YSS Business Meeting Recap

Alison Loewen, YSS Chair-Elect and Youth Librarian at Mead (Sheboygan) Public Library, shares an update from the WLA Conference on our Business Meeting today. Thanks Alison!

First, I want to thank all of the YSS members who enthusiastically attended the YSS Business Meeting at the waking hours of 7am; it is amazing to know how much support and passion there is within our community.

Over pancakes and coffee we chat about upcoming YSS events including meet-ups, and future webinars- with the next one slated tentatively for December.  We also had the opportunity to meet Jeni Schomber, our DPI liaison and reflected on past DPI sponsored opportunities that members felt had great impact- such as the YS Development Institute and both the Reimagining School Readiness and Project Ready.  

Suggestions were made for future professional development opportunities that would both build our library community and also empower librarians within their roles; I am excited to know that the future holds so many amazing possibilities and look forward to working on these efforts with everyone this upcoming year.

Firsties
Firsties is a reading initiative for first graders that connects the Pauline Haass Public Library with schools in their surrounding area.  The program is designed to engage emerging readers and their families, and to encourage regular library visits.  Firsties consists of fun monthly video check-ins that are viewed both during school, on school websites, and through the library's youtube channel.

The videos provide information about the public library, upcoming programming, and invite kids to visit on a regular basis. Each video contains a secret code word that if repeated while at the library, earns each child a small prize.  The program is set up as a competition between schools to see which school has the most library visits during the academic year, with the winning class earning fun activities such as a dance party!  You can find out more about the program by visiting the library’s website.

Did you attend a youth related session, keynote or luncheon at the recent WLA Conference? We'd love your write-up to share with other YSS Blog readers. Just send it to lochwouters@gmail.com!