Summer is coming! 

Photo by Drew Perales on Unsplash

Summer is coming, or for some it has already arrived. All the planning, all the prep, all the school visits have lead us to this moment...Summer Reading/Library Program! A coworker and I stopped at the Waunakee Public Library - shout out to Youth Services Manager Brittany who talked to us all about their summer program when we dropped in unexpectedly, and it got me curious about what libraries do for their summer program. I've seen all kinds of reading programs for in my time in libraries and I love that every time I talk to someone new I can learn something and a new idea is sparked.  

Middleton Public Library has a one size fits all summer reading program where all ages do the same program. Each person chooses their own goal (number of books or number of hours read) and gets to pick from a selection of books and sponsor coupons when they meet their goal. They are also entered into the grand prize drawings. There are separate drawings based on age group and the grand prizes are different, but other than that, it's the same for everyone. 

My favorite thing about Waunakee's program (which was broken down by Teen and Preteen, and children) was that their goals were based on days read. What a genius idea! It seems like they've found a great way to get kids to read throughout the summer, not just rush through to get a prize. They also have a separate program for adults for the summer, so everyone can participate. 

What does your library do? How does your summer program run? Have you found a great way to keep kids reading?

To learn more about Middleton or Waunakee's summer programs, visit their websites:

Middleton https://www.midlibrary.org/srp

Waunakee https://www.waunakeepubliclibrary.org/summer-reading-program

Tips and Info from DPI's June 5, 2025 Youth Services Newsletter

 Jeni Schomber's DPI Youth Services Weekly Reminders and Resources is an email newsletter chockfull of great resources we've come to rely on. If you are a WI youth library staffer and you don't receive this weekly missive in your email inbox, please contact Jeni (jennifer.schomber@dpi.wi.gov) to be placed on the list! 

Here is the June 5, 2025 edition  

Hello All,

Check out these valuable youth services resources and reminders!

BadgerLink Bulletin: New NoveList and NoveList K-8 Experience Coming June 16  

• The new NoveList Experience will go live on June 16, 2025. There's nothing you need to do to migrate from the old to the new. Read on to learn about the new features and functionality. 

Wisconsin Math Council Summer Math Adventure

• Announcing the release of Version 3, featuring all new activities for children in Pre-K, Kindergarten-Grade 2, Grades 3-5, and Grades 6-8. 
• Please complete the Summer 2025 Confirmation Form to confirm that your library will be participating in our program this summer. 
• Families can access the program digitally at bit.ly/WMCSummer. 
• This link (WMC Summer Math Adventure Resources for Libraries) will take you to a shared Google folder with all of the printable resources you might need. 

WebJunction Back to Basics: Sharpening Foundational Skills with LiFT

• This new program, LiFT (Library Foundational Training), is a refreshed series of online courses designed to empower library staff with the essential skills they need to succeed. We’re working in partnership with the Idaho Commission for Libraries and are guided by feedback from project advisors and survey data. Learn more about this initiative and the focus areas of this new training.
• WebJunction courses are FREE and you will need to create an account to access the learning. 

Have a great weekend,

Jeni Schomber
Public Library Consultant

The DPI does not sponsor or endorse external resources or events. They are provided for your consideration only.

Contact: jeni.schomber@dpi.wi.gov

Join the YSS Midday Mingle

Calling all Youth Services folk!  Join us Monday,  August 25 from 1:00 - 2:00 PM for our first Youth Services Section Midday Mingle!

We're talking about one of our favorite topics—storytime! We'll be chatting about our top 3, from a variety of categories (see below), as we share, laugh, and commiserate about a staple of youth services work. 

Here are the categories we'll be discussing (no pressure to have 3 items for all of the categories—come with whatever you've got!):

• Storytime books
• Songs
• Rhymes
• Storytime outfits
• Books you'd never read again
• Surprising things that happened
• Non-traditional storytime props
• Tips for folks doing their first storytime

Zoom Link

Got suggestions/requests for our next Midday Mingle topic? Let us know in the comments or email kalford@menomonee-falls.org.

Pride Displays in Libraries

Photo by elyssa renae on Unsplash

Pride Displays in Libraries 

Happy June, everyone! When I was scrolling through the internet looking for something to share for this morning's post, I came across this article from 2022 titled What To Do When You See Pride Displays in Libraries This Month. Before I even clicked on it, or looked at the source, I was ready to be angry. Then I read it. 

Author Danika Ellis praises librarians throughout the article saying, "There will be teachers and librarians and teacher-librarians who put up Pride displays, even amidst all the vitriol spewed at them, and I can't adequately express my gratitude for them." She goes on to discuss the importance of Pride displays for LGBTQ+ youth, reminding us that, "Those displays will make queer people, and especially queer kids, feel less alone. They will feel more like they belong and that there's someone in their community you understands and accepts them."

Three years later, it hasn't gotten any easier for librarians, but we continue to show up for our communities. Libraries are for everyone, and Pride displays are just another way we show that in our work. 

You can read Ellis's full article here. [What to do when you see Pride Displays in Libraries this Month. Ellis, Danika. June 2, 2022. bookriot.com

Tips and Info from DPI's May 292 , 2025 Youth Services Newsletter

 Jeni Schomber's DPI Youth Services Weekly Reminders and Resources is an email newsletter chockfull of great resources we've come to rely on. If you are a WI youth library staffer and you don't receive this weekly missive in your email inbox, please contact Jeni (jennifer.schomber@dpi.wi.gov) to be placed on the list! 

Here is the May 29 2025 edition  

Hello All, Check out these valuable youth services resources and reminders! Collaborative Summer Library Program (CSLP) Newsletter Check out the latest CSLP Newsletter, full of lots of great information including a Partnership Spotlight, Author Talks, Mural Toolkit, and more. Wisconsin Science Festival Science in a Bag Now in its 5th year, the Science in a Bag program partners with libraries all  throughout Wisconsin to distribute free, hands-on STEAM kits to families. To learn more about Science in a Bag and fill out the application form to receive bags at your library location, please visit our Science in a Bag web page. Contact Jerrod (jbuckner@morgridge.org). WiLS Ideas to Action Fund Through this fund, WiLS provides grants of up to $5,000 so WiLS members can bring their innovative and collaborative project ideas to life. The proposal form and reporting are simple and lightweight, so applicants can focus on the success of the work and the benefits to the community. Read more about the Ideas to Action Fund on the WiLS website and submit your proposal by June 2nd. Play Make Learn Annual Conference August 21st and 22nd at Memorial Union in Madison, WI.  Registration is now open for the PML Conference! Register by May 31st for the Early Bird Rate. The Play Make Learn (PML) Annual Conference is a place for collaboration and discovery in the design, research and practice of playful learning, games for learning and positive social impact, making and makerspaces, STEAM education, research/practitioner partnerships, and arts in education (formal and informal spaces). PML creates an inspirational space for preK-12 educators, designers, developers, innovators, librarians, museum professionals, makers, and researchers to tinker together, share knowledge, and celebrate one another’s work. Have a great weekend

Reflective Assessment in Our Service

Dr. J. Elizabeth Mills, writing on behalf of the ALSC Research committee, has written a clear and well researched call to youth staff to consider ways we can assess our services. This short but meaty post in the ALSC blog gives practical tips on how reflection in our service assessment can build on our learning both during programs and after.

Dr. Miller writes: “Assessment refers to gathering information about  something you are doing to determine progress and effect meaningful growth (Campana, Mills, & Ghoting, 2016). Assessment data can give you the basis for an advocacy story to share the ways in which you are having an impact through your work. This can, in turn, inform your own professional development. Another way to think about assessment is that it’s about understanding what has taken place so that you can continue to strengthen what you do and how you do it.”

To read this powerful post, please stop here.  [The Ripples We Make: Reflective Assessment in Children’s and Youth Services. Miller, Dr. J Elizabeth. ALSC blog. May 29, 2025.]

May the Odds Be Ever in Your Favor with Hunger Games Programming

With the release of the newest Hunger Games book, Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins, the dystopian series is back in the spotlight (thought it never really left it) and it's a great time to host a Hunger Games program for teens! 

Cindy Shutts has you covered in her recent post on the Teen Librarian Toolbox. Compiling programs and activities across a couple libraries, she writes, "This series of programs was a success and I hope we can do more programming like this in the future. Teens seemed to be excited about the programs and overall was very well received! It made it easier to advertise and get kids excited to come."

The post details crafts like a mockingjay paint along and Hunger Games pendants as well as other activities like trivia and survival knot tying.

Stop here to read the whole post.  [Cindy Crushes Programming: Hunger Games Week, a celebration of the Dystopian series still thrilling teen readers. Cindy Shutts. Teen Librarian blog. May 21, 2025.]

And if you are still looking for Hunger Games ideas check out Karen Jensen's suggestions from 2011 here. [Feed Their Hunger for the Hunger Games. Karen Jensen. Teen Librarian Toolbox blog. July 19, 2011.]

Get 'Out of this World' with a planetarium visit!

Photo from Middleton Public Library

Get 'Out of this World' with a planetarium visit! 

Think planetariums are just for school gyms? Think again! Last month, the Middleton Public Library hosted Mobile Ed Production's Big Sky Planetarium! Over 400 people of all ages attended 5 programs held throughout the afternoon and evening, learning all about our solar system! Each program lasted about 45 minutes and was full of information, jokes, and so much fun! Aside from moving furniture to fit this massive planetarium in our space, staff time was minimal for this event. 

Some of the feedback we received:

"Amazing! My daughter kept whispering, 'this is the coolest!'"

"It was a great activity for adults and kids alike."

"Loved it! Especially watching the littles learn and observe."

See more photos on Middleton Public Library's Facebook Page.

Tips and Info from DPI's May 22 , 2025 Youth Services Newsletter

Jeni Schomber's DPI Youth Services Weekly Reminders and Resources is an email newsletter chockfull of great resources we've come to rely on. If you are a WI youth library staffer and you don't receive this weekly missive in your email inbox, please contact Jeni (jennifer.schomber@dpi.wi.gov) to be placed on the list! 

Here is the May 22, 2025 edition  

Hello All, Check out these valuable youth services resources and reminders! PBS Wisconsin Education/PBS KIDS survey Do you activate the 1000 Books Before Kindergarten Challenge or another early literacy program in your library? PBS Wisconsin Education and PBS KIDS would love to learn more and support your early literacy efforts. Fill out this quick form: https://forms.gle/TmRFtBqVj761yoZa8. Thank you! STARnet and NASA’s GLOBE: NUBE card game STARnet is once again collaborating with NASA’s GLOBE Observer team to get exciting cloud-related STEM resources into the hands of public libraries! Are you looking for a fun and engaging way to bring NASA and cloud science into your library programs this summer? Look no further than NUBE – a new cloud matching card game from GLOBE Clouds! Up to 1,000 sets of NUBE games will be distributed to at least 250 libraries; libraries can request either two or four NUBE card decks and, provided the applicant meets eligibility, cards will be distributed on a first-come, first-serve basis. Find out more about this opportunity here.  CCBC (Cooperative Children’s Book Center) Recommended Books Search Explore books recommended in CCBC Choices using the Recommended Books Search tool, curated Booklists, and the Charlotte Zolotow Award list.   Kids and Teens are Patrons, Too - Restorative Justice and Trauma-Informed Approaches in Public Libraries In this Colorado State Library Talking Teen Services webinar, explore how traditional patron codes of conduct often alienate youth patrons and discuss the role of trauma-informed library services in building a more empathetic and equitable environment.  Thursday, June 12 from 12 to 1:30 p.m. Registration is required.  Have a great weekend,

 

Throw-It Thursday - Buy that Book! Usage Stats to Help Collection Development

Ashley Borman, Technical Services Librarian at the Clintonville (WI) Public Library, is back with another weeding tips - and collection development - column. 

Image by Jan from Pixabay

Have you ever used inter-library loan statistics to help your collection development? Items that you are continually borrowing from other libraries (whether they are a part of your system or you are using WISCAT to source them from around the state and surrounding states) are a good indicator of what genres/subjects your patrons are interested in. 

I like to take a look at the holds counter multiple times a week just to get an idea of what people are checking out. If there are a lot of similar titles for multiple people, I try to order some more similar titles if we don’t already have them.

I am also responsible for Inter-Library loans from outside of our library system. These requests are also great at helping me determine some popular items to get for patrons. 

Paying attention to what is being requested from other libraries can also help you find items in your collection that are outdated but got missed in prior weeding.