The last education sessions just ended and what a way to wrap things up! Staff Sergeant Philip Espe’s “Wake Up Your Musicianship for More Inclusive Storytimes” was energizing and joyous. Philip had us all on our feet and singing in 3 languages (English, French, and Spanish). He noted that we can model positive musical practice for our community and that the opportunity to make music together is precious. He emphasized that every voice is beautiful (work against that negative American Idol effect) and music is better when it comes from a live person. Philip referenced the APALA rubric for evaluating AAPI literature (that I blogged about yesterday) and encouraged us to evaluate music in the same way that we evaluate literature. He shared criteria: melody, harmony, rhythm, dynamics and text. And he noted that cultural responsiveness is foundational: music is an expression of culture, and your communities deserve to hear…
Tag: guest blogger
Taking Advantage of Schedule Changes at #alaac22
The last time I was at an in-person conference was ALA Midwinter January 2020 in Philadelphia, PA. I am excited to return to an in-person conference but feeling a bit of trepidation. My itinerary for this conference is a bit over enthusiastic. My intensive DC conference planning is packed full reconnecting with mentors, mentees, friends, committee members, translators, publishers, and of course authors, while trying to go to programming and go to the ALSC Awards on Monday morning to see the presentation of my favorite award – The Mildred L. Batchelder.
Exploring and Engaging – #LibLearnX day 2
Day two of LibLearnX 2022 has been full of so many engrossing sessions! The day kicked off with U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono in discussion with ALA President Patty Wong. They discovered they had much in common, and Senator Hirono also discussed her memoir Heart of Fire, which I immediately placed on hold at my library.
Excited to jump into #liblearnx 2022!
Hello! I’m excited to be guest blogging here once again, this time for the virtual LibLearnX 2022 conference! I spent several days this past week poring over educational sessions. I have to say, I am really glad that the online content will be available for a month after this conference. There are so many sessions I want to see!
So You Just Attended a Conference. Now What? with #ALSC20
Every time I get a chance to take in ideas from other library staff, be it at an in-person conference, virtual conference, webinar, book, or blog, I leave positively bustling with ideas. For about a day. Then the problems and doubts begin to set in. My manager says no. I don’t have the budget. We don’t have the space. I don’t know enough about this topic to do this. There are so many ways we need to improve.
Finishing out #ALSC20 with Muslim Representation, Institute Trivia, and Edible Book Hilarity
The awesome afternoon continued with a panel on Muslim Representation with educator and author Marian Hassan, teacher-librarian Ariana Sani Hussain, librarian Madeline Tyner from Cooperative Children’s Book Center (CCBC), and moderator Katelyn Martens-Rodriguez. Muslims are a huge percentage of the global population, and are located all over the world; they are also the most ethnically diverse faith community. The CCBC is a research and evaluation library, and one of its research studies is on diversity statistics in youth literature. The panelists noted that Muslims are most often portrayed in the media in a negative light, while Muslim youth are revered by Islamic adults. Hussain noted that YA and children’s books with Muslim representation are generally more positive than adult titles, but there are fewer titles in general, and many are not created by #OwnVoices. Representation provides windows, mirrors, sliding glass doors, and prisms. It builds positive identity and can be…
ALSC 101 & Play-Based Engagement at #ALSC20
I popped into the ALSC 101 short session to get some background from experienced ALSC members, and to learn more about getting involved in committees. There are tons of awesome ways to get involved! Next I dove into Play-Based Community Engagement with Donna Zick, Caitlin Tormey, and Nate Halsan from Sacremento Public Library. They hold an annual Play-Summit and circulate play kits, so they decided focus library outreach and library areas on family-friendly play spaces. Their outreach areas are wide spaces to play, with comfortable floor seating, and informational tables off on the side. They also staff these spaces with staff members who are ready to get on the floor and play, too! They bring a range of activities for babies and toddlers. This type of outreach gives staff a lot of time to chat with and get to know families. The panel gave examples of awesome toys and play-exploration…
#ALSC20 Awesome Afternoon with #OwnVoices
Authors Kacen Callender, Kyle Lukoff, and author-illustrator Christian Robinson kicked off the afternoon with a conversation about LGBTQIA #OwnVoices stories with moderator Ellie Krug. The panelists discussed how they approach the concept of “mattering” in their work. Lukoff said he doesn’t often outwardly state that, “we matter… because I know we do.” He starts with the assumption that these characters matter, that they know that they matter, and he tells their stories. Callender expressed how they received emotional wounds as a kid, how they still trying to heal; that’s one reason they write for children who are experiencing these, too. Robinson discussed his book “You Matter.” He said that book came out of a question, “what did I most want to tell children? … you matter because you are here, because you exist,” not because of anything a child does. The panelists also offered advice for librarians to help and…