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]

Tips and Info from DPI's Dec 5, 2024 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 selected information from the December 5, 2024 edition.

Smokey Bear Reading Challenge

• FREE Smokey Bear stamps and 500 per roll stickers available while supplies last! Send an email to sm.fs.symbols@usda.gov with the number of each that you would like to receive. 
• Available to all Smokey Bear Reading Challenge libraries that participated in the challenge this year. 

Raising Wisconsin's Children Conference 2025

• The Raising Wisconsin’s Children Conference is a FREE online learning event for parents, teachers, and caregivers of children providing supportive, practical parenting and child development information.  Join us in 2025 to unlock the power of social and emotional skills in children and teens! Learn more and register here:  https://go.wisc.edu/raisingwi

I will be out of the office the office December 9-13, 2024, and will resume the Weekly Reminders and Resources email the week of December 16, 2024.

Have a great weekend!

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 

Great Lakes, Great Read Book Selections Announced

As part of today’s Earth Day commemorations, the Wisconsin Water Library at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Wisconsin Library Association announced the books selected for a basin-wide shared-reading experience, Great Lakes, Great Read.

“The Water Walker” by Joanne Robertson is the children’s selection and the adult selection is “The Best Part of Us” by Sally Cole-Misch.

“The Water Walker” is the story of a determined Ojibwe grandmother, a “nokomis,” named Josephine Mandamin who walks to raise awareness of the need to protect “nibi” (water). Robertson wrote and illustrated the book, which was published in 2017.

Sally Cole-Misch published the novel “The Best Part of Us” in 2020. It explores a family’s ties to an island on an inland lake in northern Ontario, just north of Lake Huron—how those ties are tested both through natural processes and family dynamics.

“The Great Lakes have shaped Wisconsin as we know it. These inland seas provide drinking water and fuel our agriculture, shipping, manufacturing and recreation,” said WWL Senior Special Librarian Anne Moser. “These two books will bring the lakes alive in new and evocative ways. We hope readers will reflect on the lakes and be inspired, become passionate and feel more connected to them.”

WLA Executive Director Laura Sauser said, “All Wisconsinites are encouraged to read these titles, and we also hope to be a catalyst for libraries throughout the upper Midwestern states and Canadian provinces to engage patrons through a range of activities.”

Both selected authors will be featured in a free webinar series happening on Sept. 25 and Oct. 2 and 9. All events will start at 6 p.m., CT, and will be open to the public.

In November, the authors will be visiting Wisconsin for a variety of events. Please check the Wisconsin Great Lakes, Great Read webpage later this summer to learn more.

The Great Lakes, Great Read website offers further details on the authors, their books, book discussion questions, an email list signup option and other resources.

Please follow Great Lakes, Great Read on Facebook to get the latest updates, 

This initiative is made possible by an Ideas to Action grant from WiLS. Wisconsin Sea Grant and the University of Wisconsin Water Resources Institute support the Wisconsin Water Library.

 

# # #

 

Established in 1964 by the University of Wisconsin Water Resources Institute (WRI), the Wisconsin Water Library (formerly known as the Water Resources Library) is unique among UW-Madison’s many libraries for its collection of 30,000 volumes about the waters of Wisconsin and the Great Lakes. The library’s mission is to collect, preserve and provide science-based resources in support of  WRI and the Sea Grant College Program.

 

The Wisconsin Library Association is a professional organization representing all types of libraries – school, public, academic and special. Its membership comprises more than 1,300 librarians and support staff, library trustees, friends of libraries and business vendors who advocate and work for the improvement of library services for all Wisconsin citizens. .

 

 Link to press release here. 

Chair's Corner - December 2023 YSS Board Updates

This month's November YSS board meeting update is from Alison Loewen, our YSS 2023 Chair and Youth Services Librarian, Mead Public Library, Sheboygan.

My favorite winter movie is a 26-minute adaptation of the wordless picture book The Snowman, by Raymond Briggs.  I was first shown this animated film on the last day of school before Holiday Break in 1988, and after all this time, it has never ceased to delight me.   Year after year, I have made it a personal tradition to revisit it.  Every year, I again notice the detail and care of the colored pencil drawings, and allow the enchanting musical score to flow through my veins. I love this movie for so many reasons. 

However, this isn’t a traditional holiday story for children filled with cheer.  It’s a reminder that life is a wave of emotions, carrying us between wonder, delight, concern, joy, grief and so much more- and that every thing and every feeling, has an ending.  It’s a somber lesson for a story made for children; even adults still struggle with this reminder. It’s difficult to accept when a good thing has come to an end and the experiences and memories have become a part of you forever, but that the actual moment has passed.  While it might seem melodramatic to compare this to the end of my year of service as YSS Chair, I do think it is a feeling that many of us struggle with as a year comes to a close. 

There is just one more point I want to make from The Snowman, and that is because the little boy chose to invite the snowman into his world, the snowman reciprocated and invited him into theirs. So much magic was created by taking a chance and believing.  As we inch toward the end of 2023, let’s imagine 2024 being a year for connecting, sharing, and taking chances, and by doing so, creating opportunity inside and outside our libraries, both for ourselves and others.  

With that, I will leave you with a few key takeaways from our last board meeting of 2023

• The Youth Services Performer Showcase directory and recordings are available for purchase for anyone who missed the event but would like access.  You can purchase those rights here: YSS Showcase Recordings & Directory
• A reminder to register for our upcoming webinar “Connecting 1,2,3 to ABC”.  You can find more info and registration link here. 
• Looking forward to news from DPI about a Smokey Bear reading challenge and opportunities to host a teen intern at your library this summer.  More information here and by signing up for the YS Listserv.
• Also, watch for more information forthcoming regarding WLA’s Great Lakes, Great Reads reading challenge.  Find out more!

Thank you to all youth services librarians for caring for your community in the way that you do.  Just as my teacher from 1988 may not know how the simple screening of that film influenced my life, you may never know what small things you do that make an impact on the lives of the children you serve.  

I am happy to pass the torch to the 2024 Youth Services Section Chair, Cathy Pescinski.  I want to thank Murray Johnson, Ashley Borman, and Claire Parrish for their years of service, and welcome new board members Peter Blenski, Justin Keberlein, and Laci Sheldon to YSS!

 

Smoky Bear Reading Program Begins

Hello All,

The USDA Forest Service, in collaboration with the Georgia Public Library Service, is excited to announce the Smokey Bear Reading Challenge in celebration of Smokey Bear's 80th Birthday in 2024!

 

They are collaborating with public library systems across the country for this year-long challenge. This challenge is meant to complement CSLP's "Adventure Begins at Your Library," and is designed to be a fun and easy way to engage children in reading about wildfire prevention, forests, and natural resource careers, while exploring their local environment.

 

Public libraries are invited to run the challenge for those 4 to 10 years of age, from January 1st to November 28th, 2024.

 

The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction is registered as the participating state library, which means Wisconsin public libraries do not need to register individually to participate in the challenge. Each public library will receive the following incentives that will be sent out through the statewide delivery system sometime in January:  one roll of 500 Smokey stickers, 50 Smokey cards, and one Smokey Stamp.

 

The Smokey Bear Reading Challenge Toolkit is available now – download posters, bookmarks, and more!

 

Thank you,

 

Jeni Schomber 

Public Library Consultant 

Library Services Team 

Division for Libraries and Technology 

Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction 

608-266-2749 

"Stack Up More Readers With Beanstack"

Are you thinking of using Beanstack for the first time? Or have you taken a break from it and want to jump back in? Or maybe you've heard how Beanstack's Tandems feature encourages school collaboration by letting students sync their school and public library Beanstack accounts, and you want to learn more about Tandems. 

If these scenarios apply to you, check out this article—"Stack Up More Readers With Beanstack!"— on the WI Libraries for Everyone blog, a blog from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. 

Value the Act of Reading: Mar 28 (in-person) or Apr 7 (online) - Register today!

 Value the Act of Reading

Choose the option that works best for you:

In-person option:
Monday, March 28, 2022
1:00 – 4:00 pm
New Berlin Public Library
OR
Virtual, interactive option:
Thursday, April 7, 2022
10:00 – 11:30 am
Online

Registration: https://sewilibraries.org/events/value-the-act-of-reading/  

Rewards for reading lead to false statistical gains, oppression, lower-level reading, and detrimental effects on reading motivation.  In this workshop, learn how one children’s library is transforming the view of reading with zero extrinsic rewards (stickers, badges, logs, coupons, etc.) by valuing the activity of reading itself.

Learning objectives: Participants will…

• Learn about the research behind intrinsic vs extrinsic rewards for reading
• See the relationship between libraries, businesses and reading
• Hear how the Wauwatosa Public Library was able to extinguish extrinsic rewards while retaining our patron’s trust
• Brainstorm with colleagues from other libraries to generate intentional vocabulary that places reading above prizes and find a new use for your existing rewards
  
  

Presenter: Anne Kissinger, PhD is the Children’s Library Supervisor at Wauwatosa Public Library. Her passion for Children’s Literature has kept her in children’s librarianship for 17+ years. 

 

This program is sponsored by the Southeastern Wisconsin (SEWI) public library systems: Arrowhead Library System, Bridges Library System, Kenosha County Library System, Lakeshores Library System, Milwaukee County Federated Library System, and Monarch Library System.

Calendar of Diverse Reads

Image from Pixabay.

The National Education Association and Read Across America, two well-known organizations, offer a 12-month calendar of recommended books that promote diversity and inclusion. Each month focuses on a different topic and recommends three books, one book each for three age levels—elementary, middle grade, and young adult. View the resource here. 

There are a lot of possibilities for how you can use this resource—a reader's advisory booklist, a Beanstack challenge, a book club reading list….get creative with it! On the website, click on the cover of each recommended title to view activity suggestions, discussion questions, related resources, and read-alike titles.

Beanstack is Growing in Wisconsin!

From the 8/210/21 WI Libraries for Everyone blog:

"In April 2020, the Division for Libraries and Technology began supporting public libraries and library users by launching a statewide online reading challenge platform and mobile app, Beanstack, to support summer library programming and future reading initiatives through 2023. The success of Beanstack and the excitement it is generating throughout the state inspired another initiative to support young readers in Wisconsin, Beanstack for school libraries! The Division has awarded a discretionary grant for nearly $277,000 to the Wisconsin Valley Library Service to contract with Beanstack on behalf of Wisconsin public school libraries. This 21-month statewide procurement will save over $114,000 when compared to individual districts procuring this service at the local level.

Bringing Beanstack to school libraries will allow library media specialists to elevate the important role they play in creating library programs supporting and improving literacy. Beanstack encourages more independent and choice reading, motivating students to read more, by allowing them to earn badges, see stats, compete on a leaderboard, find book suggestions, and even see what their friends are reading. And it allows school library media specialists the opportunity to observe the data and trends of their readers. With Wisconsin public libraries also using Beanstack, there will soon be options for students to link their accounts, which means great opportunities for school and public librarians to connect and collaborate."

To read the full post with details on how to register as a school, please stop here.

Guest Post: 500 Before 15!

This week's blog post and super rad program idea comes to you from Abby Bussen, Children's Librarian at Muskego Public Library!

Guest Post: 500 Before 15

Author: Abby Bussen, Children's Librarian, Muskego Public Library

There's always somebody, right? Somebody who finishes the 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten just before heading off to their first year of school whose caregiver wistfully says, "Y'know, I wish there was a program like this for school-aged kids..." Or maybe its the grownup of a 1KB4K kiddo who has an older sibling, and that grownup says, "It would be *sO nIcE* to have a program like this for older kids, too..."

We'd heard those comments enough times that when we saw another WI library roll out a 500 Books Before Middle School program (hi, Matheson Memorial Library!), we pounced! We worked with Angela Meyers at our own Bridges Library System to get a professional logo designed so all the libraries in our system could do a 500 Books program. The logo designer created options -- 500 Books Before 15 (age), 500 Books Before Middle School, and 500 Books Before High School -- so community librarians could choose which range best suited their patrons. We went with the age to keep it in line with our homeschool groups! We also framed our program as a "challenge." For some kids, reading 500 books before they turn 15 isn't easy, so where we spend 1KB4K telling parents how easy it can be to read 1,000 books, we don't do that same thing for 500 Books Before 15. Challenges are good and fun!

I worked with Amanda Hyland, the teen librarian at my own Muskego Public Library, to create interesting tracking sheets and come up with worthwhile incentives for this older age group. Our tracking sheets include 25 lines on one side and a coloring sheet on the reverse. They all just say 1-25 and we have a huge assortment of coloring page designs, so kids can pick their sheets instead of having sheets forced on them. For our incentives, we designed drawstring bags that say "Readers Gonna Read" that the kids get when they sign up -- no delayed gratification here!

We also invested in an American Button Machine button maker, so readers can make achievement badges for themselves after every 25 books read. By the end of the program, they can have 20 unique buttons! We have 3 button options for each page returned: 1) Pre-made buttons for families on a tight schedule; 2) Coloring-page buttons for families with a little more time on their hands and kids who like a little guidance; and 3) Completely blank buttons for families who have time and kids who live to design their own gear.

 

In the 2 months since we've launched this program we have had 99 kids sign up and one eager reader is already up to 175 books!

Timeless Top 10 Research-based Tips on Summer Reading Programs

With all the thought and time that library staff serving youth put into the Summer Library/Learning/Reading Program, it's nice to visit why and how we do what we do each year. Here's a brief summary of Top Ten Tips for Librarians for Library Reading Programs compiled by Tessa Michaelson-Schmidt, Youth and Inclusive Services Public Library Consultant for the WI Department of Public Instruction, some years ago now. These timeless tips are worth revisiting anytime of year.

Libraries Rock! How to be a Rock Star in Your Community

There's still time to register for this workshop coming up Tuesday, January 16 from 1-4 pm at the Jack Russell Memorial Library, 100 Park Avenue in Hartford.

Sue Abrahamson, Children’s Librarian (Waupaca Public Library) & Youth Services Liaison (Outagamie Waupaca Library System) will share stories and strategies for rejuvenating library reading programs.  Participants will leave with…

• A clear sense of purpose along with tips on communicating to library stakeholders
• Relationship building techniques for staff and patrons
• Understand how partnerships can help you work more effectively
• A plan to refocus energies on programs year-round
• Courage and willingness to change

Be open · Say “Yes!” · Connect 

This program is sponsored by the Southeastern Wisconsin public library systems: Arrowhead Library System, Bridges Library System, Kenosha County Library System, Lakeshores Library System, Milwaukee County Federated Library System, and Monarch Library System.

Reading to Therapy Dogs Improves Literacy Attitudes

If you needed a push (or a viable research-based argument) for having therapy dogs in the library, check out THIS article by Tara Pettinato over at the Tufts University news site.
Research done at Tufts Institute for Human-Animal Interaction shows second-grade students who read aloud to dogs in an afterschool program demonstrated improved attitudes about reading.  The results note that reading with a therapy dog improves motivation, helping the child view reading in a more positive light.

Collaborative Rewards: A Supergreat Idea

Thanks to Abby Bussen from Cudahy Family Library for submitting this post!

After my first summer as a children’s librarian last year, I spent all fall and winter thinking: How can I do that better? Inspired by the superhero theme Every Hero Has a Story, I drew three life-size superheroes on white butcher block paper (thanks to the help of a truly ancient opaque projector that sounds like a freight train, but works like a peach). Each stood roughly 5 feet tall and were simple black-and-white line drawings. During school visits, I challenged the children in my community to fill in those drawings to earn a supergreat reward – a party with face painting, icy pops, cookies, window painting, and a superhero training school obstacle course.

Here’s how it worked: For every log the children (ages 0-12) turned in, we added one dot to a superhero. They could turn in one log every week throughout the summer. They received other rewards along the way for filling out their logs (books and coupons for their first return of the month, small prizes for every log they turned in after the first log), but I made sure to tell everyone that if those superheroes weren’t filled in, we would have NO party.

Here’s how we prepped: Aside from the drawing of the heroes, which took a couple hours due to the scale and frankly the tiredness of my arm, all we had to do in preparation for this was to cut out an epic amount of circles in various colors. We made the circles for Hulk slightly bigger than for Superman and Ms. Marvel because he’s just huge.

Will we do this again? Definitely! I’m already considering what color-ins we can use to complement the 2016. All told, it took 1,050 logs to complete all three superheroes, but we had many more logs turned in after Hulk was finished. The elementary-aged kids were particularly motivated by this collaborative reward and several went out of their way to encourage their friends to work harder so we could all have this great party at the end of the summer. The party landed on a rainy day, so we had to cancel the outdoor window painting, but the obstacle course was a hit. In the end, I painted so many smiling faces, I knew we’d made a positive step toward making summer reading a group effort.

Seuss-tastic Reading Challenge for March

Brought to you by Terry Ehle at Lester Public Library

Passive programs are the best, especially programs that encourage patrons to read. A few years back I saw an idea for a Dr. Seuss reading challenge (I’m sorry I can’t remember where I found the idea.) that we adapted for my library.

This is how the program worked. Any patron 18 years and younger could participate. All participants received a bingo-like sheet with silly Seuss inspired reading activities. Read out loud, Read upside down, Read under a table, Read to someone small, etc. When a participant had 5 in a row in any direction, they could bring their sheet back to the library and receive a free book. Complete all of the activities and pick 2 books.

I do buy books to give away but I also receive donations of gently used books throughout the year that I keep to use as prizes. Honestly I think patrons would participate for a sticker. Attached is my reading sheet, if you would like to have the publisher file so that you can personalize it, shoot me an email: tehle@lesterlibrary.org I am happy to share!

RRRRRRRRRRead!

Long- time Oshkosh children's librarian Sandy Joseph is featured in a Library Journal article focusing on Read-to-Rover therapy dogs being read to by children! 

There are many great programs like this in Wisconsin - and, in fact, YSS plans to feature a program at WLA in La Crosse this fall on this very thing.  Another great reason to come to conference!

Looking to Extend the Good Vibes of One World, Many Stories?

Paper Tigers blog invites families, libraries, bloggers and readers everywhere to join their Reading the World Challenge this year. Readers are given guidelines to read more widely in other cultures as well as read books written and illustrated by book creators from other cultures.

Sign up at the blog post linked above.

Book Adventure

From the Monday Memo - ALS

Book Adventure is a free reading motivation program for children in grades K-8. Parents and teachers looking for ways of motivating youngsters to read will find Book Adventure a wonderful resource. Students can read books, take quizzes on them, and earn points for correct answers on the quizzes. Kids can redeem accumulated points for prizes. There is a database of quizzes on more than 3,000 popular children's titles.

Using Book Finder, readers can search the titles by author, title, grade level, or interests. Book Finder will then create a reading list that can be printed and used at the library. After reading a book, children go to Quiz-O-Matic to take the corresponding quiz. Quizzes have from five to ten questions, depending on grade level. Teachers or parents can register their children and select literature at the appropriate grade level. There is also a mechanism for keeping track of children's scores and points earned. Teachers or parents can generate reports. Put this safe, child friendly site for improving reading comprehension at the top of your list.

CELEBRATE ESPHYR SLOBODKINA’S 100TH BIRTHDAY!!

Esphyr Slobodkina, internationally-renowned artist and author of the classic children’s book Caps for Sale, will be honored in a series of events commemorating her 100th birthday beginning fall 2008. This posthumous celebration remembers a pioneer who was among the first female American artists to explore abstraction and the first to use collage as an illustrational technique in American children’s books.

The Slobodkina Foundation will be providing downloadable Caps for Sale activity kits and program materials to encourage educators to acknowledge and celebrate Esphyr Slobodkina’s centennial. These materials will be available on the Slobodkina Foundation website beginning September 22, 2008 – Esphyr Slobodkina’s birthday.

Lectures, interactive programs, and touring opportunities will be offered concurrently with a traveling art exhibition, Rediscovering Slobodkina: A Pioneer of American Abstraction – the largest and most comprehensive Slobodkina retrospective to date featuring paintings and illustrations on loan from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. This exhibition will premiere at the Heckscher Museum of Art in Huntington, New York in March 2009, and will then travel to the Samuel P. Harn Art Museum and the Naples Museum of Art in Florida.

For information about events and programming opportunities, please contact us at annmarie@slobodkina.org or visit www.slobodkina.org. (posted to ALSC-L, 9/2/08)

First Lady Doyle's Recommended Children's Titles for this January and February

First Lady Jessica Doyle has initiated an online book discussion club for children and adults. Each month her Web page for the book club, called "Read On Wisconsin," lists the titles for discussion. All books were carefully selected by a Literacy Advisory Board and reflect a commitment to diversity in their content and message. Mrs. Doyle hopes you find them as interesting and appealing as she does.

The titles recommended for January were:
Preschool: "Not A Box" by Antoinette Portis
Primary: "The Deaf Musicians" by Pete Seeger and Paul Dubois Jacobs
Intermediate: "Tents, Tigers, and The Ringling Brothers" by Jerry Apps
Middle School: "If You Come Softly" by Jacqueline Woodson
High School: "American Born Chinese" by Gene Luen Yang

The titles recommended for February are:
Preschool: "I'm Dirty!" by Kate and Jim McMullan
Primary: "Today I Will Fly" by Mo Willems
Intermediate: "Sienna's Scrapbook" by Toni Trent Parker
Middle School: "Harlem Summer" by Walter Dean Myers
High School: "Bronx Masquerade" by Nikki Grimes

For more information or to join the "Read On Wisconsin" book club, go to http://readon.wisconsin.gov