You're invited to the 2021 YSS New Member Welcome Social! Thursday, August 12th at 2:30pm

​Calling all YSS members!  

Join us virtually on Thursday, August 12th at 2:30pm as we chat about our summer programs and events, share our favorite stories, and find out what our colleagues are planning for the fall. 

Are you new to YSS?  Or just want to know more?  Bring your questions and our current Board members will be glad to answer them!  

No registration necessary.  See you on August 12th!

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/7502399842

Meet Your Board: Julie Kinney, Secretary

Meeting the board has been fun. I've certainly learned some new things about my colleagues from reading their interviews and I hope you have, too. Our final board member featured for the 2017 Meet Your Board series of posts is Julie Kinney, Secretary, who is the Young Adult Librarian at the Marathon County Public Library.

Tell us a little bit about yourself.

I’m a book lover from way back, which led to being an English Major at UW-Madison. Unfortunately, being an English Major is not exactly the path to riches, so I spent a good part of my 20’s working for the University Book Store’s short lived children’s book store.  Once there, I discovered my passion for YA literature, which was just starting to blossom as a genre.  Being passionate about reading lead to a certification to teach and eventually a Master’s Degree in Reading.  Between Act 10, Common Core and being the yearbook adviser for 6 years, teaching lost its luster.  It was hard to be passionate about reading, when your students tell you, “I don’t read.” Library school beckoned and the rest is history.

How did you get involved with WLA and the Youth Services Section?

Terry Ehle got in touch with me about sharing some of my “Hour of Code” programs at the WLA Pre-Conference.  After that, Terry asked if I was interested in running for secretary.

What’s your favorite thing to eat while reading?

I like fancy schmancy coffee, with lots of stuff to hide the actual flavor of coffee.  Scones or cookies work too.

How would you define your library programming style?
As a teacher, especially an English teacher, it pays to be curious about stuff.  Oddly enough, being curious also helps when you are a librarian.  I was curious about “Hour of Code,” so I tried it out and now I’ve done three different scratch programming classes, as well as two classes about App Inventor.  Our coding classes are always a hit, so I try to do something different each time to help my younger patrons learn why they are doing what they are doing.  My creative writing classes have taken off as well, and the teens that attend those are really passionate and excited about writing.  But I also like to innovate and tweak, so I’m always trying something new or something different.  I do a lot of programs.

What is the last series that you read with your eyes and/or your ears?

I got hooked on Assassination Classroom and I’ve been staying up to date as each new volume comes out.

What is your favorite genre? Which genre would you choose to go outside your comfort zone?

I’ve been a devoted fangirl before there was such a thing.  I love fantasy and sci fi, as well as horror.  However, I’m a pretty indiscriminate reader, so I’ll read anything.  If I had to choose something outside of my comfort zone it would probably be realistic fiction. 

What was your favorite book or story as a child?

The first book I learned to read as a kid was Bear By Himself.  As an introverted child with a fabricated American friend named Bear, it was the world’s most perfect book. 

What’s your method for getting distracted kids (of any age) back on track during a program?

I am really hands on.  I’ll walk around and try to refocus kids.  I find that distracted kids are often the ones who are having trouble understanding or can’t get something.  I try to check in with the kids while they work on their projects. This is awesome, because usually I have 10 or 15 kids versus 25 to 30 I would have as a teacher.

Where do you get inspiration for your work?

Everywhere!  I spend an inordinate amount of time looking at Pinterest, reading blogs, magazines and listservs.  I try to get ideas from my TAG group.  I spend a lot of time thinking about what I wanted to do as a teen and what teens tell me and others that they want.

What do you like to do in your free time to recharge?

I knit and I just recently discovered the world of podcasts.  I love napping and just hanging out around the house.  

Which author, living or dead, would you most like to have over for dinner?

H.P. Lovecraft, but we’d have to make it an ice cream date. 

Which book(s) have your read and re-read and read again?

Dune, which I reread every couple of years.  I always promise myself that I’ll pay closer attention to the details and not get carried away with the story and I always get carried away. 

How do you enhance your Readers Advisory skills?

Um..reading?  My mind goes completely blank whenever anyone asks for a suggestion.  I try to have a couple of go to questions that I can use in order to give me time to think about what to suggest.  Once I get started, I’m on a roll.  It also helps me to go over to that section and look at what’s on the shelf as a memory jogger.

What’s your favorite part of being a librarian?

Connecting people with information they need, especially if it’s in the form of books.  I just love seeing people get their questions answered.  Introducing books to teens and finding out they love them as much as I do. 

Meet Your Board: Sue Abrahamson, WLA Board Liason

Sue is a longtime member of YSS and we're glad to have her active on the board in the capacity of WLA Board Liason. Here are Sue's answers to the interview questions for this year's YSS Board:

Tell us a little bit about yourself.

Sue Abrahamson, married, mother of two amazing adult daughters, grandmother to a book-loving six-year-old and another baby due end of April 2017 - destined to be a reader by the size of his bookshelf already. Have lived in Waupaca for 40 years - 20 years at the Waupaca Area Public Library. Youth Services Liaison for the Outagamie Waupaca Library System (OWLS) and Youth Services Section Liaison to the Wisconsin Library Association Board.

How did you get involved with WLA and the Youth Services Section?

After years of lurking at conferences, I took the plunge to submit my name as a section volunteer.  Served first as Director-at-Large (loved it), then as Vice-Chair, Chair, Past-Chair. Used this experience as a jumping off point to ALA volunteer work on 2016 Odyssey Award Committee.

What’s your favorite thing to eat while reading?

Definitely, potato chips.

If you could have any book character as a best friend, who would you choose and why?

Hmmmmm... It certainly would be a strong, smart, take-no-guff female character with a strong sense of justice.  Katniss Everdeen or Hermione Granger?

How would you define your library programming style?

My library programming style appears very much "by-the-seat-of-her-pants" but truly it is eclectic and innovative. Love trying new stuff all the time.  Wish I had invented Pinterest.

What is the last series that you read with your eyes and/or your ears?

Just finished John Lewis's March graphic novel series.... read with my eyes and my heart.

What is your favorite genre? Which genre would you choose to go outside your comfort zone?

Love non-fiction that reads like fiction. Once took Hoose's Moonbird to a complete stranger's house and got that person to read it. I recommend just about anything by Steve Sheinkin.  Reading horror would definitely put me out of my comfort zone.

Tell us about a memorable experience at WLA or WAPL.

Memorable experiences at WLA or WAPL conferences are all about putting yourself "out there."  Sure had a good time playing trivia with fun people at last year's WLA Foundation Fundraiser.  It's not all work, you know.

What was your favorite book or story as a child?

I was not a reader as a child.  On my 13th birthday, my brother gave me a book of short stories and I threw it back at him, not knowing what I was supposed to do with a gift like that.  I was the child the public librarian watched immediately upon entering the library.  I think I might have heard her say, "Get what you need and leave."  Hence, my dedication not to be that person.

If you had to tell a story or a folktale, which one would you tell?

Love the trickster tales..... Anansi stories are great.  Love to share Yuyi Morales's book Just a Minute.

What’s your method for getting distracted kids (of any age) back on track during a program?

Distracted kids!?  How about distracted story tellers!  Mix it up.... move around.... make sure you always have an activity that is hands on or rhythmic in nature.

Where do you get inspiration for your work?

I find inspiration everywhere.  What gets me most excited is the ideas I get from outside the library world.  I also do my best thinking in the shower.... always short of hot water after a brainstorm.

Share an awesome library moment with us.

Just today, a retired rocket scientist from our community stopped in to visit.  I was sharing all the fun we were having with coding in our library.  He is in love with Arduino (interactive electronics).  He offered to buy the library equipment and come in to share what he has learned with our patrons. This happens to us all the time!!  I'm not kidding.  Our awesome library moments happen when ordinary citizens become our library champions.

What do you like to do in your free time to recharge?

Sleep is a great recharger.  Being with the grandchildren can't be beat. 

Which author, living or dead, would you most like to have over for dinner?

I would want to have stimulating conversation at the dinner table.... maybe J. K. Rowling, John Green, Melissa Stewart, Steve Sheinkin, .....oh, and Bill Nye, the Science Guy.

Which book(s) have your read and re-read and read again?

I think I have listened and read The War That Saved My Life (Kimberly Brubaker Bradley) four times in such a short time since it came out.

How do you break the ice with teen patrons?

Learn their names.  Ask them about their day.  Ask them to help you with something, or to teach you something about technology (I've even faked it).

What’s your go-to storytime song?

I've switched up the Wisconsin Badger favorite "If You Want to Be a Badger" to sing "If You Want to Be a Reader."  I get more parent involvement as they already know the tune and words. I've added some simple sign language hand motions for fun.

How do you enhance your Readers Advisory skills?

We do a monthly book talk to students in grades 4 & 5, and a quarterly book talk to teachers in Grades K-5.  So keeping current with reading is a high priority.  Certainly asking what they liked to read last and why they liked it gives us great clues as to where to go next.  Our catalog and Novelist are handy tools.

What’s your favorite part of being a librarian?

The people connections have got to be my favorite part of being a librarian.  I actually love it when people know me as the librarian when I'm at the Piggly Wiggly and say hi.

Meet Your Board: Tessa Michaelson-Schmidt, Ex officio member

Tessa Michaelson Schmidt poses with small mammals at two recent WLA conferences.

Tessa also shares a bit about herself in her board interview:

Tell us a little bit about who you are and your connection to libraries and the YSS Board.
I serve the public libraries of Wisconsin as the youth services and inclusive services consultant for the State of Wisconsin. In this capacity, I sit on the YSS board as an ex-officio, or non-voting, member in order to maximize fluency between the Department of Public Instruction (home of the state library) and the Youth Services Section of WLA.

Tell us about a memorable experience at WLA or WAPL.
I have been part of the past few preconference planning committee for YSS at the WLA Annual Conference. We have offered a terrific line-up of early literacy, teen services, and school-age efforts in recent years. For some attendees, the preconference is a great kick-off to the conference. For others, the preconference is a wonderful one-day learning opportunity. Being part of the planning committee is largely a virtual effort, and a fun way to collaborate with YSS members to plan something special for the youth services community.

Which book(s) have your read and re-read and read again?

Having moved several times in my adult life, I made the decision to only keep books that I would read and again, so that my bookshelves (or moving boxes) were only filled with favorites. A few titles on my shelf include I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith, Feed by MT Anderson, Are You There God, It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume, and I Like You by Sandol Stoddard Warburg.

What’s your favorite thing to eat while reading?

Sweet and salty—peanut butter filled pretzels don’t last long around me.

Meet Your Board: Elizabeth Timmins, Director at Large

Elizabeth Timmins, Director at Large

Tell us a little bit about yourself.
I am an avid reader who is passionate about reading and literacy. I am in touch with my inner child (I have never grown up!) and this enables me to love life and the people around me!

How did you get involved with WLA and the Youth Services Section?
I was asked to help with the WLA 2007 conference by Terrie Howe and Linda Jerome is most responsible for getting me in the know about YSS.

What’s your favorite thing to eat while reading?
A nice strong cup of coffee with cream is the best.

If you could have any book character as a best friend, who would you choose and why?
Anne of Green Gables. She is adventurous and street smart but appreciates loyalty and small comforts.

How would you define your library programming style?
Flexible and informal. “Let’s have a great time AND you might just learn something!”

What is the last series that you read with your eyes and/or your ears?
Three Pines series by Louise Penny.

What is your favorite genre? Which genre would you choose to go outside your comfort zone?
Self-help, mysteries, and memoirs are my favorite genres. I stretch out by reading YA.

Tell us about a memorable experience at WLA or WAPL.
Getting to introduce Ben Merens at a luncheon is one of my favorite moments at WLA.

What was your favorite book or story as a child?
I loved The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein.

If you had to tell a story or a folktale, which one would you tell?
The Three Bears or The Three Billy Goats Gruff.

What’s your method for getting distracted kids (of any age) back on track during a program?
Clapping or lowering my voice until they have to strain to hear me.

Where do you get inspiration for your work?
Everywhere but particularly art galleries, gardens, concerts, children’s museums, other libraries.

Share an awesome library moment with us.
I was teaching a children’s literature course for Marian College and I really wanted a copy of a book that I learned to read with called A Kitten for Kim. (A Weekly Reader book.) I wanted it as an example of a rebus story. Also, to model about learning through context. When my dad and I read it together we discovered Kim was boy, not a girl. One day it showed up in a box of donations at the library. It was unbelievable!! It was just there for me to have and use!!!


What do you like to do in your free time to recharge?
Be with friends.

Which author, living or dead, would you most like to have over for dinner?
Arnold Lobel, just to tell him how great Frog and Toad are!

Which book(s) have your read and re-read and read again?
Charlotte’s Web/Best Christmas Pageant Ever/The Giver/A Christmas Carol

How do you break the ice with teen patrons?
No different than any other patrons. Just talk to them about what they are reading and ask them about what is going on in their lives.

What’s your go-to storytime song?
“There were ten in the bed”.


How do you enhance your Readers Advisory skills?
By participating in several book groups and being active on Goodreads.com.

What’s your favorite part of being a librarian?
Being excited for people’s adventures. Example: I am happy for a family of patrons that is going to France next month. It was such a joy for me to recommend books to them this week (range of ages) as they mentally prepare for their trip!