Friday, March 18, 2022

Claire's Corner - March 2022 YSS Board Updates

Today's March 16 YSS board meeting update is from Claire Parrish, YSS 2022 Chair and Public Services Director at Rice Lake Public Library.


March’s YSS board meeting started with conversations of moving back to in-person programming and all the complicated feelings that can come along with it. My library has recently made a lot of changes to our COVID protocols, and while we are still following CBC recommendations, it also raises a lot of questions about how we balance programming with keeping staff and patrons safe. 

While we could have spent our entire meeting discussing that topic itself, there was lots of official business to get out of the way.  Maybe this calls for a WLA presentation on the topic of moving forward from COVID?  Speaking of conference proposals, YSS is working on a collaboration interest form for anyone who’d love to share something amazing, but doesn’t love the idea of speaking solo. A post on this will be shared soon and a link to the interest form will be added to the blog underneath the board members names to your right and also in the “Links” section below the search tab


YSS has partnered with WLA and the Intellectual Freedom Special Interest Group to plan a very timely webinar on navigating challenges and pushback from your community.  This webinar will take place on Tuesday, April 5, from 2-3pm, and will feature a panel of librarians sharing a wealth of knowledge on everything from resources available if a challenge comes up, to how to use pushback to thoughtfully update or create policies and procedures to fall back on. The webinar will be free to WLA members and $25 for non-members, so this is a great time to check your membership status or take the plunge and become a member of WLA!  There are so many amazing benefits and the organizational dues are on a sliding scale, making it accessible to any level of library staff. Be watching for registration information on the webinar in the next week or so. 


Attending WAPL?  Be sure to add the YSS Social to your list of must-attend events! This year we’ll have a slew of easy-to-learn board games to play while you relax and socialize with your fellow library staff serving youth. The social is a great way to make new connections and get fun ideas to implement back at your library. Light snacks will be provided along with access to a cash bar. 


My final note is just a complete teaser, as I won’t steal WLA’s thunder, but the opening keynote for WLA this year is going to make everyone SQUEAL in excitement. Yet another reason to open up that WLA website and become a member today! 


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