Library Resolutions

Happy New Year Youth People!!

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

Are you a New Year's Resolution person? Personally, I'm not, but I was thinking about what I want to accomplish this year at work, and thought that I might just be a resolution person at work. 

My 2026 library resolutions:

1. Say no more often. I think in this profession, we often tend to be yes people. We like fun things and want to be involved. But, we need to think about boundaries and burnout and the fact that those are real things. In an article for the American Library Association, Matthew Weirick Johnson says, "Causes of burnout can be extensive and multifaceted, including overwork but also erosion of work-life balance..." Saying no is necessary sometimes, even though it can feel hard. 

2. Plan ahead more. Our library has a really great programming model in which four departments work together on programming (youth services, adult services, outreach, public services). This allows us to do so much more than we could otherwise, but also creates an interesting dynamic when it comes to planning. Youth librarians, at least in our library, tend to do more of the programming in house, which means more planning and prep time is needed. This often means that looking forward is harder, and things are not planned as far in advance as in the adult services department. In an effort to work together in a different way, I'm working on planning a little bit differently this year.

3. Get more people to write for this blog! This is where you come in! If any of you are interested in contributing to the blog, please reach out to us at yss.wla@gmail.com. We all do such cool things, and we'd love to share more of what you're doing on a local level with a wider audience. 

Do you have any work resolutions for 2026?

You can read the full article on burnout here. [Keeping Up with...Burnout. Weirick Johnson, M. ala.org]  https://www.ala.org/acrl/publications/keeping_up_with/burnout

Post-COVID - How Have Our Library Service Changed?

Jennifer Sullivan who blogs at Adventures in Storytime (and Beyond) recently wrote about how our youth library services have changed over the past few years. Reflecting on conversations she has had with online colleagues and library peers at conferences and meetings, Jennifer created a list of the ways things have changed in library services - and people's behaviors.

Jennifer begins her post: "It's been a little over three years since life as we knew it came to a screeching halt with one word: coronavirus. We were caught completely off guard, as were all levels of government and healthcare. No one was prepared for a pandemic; no one had policies and procedures in place to deal with such a threat. Most of the country shut down for 2-4 weeks in order to slow the spread so our health care system wouldn't become completely overwhelmed as had happened in other countries.

Many naively thought it would be over after that, and things would go right back to normal. But of course that's not how pandemics work. Others thought once a vaccine was available, that would be it and things would go back to normal. But of course they didn't, as many people refused to be vaccinated and the virus continued to evolve. Now, three years later the pandemic is considered to be "over," but that doesn't mean the virus is gone; it just means that enough of the population has acquired at least partial immunity, through vaccination or infection, and the virulence of the virus has lessened to the point that it is no longer a crisis, bur has become endemic. So, this means things are back to normal, right? Not exactly."

To read the full post, please stop here. [The New Normal. Sullivan, Jennifer.  Adventures in Storytime (and Beyond) blog. May 29, 2023]

Avoid Pre-Summer Burn-out

Image by OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay 

In a recent ALSC blog post, Kirsten Caldwell shared her tips on ways to stay fresh, focused and strengthened during the busy prep before SLP.

She writes: "Summer is youth librarians’ busiest (and most exciting) time of the year. We spend MONTHS planning for it, it happens, and then we start planning again. So how do we avoid getting summer burnout before the summer program even starts?"

To read her tips (which can help you during SLP craziness as well), please stop here! [Avoiding Summer Burnout Before Summer Starts. Caldwell, Kirsten. ALSC blog. May 16, 2023]

Reflecting on Our Practice

Image by Manfred Steger from Pixabay

A recent ALSC blog post had some powerful suggestions on ways to stop dashing headlong about, without reflection, in our day-to-day work as youth librarians. Stopping to smell the roses, or reflect on what we're doing can add a very useful tool to our toolkit of youth services.

Lisa Bintrim, a member of ALSC's School Age Programs and Services Committee writes: "I often feel like I’m in perpetual motion. As soon as one program is done, I’m onto the next one. I’m racing from storytimes, to class visits, to meetings, to outreach commitments. And there’s always work to do: weeding, shelf-reading, tidying the children’s area, cleaning the toys and games, and on and on.  Hitting the pause button, even for a few minutes, can feel impossible. But for the past six months, that’s what I’ve been trying to do: setting aside about fifteen minutes each week to pause through reflective writing." 

To read her thoughtful post with tips and suggestions, please stop here. [Reflective Practice in Children's Services.  Bintrim, Lisa. ALSC blog. February 25, 2023]

Just Wondering - Effective Ways to Host an Author Event

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay 

In this month's column by Manitowoc (WI) Public Library Youth Librarian Susie Menk , she is thinking about an upcoming large scale event and whether there are other tips on how to make the planning process smooth . And she's wondering....what do you think?

So….we are doing a bigger name author event this summer.  My team and I started planning back in January for this event to make sure we had plenty of time to organize and prepare. 

Ha! Ha! The joke’s on us!  We swiftly learned that planning an event of this size is a constant challenge to keep moving forward.  There are several suggestions I would make to others planning an event of this size.

One of the most important things we learned is to make sure expectations for each party are clearly established.  For instance, who is making the travel arrangements?  What exactly does travel arrangements include—airfare, hotel, meals, transportation?  How are expenses being taking care of?  Does the agency book the travel and then the sponsor reimburses?  How are payments made to the booking agency? Check? Electronic transfer?  Some of these methods can be problematic for libraries who deal with Friends or Foundation groups that don’t necessarily have the capability to submit electronic payments.

The second most important thing we learned is to make sure the agent and the author are communicating with one another.  We got to a week and a half out from the event and found out that the author and the agent were not on the same page.  The agent had given us rather strict protocols about masks and Covid-19 procedures saying the author required it. Later we found out that the author thought we had set these strict protocols.  

Lastly, it is important to get the venue nailed down early on.  Our library has a nice set of meeting rooms, but we didn’t think it would work for an author event of this size, so we reached out to a local venue.  We thought we were all set and then they pulled out so we were scrambling to find a new venue about two months before the event.  We had also partnered with a local school to do a writing workshop with the author for part of their summer school program.  They were happy to partner with us and all seemed well.  Then two weeks before the event, we got an email saying that they had to pull out.  We pivoted and decided to offer the workshop here at the library instead. 

We are super excited to host this author event and we have created quite the buzz about the event so we are hopeful that it will be a rousing success.  We have learned a great deal as we went through this process and we will be better prepared the next time we host an event of this nature. 

Does anyone else have experiences to share about hosting a large scale event?  Any tips or tricks or even funny stories you want to share?  We’d love to hear from you!

Clean-up on Aisles Programming and Services

I'll always been interested in the concept of planning and sustainability in programming and services as well as our approach to them. Often services or program series, once started, keep on rolling, month after month, year after year, until they slowly, well...poop out.

This can happen to any of us. Perhaps, the workload is so intense or staffing so inadequate that it feels overwhelming to make any changes. It could be that a vocal patron wants the program/service to continue despite the fact that it serves only them. It may be that we LOVE that program or service we came up with and are loathe to see it end. You know how this goes.

Recently, Liza Purdy over at the ALSC blog suggested we approach service/program changes started during the pandemic in the spirit of Marie Kondo. What should stay? What should go? What should we change and adapt?

To read this post, stop here.

SLP- Speaking About the Unspeakable

Image by mohamed Hassan from Pixabay

If you are in children's work, annual summer library programs are as inevitable - and never-ending - as sunrises and sunsets. 

June and July, and sometimes August, are often "no vacation" months in our work year. We partner with our schools and community to create valued out-of-school learning, literacy and adventure experiences for kids and families. Our workload goes up astronomically as we interact with lots more people.

This time can add alot of stress if our library's emphasis is on "more, more, MORE": more programs; more kids signed up for reading incentive programs; more prizes; more content; more and higher numbers; more run, run, run. You might have experienced a real feeling of dislike or even hate for summer reading.

So it was with real interest that we read a blog post from Jen at the Adventures in Storytime (and Beyond) blog entitled True Confessions. Jen writes: "So, I have something to confess that might be shocking to some, though I am sure there are those who are secretly in agreement with me. Now hold on to your cardigans folks, but the truth is.... I hate summer reading! 

I know that must seem downright blasphemous coming from a children's librarian who is dedicated to promoting literacy and lifelong reading, but it's true. Ok, maybe not 100% true. I do love seeing all the kids and families in the library more often during the summer, catching up with former storytime regulars who are now in elementary school, talking books with teens, and doing fun programs, and I am very passionate about promoting reading and lifelong learning. However, that mission seems to have gotten lost in the stressful circus that summer reading programs have become, and that is what I truly hate." 

To read her thoughtful post and practical suggestions on how to find the love - and balance - in summer reading again, please stop here.

Streamline for Success: Library Programs & Services Reboot in APRIL

We all want our library services to be strong and strategic, but how do you ensure that your library is producing meaningful, intentional services that support your mission, rather than simply falling into the traps of “more is more” or “we’ve always done it this way”? This workshop will lead participants through perspectives on creating and implementing mission-driven library services with a design thinking lens. Participants will have an immediate opportunity to put their learning into practice in this interactive workshop. The workshop will include two 3-hour sessions, with two weeks between sessions. Participants will also be able to continue working with the presenters during select open office hours after the workshops.

Learning Outcomes: Participants will learn to…

1. Conduct a library service audit and needs assessment
2. Identify a desired service goal
3. Apply design thinking principles to developing strong library service plans
4. Utilize tools to enact and iterate a streamlined plan

Ideal audience: Library directors, adult and youth services managers

Presenters: Kelsey Johnson-Kaiser (St. Paul Public Library, MN) and Amy Koester (Skokie Public Library, IL)

This is a two-part workshop. Both sessions will be held online.

Session 1 (choose one)

• 9:00 am - 12:00 pm Tuesday, April 6, 2021
• 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm Tuesday, April 6, 2021
• 9:00 am - 12:00 pm Wednesday, April 7, 2021
  
  

Session 2 (choose one)

• 9:00 am - 12:00 pm Tuesday, April 20, 2021
• 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm Tuesday, April 20, 2021
• 9:00 am - 12:00 pm Wednesday, April 21, 2021

 

To register: https://forms.gle/rBrAZSprjmiYwcxU8  

 

Open to public library staff. 60 seats available for each session. CE contact hours: 6. Maximum 3 people per library may register.

Co-sponsored by Wisconsin Library Systems and the Department of Public Instruction, with funds from the Institute of Museum and Library Services in the form of Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA). 

 

How to Say No

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People who know me know I love to think about how we work towards creating an atmosphere of "yes" in our work. Within the confines of work, this moving towards yes can mean great success in building better buy-in, teamwork and innovative change for your library and community.

But what about outside of work? What about the many things that are peripherally part of your librarianship but serve better to advance your reputation or resume than to serve your community or job. It is tempting to say yes to as many things as possible but it can encroach on your energy, enthusiasm and ideas for your own paid-time work.

How to balance?

Melissa over at Mel's Desk has written three posts walking readers through her process of learning to say no to outside-work professional commitments. They are a perfect thoughtful primer to help all of us work out our own yeses and nos.

What I've Learned About Saying No
How Do You Know When to Say No
Different Types of Saying No
In Defense of Yes