Call for Proposals: 2025 WLA Annual Conference

The WLA Programming Committee is excited to review your program proposals for the next annual conference, to be held October 28-31, 2025, at the Madison Marriott West in Middleton, WI. This year’s conference theme is “Be the Change." The WLA annual conference is an event where everyone can contribute valuable knowledge and connect with others in the library and information community. Conference Proposal Workshop Join us for an online proposal workshop on April 16 from 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m. and May 5 from 11:00 a.m. -12:00 p.m. to learn more about the proposal process and get tips for crafting a successful submission. Mark your calendars and join the workshop using this link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86547797705?pwd=AyeMZBHRyBAmAeEutVGb8GecyDKhEc.1 We are now accepting proposals for presentations, panels, and workshops. Both WLA members and non-members are welcome to apply. Breakout sessions will run 60 minutes in length, with a maximum of four presenters and one moderator. Presenters may be part of up to two breakout sessions. Only proposals for in-person sessions will be considered. Who is encouraged to send us a proposal? People from various departments in library types and organizations (academic, public, special, and school), including youth services, outreach, adult services, marketing, technical services, patron services, programming, etc. People across the organizational hierarchy: patron-facing staff, administration, directors, emerging and incumbent leaders, trustees, etc. People from all backgrounds, ethnicities, and identities, including those who identify as: BIPOC, neurodivergent, people with disabilities, or LGBTQ+. Submission Deadline Please submit your proposal using the online form linked here: https://forms.gle/Vd68vDSG989yc4ns7 by 5:00 p.m. CST on Friday, May 9. Contact program committee members Daphne Goldfinch and Michelle Dennis with questions. We look forward to receiving your proposals and seeing you in October!

Submit Your Proposal

Visit the Conference Webpage

Jobs! Jobs! Jobs!

Once or twice a month on weekends, YSS posts round-ups of ads that are sent to us or that we come across. If you have a position opening up and would like to see it on the YSS blog, please forward the job ad link/descriptions to the YSS blog at the email address listed in the header above the day's blog post.

Here is a early April listing:

Frances L. Simek (Medford) Memorial Library 

Youth Services Specialist, full-time (full benefits)

This is a first shift position, 40 hours a week, with occasional weekend/evening hours. Duties include planning children’s programming, processing, interlibrary loans, general circulation duties and school visits. Computer and public relation skills are necessary. Library or similar

experience preferred but not required. An ideal candidate will be fun, energetic and love working with children.

https://flsimeklibrary.org/employment/

This position will remain open until it is filled.

Apply in person at:

Frances L. Simek Memorial Library

400 N. Main St.

Medford WI, 54451

or email director@medford.lib.wi.us.

Tips and Into from DPI's April 3 , 2025 Youth Services Newsletter

Jeni Schomber's DPI Youth Services Weekly Reminders and Resources is now in a cool new format!

The email newsletter is 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 April 3, 2025 edition.  Hello All,

CSLP Newsletter

• Check out the latest CSLP (Collaborative Summer Library Program) Newsletter. This month’s edition is full of information about a new partnership with Reader Zone, an opportunity for you to help develop the shortlist of slogan options for the 2028 theme, the summer nutrition food program for kids, and more!

Charlotte Zolotow Award Ceremony

• Registration is open for the 2025 Charlotte Zolotow Award Celebration. This event will be held at the CCBC from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, May 3.
• Please join us as author Hilary Horder Hippely (I Know How to Draw an Owl, 2025 Zolotow winner) accepts her award. All 2025 Honor Books and Highly Commended titles will also be recognized. A reception and book signing will follow the award presentation.
• Online registration is required, and space is limited, so don't delay! This event will be in person only; remote access is not available. 

WiLS Ideas to Action Fund 

• The application period is open! Through this fund, WiLS provides grants of up to $5,000 so libraries and cultural organizations can bring their projects ideas to life. 
• Submit your proposal. The application deadline is June 2nd, 2025.

Federal Funding Cuts Could Threaten the Public Libraries We Love

• Read the DPI ConnectEd Story about how recent executive orders issued by the president threaten the federal infrastructure our libraries rely on. 

Have a great weekend!

Upcoming YSS Webinar on Puppetry

Mark your calendars for our newest YSS webinar on the magic of puppetry in library programming.

Tuesday May 6    

3:00 -4:00pm. 

WLA members: free

Non-members: $25 (at the registration link, 

please use your email and set up a password to register) 

Please register here

ENGAGING, EDUCATING, AND ENTERTAINING

 WITH PUPPETS

Join two experienced librarians as they share the magic of puppetry in library programs! This dynamic presentation will explore how puppets can captivate young audiences, enhance early literacy skills, and bring stories to life in engaging and interactive ways. Learn practical tips for selecting and using puppets, incorporating them into programming, and boosting participation and excitement in your programs. Whether you're a seasoned performer or new to puppetry, you'll leave with fresh ideas to entertain and educate your young patrons!

PRESENTERS: 

Christine Culp

Christine has been a Youth Librarian for 18 years working most of them in the Manatee County, Florida Public Library System.  Her background is in Art and Design and she continues to freelance and share her love of art in library programming.  She started playing with puppets and staging puppet shows early in her career.  She also loved visiting Mister Rogers Neighborhood and was very inspired by his Land of Make Believe.  She wanted to create that magic for the kids I work with.

Mandy O'Brien

Mandy O’Brien has worked as a Youth Services Librarian at the Skokie Public Library since 1999 and was the recipient of the Illinois Library Association's 2022 Youth Services Achievement Award. Before working at SPL, Mandy worked as a magazine editor and still freelances for publishers and educational organizations. She enjoys infusing social-emotional learning and early literacy techniques into her library work and believes puppets are great partners in building relationships with kids (and their grownups)."

YSS Blog Welcomes Two New Contributors

We'd like to take a moment to welcome our two newest blog contributors: Katie Ganser and Katie Alford. 

Katie Ganser

         

Katie Alford

They may look familiar to you. That's because both Katie G. and Katie A. are currently serving on the YSS board as Directors-at-Large. As part of their YSS board responsibilities, they will be writing and sharing blog posts beginning April 7. 

Both will be learning the ropes on the "back-end" of the blog to make sure we continue to improve our content and variety of posts. We are super excited to add their voices and energy. Thanks for joining the team!

Time to Stand Up for Libraries

From ALA Public Policy and Advocacy Office April 1, 2025

Yesterday, we got breaking news that nearly all staff at the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) was placed on administrative leave and, as a result, all processing of grants has been suspended.¹ Within weeks, libraries across the country will experience the impact of this loss of funds. It's urgent that you call your members of Congress right away and urge them to intercede on behalf of your library.

Tell Congress to save IMLS!

Even if you called your elected officials last week, call them again. This news means that library services are at risk of being shut down in the communities who need it most.

Whether in the neighborhood, at school, on a military base, or elsewhere, libraries mean opportunity for everyone in our communities. By cutting off federal support for libraries, the Trump administration is cutting off opportunity for the American people – economically, culturally, professionally, and socially. 

Please know: It's not over yet. ALA is behind our libraries and library workers one hundred percent, and we thank you for fighting alongside us.

For more, see our email from last week below:

After a short recess, all Congressmembers are now back in D.C., and that means it’s time for us to act. We need all library supporters to call their members of Congress and urge them to protect federal funding for libraries by preventing the dismantling of the Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS).

Call your Congressmembers now!

Less than a week after President Trump issued an Executive Order intended to eliminate IMLS, the only federal agency dedicated to funding library services, the administration kicked off its attempt to wind down the agency’s functions. The White House named a new interim director from outside the agency, who has indicated his intent to operate “in lockstep with this Administration” in its efforts to gut this critical independent agency.   

This was clearly intended as the first shot across the bow at America’s 125,000 libraries. But public outcry seems to have forced them to at least slow their plans—our tactics are working. Go one step further than sending a letter to Congress: Give them a call, and make sure they listen to you. Our action page gives you all the steps you need to have your say, including a suggested sample script for your call. 
 

Urge Congress to protect IMLS!

Phone calls only take a couple minutes and send a strong message to elected officials that their constituents care enough to take time out of their day to make their voices heard. It’s extremely important in the immediate aftermath of the Administration’s takeover of IMLS that Congress receives a flood of calls opposing its dismantling. 

I challenge you to not only make a call to all of your members of Congress using our easy-to-use action page, but also to share this call to action with three people you know who love libraries as much as you do. Help us keep this momentum going. 

Thank you for showing up for our libraries, 

Larra Clark 
Deputy Director, Public Policy and Advocacy 

P.S. Want a refresher about the Executive Order and IMLS? Check out our FAQ.  

Show up for our libraries by becoming a Supporter of the American Library Association. Your tax-deductible gift will help strengthen our work to transform library awareness to advocacy. 

¹ "Trump Administration Moves to Shutter Library Agency." (The New York Times, 3/31/2025).

WLA Scholarship Applications Open April 15

CONTINUING EDUCATION SCHOLARSHIPS & GRANTS 

(Must be a WLA Member)

WLAF George Bauer Memorial Fund Continuing Education Scholarship
Must be a WLA member in good standing employed in a library in Wisconsin. Scholarship amount determined annually. The application will be available April 15, 2025, and the application deadline is June 15, 2025.

WLAF Gloria Hoegh Memorial Fund Education for Rural Librarians Scholarship
Must be a library employee working in a Wisconsin community with a current population of 5,000 or less or who works with library employees in those communities. Must be a WLA member in good standing. Scholarship amount determined annually. The application will be available April 15, 2025, and the application deadline is June 15, 2025.

WLA FOUNDATION LIBRARY EDUCATION SCHOLARSHIPS

Library Education Scholarship
Must be a current or permanent Wisconsin resident admitted to a master's degree program in library and information science at a Wisconsin school during the coming academic year beginning with the fall term as a part-time or full-time student. Scholarship amount determined annually. The application will be available April 15, 2025, and the application deadline is June 15, 2025.

Sally Davis Scholarship
Must be a current or permanent Wisconsin resident admitted to the master’s degree program in the School of Library and Information Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison for the coming academic year beginning with the fall term as a part-time or full-time student. Scholarship amount determined annually. The application will be available April 15, 2025, and the application deadline is June 15, 2025.

Vida Cummins Stanton Scholarship
Must be a current or permanent Wisconsin resident admitted to the Master's degree program in the School of Information Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee during the coming academic year beginning with the fall term as a part-time or full-time student, pursuing a career in school library media or youth services program. The application will be available April 15, 2025, and the application deadline is June 15, 2025.

Diversity Scholarship
WLAF awards a scholarship to Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) students who has been admitted to a master's degree program in library and information science at a Wisconsin school for the coming academic year. The application will be available April 15, 2025, and the application deadline is June 15, 2025.

WLA Foundation scholarships are funded through generous charitable contributions.

Tips and Into from DPI's March 27 , 2025 Youth Services Newsletter

Jeni Schomber's DPI Youth Services Weekly Reminders and Resources is now in a cool new format!

The email newsletter is 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 March 27, 2025 edition. 

Hello All,

CLEL (Colorado Libraries for Early Literacy) Bell Selection Committee

• The CLEL Bell Awards are an annual recognition of five high-quality children’s books that provide excellent support of early literacy development in young children ages 0-5.
• This committee is a wonderful opportunity to contribute to early literacy advocacy, gain experience working on an award committee, and build your resume!
• Apply for the Selection Committee - the application deadline is Friday March 28, 2025.

CSLP Slogan Wordsmithing Sessions (Collaborative Summer Library Program)

• Join the conversation to refine the 2028 Slogan suggestions for the “Mystical Creatures” theme. You can choose to attend either session as your schedule allows.
• Click to register for Wednesday April 9, 2025 at 3 p.m. CST 
• Click to register for Thursday April 17, 2025 at 12 p.m. CST

Positive Impacts of BadgerLink

• We want to hear from you! BadgerLink provides access to a wealth of trusted resources for learners of all ages. An important component is hearing from you about the positive impacts these resources have had on your life. View the Impacts Story here. 

Have a great weekend!

Jeni

Stand Up for WI Libraries

 

from WLA Newsletter 3/21/25

2025-20257 State Biennial Budget Process: A Chance to "Stand Up" for Wisconsin Libraries

WLA members play a prominent role in advocating for state library aid funding.  We'd like to extend an invitation for you to get involved - and all you have to do is show up and stand up!   WLA is advocating for several items in the proposed 2025-2027 state budget, including an increase in public library system aid and cost-to-continue increases for core library services including BadgerLink, Newsline for the Blind and state resource contracts for the Cooperative Children’s Book Center, Wisconsin Talking Book and Braille Library, AutoGraphics and inter-library loan access to Milwaukee Public Library and UW-Madison collections.      For more background on the 2025-2027 biennial budget process, please click here.  For a list of 2025-2027 JFC members and the libraries in their districts, click here.   Mark Your Calendar! Public Budget Hearings   Starting April 2, four public budget hearings with members of the Joint Finance Committee will take place in locations around the state.  Each session will take place from 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.   The LD&L members listed below as site captains will coordinate participant recruitment and messaging, provide more detailed orientation, and select one or two speakers for each location.   All WLA members are invited to attend these public hearings.  Literally standing in a group behind your colleagues who speak earns them 5 minutes of testimony time (as opposed to only 2 minutes allotted for testimony by a person standing alone). WLA attendees who are constituents of one or more JFC members earn extra smiles!  Please get in touch with the site captains if you are available to attend one or more of the following hearings.   Plan to arrive at the site by 8:30 a.m.   Wednesday, APRIL 2 – Kaukauna Kaukauna High School, Auxiliary Gymnasium (Door AA4) 1701 County Road CE, Kaukauna 54130 WLA Site Captains: Bradley Shipps bshipps@owlsweb.org Rebecca Scherer rscherer@mcls.lib.wi.us Tracy Vreeke tvreeke@nflsoffice.org   Friday, APRIL 4 – West Allis Wisconsin State Fair Park, Exposition Center (Parking at Gate 4) 640 South 84th Street West Allis, WI 53214 WLA Site Captains: Steve Heser steve.heser@mcfls.org Pete Loeffel ploeffel@wauwatosalibrary.org Bruce Gay bgay@waukesha-wi.gov   Monday, APRIL 28 – Hayward Hayward High School Auditorium 10320 Greenwood Lane Hayward, WI 54843 WLA Site Captains: Katherine Elchert kelchert@northernwaters.org John Thompson thompson@ifls.lib.wi.us   Tuesday, APRIL 29 – Wausau Northcentral Technical College Center for Health Sciences – map/parking 1000 W. Campus Dr. Wausau, WI 54401 WLA Site Captains: Kris Adams Wendt kawendt@wvls.org Marla Sepnafski msepnafs@wvls.org

Stealthy Book Promos for Teens

In a recent blog post from YALSA's Hub blog, Megan Nigh provides suggestions on stealthy ways to entice teens to books. She writes: "Getting books into your library is one half of the equation, but the other half is getting them into the hands of your teens. Handselling can be effective, but we can’t always be there for every teen looking for their next read. So how do we engage and entice teens to pick up a book? Check out some ideas that worked for us!"

Please stop here to read the full post [Passive Book Promotion to Teens. Nigh, Megan. The Hub blog. March 21, 2025.]