Highlights: Northwest YSS Regional Meet-Up

A small group of librarians and system staff braved the questionable weather in Mid-April for a YSS meet-up in Rice Lake and Bloomer. We started with a delicious lunch at Norske Nook, which was not complete without getting some of their famous pie.

Rice Lake Public Library was trying hard to think spring even though it was snowing later that day...

Then we tucked in to an awesome program share at Rice Lake, a brief tour, and then we headed down to Bloomer. Florence, the youth services librarian there, gave us a tour of their space, including the awesome programming room they have.  Even though the Bloomer library is a smaller space, they are doing great things with their space, including running after school programs almost every day.

Group photo in the Bloomer Children’s Area.

I had a blast visiting a neighboring library and left that day feeling refreshed and really happy.  Below is a snapshot of the great conversations and ideas that were shared.

Program Idea Round-Robin:

●     Video game marathon

○     For teens, but a few younger siblings showed up 

●     Carpool Karaoke for teens

○     WVLS has two karaoke machines that can be requested

○     Going to use big boxes for the cars!

●     Junior gardeners program

○     Working with local Master Gardeners

○     Field trips to area restaurants to learn about growing/eating local

●     Social justice storytimes

○     Drag queen storytime

○     Immigration themed storytime

○     Learning and thinking about how to do these types of programs respectfully

●     Musical instrument petting zoo

○     Area musicians will bring in their instruments for kids of all ages to try

WVLS shared the super cool Merge Cube! You can hold a holographic image in your hand, for a great price! Find out more information at https://www.miniverse.io/cube.   IFLS is working on creating a summer reading themed kit with safety glasses and  hammers that will play on the “Libraries Rock” theme. 

These meet-ups are really a great way to get to know librarians in your system, explore other library spaces, brainstorm new ideas, and get inspired to change up a program/space/collection. Keep your eyes peeled for the next meet-up, which will be in the southeast part of the state this fall.

 - Claire Parrish,  Public Services Director, Rice Lake Public Library