Your Voice, Our Community: Write for the YSS Blog!

Ready to shape the future of library services for kids and teens across Wisconsin? Join the YSS Blog! The Youth Services Shout-Out (YSS) Blog, with over 1.5 million views and almost 4,000 posts, is a dynamic resource that highlights recent library news, programming ideas, and professional development opportunities for youth services folks in Wisconsin.

Image by Sophie Janotta from Pixabay

We’re looking for fresh voices and dedicated library champions to keep this momentum going! There are two ways to join in:

• Become a Guest Contributor: Got a brilliant program idea, a deep-dive "how-to," or an opinion piece on the latest library trends? We want to hear it! Sharing your expertise helps peers statewide. 

• Join the Admin Team: Want to go behind the scenes? Help us curate the best resources, manage community content, and keep Wisconsin’s youth services community connected and informed.

Email the blog team at yss.wla@gmail.com to get started!

YSS Needs You!

Ready to shape the future of library services for kids and teens across Wisconsin? Join the YSS Blog! The Youth Services Shout-Out (YSS) Blog, with over 1.5 million views and almost 4,000 posts, is a dynamic resource that highlights recent library news, programming ideas, and professional development opportunities for youth services folks in Wisconsin.

Image by Sophie Janotta from Pixabay

We’re looking for fresh voices and dedicated library champions to keep this momentum going! There are two ways to join in:

• Become a Guest Contributor: Got a killer program idea, a deep-dive "how-to," or an opinion piece on the latest library trends? We want to hear it! Sharing your expertise helps peers statewide. 

• Join the Admin Team: Want to go behind the scenes? Help us curate the best resources, manage community content, and keep Wisconsin’s youth services community connected and informed.

Email the blog team at yss.wla@gmail.com to get started!

Coping with Politically Motivated Censorship - ALA Webinar

A YALSA (Young Adult Library Services Association) webinar, co-sponsored by AASL (American Association of School Librarians), PLA (Public Library Association), and ALSC (Association for Library Service to Children) will be held over Zoom April 11, 2023 at 2:00pm CDT for ALA members.

All around the country, politically motivated challenges to library patrons’ freedom to read and library staff members’ ability to do their jobs are increasing. Many of these challenges have moved from simple complaints and removal requests to abusive, sometimes dangerous behavior. 

In this new webinar, you’ll hear from Darcy Lipp-Acord, the Youth Services Librarian at Campbell County Public Library in Gillette, WY. As someone who has been on the front lines of this harassment, she will present information linking strategies of book challenging groups with abusive behaviors typically found in domestic relationships and offer strategies for dealing with those behaviors as front-facing library staff.

You’ll learn about common strategies used by political groups in their efforts to censor youth materials, how to identify and name these behaviors, and how doing so can empower library staff to develop proactive strategies for responding in ways that protect their safety and integrity.

After participating in this event, learners will:

• Be able to identify common abusive behaviors being used by book challenging groups
• Be able to recognize the patterns utilized by these groups
• Understand how to adapt strategies taught to domestic abuse victims to library situations, and to utilize these strategies to help staff cope with abusive behaviors

Darcy Lipp-Acord is the Youth Services Librarian at Campbell County Public Library in Gillette, WY. Since July of 2021, she has been directly involved in dealing with a local group attempting to move youth materials out of childrens and teen areas of her library. The group, as many such challengers nationwide, has resorted to abusive techniques that demoralize staff. Lipp-Acord has researched the links between these techniques and abusive strategies often used in domestic situations, and presented her findings at the 2022 YALSA Symposium in Baltimore.

This event will be hosted in Zoom. Registration is limited to 1000 individuals who are ALA members. Automatic captions will be enabled for this event. This event will be recorded, and the recording will be freely available to all, including those who did not register for the live event or were not able to attend.

Please stop here at the ALA website to register for this free webinar.

Tuesday Tips: Making the Most of Disability Pride Month

Sam Jones is the Youth Services Librarian at the Beaver Dam Public Library. Today she shares a tip on a some fabulous resources that help you be a better ally and also information on interviews available today and archived on Facebook.

Disability Pride Month may be almost over, but that doesn't mean we should stop thinking about how to serve all of our patrons in the best way possible. One article recently published is called "7 Tips on How to be a Better Disability Ally on the Bookish Internet." This has some really practical, simple advice that we can follow to make our library more welcoming and accessible. One example given is making sure that images have an alternative description. This is something that I have to work on remembering to do all the time. 

For events, the Facebook page, PBS Books has been hosting some author interviews with Judith Herman and Annette Bay Pimentel. Herman's interview will be today, July 26th, at 4 pm central and shown on their Facebook page. Herman wrote Being Heumann and Rolling Warrior and is considered the "mother of the disability rights movement." Pimentel's interview was on July 19th, but the interview is still on the Facebook page. They wrote many books, but was interviewed about All the Way to the Top: How One Girl's Fight for Americans with Disabilities Changed Everything. This book is about Jennifer Keelan-Chaffins, an disability activist, and Keelan-Chaffins does the interview with Pimentel. I will definitely be going back to watch these interviews soon.

Top Tips For Online Presentations

Jamie Matczak is the Education Consultant at the WI Valley Library System and founder and driving force behind the Wild Wisconsin Winter Web Conference. She is not only a whiz at creating and curating outstanding CE content but she also has a sharp eye for what makes effective and engaging live and online presentations.

We are fortunate that she recently created a short 50 minute how-to webinar on effective tips for making your virtual presentations more effective.  Created as a teaching tool for presenters at this year's WAPL virtual conference, she now shares these tips widely. 

Watch it and become ever more amazing. Your audience will thank you (and her!)

National ALSC Booklists to Help You!

When people question "What is in it for me?" when thinking about whether to invest their own money to join a professional library association, I often think about the power of collective action. 

Social media brings us together in an immediate way to share, create community and get information quickly. Library associations do the same - plus provide the benefit of organization, structure and a powerful collective voice to do the same work on a less ephemeral level.  

One of the pluses of association membership is being able to collaborate and participate in creating worthwhile resources. These resources benefit not only association members but all libraries. Great examples of this on a national level include the ALSC Virtual Storytime Services Guide, the AASL/ALSC/YALSA Public Library and School Library Collaboration Toolkit,  ALSC white papers on diversity; the importance of play; outreach and media mentorship and many other vital free documents and free publications.

All of these resources are the result of pooling collective knowledge and energy of members to produce needed resources. They push librarianship forward in a way that it is difficult for us to do individually. I hope it encourages you to invest in your state (hurray WLA's YSS!), local and national library associations through your membership in them.

The following are three free ALSC resource lists that can help you in your work right now thanks to that collective action!

Embracing Gender Identities was created to help support conversations about gender identity and expression. This list, which is divided into books for 0-5 year-olds, elementary school students and middle schoolers, includes recommended informational picture books, as well as works of fiction and non-fiction that challenge gender norms and explore the wide spectrum of gender identity. It includes additional resources for parents. Community, Connecting, Cultivating & Constructing Conversations Through Literacy This list was developed by members of the Black Caucus of the American Library Association (BCALA) and ALSC’s Quicklists Committee. It is intended to support conversations about dismantling systems of racial injustice. In #LookToLibraries, ALSC has compiled a suite of tools and resources to support library professionals and the families in their communities. These resources include booklists for children that cover a variety of topics from understanding germs to managing anxiety.

Download the list here

 

In #LookToLibraries, ALSC has compiled a suite of tools and resources to support library professionals and the families in their communities. These resources include booklists for children that cover a variety of topics from understanding germs t managing anxiety.

Download the list here.

 

Community, Connecting, Cultivating & Constructing Conversations Through Literacy This list was developed by members of the Black Caucus of the American Library Association (BCALA) and ALSC’s Quicklists Committee. It is intended to support conversations about dismantling systems of racial injustice. In #LookToLibraries, ALSC has compiled a suite of tools and resources to support library professionals and the families in their communities. These resources include booklists for children that cover a variety of topics from understanding germs to managing anxiety. 

Download the list here. 

Committed to Reading

When we think about our library work and how to do it in a meaningful way for the youth we serve, the subject often goes through our minds of how much do we read recent youth literature and how do we share this literature with the youth we serve? How do we not just stay udated but also read and share broadly and openly.

To help us think about this, this link appeared in the Southwest WI Library System Youth Newsletter (Early January 2021 edition), written by SWLS YS Consultant Carrie Portz:

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

The Promises We Make to Our Readers by Pernille Ripp from PernillesRipp.com

Young Adult-Centric Special Interest Group, Anyone?

Are you interested in young adult services?  Want to connect with other motivated, like-minded folks to provide resources, support, and general good cheer?

YSS would LOVE to start a young adult-centric special interest group (SIG)...but we need your help!  We're looking for interested parties ready to get this SIG up and running.  If you--or someone you know--is willing to help create a new, super rad special interest group all about teens and those who love and work with them, email us at yssection@gmail.com!

Want to know more about SIGs?  Click HERE to visit the WLA Special Interest Groups page!

Save the Date for WAPL 2020!

The Wisconsin Association of Public Libraries (WAPL) will hold its annual conference April 29 - May 1, 2020 at the Best Western Premier Waterfront Hotel & Conference Center in Oshkosh, WI!

The conference offers all kinds of possibilities for fellowship and professional development.  In addition to a multitude of informational sessions to choose from, WAPL is excited to feature Gail Santy as the opening Keynote Speaker. Gail Santy is a certified 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace trainer and will give you the tools you need to increase performance, morale, and job satisfaction, by showing genuine appreciation for your employees, trustees, and yourself.

If you find you need a break from all the learning, come laugh with (and perhaps at) your fellow librarians while enjoying a lunchtime performance from Oshkosh’s own Backlot Comedy House Improv troupe!

And be sure to leave time in your schedule to catch Friday’s talk and book signing by award-winning author of The Immortalist, Chloe Benjamin!

Additionally, Oshkosh, located on the shores of Lake Winnebago, is a wonderful city to explore.  It is home to the world’s largest aviation event (EAA AirVenture) and country music festival (Country USA), and offers unique museums, galleries, brew pubs, dining and shopping options.

Check out the hotel accommodation page and make your plans to join us at WAPL 2020 in Oshkosh!

The possibilities are endless!

Tracy Vreeke & Leah Gentry

WAPL Conference 2020 Publicity Team

Join the WLA Mentorship Program!  WLA is pleased to announce the launch of a new statewide mentorship program. We are seeking applications for members interested in participating as a mentor or mentee in the WLA Mentorship Program’s pilot year. WLA has a mission to engage, inspire, and advocate for library workers and supporters to improve and promote library services for the people of Wisconsin. In line with that mission, the WLA Mentorship Program is designed to provide encouragement, support, and guidance to library staff seeking professional growth through connections with experienced colleagues within a structured mentoring program. Mentees gain experience from knowledgeable library colleagues while becoming further involved in the statewide professional association. Mentors gain opportunities to give back to the profession, model volunteerism, and help influence the future of librarianship. Any WLA member may apply to the year-long program. There is no additional cost to participate. Each mentor/mentee pair will work with a Leadership Committee liaison to set goals and develop a productive, professional relationship. Applications are due March 2. In this inaugural year, we are enrolling a limited number of partnerships. For more information about the WLA Mentorship Program and to see the program outline application, visit the website. LEARN MORE APPLY TODAY

Shining Moments from the YSS Regional Meet-up in Waupaca

So many wonderful things came out of our afternoon in Waupaca: networking, engaging in discussion, and even a favorite cheese list that I'm working on for another blog post. These meetups are intended to be fun, professionally invigorating, sparking engagement and ideas, as well as connecting us and our work with our colleagues serving youth.

Katie Kiekhafer, Chair-elect, came prepared with our second activity of the day called "Shining Moments." This small group activity asked participants to reflect on shining moments that motivate us in our work, such as an accomplishment or achievement that we are proud of, and then asks us to share this moment. As the small groups listened to each other, we recorded our moments and then identified common themes. Next we reported back to the larger group and Katie recorded our responses and themes. This was an incredibly powerful exercise that affirmed the great work we are doing and the underlying themes common to every library staffer in the room.

After reading through this list of common themes and identities elicited from our responses see if they resonate with you, inspire you, or reflect your ideals and self:

• Innovative thinkers
• Change embracers
• Empowerment - of the people we serve which then returns to us in a circle of empowerment
• Validation - that the work, even the unsung work, we do is meaningful and effective
• Connection - with our communities, their needs, and discovering unmet needs through this engagement
• Becoming visible in the community
• Collaborators
• Boundary stretchers
• Seizing opportunity
• Following and setting trends
• Inclusiveness
• Embracing technology

Learn how to implement this activity with your staff or library system by reading the full activity directions HERE.

Being a Good Boss

Pixabay image

Whether we have "manager", "coordinator" or "director" in our title or not, we all manage. Non-managers often manage shelving staff, volunteers, patrons and others who come into - or work  - at the library. This includes co-workers and our managers!

So it's good to consider how to be more thoughtful in how we think about management and being a "boss." In this recent Letters to a Young Librarian post, Baharak Yousefi goes beyond the very practical advice to "be a decent human being" and breaks down what everyone can do to be the boss of boss.

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??