Virtual Variety: TikTok for Your Library!

Lindy Liedl from the Rice Lake Public Library returns with her monthly column on all things virtual to help you connect with your patrons!

Photo credit: School Library Journal What Makes These Librarians TikTok 
(Kelly Jensen. 8/11/20) featuring our library. (That's me on the left!)

Why should your library try learning a whole new social media platform?? To meet patrons where they are, to share new materials, catalog tutorials, special collections, what specific programs look like when they attend, to recommend materials staff enjoyed, to make yourselves and patrons laugh, for a fun approach to readers’ advisory, to interact or share ideas with other libraries around the world, or to reach patrons who wouldn’t know what you have to offer otherwise! Plus, there’s a lot of fun video tools to use without any expensive software.

The Very Basics: 

Like any platform, there’s all types of content: Readers, performers, pet videos, life hacks, gardeners, comedians, artists…anything you can think of! Maybe start off with a personal account, just to see how things work without any pressure to post content. 

The “For You” tab is like the explore page on Instagram: videos similar to what you’ve looked at before, or Liked. The “Following” tab is where you find accounts you’ve followed, of course. A lot of videos on TikTok consist of using sounds that can be selected to play over videos that everyone can put their own spin on. For example, a movie sound clip of Evelyn from The Mummy saying her famous line “I…am a librarian!” can be used over a TikTok by a new librarian proudly showing off, or over a TikTok by a lip-synching cosplayer dressed up as the movie character. The possibilities are endless! Or, you can simply record a video.

If you like a sound someone used, tap the rotating icon in the bottom right of their video and select “Use Sound” to record your own video using that sound! You can also bookmark the sound for later. (Google is a good spot to find quick tutorials for any TikTok functions if you’re stuck) 

Starting a library account: 

After creating your library’s profile, the first thing I’d recommend is finding other libraries or book people to follow for ideas (recommendations below). 

I keep track of ideas I might recreate by liking the video, because I can always find it later under our profile’s Likes tab. 

Since it's easy for original ideas to get repurposed without credit, you can give a little shout out to another account by tagging them with their @ in your video’s description. You won’t get in trouble for not doing this–it’s just a small courtesy I recommend on the wild west of the Internet. If it’s a sound that you’re reusing, the sound itself should link back to the original video, so you shouldn’t need to credit them.

Add captions (which can be edited) whenever possible to make your videos accessible to everyone!

Once you’ve started, don’t forget to let your patrons know! Short announcements on your other platforms, and posters in the teen area are good starts. Our Facebook has a good following, so I’ll occasionally share a TikTok there to remind people, or to let newcomers know.

Most importantly: Have some fun!! :) Laugh, share, and show people the magic of libraries.

Recommended follows:

@OswegoPublicLibrary

@DavenportPublicLibrary

@Bookish_Afrolatina

@CoalCitypubliclibrary
@Doverpubliclibrary
@hpulibraries
@PortageCoPubliclibrary

@MaywoodPubLib
@LibraryCCPL
@mychal3ts

@WhitbyLibrary
@akbusybee
@StoonLibrary
@theNextGenLibrarian

@gvhsLibrary
….and us! @RiceLakelibrary

Zoom! Easy Programs for Teens

While we may be dipping our toes into live, in-person programming for teens, many of us are still doing virtual programs.  Recently, those clever agents over at Teen Services Underground shared some suggestions for fun virtual programs that you can have in your back pocket to engage teens.

Agent Amanda Borgia writes: "Are you still doing virtual programs at your library? Are you looking for ideas of what you can do easily over Zoom (or whatever platform you use)? Well here are some easy and free suggestions that you may or may not have been doing."

Check out her suggestions here.

POW(!)er of Graphic Novels to Support Youth Literacy - Free Virtual Program from ALSC!

Check out this fantastic program from ALSC!

 

POW(!)er of Graphic Novels to Support Youth Literacy: Creators Speak

Tuesday, July 20, 2021 from 11am CDT to 12pm CDT

Join an incredible panel of creators - Nidhi Chanani, Jerry Craft, Varian Johnson, and Nadia Shammas - in a conversation about how their work has been shaped to engage and support youth. Learn about their journey in the current social environment of inclusivity and what inspired their work. 

 

This is a free, virtual program and is made possible by the Charlemae Hill Rollins Endowment. 

 

Advance registration is required.  Click HERE to reserve your spot.

Making Lemonade Out of Lemons - Part 2

Image by Rachel C from Pixabay

Our guest blogger again today is Stacey Brown, Young Adult and Adult Services Librarian at the Augusta (WI) Public Library.  In Part 1, Stacey shared the background on how the group of IFLS teen librarians got together to pool their energy and ideas for shared virtual teen programs. Here she shares more details on how it all works!

Making Lemonade Out of Lemons:  an opportunity from the pandemic - Part 2

The teen events have a variety of themes: cultural holidays, gaming and ‘adulting’, as well as exploring several types of art from music to photography.  Each event lasts about 2 hours divided into 15-30 minute segments so that each librarian has a chance to lead an activity.  For the events, we create grab bags with snacks and crafting supplies that teens pick up at their own library.  This makes it easier for them to participate since they really seem to enjoy making crafts.  One of our best attended events was when we created graham cracker cottages and made various crafts that they were able to give as gifts.  After our cooking demo, we received an email from a mom who said her son enjoyed our program so much that he made crepes for his family the next day!

An unexpected effect of the collaboration was how teens from different communities across Wisconsin got to know one another. They enjoy sharing their common interests, especially a love of reading! At one of our events, a teen asked if we could take a field trip to visit all the libraries in person.  We weren't quite sure how to work out the logistics of this - and still aren’t.  This would be a fun adventure, not only for the teens but also the library staff, most of whom have never met in person before our collaboration.

With the school year coming to an end, we are reassessing the need to continue our collaboration.  Some of the libraries are planning in-person programs this summer and don’t feel able to collaborate but hope to resume in the fall.  Others are planning virtual events this summer and will continue to share and collaborate.  

It has definitely been a learning process, and we’ve had more than a few things to figure out. For starters, we found out that 1-2 hours is plenty of time for this type of programming; if it goes too long, we tend to lose people.  We’ve also had to set registration deadlines. Often, teens will wait until the last minute to register then we end up scrambling to make another grab bag for them.  It’s important to keep in contact so that ideas and suggestions can be addressed when they come up.  The larger the collaborative group, the more difficult it can be to find a time that works for everyone to attend a meeting. I think about 3-5 librarians in a group is ideal.  

During the process of collaboration, we have learned a lot about ourselves and the teens that we serve.  For some of us, we didn’t have teens from our own communities that participated, but we nevertheless had the opportunity to engage with teens and contribute meaningful interactions and activities for them.  Many times after our sessions ended, the librarians stayed on Zoom and shared our struggles and offered each other encouragement and support. 

As librarians, we can all relate to the unusual circumstances and challenges of 2020-2021.  Even with these strange times, we have found new opportunities and solutions that will impact our future programming decisions.  The hope is to host hybrid programs, to reach out to those who can attend in-person and those who feel more comfortable participating virtually.  The pandemic forced us to look outside the box for new opportunities and gave us the initiative and interest for collaborative programming.  I think it’s safe to say that we are all grateful for the opportunities and new friends we have made because of challenges faced together.  We have learned to make lemonade out of lemons.

[YSS Blog Note: A special thanks to IFLS System Youth Consultant Leah Langby for sharing the news about this collaboration with us so we could reach out for this article!]

Making Lemonade Out of Lemons - Part 1

Image by Rachel C from Pixabay

Our guest blogger is Stacey Brown, Young Adult and Adult Services Librarian at the Augusta (WI) Public Library. She and her IFLS colleagues discovered great success when they teamed up to provide teen virtual programs.

Making Lemonade Out of Lemons:  an opportunity from the pandemic - Part 1

All of us have experienced various challenges in 2020-21 due to the pandemic. One challenge for librarians has been how to stay connected to teens when the library is closed. For those of us who plan teen programs this has been even more difficult due to slow or no internet access or parents that only permit teens to use the computer for school work.  For many teens isolation from their friends and being unable to spend time in connection with their peers are huge issues. 

Last summer, I participated in the virtual National Teen Lock-in with two teens from my community.  It was there that I saw the amazing ways that librarians connected with teens via Zoom.  This virtual event included games, activities and crafts led by librarians from across the country. Both of the teens from my community enjoyed the experience so much that they asked if we can do something like this again.  This planted the seed in my mind.

Later during one of the weekly virtual check-in sessions led by Leah Langby at IFLS, I shared with other YA librarians about the experience.  I asked if anyone would be interested in collaborating to plan monthly virtual teen events.  I created a survey which I sent out to the YA librarians in IFLS to see who might be willing to help me plan a collaborative virtual teen event.

In the fall of 2020, a group of YA librarians formed a collaboration: Stacey Brown (Augusta), Valerie Spooner (Ladysmith), Caroline Herfindahl (Ellsworth), Cindy Koller (Park Falls), Claire Parrish (Rice Lake) and in January 2021, Jenna Giles-Turner (Chippewa Falls) joined us.  Each of us had been struggling with teen programming, since we couldn’t meet with teens.  Initially, we filled out surveys to share our abilities and interests to determine who would fill the various roles in coordinating the monthly teen events.  We utilized several tools: a Google drive folder for our ideas and resources, spreadsheets to keep track of the registrations and attendance, Zoom for monthly planning meetings, and exchanged group emails. 

Each month we rotate our duties so that each librarian has an opportunity to host events, this includes creating flyers and Facebook events.  The host records the attendance for that month’s event, determines the theme, pays for presenters and creates the schedule of activities for the program.  During the registration process the host notifies the team which students have registered at each library.  Each librarian shares various talents and ideas so that the events aren’t planned by just one person. 

Please stop by the blog tomorrow to read Part 2 of Stacey's post.

News on Remake Learning Days

Recently  we shared a post inviting libraries in WI to join a collaborative effort called Badgerland Remake Learning Days. This effort is part of a national nonprofit showcase and festival that celebrates engaging  and family-friendly learning opportunities for youth and educators.  

Libraries, schools, community centers and other community learning initiatives were invited to add their virtual, on demand, web-based, on-site or learn-at-home events, resources and activities to the Wisconsin festival calendar for events occurring between April 22- May 15.

Recently we heard that a number of WI libraries joined the effort! Check out the highlights of their programs here!  And watch for an invite next year so you can join this great collaborative partnership!

Be Part of WI's Remake Learning Days

Libraries in southern WI are invited to share already-planned virtual events for children and teens focusing on Arts, Makering, Outdoor Learning, Science, Technology, Youth Voices and Professional Development as part of Badgerland's Remake Learning Days website portal. If you have events or take-home activities scheduled for April 22 to May 15, this extra boost can bring more fun to your teens and families. 

Read more about this effort and how you can submit your programs below. In addition, here is a link to one of the festival's blog posts with some events happening to check out and sample posters for families below.

“Remake Learning Days: Badgerland” is part of a national nonprofit showcase and festival that celebrates engaging  and family-friendly learning opportunities for youth and educators.  

Libraries, schools, community centers and other community learning initiatives are invited to add their virtual, on demand, web-based, on-site or learn-at-home events, resources and activities to the Wisconsin festival calendar!  

WHEN: “Remake Learning Days: Badgerland” will run as a virtual/hybrid family-friendly festival in  Wisconsin April 22 through May 15, 2021.  

WHAT: Do you have existing virtual, pick-up & take-home or in-person activities that engage young  people in arts, science, outdoor learning, maker ed, technology, or youth voice? Invite learners,  parents, and caregivers to enjoy those activities and engage with your school, museum, library,  organization, or company! Professional development programs for adults are also welcome.  

What type of programs are eligible? Watch this! 

WHO: Education and community organizations are invited to list their programs free of charge, thanks  to support from national and local sponsors, like the Kohler Foundation.  

HOW: Program listings will be promoted widely this spring to families and youth in communities  throughout southern Wisconsin. All postings can be submitted at any time up to and throughout the  Festival dates. There is no charge for listing your events and programs.  

For more information about Remake Learning Days, click here. 

To submit your program posting to the Wisconsin Festival Portal, click here. 

Wisconsin’s “Remake Learning Days: Badgerland” festival is a collaborative effort spearheaded by: WeThinkBig LLC,  ArtsWisconsin, Madison Community Foundation, PBS Wisconsin Education and regional education leaders. Sponsors include The  Kohler Foundation, WKOW-TV27 and local businesses. National partners include: PBS Kids, Digital Promise, Remake Learning,  The Grable Foundation, Schmidt Futures, Carnegie Corporation of New York and the William + Flora Hewett Foundation. 

For more information: Contact Kathe Crowley Conn ❖ kathe@wethinkbiginc.org ❖608.800.2100❖ remakelearningdays.org/badgerland

Children's Poster:

Teen Poster:

Making Digital Escape Rooms

Digital Escape rooms have boomed during this time of pandemic-induced virtual programming. Now that winter is coming and opportunities to engage our families with outside activities are dwindling, it's a perfect time to think about ramping up your escape room offerings.

And we here at the YSS blog can help you!  Check out this recent brief and very helpful guide for creating your own digital escape rooms by Cindy Shutts writing at Teen Librarian Toolbox. Her handy-dandy guide will help you up your winter virtual programming game!

But wait, maybe you just want to access some escape rooms already created by others. We've got you covered there too! 

A few months ago, we shared this giant batch of escape rooms created by librarians around the country (including Sammy Nieman of the Sun Prairie WI Public Library). In addition, the boog post includes a webinar with detailed step by step instructions on creating escape rooms.

Go forth and be mighty, oh winter library programming warriors!

Virtual & Offline Programming YSS blog COVID-19 series:

• Innovative Solutions for Connecting with Kids During COVID 10/25/21
• Virtual Teen Escape Room Book Club  10/22/21
• Making Digital Escape Rooms   11/23/20
• How to be a Better Video Presenter  11/2/20
• Storytime on the Road!   10/15/20
• How to Do Halloween During COVID-19  9/28/20
• Recharging Your “To-Go” Services  9/9/20
• Youth Services Program Palooza webinar 6/8/20
• Digital Escape Rooms – the Holy Grail  5/26/20
• Virtual and Offline Programs for Summer and Beyond  5/6/20 (combines & updates 6 previous resource post)
• “Grab-&-Go” Activity Kit Ideas  5/5/20
• Offline and Feeling Fine: Ideas for Programming Unvirtually  4/29/20
• Beyond E-Storytimes: Virtual Services and Programs for Youth 4/22/20
• Using Premier for Virtual Programming on Facebook 3/24/20

WISL Christmas at Curbside Meet-up Recording

Our friends at WLA's WISL (WI Small Libraries section) had a great meet-up and programming idea exchange on Oct 22. It was all about meeting winter programming head-on and creatively. 

If you weren't able to attend and are looking for some ideas to spark up your approach to winter programs during COVID, this crowd-sourced webinar is a great place to start.

You can find the youtube recording here.

Using Signs in Online Programs

 I subscribe to the email list for Edutopia, which in their words " is a trusted source shining a spotlight on what works in education. We show people how they can adopt or adapt best practices, and we tell stories of innovation and continuous learning in the real world." Many best practices and articles translate to the library world, too.

This article How Using a Little Sign Language Can Improve Online Classes emphasizes the importance of visual communication and connection via distanced and virtual experiences. Useful for online programs, but perhaps something to incorporate into virtual meetings also.

I've seen your storytime videos that incorporate ASL (American Sign Language) into songs and storytime activities. I used some signs in in-person programs and am encouraged to use more virtually or to share videos with patrons like the fantabulous "Silly Storytimes in English and ASL" from Aram Public Library and the Wisconsin School for the Deaf.

We'd love to hear how you use visual communication or ASL in your library life.

Recharging Your "To Go" Services

Image by Pintera Studio from Pixabay

Alot of us have been doing grab and go bags and book bundles over the summer. Perhaps we need a little inspiration and some new ideas.  Check out these three recent resources to recharge your creativity!

To-Go Library Services - ALSC blog- The Darien CT library crew share their  ideas on Grab and Go and Book Bundles

As mentioned last week in our post on the Cardigan Newsletter, their latest issue has a google doc of grab and go ideas that is a goldmine. Cardigan's Katherine writes: "Need more inspo for your craft bags? I am hoping we can crowdsource all of our to-go craft ideas in one place. Please feel free to upload any pictures or documents of your own kits to share with other readers in this folder. Please follow this naming convention: NameOfCraft (Your Name). You may need a gmail account to upload files; if you don’t have one you can email me at thecardigannewsletter@gmail.com and I can upload it for you." To subscribe to this monthly newsletter, you can "follow" them here. 

Bundle Up Books for Young Readers - ALSC blog - a great idea from this library. Rather than grab and go bags, they bundle up books for patrons to grab!

Virtual & Offline Programming YSS blog COVID-19 series:

• Innovative Solutions for Connecting with Kids During COVID 10/25/21
• Virtual Teen Escape Room Book Club  10/22/21
• Making Digital Escape Rooms   11/23/20
• How to be a Better Video Presenter  11/2/20
• Storytime on the Road!   10/15/20
• How to Do Halloween During COVID-19  9/28/20
• Recharging Your “To-Go” Services  9/9/20
• Youth Services Program Palooza webinar 6/8/20
• Digital Escape Rooms – the Holy Grail  5/26/20
• Virtual and Offline Programs for Summer and Beyond  5/6/20 (combines & updates 6 previous resource post)
• “Grab-&-Go” Activity Kit Ideas  5/5/20
• Offline and Feeling Fine: Ideas for Programming Unvirtually  4/29/20
• Beyond E-Storytimes: Virtual Services and Programs for Youth 4/22/20
• Using Premier for Virtual Programming on Facebook 3/24/20

"Creating Community Fun" Programs - Book Cover Double

Minoqua (WI) Public Library

We saw the following article in the WVLS (WI Valley Library Service) June 2020 newsletter and were tickled by the creativity of the library staff. Minoqua is a community of 4400. Director Peggy O' Donnell (who gives mad propz to her creative and enthusiastic staff) writes:

During closure due to COVID-19,  Minocqua Public Library continued the  relationships we have developed in the  community through fun and creative  online programming. We want to stay  connected to our wonderful patrons  and  let them know we are still here for them.   With that in mind, we’ve created a  slideshow with our staff out and about  reading “safely” in our Northwoods community.  We are engaging the patrons by asking if they can guess where their librarians are.

Another fun program we are featuring on our Facebook page is a “Book Cover Double” challenge.  Anyone interested in participating simply chooses a book and recreates the cover using their creativity and whatever they can find around their home. It's a great way to encourage resourcefulness and imagination for both adults and children of all ages.

Participants are encouraged to post their images using #bookcoverdouble and #minocquapubliclibrary on Facebook and Instagram.  The library staff are participating and sharing photos of their family's creations. It has been great staying connected with our patrons and remaining present in their lives as much as possible during this unfamiliar time.

Additionally, a suggestion was made at one of our weekly staff meetings that our library could participate in documenting our living history.  We decided to create the COVID-19 Journal Collection as a public group on our Minocqua Public Library Facebook page. This way people in our community can add a post as they would in Facebook for the online pandemic journal. We are encouraging community members to add to the journal as often as they would like.  We also have writing prompts if someone needs an idea on how to get started. We will plan on converting the Facebook posts to a journal offline in the future.

The staff has enjoyed creating these programs, and hope they offer a creative outlet to patrons and families.

Creating Community Fun YSS blog COVID-19 series

• Mini-Golf Reader’s Cup  9/25/21
• Beep! Beep! Honk if you have Bingo!    9/1/21
• Letters to Guinea Pigs  8/18/21
• Stuffed Animal Fun for Everyone  7/13/21
• Pet Show and Tell  4/17/21
• Campfire Storywalk 3/10/21
• Outdoor Storytimes 1/17/20
• Family Trivia Night  10/7/20
• Flipgard, Fanfare and Friends: River Falls Celebrity Storytime  9/21/20
• Tie Dye Masks  8/24/20
• Summer Book Picnics  7/13/20
• Engaging Kids Outdoors  7/10/20
• Downtown Story Stroll    6/5/20
• Book nCover Double  6/8/20
• Going the Extra Mile 6/15/20 
• Summer Storyteller     6/16/20