Free ALSC Toolkits Available

ALSC (ALA's  Association for Library Service to Children) has created a number of toolkits that are available on their website. 

Recently, ALSC's Library Service for Underserved Children and Their Caregivers updated their suite of toolkits. They include toolkits on "the digital divide, autism and sensory processing needs, print disabilities, financial insecurity and homelessness, new Americans, Spanish-speaking populations, and trauma-informed care. Each provides practical guidance, resource recommendations, and community-centered approaches that position libraries as essential partners in supporting children and families facing various challenges."

Stop at this ALSC blog post to read about each and link directly to the resources! [Strengthening Community Connections: Updated Toolkits for Serving Underserved Children and Families.  Ting, Renee. ALSC blog. July 5, 2025]

Service to New Americans Toolkit

The ALSC Library Service to Underserved Children and Their Communities committee is working on a new toolkit.

Entitled "New Americans", this toolkit seeks to provide resources and guidance to help libraries better serve refugees, new immigrants, asylum seekers, and migrants.  The toolkit, as it is developing, has a booklist and a growing list of resources to help us serve these New Americans more effectively.

This toolkit is one of 6 that the committee has developed in the past 2 years (others include Children with Print Disabilities; Access to Technology; Spanish Speaking Populations; Financial Insecurity and Homelessness Resources and Autism and Sensory Processing Disorder Resources). They can all be accessed for free here.

Stop here to access the new developing toolkit as well as contribute with your experiences and ideas. Together, as these resources are developed and shared, we are stronger!!

Renewed for 2022—Trainings from Ryan Dowd

Great news! The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) has renewed Wisconsin libraries' access to the Ryan Dowd trainings for the year 2022.

What are the trainings?

Ryan Dowd

Ryan Dowd is the executive director of Hesed House, the second-largest homeless shelter in Illinois. Ryan offers libraries and other organizations relevant, practical training on working with a variety of patrons—individuals facing homelessness, individuals from low socioeconomic backgrounds, and challenging patron interactions. Ryan's trainings come highly recommended—even if you do not believe your library serves individuals facing homelessness.

What can I learn?

There is a 3.5-hour core training which is highly recommended for everyone; some libraries have taken a staff development day to watch the core training. There are also one-hour webinars, with a new webinar added every month. The webinars reference principles taught in the core training, but the core training is not essential to understand the webinars.

Here is a sampling of the available webinars:

• Getting hit on by customers
• Kicked out!: How to safely ask someone to leave (without calling the police)
• Ornery teenagers: Compassionately and effectively managing their problem behaviors
• Prejudice: How to respond to prejudicial comments from customers
• Unattended children: How to talk to parents about their children's behavior

How do I access the trainings?

Visit this link here: https://my.nicheacademy.com/dpi-wi-staff. You will need to create an account; you need to use a work email address when creating the account. If you do not have a work email address, talk to your supervisor to see if your library has a general email address you can use. If you have trouble accessing the training, contact your regional continuing education consultant or someone from your library system office.

How do I stay informed?

To receive weekly emails containing tips for patron interactions, sign up here. To receive the links to upcoming live webinars, sign up here. Note—all webinars are first given live and a few days later archived on Niche Academy for on-demand access.

UW-Madison iSchool CE Courses

The spring 2022 online courses and tutorials have been announced and there's plenty of great youth content for you! Plus don’t forget about the virtual Power Up Pop-Ups conference, Feb 21-Mar 4 (featuring one session noon-1pm CST most days) with great content to increase your leadership skills as a youth librarian!

 

If you register at least 2 weeks early, you save 10% on the registration cost.

 

Teens in the Library  

Jan 31-March 13  2.CEUs  $250   Instructor Linda Jerome

You’ve got teens in the library–now what? Or maybe you’d like to have more teens in the library, so how exactly do you do that? This course will help provide library staff with a foundation upon which they can build successful service to teens in their community through programming, attractive space for teens in their library, teen collections, and outreach and community partnerships. Learn to create opportunities for teens to become happy, healthy, and successful adults. Class discussions will address how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected teen services, as well as strategies for success moving forward.

 

Babies in the Library

Feb 7-March 20   2.0 CEUs  $250   Instructor: Brooke Newberry

Library service to patrons begins at birth. How can library practitioners offer the best programs, collections, and services possible to the youngest members of our communities (0-23 months)? After laying the groundwork for developmentally appropriate practice, this course will provide strategies and ideas for providing outstanding services to families with young children. Whether you are new to the profession, considering starting a baby storytime, searching for outreach partners, or looking to refresh your collection, this course will build a foundation for working with the very young.

 

Programming with a Purpose

Feb 28-March 27   1.4 CEUs   $150    Instructor: Kelsey Johnson-Kaiser

We all want our libraries to have strong programming. How do you know if your library is producing meaningful programs that align with vision, support the mission, and recognize staff capacity versus simply falling into the “more is more” trap? Regardless of your library’s size, there are ways you can bring intentional thinking into programming so you’re supporting the community while working smarter. This course will explore broad perspectives on identifying programming values and goals as well as in-depth strategies for planning thoughtful, intentional programs for any age. Participants will actively focus on defining programming priorities that are informed by both current practices and goals; using a methodical practice to identify pain points and realistic solutions; implementing a project charter tool; and effective communication to aid in change management. 

Services to Families Experiencing Homelessness

Feb 28 April 10      2.0 CEUs    $250    Instructor: Vikki Terrile

The Great Recession, COVID-19, and widespread economic instability all contributed to an increase in family homelessness. The recent elimination of eviction moratoriums and other protections are expected to increase the numbers of children and families in homeless situations. Libraries can serve as a key resource for children and parents whose housing is unstable. In this course, you will explore the causes of family homelessness and learn how libraries can support children and families experiencing housing insecurity. This course will provide opportunities to connect with schools and community organizations to understand the nature of family homelessness in your community and reach families where they are. The course will also present a range of service and programming options, address access barriers, and explore how to advocate for families experiencing homelessness.

 

Storytime: An Opportunity for Social Justice

March 28- May 8    2.0 CEUs    $250    Instructor: Katelyn Martens-Rodriguez

This class will focus on making your storytimes more welcoming, inclusive, equitable, and grounded in social justice. With fellow students, you will have honest discussions and learn creative ways to approach storytime spaces (in-person or virtual). This class challenges the idea that libraries are neutral spaces, and stands with vulnerable populations. You will focus on inspiring and assisting other students to provide the best possible storytimes to families. This class provides the opportunity to celebrate successes and make mistakes to pave the way for assessment and growth.

Additional courses that can also be helpful in your youth services work include:

·        Spanish for Libraries and Privacy in Libraries – both self-paced tutorials that you can begin the day you register for $100 (1.4 CEUs).

·        Cultural Competence in Libraries: Encouraging Reflective Practice

·        Libraries and the Customer Experience with Jamie Matczak

·        Strategies for Supervising Part-time Employees

·        Building Your Management Toolkit with Jennifer Bernetzke

·        Know Your Community: Survey Design for Results

 

To access all the great spring content from UW-Madison iSchool CE, stop here.

Free Ryan Dowd Training Webinars for WI Public Libraries

Ryan Dowd

Kim Niesing, Youth Services Consultant at Monarch Library System writes in one of her recent weekly emails to youth services librarians:

"This week, I want to highlight the free Ryan Dowd trainings available to you. These trainings have been so eye-opening and practical for me, and I highly recommend them. You may remember that through the Department of Public Instruction, all Wisconsin public libraries have free access to Ryan Dowd's trainings through the end of 2021. 

What are these trainings?

These trainings help library staff understand and serve individuals facing homelessness but also individuals who come from disadvantaged homes as well as difficult patron interactions with all kinds of people. If you do not see much homelessness in your libraries, I still highly recommend listening to Ryan's webinars. 

What can I learn?

• There is a "core training." (I think it's four hours.) The 1-hour webinars will reference principles taught in this core training. I really recommend it, but it's not essential to understanding the webinars.
• There are 1-hour webinars covering topics such as:
• Getting hit on by customers
• Unattended children: How to talk to parents about their children's behavior
  
• Backup: How to backup a co-worker during crisis
• Homeless children and libraries

How do I access the trainings?
Visit this link here. https://my.nicheacademy.com/dpi-wi-staff  You will need to create an account; use your work email address when creating the account. 

When are the trainings?

There is a new live webinar each month. The webinars are recorded and available for on-demand viewing at the above link. 

How do I stay informed?

To get weekly emails with tips on patron interactions, sign up here. To get the links to upcoming live webinars, sign up here. Note--Ryan requests that people do not forward links to his upcoming webinars, so if you want that information, you need to sign up for the emails yourself. "

New ALSC Toolkit on Homelessness

ALSC's Library Service to Underserved Children and their Caregivers Committee just published the newest section in their toolkit full of resources to help libraries serve their most marginalized communities. They write: "Each toolkit page will provide professional and leisure reading recommendations, support for programming, and materials for families.  As dynamic documents, these pages will continue to grow and develop as we find new resources, share our experiences, and continue to learn."

The October toolkit focuses on homelessness and financial insecurity. The toolkit includes:

• Picture books to read to children and parents as well as middle grade books for older children.
• Several community resources and recommendations for outreach when serving homeless children.
• A handful of successful library programs around the country for homeless youth. If you have a program, we’d love to add it!

Stop by this link to read all about it and access this toolkit as well as the previous one created by the committee on Autism and Sensory Processing Disorder Resources. More toolkits will be forthcoming as well.

HHPTF Libraries & Homelessness Survey

The Hunger, Homelessness and Poverty Task Force of SRRT (HHPTF) has created a survey to collect examples of how, during the COVID-19 pandemic, libraries are able to meet the needs of their community members who are experiencing homelessness. The survey is anonymous and your IP address will not be tracked. There are 14 questions in the survey. Complete the survey now. If you have any questions, feel free to email Julie Ann Winkelstein at jwinkels@utk.edu.