Tips and Info from DPI's March 19, 2026 Youth Services Newsletter

Jeni Schomber's DPI Youth Services Weekly Reminders and Resources is an email newsletter 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 19, 2026 edition:

Hello All,  Check out these youth services resources and reminders!  DPI Website Modernization Project  As part of the Department of Public Instruction’s strategic plan and commitment to modernizing and improving the agency, and in preparation for the April 24, 2026 Title II ADA digital accessibility deadline, the DPI is currently undertaking a major update to its external website, www.dpi.wi.gov. Visit the DPI Website Modernization Project page for more information.  Summer Reading with BadgerLink Resources  Summer reading is already around the corner! BadgerLink content providers TeachingBooks and Britannica Education offer excellent activities and programming ideas for this year’s summer reading programs at your library. Read the full story.   BadgerLink Bulletin EBSCO Resources Highlight  Check out the latest features, tools, promotional materials, and training on BadgerLink’s EBSCO resources. View full story.  Dinosaurs 101 for Librarians  Join us on Friday, March 27 at 12:30 PM for Dinosaurs 101 for Librarians, a webinar on the core concepts and techniques used by the American Museum of Natural History in teaching paleontology to young learners. Raoul Seroy, Children and Family Learning Educator at the Museum, will guide participants through foundational concepts to connect with young learners and get them excited about paleontology.   This live session, hosted by AMNH and part of a new professional development webinar series for Collaborative Summer Library Program (CSLP) members, will feature a presentation by Raoul followed by an interactive Q&A session with participants. Registration is now open.  PBS Educational Multimedia Resources for School-Age Learners  The PBS Wisconsin Education team is excited to be collaborating with the South Central Library System and Portage County Library to host a free workshop on May 7 for public library staff who serve school-age learners (grades 3-12 / ages 8-18+) to learn about PBS educational multimedia resources and plan for ways to use these resources with library programming. More details and the link to RSVP are included in this invitation.  CCBC Choices 2026 is now available  CCBC Choices 2026 is a digital publication. Entries for each book include full bibliographic citation, annotation, age recommendation and cover image, and a link to the book’s entry in the CCBC-Recommended Book Search database, where custom lists can be created. The publication also includes an introductory essay and name/title index. A citation list (bibliographic information only) of CCBC Choices 2026 is also available on the CCBC website.  Jeni Schomber  Public Library Consultant  The DPI does not sponsor or endorse external resources or events. They are provided for your consideration only.  Contact: jeni.schomber@dpi.wi.gov

Fun Fridays - Dinosaur Storytime!

Jamie Mercer is the Head of Youth Services at W.J. Niederkorn (Port Washington) Library and shares some extra fun with easy and/or FREE programming ideas/tips.

Happy Friday!  

As winter looms, I know many of us are beginning to think about our summer learning programs.  This year our library will be working with the CSLP theme Adventure Begins at Your Library.  I am thrilled with this year’s theme and the numerous possibilities we have for programming for all ages. 

As I reflect on past programs and what I can possibly reuse, one program that really sticks out is a Dinosaur Storytime with a Dinosaur Egg Hunt.  The egg hunt can really be done in the library or outside of the library.  I personally love taking the families outside to search for the eggs. 

The program is pretty simple in preparation and execution, in addition to being fairly budget friendly.  And I can tell you, this program is a crowd pleaser. 

To prepare, I would recommend purchasing plastic eggs from the dollar store in the spring and stockpiling them, depending on the number of families you think you will have attend your program.  I tend to stockpile about 100-150 eggs.   

You will then want to purchase small plastic dinosaurs (which you may also be able to find at the dollar store off and on throughout the year) or you can purchase them in bulk at one time on Amazon (typically you can find about 150 mini dinosaurs for around $15).  Stuff each egg with 1 dinosaur. 

The day of the program, while you are giving your dinosaur themed storytime, have volunteers or staff members go out and hide the eggs around the library or outside around the library. 

When the storytime is over, invite families to go on a hunt to find their very own dinosaur eggs.  I would typically give paper bags for the families to collect the eggs.  In addition, I would either have a set number of eggs each child can collect in advance or do a quick head count that day and some quick math to let families know how many eggs each child can hunt down.  I am a pretty big stickler about this because I don’t want any friends to go home empty handed. 

After the hunt is over, to save on costs for next dinosaur hunt program, have your patrons return the eggs to you, but let them know that they can keep the dinosaurs =) 

Finally, for this program in general, I am really partial to Bob Barner books as well as When Dinosaurs Came with Everything by Elise Broach and illustrated by David Small, but really it’s hard to go wrong with a dinosaur storytime. 

Putting on a Tea-Rex Party

What's better than a tea party? Why a Tea-Rex party complete with royalty and dinosaurs. I talked to Youth Services librarian Tricia Wehrenberg, Youth Services Librarian at the Winona (MN) Public Library (once youth librarian at Amery Library in IFLS) about the fun and this is what they did.

The seed for the program came from Tea REX, Molly Idle's 2013 book. Tricia and Marcia, her library associate, hatched the idea of doing a family evening program that would be attractive for girls and boys and many ages. I mean who doesn't like dinosaurs and royalty?

Kids were invited to wear royal or dinosaur costumes. Fliers, Facebook, telling storytime caregivers and awesome patron word-of-mouth were all that was needed. Kids from tots to early elementary-aged came to enjoy the fun with their families.

On the night of the program, Marcia was the princess host and Tricia was her silent t-Rex partner (the fan in in the costume to keep it inflated prevented talking). The princess began the soiree with a story, Crunch the Shy Dinosaur (Cirocco Dunlap, 2018). Next she knocked at a door and out came the T-Rex to "help," through mime, with the featured Tea Rex book., a hilarious take on tea party etiquette lessons for a dinosaur.

The rollicking fun continued with dinosaur stretches, and songs (I'm a Little Tea Pot) that had the families laughing as the T-rex attempted the actions with those oh-so-tiny T-rex arms. As Tricia said, "I did alot of dancing and tail shaking for sure!"

Activities included a paper hat-making station and dinosaur mask-making with accessories like mustaches and jewels for the royally-inclined. Lemonade was served in plastic cups (with handles to fancy them up) and mini-cupcakes completed the treats.

For more pictures of the party, head to Winona's Facebook page. If you want more info on the party, contact Tricia. Thanks for sharing!

Photos courtesy of Winona Public Library

Summer Reading Program Idea: "One World, Many (Dinosaur) Stories"

From Paul Nelson's blog "Retiring Guy's Digest"