Baby Time Boredom. Make sure that you check out Ann’s blog post and Ellie Richardson’s post about this session. In addition to her recap, some take-aways that resonated with me include evaluating our coloring/writing table for diversity and adding labels to toy bins and…
#PLA2024 Day 2
I am going to jump around a bit as I took bits and pieces from various sessions that may appeal. First up this morning was another Science of Reading session with programs and initiatives from the San Francisco Public Library and Chicago Public Library. San Francisco has a really in-depth tutoring program called Fog Readers. It is a 1:1 tutoring program that pairs volunteers with children in need of reading intervention. Check it out! Chicago Public Library built on the idea of the Scarborough rope to create a Jump Into Reading initiative. It is currently trialing at a couple of branches and involves collection development, staff education, and programming. They have a dedicated decodables section and it is split into five sections based on the decodable skill. Sections include Consonant-Vowel-Consonant (CVC) Words, Blends and Digraphs, Vowel-e Words, R-Controlled Words and Vowel Teams, and Multisyllabic Words. Grab-and-go kits are also available…