I returned from Oakland almost a month ago now, but I\u2019m still processing much of what I experienced at the ALSC Institute and still pondering how to implement what I\u2019ve learned in my own work. \u00a0As I look back at the conference as a whole, what comes into focus for me are particular moments when I saw the work we do in a new light. \u00a0We\u2019re all so busy at our jobs that it can be hard to take a step back to think about the impact our work has and to be intentional about how we want to support our communities. \u00a0When I look at the Live Blogging coverage of the institute it seems like a lot of sessions have already been well-covered, so what I want to share with you are little moments that were meaningful for me.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong>We\u2019re all having breakfast and listening to incredible authors speak about their work and their experiences as young people. \u00a0I\u2019m laughing at Gene Luen Yang\u2019s story about hiding comic books in big library books, cheering when Tim Federle talks about how to kids diverse books are just books and scooting to the edge of my seat as Rita Williams-Garcia pulls out her actual teenage diary. \u00a0Then Pam Mu\u00f1oz Ryan starts to talk about how she wasn\u2019t much of a reader until 5th grade, when she switched schools and she needed books to keep her company. \u00a0Suddenly, I remember 4th grade when I became a reader. \u00a0I\u2019d always loved stories, but reading was such a laborious process that I didn\u2019t enjoy it. \u00a0Then it all came together and I took-off. \u00a0With all this focus on 3rd grade reading scores, it\u2019s easy to get caught up in the stress of what level kids are \u201csupposed\u201d\u009d to be reading at. \u00a0But every reader is different and kids become readers at different times for different reasons. \u00a0If you know a struggling reader (or the parent of one), you can tell them that Pam Mu\u00f1oz Ryan didn\u2019t become a \u201cgood\u201d\u009d reader until 5th grade and things turned out pretty well for her! \u00a0We should be looking for chances to help kids take-off as readers, not adding to the pressure for them to achieve.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/strong>Later that day, I\u2019m listening to a fabulous presentation about Oakland Public Library\u2019s program to train volunteers to do weekly storytimes at Head Start programs. \u00a0It\u2019s great for the kids and it\u2019s great for the volunteers! \u00a0I\u2019m busily thinking about how this could work at my library. \u00a0Didn\u2019t we used to have a program like that? \u00a0Whatever happened with it? \u00a0Who would train the volunteers? \u00a0Then Gay Ducey says something that pulls me right back into the moment. \u00a0I\u2019m going to have to paraphrase because I didn\u2019t manage to write down her exact words, but it was something like: \u201cStorytime is a break from the rest of a child\u2019s day. \u00a0We are giving them a safe space to enjoy books and reading. \u00a0We are saying \u2018You don\u2019t have to do anything but listen right now. \u00a0Just be here and enjoy this moment.’\u201d\u009d \u00a0 When you left your extension activity\u00a0at outreach, when your flannel board skills weren’t up to the task: all you really need is yourself and a book. \u00a0It doesn’t need to be flashy; we’re simply making a space for children to interact with books in positive ways.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/strong>Flash forward to Fairyland a day later. \u00a0I\u2019m warm, I\u2019m sitting very close to people I\u2019ve never met, but I don\u2019t mind at all because I\u2019m totally entranced by the conversation happening between Nina Lindsay, Mac Barnett, Jennifer Holm and Daniel Handler. \u00a0Suddenly Daniel Handler says something a little…risque. \u00a0(This should surprise no one.) \u00a0I worry for a moment and then I hear loud laughter from all directions. \u00a0I get to remember that although we work with children, we\u2019re adults. \u00a0We can love children\u2019s books and be devoted to helping kids and families, but that doesn\u2019t mean we can\u2019t be irreverent now and again. \u00a0In fact, having a sense of humor can often be our saving grace.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/strong>There were plenty more notable moments, but I\u2019ll leave you with these three. \u00a0All of them led me to my main take away from the institute: I am not alone. \u00a0When I\u2019m strategizing how to balance my time, how to approach my manager with a new idea or how to entice that very active toddler to participate in storytime—someone else is dealing with these same problems. \u00a0As children\u2019s librarians, I truly believe that we are each other\u2019s best resource. \u00a0Having the opportunity to attend a whole conference with our colleagues has left me feeling connected, supported and heard like never before.<\/p>\n I returned from Oakland almost a month ago now, but I\u2019m still processing much of what I experienced at the ALSC Institute and still pondering how to implement what I\u2019ve learned in my own work. \u00a0As I look back at the conference as a whole, what comes into focus for me are particular moments when I saw the work we do in a new light. \u00a0We\u2019re all so busy at our jobs that it can be hard to take a step back to think about the impact our work has and to be intentional about how we want to support our communities. \u00a0When I look at the Live Blogging coverage of the institute it seems like a lot of sessions have already been well-covered, so what I want to share with you are little moments that were meaningful for me. \u00a0We\u2019re all having breakfast and listening to incredible authors speak…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":216,"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":[134,379],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9567","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-guest-blogger","category-institute-2014"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9567","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\/216"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9567"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9567\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9567"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9567"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9567"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nHope to see you in Charlotte in 2016!<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"