YSS Regional Meet-up: Program Swap

YSS survey respondents said that they wanted more ideas for programs they could use at their libraries large and small, rural and urban, and at minimal cost. Well, YSS Leadership listened. 

At the first regional meet-up of 2019 held at the Portage County Library in Stevens Point, WI on January 14, one of the professional development activities was a program swap. Programs had to cost $25 or less, but other than that there were no caveats. So here are the programs for kids, teens, and families that attendees shared. For more details, view the GoogleDoc version.

Ugly Sweater Party
Spy Games
Party Like a Jedi
Maker Monday After School Group: Solar Cookies (from NASA website)
Oh My Gourd! Improvised Jack-o-lanterns
Pictionary with Pudding
Chocolate Olympics
Graffiti Corner
Family Read Aloud Challenge (follow up to 1000 Books Program)
Perler Bead Program
Who’s Your Gnomie (Stuffed Sock Gnomes)
Weekly Dewey Challenge
 Cookie Clicker
Stroop Effect
Pageturners
Pine Cone Bird Feeder
Great Back Yard Bird Count
Collage Cityscapes
Vote for Book Purchases
Three Billy Goats Gruff - STEM Activity
Debate Club
Silent Library Program

 
Regional meet-ups are open to both members and non-members. They are an excellent way to gather new ideas; learn about best practices in libraries; see other spaces, collections, and displays; and grow your connections to other library staff serving youth in Wisconsin. The next meet-up is scheduled for
 the afternoon of February 22 at the Hales Corners and Muskego Public Libraries. Watch your email and this blog for a link to sign up.

Looking for Teen Program Ideas - Here You Go

School Library Journal's article Teen Programs in a Box brings together all kinds of ideas for teen programs organized by categories like book-based, craft, food and interactive programs.

Find ideas for during the year or for planning an exciting summer. Other sources for program ideas include the Programming Librarian blog and YSS's own 52 Weeks of YA Programming in a convenient PDF format. You can find programs to fit your space and your budget - big or small.

If you have a great source for program ideas, we'd love to hear about it and so would your colleagues serving youth in libraries across Wisconsin and the nation. Share in the comments or if you're a YSS member, you can submit it to the email address for Aimee Schreiber in the blog header.

YSS Retreat 2017 - A Brief Retrospective

At the end of January 2017, the YSS Board held a retreat at the Waupaca Public Library. The afternoon session was open to YSS members and we were joined by a good number of them, many who had traveled a far distance to meet with their peers in youth services and to participate in discussion and professional development. The YSS Board hopes to host more of these types of activities in the future.

Here's a brief overview of some highlights from that event:

Introductions - A round robin of introductions and a quick round of "Never Have I Ever" to break the ice.

WLA Preconference 2017 - After successful previous events, the YSS Board is busy working on this year's preconference programming.

YSS Resources - Since you are reading this, you know about the blog. However, YSS offers many other resources, too, like the YSS Powerhouse Presents series of webinars, the Early Literacy calendars, the 52 Weeks of YA Programming, and a list of useful links for librarians. You can access these items on the YSS page of the WLA website.

Peer Connections - YSS hosts socials and meetings at the WLA Conference and at WAPL each year. There are plans in the works for regional meet-ups and YSS retreats in the future.

Many wonderful ideas for additional projects and opportunities were gathered at the retreat from our membership. We'll keep you posted on these and put out calls for volunteers to help make these ideas happen. Members matter and new members are always welcome!

Remember you can reach out to any YSS Board members by email. Our names are listed in the column on the right and link to our emails.