Tips and Info from DPI's Dec 19, 2024 Youth Services Newsletter

Jeni Schomber's DPI Youth Services Weekly Reminders and Resources is chockfull of great resources. 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 December 19, 2024 edition.

My thoughts are with the entire Madison community this week. Here are some resources library staff might find useful for families in your own community:

• Resources for Families Processing Grief and Traumatic Events - Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction
• Talking To Kids About Fear And Violence – Mental Health America
• Talking to Children About Violence: Tips for Parents and Teachers – National Association of School Psychologists
• AACAP Resource Library on Guns and Violence – American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry
• Resources to Help Youth Cope After a Mass Shooting - Youth.Gov

DPI 2025 Programming and Activity Count Tracker 

• The program and activity tracker workbook for calendar year 2025 is available.  This workbook can be used to track programs and activities throughout the year and prepare program and activity counts, attendance, and participation for Sections III and XIII of the Annual Report. For more information, please visit Wisconsin Public Library Annual Report. 

BadgerLink Training on Points of View Reference Source

• February 4, 2025 at 12:00 p.m.
• Register Today!

CSLP Summer Symposium 2024 Recap

• View the Keynote with Mychal Threets recording, slides, and chat
• View session recordings, slides, and chats

Ask Me Anything: Youth and Teen Services

• Do you have questions about serving youth and teens at your library? I'm here to support you! Ask me anything about best practices for programming, engaging with children and families, collection development, and more. Your insights and questions are invaluable, so don't hesitate to reach out on the Ask Me Anything form. 

The next Weekly Reminders and Resources will arrive after the holidays. I hope you are all able to enjoy some time off with friends and family. 

Jeni Schomber 

Public Library Consultant 

Library Services Team 

Division for Libraries and Technology 

Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction 

608-266-2749 

jennifer.schomber@dpi.wi.gov 

 

Throw It Thursday - What's Your Personality?

Ashley Borman, Technical Services Librarian at the Clintonville (WI) Public Library, is back with another weeding tips column.

If you do a large portion of the weeding for your library, I highly recommend checking out the book “Making a Collection Count: A Holistic Approach to Library Collection Management” by Holly Hibner and Mary Kelly (2023). It has some great information about all aspects of collection management, from acquiring items, to policies, to best practices for discards. 

One interesting thing they talk about is weeding personalities. Did you know there are different types of weeders? I never really thought about it, but they point out some characteristics that I found interesting. The four types of weeding personalities Hibner and Kelly talk about are: The Professor, The Snob, The Randomizer, and The Saver. 

• The Professor is all about the statistics and data. If the data supports weeding, out it goes. 

• The Snob wants to preserve all of the classics and important works, even when the patrons don’t want or use them. 

• The Randomizer tosses whatever they feel like, using an approach known only to them. 

• The Saver (or The Hoarder, as I like to think of them) can’t get rid of anything because everything is useful. 

Which of these best describes your weeding style? And how can you work to become a better, more rounded weeder?

I have to admit, I sometimes struggle to be a well-rounded weeder. Some days I can be more of a Professor, going directly by the reports I run. Other days, I can be a Randomizer and see something that just doesn’t look nice and rather than worry about whether or not it should be replaced, I might just throw it in the discard pile. I have to stop myself some days and think about what I’m doing and if I’m doing it in the best way.

On my best days, I find a good balance between using my reports (Professor) and saving something that maybe hasn’t circ’ed much but holds value as literature or in my community (the Snobby Saver). Whichever personality type you lean more towards, try to remember that balance can be helpful and don’t be afraid to try a different approach. Go out of your comfort zone and cross into another personality zone. It could just make you a better weeder.

New "Babies Need Words Every Day" Booklist

From the December 2024 ALSC Update newsletter:

ALSC’s Early Childhood Programs & Services Committee is excited to announce an updated version of our Babies Need Words Every Day booklist!

This FREE resource provides libraries’ youngest patrons and their caregivers with age-appropriate books to build literacy skills and introduce topics including daily life, math, bodies, and family.

You can find a printable 2-page PDF of the booklist here, which we encourage you to share with your patrons and use for your own collection development and programming purposes.

 Download the New Babies Need Words Every Day Book List

Free "Raising Wisconsin’s Children" Virtual Conference

 As seen in IFLS Keeping up with Kids blog, December 12, 2024

Tuesday, January 28, 2025

8:15 AM – 4:30 PM

Get ready for an exciting, day-long event designed for everyone who raises and educates Wisconsin’s children—dads, moms, grandparents, teachers, and caregivers. This FREE and VIRTUAL conference is also approved for up to 4 Wisconsin Registry hours for early childhood professionals. Discover cutting-edge, science-based ideas from today’s leading experts.

This year, dive into the transformative power of social and emotional skills in children and teens. Topics include:

• Early brain and child development
• Mindfulness and compassion
• Navigating challenging behavior
• The transition to kindergarten
• Anxiety in children and teens
• Raising resilient teenagers

Don’t miss out on this incredible opportunity to enhance your skills and knowledge. Learn more and register here: http://go.wisc.edu/raisingwi

Planning a Polar Party

In a recent ALSC blog post, Wisconsin youth librarian Kristen Caldwell shared her initial planning ideas for a Polar Party that their library will be offering in early 2025. This post is full of fun ideas for Polar-themed activities that will delight kids.

Kristin writes: "My library is hosting its first Polar Party this February! The initial idea was to create a program incorporating our new VR headset as part of the PolarVR Fellowship I participated in. However, the concept has quickly grown into something much bigger and I am excited to share my initial planning ideas with you!"

To check out the hands-on as well VR activities, please stop here. [Polar Party. Caldwell, Kristin. ALSC blog. December 4, 2024.]

Try a Winter Reading Challenge

Image by Bianca Van Dijk from Pixabay

Recently on the ALSC blog, Amy Steinbauer shared her tips on developing a winter reading challenge for kids.

Amy writes: "December is a great time to offer a Winter Reading Challenge. The rush of summer reading has finally ended and you are no longer suffering those anxiety dreams of forgotten programs or mis-booked performers, right? It’s almost the time to start thinking of next year, and this is the perfect way to remind patrons of how much fun reading programs can be at the library. Winter Reading is also a good time to test out some different methods of reading challenges."

To read her tips and examples, please stop here. [Winter Reading Challenge. Steinbauer, Amy. ALSC blog. December 1, 2024]

Congratulations to our New YSS Board Members

The results are in for the WLA elections for YSS board positions.

Vice Chair/Chair-Elect
Kate Davis, Prairie Lakes Library District

Secretary

Hanna Collins, Slinger Community Library

 

Directors-at-Large 

Lynn Christiansen, Manitowoc Public Library

Katie Ganser, Middleton Public Library

Thanks to all who stood for election this fall. We appreciate you. 

And thanks to all YSS members who took the time to vote in the election.

YSS Chair's Corner - November 2024

This November YSS board meeting update is from Cathy Pescinski, our YSS 2024 Chair and Teen Librarian at Shawano County Library.

Greetings from the YSS Board!

Thank you to all of those who joined us at our first YSS Breakfast Club at WLA! New connections were made, engaging conversations were had, and a delicious breakfast was consumed! We did, however, decide that next year there should be balloons, so look for that in Middleton! One of our primary goals is to help create connections within youth service staff around the state. As such, we are always looking for ways to provide networking opportunities for youth service staff in Wisconsin and are open to ideas and suggestions on ways to do that.

With 170,00 views this year, the blog continues to thrive thanks to the work of our wonderful blog master Marge! As a reminder, any Wisconsin librarian is welcome to submit content for the blog, you do not need to be a member of YSS.

As of this writing, the WLA elections have concluded, and winners are being notified. We are, however, always on the lookout for folks who want to step up into leadership positions. The only requirements are being a member of WLA during your time on the Board and serving youth as a librarian in Wisconsin. Please don't hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or are interested!

Jeni Schomber provided DPI updates including the Teen Inclusive Internship informational webinar that will be held on Friday, February 7, 2025, at 10 a.m. Registration details will be coming soon. The Wisconsin Department of Children and Families is partnering with Dolly Parton Imagination Library grants for 501c3 organizations to run their own Dolly Parton Imagination libraries. Libraries already participating can also apply. She also shared some links with information about the DPI 2025-2027 Biennial Budget (Policy, Budget, and Research Team) and the DNR Park Pass program.

From Linda Jerome, WLA Liaison, the WLA Board has passed its 2025 budget. They have a goal of hosting 4 regional events throughout the state in 2025. The first event will be hosted by the Bridges Library System and the second quarter event also has a host. They still have the third and fourth quarters available. Please reach out to Linda or Laura if you or your system is interested in hosting. The events may or may not have a cost associated, depending on what the hosting library/system decides to do. There are a lot of new legislators in office in 2025, so you are encouraged to write a letter introducing your library to your new legislators! Library Legislative Day is February 11.

Our next meeting is Friday, December 27th at 1pm. We will be looking at Board position job descriptions, exploring committee development, welcoming new Board members, and looking ahead into next year!

As always, we are here to serve you, the youth service librarians of Wisconsin. Please do not hesitate to reach out with suggestions, comments, or concerns.

Flexing - From Baby Time to Tot Time

Youth librarians are great at creating programs. But what happens if we create a new program and the result is... crickets. Minocqua Public Library's Youth Services Coordinator Erica Dischinger shares how she pivoted and created a successful program from a new one that just wasn't working. 

Reprinted with permission from the December 2024 issue of the WVS Newsletter:

Minocqua Public Library

Sometimes a library service needs minor adjusting before it hits its stride.

Such is the case with the Minocqua Public Library, who recently pivoted a recent program, BabyTime.

In this edition of the WVLS Newsletter, Youth Services Coordinator Erica Dischinger spoke about a programming change and why it was necessary.

Tell me more about BabyTime. When did it start and what ages was it geared toward?
I noticed a high number of babies that attended our regularly scheduled StoryTimes, so I wanted to start an activity just for babies.

In September, we started BabyTime. This was a shortened version of StoryTime with finger plays, lap play, and games. The caregivers held their babies on their laps and it was geared toward babies zero to 18 months. It started at 9:30 on Mondays, because I thought that was a good time for caregivers and babies to attend.

That sounds fun! How many people participated?
We had the same three families attend in September. In October, we didn’t have any families participate.

After no one attended in October, did you want to keep trying it or find other ways to promote it? I’m in a mom’s group on Facebook and I asked them what they thought. They liked the idea of BabyTime, but many of them have older kids, so BabyTime left out this age group. The caregivers didn’t want to or couldn’t leave the older kids at home. They also didn’t want the older kids roaming around in the library.

Did they have any suggestions?
Yes! They asked if we could open this program up to anyone ages 0 - 4. I also asked if starting it at 10 a.m. would be a better fit.

What was the feedback for the time change?
They overwhelmingly said yes to the later time. I learned that many of their babies nap around 9-9:30, so a library program for them at 9:30 a.m. was not ideal.

So you changed the program to TotTime? When did that start and how many people participated?
The first one was held in November and 36 people participated. Now, we are regularly seeing between 25-35 attendees.

Minocqua Public Library

What activities happen at TotTime?
We have free-play stations, such as art making and paper with water color paint. We have bins with toys, a basketball hoop with balls, dramatic plays, stuffed animals with blocks, and more. It lasts a full hour and the kids can rotate to as many stations as they want. The caregivers can chat and the children can interact with each other.

What is the feedback from the caregivers?
They are so thankful! They told me that it’s nice to be able to bring more than one kid to this program. They feel fortunate that the library has something for kids most mornings during the week.

Was it difficult to make the change? Did you want to try to make BabyTime work?
I knew something was up when no one attended for four weeks in a row. I thought, what can I do to make it work for them? I better get some feedback. I want to serve as many people as possible.

What advice would you give to other librarians if a program or service has low attendance?
As a library programmer, don’t be afraid to “be wrong.” Reach out to your library’s patrons and find out what they want. I’m fortunate in that as a parent, I was able to easily reach out to this target audience via Facebook. Start conversations and have one-on-one conversations with people.

For more information on TotTime, contact Erica at edischinger@minocqualibrary.org.

Wild Wisconsin Winter Web Conference - Registration Open

 

It's heeeerrrreeee! The grandmama of all WI online conferences is back for its 13th year of online, nationally (and state) recognized speakers offering dynamic learning sessions to help you be the best of the best in your work. 

Register here.

While there are no specific youth tracks this year, the four tracks offered (internal communications, reference and reader's advisory, management and small libraries ) have a ton of great content that apply to anyone in any area of library work. Speakers hail from Washington state, Washington DC, Colorado, New York, Idaho, Minnesota, Michigan and our own stellar speakers from Wisconsin.

Thanks to WI Library systems, who sponsor this mega-CE professional development conference, this conference is free.  You can sign up for as many or as few sessions during the 2-day conference as you would like. 

All fourteen conference sessions will be captioned and recorded if people are unable to attend the live webinars. Each webinar is worth 1 contact hour for public library certification.

For more information about the conference, contact Jamie Matczak at jmatczak@wvls.org.

And for those in the know, you can access much of the content of previous conferences as well at the website. A huge thanks to Jamie Matczak, founder of this conference and continued leader, in bringing this annual winter CE to WI library staffers.