{"id":9110,"date":"2014-07-23T12:01:29","date_gmt":"2014-07-23T16:01:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/?p=9110"},"modified":"2014-07-23T21:57:07","modified_gmt":"2014-07-24T01:57:07","slug":"alsc-member-of-the-month-jenna-nemec-loise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/2014\/07\/alsc-member-of-the-month-jenna-nemec-loise\/","title":{"rendered":"ALSC Member of the Month – Jenna Nemec-Loise"},"content":{"rendered":"

Each month, an ALSC member is profiled and we learn a little about their professional life and a bit about their not-so-serious side. Using just a few questions, we try to keep the profiles fun while highlighting the variety of members in our organization. So, without further ado, welcome to our ALSC profile<\/a>, ten questions with ALSC member, Jenna Nemec-Loise.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

1. What do you do, and how long have you been doing it?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Courtesy<\/a>
Courtesy photo from Jenna Nemec-Loise<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I’m a relationship architect, a community builder, and an early childhood specialist.\u00a0I’m an Everyday Advocate for youth, families, and libraries.\u00a0On occasion, I’ve been called Flannelboard Ace and Teen Volunteer Coordinator Extraordinaire.\u00a0And I’ve been doing it all at school and public libraries in and around Chicago for 14 daring years.\u00a0(You thought I was just going to say “children’s librarian,” didn’t you? Ha!)<\/p>\n

2. Why did you join ALSC? Do you belong to any other ALA divisions or roundtables?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Doesn\u2019t everyone join ALSC to be more awesome for the communities they serve? That\u2019s certainly why I did! When I got my first job as a librarian at a small private school, I had no<\/em> idea <\/em>what I was doing. But I did<\/em> know that in order to be awesome at my job, I had to do two things: (1) get an MLIS, which I earned two years later from Dominican University, and (2) join ALSC, which I did immediately. Guess which one started paying off right away?<\/p>\n

I\u2019m also a member of PLA and YALSA, and my involvement with both divisions has been equally rewarding.<\/p>\n

3. What are you proudest\u00a0of\u00a0having accomplished in your professional career?<\/strong><\/p>\n

By far, it\u2019s been my advocacy work on behalf of children, families, and libraries through ALSC-related opportunities.<\/p>\n

Through a four-year term on the ALSC Early Childhood Programs and Services Committee<\/a>, I helped coordinate a 2012 membership survey on early learning partnerships. Our data not only contributed to the May 2013 IMLS Growing Young Minds<\/a> report, but it also made it into the hands of a White House Domestic Policy Council member at National Library Legislative Day 2013 in Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve also been honored to serve as Member Content Editor of the ALSC Everyday Advocacy<\/a> website and electronic newsletter since February 2013. Most recently, I had the privilege of representing ALSC and PLA during the 2014 Opening Minds Innovation Award<\/a> showcase, where educators, administrators, policy makers, and funders voted Every Child Ready to Read @ your library as the next game changer in the early childhood field. What an incredible experience!<\/p>\n

4. Favorite age of kids to work with?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Those babies! I can\u2019t resist their fascination with everything and the sheer joy that comes from sharing books, songs, and rhymes with them. That magic is the elixir of my library life!<\/p>\n

5. What\u2019s one \u201crule\u201d\u009d you wished every librarian followed?<\/strong><\/p>\n

People over paperwork.<\/em><\/p>\n

In these days of budget cuts and staffing shortages, we have to arm ourselves daily with endless streams of facts, statistics, and anecdotes to ensure we stay relevant in our communities. It\u2019s easy to get lost in this climate of urgency, bogged down by this report or that deadline. We have a choice, though, and it\u2019s a simple one: Stay grounded.<\/p>\n

The child standing in front of you deserves every ounce of your attention. For the precious minutes you have with him, make him feel like the Most Important Child in the World. The paperwork can wait; the child can\u2019t.<\/p>\n

6. What do you collect?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Is it too nerdy to say Folkmanis puppets? Because I\u2019ve got about 50 of \u2018em! They\u2019re the biggest hit you can imagine at all my book sharing programs, and even the big kids get in on the fun when we bring them out at the library.<\/p>\n

My first puppet was Mabel (a big wooly sheep), who was quickly followed by Snap (an alligator) and Wally (a camel). The fan favorite, though, is Otis, my big floppy sheepdog. The little ones love rubbing their faces in his fur!<\/p>\n

7. Who is your role model? Why?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hands down, it\u2019s Fred Rogers.<\/p>\n

As a young child, I desperately loved Mr. Rogers and his Land of Make-Believe. He piqued my sense of wonder and made me feel safe with his soft-spoken demeanor and familiar routines. When Mr. Rogers talked to me, I felt smart and important.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s why I love Fred Rogers to this day. His respect for young children and every aspect of their physical, socioemotional, and psychosocial development inspires my adult passion for engaging in developmentally appropriate library practice.<\/p>\n

(Funny Mr. Rogers story: My mom called the pediatrician once because she was concerned that I was talking out loud to no one. When Dr. Mabini asked what else I was doing, she told him I was watching Mr. Rogers on TV. Dr. Mabini chuckled and said, \u201cWell, Mr. Rogers asks lots of questions. When someone asks you something, you answer him, right?\u201d\u009d)<\/p>\n

8. What\u2019s the best thing you\u2019ve learned this year?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I learned a new definition of advocacy that clarifies the whole murky business! During the ALA Advocacy Coordinating Group meeting in Las Vegas, Office of Library Advocacy Director Marci Merola defined advocacy as \u201cturning passive support into educated action.\u201d\u009d Awesome, right? (Thanks, Marci!)<\/p>\n

9. Favorite part\u00a0of\u00a0being a children\u2019s librarian?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Building relationships with children, families, and communities. My library building is starting to show its age, and our children\u2019s collection could use some refreshing. But I know I\u2019m doing something right when kids and families stop by just to say, \u201cHi, Miss Jenna!\u201d\u009d I treasure those moments when I get to say in return, \u201cI\u2019m so glad you came by to see me today! Have I got a book for you\u2026\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n

10. Do you have any pets?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I sure do! Trudy is my two-year-old mini-lop rabbit and the unofficial mascot of my library\u2019s animal-themed summer program. Kids and families love hearing Trudy stories and seeing pictures of her various bunny shenanigans. (Trust me\u2013there are many.)<\/p>\n

I\u2019m proud to say my little gal has inspired lots of reading this summer! Back in May, I challenged kids at my library to read 150,000 minutes as a group during our eight-week program. I promised that if they met this goal, I\u2019d adopt a second rabbit as a mate for Trudy. With two weeks left to go, kids have read a whopping 120,000 minutes, so it looks like it\u2019ll be double the bunny fun at my house come August!<\/p>\n

***********************************************<\/p>\n

Thanks, Jenna! What a fun continuation to our monthly profile feature!<\/p>\n

Do you know someone who would be a good candidate for our ALSC Monthly Profile<\/a>? Are YOU<\/strong> brave enough to answer our ten questions? Send your name and email address to alscblog@gmail.com<\/a>; we\u2019ll see what we can do.<\/p>\n


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Each month, an ALSC member is profiled and we learn a little about their professional life and a bit about their not-so-serious side. Using just a few questions, we try to keep the profiles fun while highlighting the variety of members in our organization. So, without further ado, welcome to our ALSC profile, ten questions with ALSC member, Jenna Nemec-Loise. 1. What do you do, and how long have you been doing it? I’m a relationship architect, a community builder, and an early childhood specialist.\u00a0I’m an Everyday Advocate for youth, families, and libraries.\u00a0On occasion, I’ve been called Flannelboard Ace and Teen Volunteer Coordinator Extraordinaire.\u00a0And I’ve been doing it all at school and public libraries in and around Chicago for 14 daring years.\u00a0(You thought I was just going to say “children’s librarian,” didn’t you? Ha!) 2. Why did you join ALSC? Do you belong to any other ALA divisions or roundtables?…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":63,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[198,144],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9110","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-alsc-member-profile","category-blogger-mary-r-voors"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9110","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\/63"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9110"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9110\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9110"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9110"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9110"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}