Compassion Resilience Webinar

 

On Tuesday Dec 8 from 1:00-2:00 pm the Department of Public Instruction is sponsoring a webinar to help you learn more about how to develop more resilience during trying times. The webinar will also explore the Compassion Resilience Toolkit developed by WiseWisconsin and Rogers Inhealth.

"Working for the public requires empathy and a desire to serve, and the past year has everyone running low. A focus on compassion resilience can guide you and your staff back to the core set of values and the drive for a sense of purpose that drew them to work in libraries in the first place."

To read the full article with more detailed description and register for the webinar, please stop at this WI Libraries for Everyone blog post.

YSS Values Statement

Submitted by Leah Langby, YSS Chair and Library Development and Youth Services Coordinator at Indianhead Federated Library System

YSS advocates for professional empowerment, collaboration, and innovative, inclusive, and intentional service.  That’s the Values Statement of the Youth Services Section of the Wisconsin Library Association.  The YSS Board created this values statement partially as an exercise to coalesce our board at a retreat this winter—talking together about common values is a powerful way to create energy and momentum.  We also hoped that having a values statement would help us focus our efforts as we moved forward.

We were lucky that board member Katherine Elchert learned about this process at the 2014 WLA Pre-Conference (Library Journal’s Lead the Change), and then had worked with colleagues and stakeholders to create a values statement for the Rice Lake Public Library.  She was ready to jump in and lead us through this process as a board.  It started with choosing words from a list about values we all thought were important to YSS.  We compiled lists, and thought hard about the ones that many of us chose, and also carefully considered less popular ones if someone was passionate about it.  Through a series of conversations, we narrowed our list of words, and then ran out of time at the retreat!  At the very next board meeting, we managed to create this Values Statement, even without the benefit of being able to see each others’ faces.

I’m thrilled with this statement, and feel like it has already helped me to keep on track as the YSS Chair.  I hope that it will be a useful tool for YSS in the future.  I mean, what’s not to love about values like empowerment, collaboration, inclusiveness, innovation, intentionality??

Core Values to Celebrate During Black History Month

     The month of February is a time when many communities pause and celebrate the great contributions made by African Americans in history.  This week Lee & Low's blog The Open Book highlights African Americans who have made a difference, but also explore the diverse experiences of black culture throughout history, from the struggle for freedom in the South and the fight for civil rights to the lively rhythms of New Orleans jazz and the cultural explosion of the Harlem Renaissance.
     They put together a list of titles – along with additional resources – that align with 7 core values and themes to help you celebrate both Black History Month and African American culture all 365 days of the year.

Find the resources HERE.