For this first panel, we met four amazing authors: Minh Le, Siman Nuurali, Bao Phi, and Kao Kalia Yang. I loved hearing about their families’ storytelling traditions and how that led them to writing children’s literature. I feel Yang’s feeling of gratitude for making it so far through this year, and also for being able to hear these authors’ diverse experiences that shaped them and informed their writing later in life. I loved how Minh Le mentioned how his parents and grandparents “held the keys” to his cultural background through their stories, and how he was inspired by real-life heroes in his family history to create new heroic characters. Siman Nurali spoke of how she was influenced by her family’s storytelling, and she’s really proud that her children today also identify with those stories and know that Kenya is “home.” The generational storytelling continues! The panelists also related how they…
Tag: family
CONFERENCE ADRENALINE #alamw20
Okay. Whew. Post number 2 (dos, I say in my head). Because it’s almost 6 a.m. and we’re running on the fumes of conference adrenaline over here at our recharge station (otherwise known as the Philadelphia 201 hotel). No more parenthetical comments from this point on, I promise. A lot to report on from yesterday and a lot of it’s not “live”. After reading my ALSC mentor Rosemary’s amazing post about graphic novels at #alamw20, I’m learning that a great live post doesn’t have to be written in the moment, per se. I also learned from talking to her that a laptop may be easier for blogging than this here smart phone… TBC. Having a mentor like Rosemary is GAME-CHANGING. We checked out the Scholastic Truth & Bravery event together. Conference buddies, friend reunions and mentors have been a highlight of my conference so far. Here’s some video footage from the…
Okay, ALSC, We Did It #ALAMW20
Okay, ALSC, we did it. Got here, that is. And live-blogged. Which is pretty hard to do when you’ve got Conference brain and Baby brain, and you flew direct to Philadelphia from a family trip to Mexico with a newborn baby. That’s right! We’ll be live blogging (with bad grammar and rushed, incomplete sentences) with visits from my 6 month year old baby. Is ALA conference going possible with a baby? We shall see. So we did it. Daddy is back at the Philadelphia 201 with baby Hunter now. Our flight landed late last night. We connected in Denver. The second flight was harder because the baby cried. I felt bad about forcing the pacifier on him, but it was hard to get comfortable for nursing and he tended to be too worked up or stimulated to latch. So the second flight we were thattt family, but the first flight…
Giving Thanks to Your Community
As a season of thanks and love and family approaches, our roles at the library and in service to children seem more important than ever. It’s a fairly common understatement to say that family is complicated. As adults, we have had our childhood traumas, wrong doings, and injustices along with love, support, and care that have shaped our selves, hopefully we have found good ways to move past or adjust to the bad in life.
Michelle Obama AND Carla Hayden…in the same room! #ALAAC18
After Trombone Shorty warmed up the crowd, ALA President Jim Neal welcomed First Lady Michelle Obama to the stage. She was as graceful, smart, and inspiring as you could imagine. I was trying to take notes and enjoy the moment. Here are some of the highlights from her conversation with Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden. (Ms. Hayden is the 14th Librarian of Congress. She is the first female and the first African-American to hold the position.) Books and Reading Ms. Obama explained that reading has always been a part of her family. When she was little, she set up her stuffed animals and would read to them and show them the pictures. So, of course, she read to her girls when they were little. She claims to still know every word of Dr. Seuss by heart. Barack and Malia read the Harry Potter series together, and Michelle read “Life…
Songs by Librarians for Librarians
In January 2018, the New York Public Library (NYPL) released their first-ever album of original children’s music, NYPL Sings! Former NYPL children’s librarian Emily Elizabeth Lazio wanted to showcase the multifaceted talents of NYPL staff who, in addition to making books and learning come alive for our young patrons and their families every day, wrote and performed all the songs on this album. The album was made possible through the NYPL Innovation Project, generously supported by the Charles H. Revson Foundation, which supports Library staff for creative, unique ideas that improve programs, services and processes at NYPL. The early literacy team and education department at NYPL served as project managers, and over forty past and present staff members lent their songwriting, instrumental, vocal, and performance skills! Each song on the album represents a different way for caregivers to prepare their children for a lifetime of learning. NYPL focuses on singing…