Eau Claire's Out of This World Videos

The folks at the public library in Eau Claire have stepped up their game in promotion of the Summer Library Program.  They created two videos, one to promote their program for younger kids--complete with a sequence at the end featuring even the dignified adult services staff members "busting a move."  It's a fun, engaging, quick look at some of the cool things happening at the library, complete with mission control, aliens, and goofy dancing.  The library's theme of "Blast Off" lends itself well to this silly video.

The other video was created by the same team that made the award-winning Beneath the Surface video for the CSLP contest this year.  Written by library staffer Ian Jacoby, this promo for the teen program Take Me To Your Reader was filmed, directed, edited and acted by students at Eau Claire Memorial High School...and there is even an awesome original score created by another student.  Again, I'm blown away by the skill and creativity of this bunch of teenage boys!





 

The Three R's Display in Hawkins

Arlene Mabie is not only the library director at Hawkins, she also is the clerk treasurer for the recycling/disposal unit in Kennan (as well as a volunteer fire fighter and miniature horse-raiser...can you say Superhero?).  She is motivated to encourage and educate people about reducing waste, re-using and recycling!

To celebrate Earth Day, she put together a display of books and included items made of recycled materials (bags, pens, pencils, and other office supplies).  Having something tangible made of recycled materials right there to see and touch makes it easier to see the point of recycling! 

Achieving Balance: two blog posts

Today, in just one day, I read two thoughtful, worthwhile and entertaining blog posts with advice for new librarians.  Interestingly, they have almost opposite messages, but both have value, and are worth reading and fitting into your worldview.  These pieces are directed toward new librarians, but actually their message is useful to all practicing librarians.  Both refer to recent MLIS graduates, but I think their advice is not exclusive to people with a Masters Degree, either, but to all of us who care about our library jobs.

Marge, our indefatigable, wise, and thoughtful colleague from LaCrosse greets new MLIS graduates in her Tiny Tips for Library Fun blog, encourages recent graduates to leap in, don't feel like you have to wait to be invited to participate in the dialogue of librarianship--put your ideas out there in social media, staff meetings, conferences.  Sometimes a fresh perspective is exactly what is needed in the world, so don't hang back!  Great advice for all of us, including some folks who have been around a while, quietly doing amazing things.


For something completely different, in Letters to a Young Librarian, Ginger Williams reassures new librarians that you "Don't Have to Do All the Things" to be an awesome librarian.  Sometimes this is a great reminder, too.  It is important to remember that you don't have to do EVERYTHING, you don't have to be a "rockstar" librarian who is featured on blogs and heavily involved in professional associations, known all over the state or country (in library circles, anyway), in order to be crucial, important and awesome to your own library and community.  You don't have to tackle everything at once.  You have permission to set a more cautious or realistic pace. 

I think both of these messages are important:  you are awesome for just serving your own community well, learning your job well, working as a team with your co-workers; and your ideas and innovations are worth sharing, too, no matter how new you are or how small-seeming your project might be.  I like the idea of us acting as a community for each other, supporting each other as our creativity, energy, passion, and ability to get things done ebbs and flows.

What do you think?? 

SLP Promotion in Ellsworth is Golden

Julie (mean banker Mr. Bigglebottom, above) adapted the new book: The Gold Miner's Daughter, A Melodramatic Fairy Tale written by Jackie Mims Hopkins into a play for the library staff (and a few volunteers) to perform for students to promote the Summer Library Program in Ellsworth.  Nineteen classes of students come to the library to hear about the SLP and get treated to a fabulous, book-based play.  The kids had a chance to participate (booing, hissing, cheering, etc), and they loved it!  The staff has a chance to ham it up, play multiple characters, and promote books, reading and the library.  They love it too, though they are pretty wiped out by the end of the school visits!

Summer Reading Gaps

I attended a meeting of system consultants trying to help their libraries serve traditionally underserved populations last week.  It's always a treat to get together with other people who do your job, especially when those people are smart, thoughtful, dedicated and honest (those of you who love the youth services workshop for just that reason will understand what I mean, here).

One of the great things that happened at this workshop was an inspiring presentation by Victoria Sanchez of the Milwaukee Public Library about concrete things they have done at their library to make sure the Summer Library Program is reaching kids who are most at risk of losing ground during the summer.  She started out by showing this fascinating and distressing video:








Pretty incredible!  She stressed that this reading gap is income-based--not an urban/rural issue, or a race issue, but an income issue.  Since all of us work in areas where there are plenty of kids who don't have access to as many books or diverse, literacy-rich experiences during the summer, it is crucial to think about how to reach those kids.  As literacy leaders (I love this way of looking at librarians!), it is important for us to reach outside the boundaries of the library to get more kids involved.  In Milwaukee, this has meant creating relationships and providing deposit collections onsite at summer programs.  This is a process that has grown and developed over the year, along with a strong library-based program.  


So, good for all of you for being in the trenches to help kids avoid the summer reading gap.  What do you do to make sure your program is accessible to all the kids in your community?  

Youth Services--managing your managers

Do you ever struggle, as a youth services librarian, to communicate the importance of youth services to your managers?  Most libraries in this reason do a terrific job of valuing their youth services (programs, collections, outreach and more) and the librarians who provide them, but sometimes it can be lonely when you feel like the only person who is truly invested in serving youth.  I found this article from American Libraries Direct to be a set of useful reminders about how to improve relations with the powers that be in order to get the respect/funding/freedom to do what you need to do! 

If this is something you struggle with, remember there is a listening ear here at IFLS for you!  I'm happy to help you problem-solve about how to make your relationship with your library's administration more effective for everyone.  Contact me at langby @ ifls.lib.wi.us

Grant Proposal Writing Tips

One of the things that would make all of our jobs easier is a little extra cash, and people are looking for outside sources of funding for projects and day-to-day operations, particularly when local funding is is short supply.

Grant-writing is one great way to kick-start a new project and get some needed funds to do something you've been wanting to do.  It can be tricky to figure out how to do it, and some grantors demand very rigorous proposals.  Even those that don't demand it are more impressed if you can follow a few crucial steps.

I found a post on the ALSC Blog that has some specific suggestions to make grant proposals more successful.

Remember, IFLS librarians:   if you are interested in writing a grant proposal and need some technical assistance, I'm in your corner!  Contact me (langby @ ifls.lib.wi.us)
and I'll do my best to help.  And the first thing I might do is ask if you've read