{"id":18982,"date":"2018-08-23T07:00:20","date_gmt":"2018-08-23T11:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/?p=18982"},"modified":"2018-10-03T17:20:07","modified_gmt":"2018-10-03T21:20:07","slug":"gimme-a-c-for-collaboration-brunch-and-books","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/2018\/08\/gimme-a-c-for-collaboration-brunch-and-books\/","title":{"rendered":"Gimme a C (for Collaboration!): Brunch and Books"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thanks in part to the Library Linx partnership program featured in the<\/span> Public Library and School Library Collaboration toolkit<\/span><\/a>, Deschutes Public Libraries (OR) have seen a significant increase in collaborative programming with area schools. One great success has been my involvement with a local high school. Eila Overcash, teacher-librarian at Summit High School, had a great brainstorm about three years ago. She wanted to attract new students to her media center as well as capitalize on the interest of the strong corps of readers she served every day. She began a weekly Brunch and Books program during the school\u2019s lunch period; teens could drop by the library for tasty snacks, book-related craft projects or games, and connect with other students. Eila invited me to come to Brunch and Books once a month to do book talks and share library news.<\/span><\/p>\n

This fall will mark my third year visiting Summit High. Initially I was concerned that I wouldn\u2019t attract any interest, but I had over thirty teens drop by during my first visit, and continued to see 15-20 students with following visits. Many of these high schoolers are already familiar with me due to my frequent middle school visits. I was quite pleased to receive compliments and comments along the lines of: \u201cWe miss your book talks now that we\u2019re in high school,\u201d and \u201cI read so many of the books you shared and I need more!\u201d \u00a0I love the opportunity to book talk with a small group of invested teens, versus my larger school presentations where I\u2019m speaking to a mixed group of 100+ students at a time. This leads to greater discussion and sharing in our more intimate setting. I always leave having learned something new, whether it be a hidden gem of a book that students are loving, or a funny YouTube video to check out.<\/span><\/p>\n

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First meeting of Brunch and Books. Photo courtesy of Andy Tullis, Bend Bulletin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Brunch and Books is a relatively low-key program that doesn\u2019t require an extensive budget or time commitment. Eila makes a stop at the grocery store for snacks and arranges some furniture in the library, sets out some simple signage and uses the school PA system to promote my visits, and that\u2019s all it takes for prep work at the high school. I rely on my Goodreads account to identify titles I\u2019ve read that I think will make for great booktalks each month. I also bring rack cards or other items that advertise the variety of services my library offers: apps for downloading media, college and career resources, and our regular schedule of teen programming. \u00a0Based on this success I\u2019m planning to try out the program in a couple of middle schools this year. Whether you\u2019re in a school or public library, take a look at your lunch hour and see what opportunities there might be for quick and easy collaboration like Brunch and Books!<\/span><\/p>\n

April Witteveen <\/b>is a Community and Teen Services Librarian at the Deschutes (OR) Public Library, and is a member of the AASL\/ALSC\/YALSA Interdivisional Committee on School-Public Library Cooperation.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This post addresses the following ALSC Core Competencies: II. Reference and User Services, III. Programming Skills, and V. Outreach and Advocacy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thanks in part to the Library Linx partnership program featured in the Public Library and School Library Collaboration toolkit, Deschutes Public Libraries (OR) have seen a significant increase in collaborative programming with area schools. One great success has been my involvement with a local high school. Eila Overcash, teacher-librarian at Summit High School, had a great brainstorm about three years ago. She wanted to attract new students to her media center as well as capitalize on the interest of the strong corps of readers she served every day. She began a weekly Brunch and Books program during the school\u2019s lunch period; teens could drop by the library for tasty snacks, book-related craft projects or games, and connect with other students. Eila invited me to come to Brunch and Books once a month to do book talks and share library news. This fall will mark my third year visiting Summit High….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":237,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"image","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[785,1604,1611,1607,1606],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18982","post","type-post","status-publish","format-image","hentry","category-aaslalscyalsa-interdivisional-committee","category-competencies-for-librarians-serving-children-in-public-libraries","category-outreach-and-advocacy","category-programming-skills","category-reference-and-user-services","post_format-post-format-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18982","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/237"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18982"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18982\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18982"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18982"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18982"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}