Do you have ideas about the future of youth services? Five years in the future will be here in no time. How about 20? I’ve been honored to represent the youth services perspective on the Center for the Future of Libraries Advisory Group the past few years. The Center is a great resource for tracking library trends and sharing future-focused stories through the weekly “Read for Later” newsletter. The Advisory Group’s main duties so far have been to review and make recommendations for the Center for the Future of Libraries Fellowship and the Symposium on the Future of Libraries. The Symposium has quickly become a popular offering at the Midwinter Meetings. As you know, the Midwinter Meeting is where the Youth Media Awards are announced, which makes it a great space for more youth-specific sessions. This Midwinter’s last-minute “Storytime Deep Dive” in the Uncommons was an attempt to fill this need…
Category: ALA Annual 2018
STEAM-y Library Programs at #alac18
You can’t be a children’s librarian today without being inundated with STEAM, STEM, STREAM requests from your admins, patrons, councilmembers, educators, and children themselves. It has been a buzzword for the last 10 years or so… but what does that actually mean at your library? I really liked this program because it talked about the theory and why of STEM and how we were already doing a lot of it and just additional framework for how we can think and talk about STEM as we develop programs and empower parents. As one presenter put it– we want parents to feel like they have achieved things and accomplished things! And then beyond the framework– there was a chance to interact and play with materials and PRACTICE discussing STEM questioning with ourselves and colleagues in the room. I mention that because as one of the presenters mentioned– this takes practice, there is no…
#alaac18 Let’s Talk About Race With Kids ALSC Panel
Midway through day two of #alaac18, and I just left the most energizing program I’ve been to in awhile. Author Renée Watson joined library professionals Allie Jane Bruce (children’s librarian, Bank Street College), Kirby McCurtis (administrator, Multnomah County Library System), and Meredith Steiner (children’s librarian, San Francisco Public Library) for a panel discussion dealing with how we talk to kids about tough topics like race, gender, and inequality – and how we can educate caregivers so they’re prepared for these discussions, too.
All about the mentors…#alaac18
ALA Annual is many things to me. The best time of year? yes! Librarian Christmas (or huge celebration?) Yes! Professional development? yes! Networking? Yes! Lots of decked out librarians in their finest cat or mermaid creations? Yes and yes and yes and yes! lol! But one thing that ALA Annual means to me is mentorship. When I was a wee librarian at my first ALA- now 5 years ago- I immediately signed up for a conference mentor through NMRT and I have been lucky enough to keep meeting with her years later! ALA is overwhelming… conferences are gigantic and jam-packed and even when you are not #alaleftbehind you can develop serious #FOMO when you are there! It is impossible to do everything, and you may or may not luck into doing just some of the things you wanted to do! So search out what interests you in the organization and…
2019 Notable Children’s Books Discussion! #ALAAC18
The Notable Children’s Books committee is having a wonderful first open discussion meeting today. Led by the gentle and firm Chair, Maeve Knoth, the members express their thoughts clearly, with well chosen words and substiante their opinions with concrete evidence from the books. They are also respectful, professional, and let each other have time to breath and enjoy moments of humor. Their first meeting is focusing on the picture books. Tomorrow and Tuesday, they will discuss fiction and nonfiction titles.
A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words: Graphic Novels #ALAAC18
The first point discussed was that Graphic Novels are a FORMAT rather than a genre. Of course, there are many different genres within the Graphic Novel format. While this may be obvious to us librarians, we must remember that patrons, parents, and educators may not realize this. A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words: Reaching Kids and Families with Graphic Novel Programming was a fantastic session sponsored by the ALSC. I got lots of great ideas for graphic novel book clubs as well as background to share with those who think of graphic novels as “comic books.” Benefits of Graphic Novels 1. Graphic novels help children develop VISUAL LITERACY SKILLS. The format makes readers notice details, visualize things from different angles, and move easily from picture representations to real life. These are skills needed for computer programming, geometry, problem-solving, and even putting together IKEA furniture. 2. Graphic novels…
#alaac18. And the author said…
Andy Griffiths .. you know .. the guy with the fascination with the number 13; the guy who has written for reluctant readers for decades… about the fascinating world of the butt… that guy. Today he showed another side .. his heart: The imagination is the one uncolonized place in the world.”
#alaac18 Emerging Leaders Poster Session
As a member of the 2018 cohort of ALA Emerging Leaders, I spent a substantial portion of our first morning – and even afternoon – here at #alaac18 hearing from amazing library professionals on leadership, the future of libraries, and implementing diversity, inclusivity, equity, and accessibility initiatives within our institutions. But, though these were galvanizing talks, the morning was leading up to our poster sessions, when all 10 teams would have the chance to present the projects we’ve worked so hard on over the past few months.