Category Archives: Public

General, Public, School Media Specialist

Children's Choice Book Awards

kid's booksThe announcement of the winners of the ninth annual Children’s Choice Book Awards was given during Children’s Book Week on May 6. Kids and teen readers vote from across the country and determine the winners.

The 2016 Children’s Choice Book Awards winners are:

KINDERGARTEN TO SECOND GRADE BOOK OF THE YEAR
The Little Shop of Monsters by R.L. Stine, illustrated by Marc Brown (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Hachette Book Group)

THIRD GRADE TO FOURTH GRADE BOOK OF THE YEAR
I’m Trying to Love Spiders by Bethany Barton (Viking Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers Group)

FIFTH GRADE TO SIXTH GRADE BOOK OF THE YEAR
Hilo Book 1: The Boy Who Crashed to Earth by Judd Winick (Random House Books for Young Readers)

TEEN BOOK OF THE YEAR
All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven (Knopf Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books)

CHILDREN’S CHOICE DEBUT AUTHOR
Alex Gino for George (Scholastic Press)

TEEN CHOICE DEBUT AUTHOR
Kelly Loy Gilbert for Conviction (Disney-Hyperion, an imprint of Disney Book Group)

CHILDREN’S CHOICE ILLUSTRATOR
Kate Beaton for The Princess and the Pony (Arthur A. Levine Books, an imprint of Scholastic)

Follow these links for more information on Children’s Choice Book Awards, Children’s Book Week, Every Child a Reader, and the Children’s Book Council.

Image credit: https://unsplash.com/(Annie Spratt), licensed under CC0 1.0

 

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Recap of Minitex ILL Conference

trendsThis year was the 25th anniversary of this annual conference, and a festive atmosphere was definitely in the air. Just when I thought I may need to fetch more caffeine, Lee Rainie took the stage for the opening keynote, which worked better than caffeine! He was brisk and energetic, yet thoughtful about the future of libraries. He admitted libraries (and much of society) is going through a disheartening, disruptive time, and that no one has the playbook yet . He also said we need leaders, that there are declining levels of trust in much of society. Not so much for librarians, who are regarded as friends in most networks, which makes me proud to be a librarian. Some key points I noted:

According to Rainie, there are six big puzzles for us to solve:

  1. What’s the future of personal enrichment, entertainment and knowledge?
  2. What are the future pathways to knowledge?
  3. What’s the future of public technology and community anchor institutions?
  4. What’s the future of learning spaces?
  5. What is the future of attention?
  6. Where do you fit in ALA’s Confronting the Future report? (30 pgs.) According to this report…”In order for libraries to be successful, they must make strategic choices in four distinct dimensions, each consisting of a continuum of choices that lies between two extremes. Collectively, the choices a library makes along each of the four dimensions create a vision that it believes will enable it to best serve its patrons” (see pg. 21 to see the four dimensions)

The program moved on to Katie Birch from OCLC as she dipped her toe into the past and the future of ILL. Interesting factoid: Year to date, When Breath Becomes Air is the most requested OCLC interlibrary loan title!

Participants were able to choose from three breakout session; I chose the Ignite sessions and was not disappointed! I learned lots.

Valerie Horton wrapped up the day with her thought provoking talk, Skating on the Bleeding Edge. She described innovation as the process of discovery. She also encouraged us to accept failure, that it is indeed the norm of experimentation. According to current business literature, employers are looking for people who can say, “I failed and I learned!” She concluded with a few additional facts: The next trend is “messy”, and we have to accept that we don’t know the right answers. Accept messy structures, partnering can be messy and frustrating. And, if you are burnt out and exhausted, you cannot reflect, think well, or innovate!

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General, Public

A love story: food, cooking, and the public library

cookingDo you ever want to make a list of all of the ways that public libraries change lives? Have you ever considered putting “empowering people to eat healthier” on that list? After all, cooking a meal for yourself is beneficial on multiple levels: it brings emotional wellness, is gratifying, and gives you confidence!

This story caught my eye, and granted, it took place in a San Francisco library, but why not Minnesota?

It all started with the Edible Schoolyard, a 1-acre organic garden with an adjacent kitchen classroom at Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School in Berkeley. There, students learned the basics of cooking, like peeling a carrot. Even college students often do not realize how food is grown, and even more people experience a disconnect between healthy food and how to cook it. And, the good news is, the public library has scads of books about cooking and gardening!

Is it possible that your public library has a staff member who was a past chef, or is pretty handy in the kitchen? Does your town or city have a Farmers Market, where the library could wheel in a sweet mobile kitchen called a Charlie Cart, built just for this purpose? Could the Charlie Cart be used in another area of the library…it has burners, an oven and utensils so you could show library patrons how to cook, offer them samples of what you prepared, and provide a list of cookbooks they could check out from the library too! I simply love this whole idea….

Read the full story here….

Image credit: https://unsplash.com/ (Monstruo Estudio), licensed under CC0 1.0
General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

National Week of Making

computer and notesGet ready to create! On June 17-23rd, the White House will celebrate the National Week of Making. Across the country, libraries, museums, schools, and other community spaces are encouraged to host events that promote new ideas and creations. The White House supports opportunities for students to learn through making, especially about STEM related topics. During the National Week of Making, the National Maker Faire also takes place at the University of District of Columbia on June 18th and 19th. The event will include federal agencies, departments, as well as makers from across the country.

Know someone who is empowering others to be makers and innovators? Nominate them to be selected as a Champion of Change!

You can also submit your new activities and suggestions to promote making in your community. Check out the Maker Map to find makerspaces in your area. You can contribute to the map and explore their maker resources.

Join the fun by using the hashtags #NationOfMakers and #WeekofMaking and connect with others!

Interested in makerspaces? Remember, CMLE has put together a wealth of information on the topic! Check it out here.

Image credit: https://unsplash.com/(William Iven), licensed under CC0 1.0

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

How will you deal with end of the year burnout?

I have a plan. (187/365)Many of our academic librarians are already done for the academic year, public librarians are gearing up for summer reading programs, and our K-12 audience is usually coming to the finish line on fumes. Just in case you want to throw your hands up in the air and simply storm out of the worksite at year end, dig deep, and consider taking the time to reflect on the year. Seriously…even if it felt like this year almost killed you! I find it enormously helpful to take a breath, get honest, and take stock about this time of year. Consider the following questions, and write down (and save) your answers if at all possible.

  1. What was hardest this year? Why?
  2. What brought you joy? How often did you feel joy?
  3. What do you know you could do better next year?
  4. What skills must you learn to feel fully up to speed doing your job?

You may be too tired to set goals, but wouldn’t it feel great to have a plan for next year? Wouldn’t it be nice to end next year without feeling completely exhausted, depleted, or sad? The folks at Edutopia recently wrote a Teacher Wellness post about dealing with burnout throughout the year. You will notice one of the strategies is writing it down! A quick read, and you could even save it to put with your notes from this taking stock exercise I described here! You will enter a new academic year confident that you have a plan!

Have a phenomenal summer, you all deserve it.

Patricia-

Image credit: http://tinyurl.com/qc788l4, licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0