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I'm back in my old stomping grounds on the eastern side of the state where I worked for 22 years presenting a workshop on programming superhero-dom (told you I've been thinking about that alot!).

This workshop is sponsored by the Wisconsin Library Association - it was a donation to their foundation auction and Winnefox Library System snapped it up. It's a great way of giving back to our association and also encouraging everyone to become state and national association members because, you know, together we are stronger!

While it has a superhero theme, the workshop isn't an SLP workshop.

As I mentioned in my last post, while programming isn't all we do, it is certainly the most public and often the most pressured thing we do (from preparation to conflicting demands). Today we looked at strategies to program smarter and more effectively; the importance of balance and how to fairly meet the many needs of our public - and our funders. Creating a zen balance between service to all ages, finding time to recharge and plan, learning to get off the hamster wheel of constant programming and program shares were just some of what we explored.

What you couldn't be there? Drat! Well, there's a 6 week online UW-Madison SLIS course I'm teaching around the concepts in the workshop starting January 26 (registration is now open).

Here are the workshop resources that were shared with my colleagues:

Develop Your Inner Superhero Workshop Pinterest board
Kids Library Program Mojo (for a full list of fantastic program idea blogs AND great program idea posts- this is the class crowd-sourced blog from our spring CE course and has a ton of ideas from students!)

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Sometimes the smallest seeds tossed out in a Twitter convo can blossom into a beautiful growing thing. This is the journey in planning a group of us found ourselves in over the past two years. It began with our question about whether it was reasonable to ask staff to create more/different programs when they already busy and stressed. We were also thinking about the rich content and ties to multiple literacies available for preschoolers and their caregivers that can happen in programs beyond storytime. The Twitter conversation moved over to a Google doc and we kept going and expanding.

While almost every library, no matter the size and location, offers a (or many) preschool storytime(s), far fewer offer content beyond that. Sometimes it's because of staffing issues, sometimes because a staffer is unaware of the possibilities, sometimes because there is very real pushback from management if something is suggested outside of the silo of comfort or expectation ("We've always just done storytimes; why rock the boat?").

We questioned whether encouraging staff to go outside those silos represented a bridge too far. We also noodled around with the fact that staff may be reluctant to try newer programming avenues because many thought the prep work/planning should mirror the intentionality of a storytime prep.

Over preparation for non-storytime programs is a huge problem at many libraries. We sketched out more thoughts on unprogramming. We explored ideas and solutions.... and then we started doing! The first Conversation Starter presentation at ALA 2013 on Unprogramming and subsequent presentations, webinars and blog posts evolved from this kismet meet-up.

And now we are presenting at the ALSC Institute in Oakland on doing easy, fun, multiple literacies, experiential programming for preschoolers. Our intrepid group of chatters: Amy Commers, Mel Depper, Amy Koester and I are exploring the rich content of programs that we have tried as well as hooking up attendees to other colleagues who have pushed the envelope with Parachute Playtimes, Toddler Dance Parties, Stuffed Animal Sleepovers, Toddler Drive-ins and much MUCH more.

We are including research links to help youth librarians make the case for the importance of these programs with management (or yourselves!). We've also created a Pinterest board with examples of many programs from many people to keep those creative juices flowing.

Whether you could be at the Institute or not, with these resources you can explore, experiment, build on your already successful outside-the-storytime-box ideas, and, you know, be mighty!

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Today I am with colleagues in Jackson Mississippi. It's a whirlwind tour of unprogramming, stealth (or passive) programming and even a few pieces on partnerships.  I promised everyone clickable links to programs that had blog posts/websites, so here we go!

Unprogramming - 7 part series with Amy Koester starts here

Sample Programs

• Elephant and Piggie Party
• Library Camp Out
• Dr. Who Party
• Wimpy Kid Party
• Space Disaster Program

Stealth (passive) Programs

• 1000 Books Before Kindergarten
• Stealth Programs and Circulation
• Free-quent Reader Club
• Smart Cookie Club
• Lego Club
• Gnome Hunt

Partnerships

• Partnership Program Samples - here here here here here here
• School Partners

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This is the third year we have kicked off summer with a library read in-camp out. As luck would have it both Friday the 13th and a full moon made it imperative that the evening feature spooky stories.

 We do this after hours - the doors lock at 6:00 pm on Friday, we have a brief break and re-open for our campers. Everyone is invited to bring blankets or sheets, flashlights and wear PJs. We have a few teen volunteers who take chairs out from tables to create camping sites (whether under the table or using chairs) or help put blankets between shelves anchored by piles of books to create a cozy reading nook.

The room is darkened with just a little light coming in through the windows. The first half hour is spent building tents, signing up for SLP and reading. We gave everyone a few minutes heads-up to undo their tents near the end of the 30 minutes. Then we invited families into the program room, where spooky stories and walking s'mores were ready (2 boxes of honey graham bears + 2 packages of chocolate chips + one bag of mini-marshmallows = one cup of sweet fun) - and our our fake campfire. A display of fine spooky books were ready for kids to check-out.

We had some younger kids than usual so I started by reading Reynolds/Brown's Creepy Carrots. I let kids know that each story would get creepier so they could leave if it got to be too much. I told the "Coffin Story" and "Tailybone" with the lights low - but kept a bit more on the lighter side. Everyone made it (so brave!).

While the stories were happening our volunteers quickly put the room back together. Families had time to check out a few books (thanks to our director who staffed the check-out and did final lock-up).

This is one of the easiest, most pleasant and laid back unprogram one can do for summer - or any time of the year. Kids and families love the magic of an empty library and those that come love the reading and the program.  For more samples of how to do it, drop by earlier posts here and here and Amy did her own fun take on it last year.

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I am happy to host the May Day edition of the Thrive Thursday blog hop. It's a chance for us to read about programs, thoughts and initiatives happening for our school-age audience. Enjoy!

ACTIVE PROGRAMS
Who doesn't love Geronimo Stilton - and all his friends! Lisa over at Thrive After Three blog breaks down a great four week series for us.

Carol at Program Palooza did two Earth Day-related programs here and here that combine fiction, non-fiction and a re-cycled craft.

More Earth Day friendly crafts are on tap at Ms. Kelly at the Library's blog.

And Lisa suggests a Lorax Book Vs. Movie program that has a nice Earth Day connection too!

Why not re-purpose a fun craft-it program for Money Smart Week by having the kids "buy" their supplies to bring math into the STEAM picture? Amy of Show Me Librarian shares in a guest post at Library as Incubator blog

Disability awareness becomes part of this program from Carol at Program Palooza.

American Girl Addy is the focus at Ms. Kelly at the Library's program.

Unprogramming might with Elephant and Piggie shows up at my blog Tiny Tips.

Movies...er, I mean book trailers!! Dawn over at Story Time with and Signs and Rhymes shares how 5th graders made book trailers of her book.

Create a Picture Book workshop series...seriously! Story Time with and Signs and Rhymes Dawn takes readers on a step by step process on creating a workshop where kids learn the ins and outs of authorship!

With summer coming up, this ALSC webinar inspired wiki space on STEM programs will inspire you.


STEALTH/PASSIVE PROGRAMS
Need some passive programs for spring break? Sara at Bryce Don't Play to the rescue!

Angie at Fat Girl Reading has two more spring break stealth programs that are a cinch to set up.

Need a poetry passive program/display? Mel at Mel's Desk shares her colleague Julie's great work!

Less Screen Time Week is how Wisconsin librarian Sue Abrahamson is rethinking Screen Free Week, May 5-9, as guest poster on Tiny Tips for Library Fun.


PROGRAM THOUGHTS
Over at Kids Library Program Mojo, a blog for librarians taking a youth services programming CE course:  Michelle shared thoughts about the pressures on parents and program attendance; and Erin reflects on how we can meet parents where they are in our programming.

Re-imagining library tours into a truly phenomenal experience takes time and effort that I reflect on here at Tiny Tips.

And to bring us home, Sara at Bryce Don't Play starts solving for the equation of school family literacy outreach awesomeness using some Brewfest math.


Stay tuned for the June blog hop hosted at Storytime ABCs. And if you'd like to host a month, contact Lisa Shaia, our intrepid founder and scheduler to throw your hat in the hosting ring: lisamshaia (at) gmail (dot com). We also have a Pinterest board and a Facebook Group, so join in on the fun!

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I love the opportunity to get out and share with library colleagues. But as many of you know, it's even more fun to get out of the library world and share with folks outside of libraries.

I'll be presenting tomorrow at the Wisconsin Afterschool Association conference in Lake Geneva. This two day conference is for providers as well as folks working in youth serving organizations like the Y and teen centers who work regularly with afterschool kids.

The fact that I will be at this conference is pure kismet. I was visiting a friend last fall and her dining room table was full of applications for presentations. Turns out she is the chair of this year's WAA conference. In our conversation, it was clear that libraries should not just be part of the association and conferences but also have a place at the table given our work with this demographic.

So "Book It! Creating Fun, Book Based Programs for School Agers" was born. Here's the description: Promote literacy and fun! Learn easy preparation ideas, how to adapt books to parties and tips on “unprogramming” (letting kids guide discovery). Best of all - leave with plans!

I'll be talking unprogramming ways to keep programs managable: collecting great sources from blogs and Pinterest; reasonable prep time; giving kids agency to discover and creating stations of stuff. The book party themes we'll talk about:  dinosaurs, Elephant and Piggie, Dr. Seuss and Diary of a Wimpy Kid programs. The Pinterest board is ready. So am I.

Let's meet new friends and potentail partners and share the library good word!

Graphic courtesy of Pixabay

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I love programming with school age kids - both early elementary friends and older elementary. One of my all-time favorites is Elephant and Piggie from the delightful early elementary books written by Mo Willems. Why?

First, kids love this goofy pair. Second, I love this goofy pair. Third, lots of you out in the blogosphere have shared your wonderful programs. My Pinterest board is happily full of enough fantastic ideas to do this book-themed party many times with many different activities!

Finally, this program is is a perfect example of #unprogramming - lots of ideas stored away to use, capitalizing on strong kid interest, books to share with kids, children free to explore and interact with stations and extremely small preparation.

I set up three stations of stuff for kids and parents to play with:
1) Elephant and Piggie paper bag puppets. Because we have a fantastic business manager, we just happened to have pink and blue bags to make this easier. We found the ideas and patterns here.

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Today I join colleagues at the Arkansas State Library Children's Services Workshop in Little Rock. I'm sharing presentations on Unprogramming, Stealth Programming and Dynamic Partnerships (including Schools!) and many of the programs I refer to can be found on these Pinterest boards. My Arkansas friends are also sharing ideas on science, makerspaces, and 1000 Books Before Kindergarten and sharing weather that is far more spring-like than anything I expect to see for some weeks home in Wisconsin. What could be better? If you don't do Pinterest, below are links to some of the resources that are described in today's workshop.

And while I'm on presentations and workshops, I want to encourage everyone to read this vital post at Storytime Underground by Amy Koester about your own power to share your good work with each other. I am a working librarian like you who does just that. So keep on standing up, sharing ideas and feeling your power!

Unprogramming
Space Trip
Library Camp-out Fun
Ninjago!
Dr. Who Party
Diary of a Wimpy Kid
Slideshare

Stealth/Passive Programs
1000 Books Before Kindergarten
Free-quent Reader Club
Cookie Club
Gnome Hunter's Club
Reading is Key Club
Story Action Pods
Slideshare

Dynamic Partnerships
Global Friendship Fair and Science Festival
Marsh Meander and Library Camp
Experts: Check out an Amphibian, Fencing, Yoga
Arts and Artists
School Collaboration
Slideshare

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We like to do a little Seuss fun around his birthday and the national efforts surrounding Read Across America Day. As Sara pointed out as we were planning our spring (ha!) programs, that day serendipitously fell on a Sunday this year - program - better yet, #unprogram!!

Over the years of my active storytelling (semi-retired from that freelancing now but it helped pay off my student loans!), I always got lots of bookings around this time at schools. I have a bagful of goodies to create Dr. Seuss fun so I am always up for all things Seuss especially when there is a larger national effort to spotlight his books.

I remember the days when his books flew off the shelves all the time. In our community, Seuss books are shelf sitters for the most part during the year. There is a flurry of action in February leading up to his birthday (we put limits on numbers of Seuss titles checked out by any one patron at any one time during this time). Then during the first few days of March everyone remembers the good doctor again and, with the spotlight on, a program of Seuss fun is always welcome and always well attended.

Here is my sure fire success recipe for the Dr. Seuss program for ages 3-8 where the focus is firmly on the books and their inherent goofiness. Hope you can use it too!

Books:
I Wish That I had Duck Feet by Theo. LeSieg
The funniest "I-didn't-know-that-was-a-Dr.-Seuss" book. I love to talk about how Dr. Seuss' real name was Theodore Geisel and that he loved to play with words and letters in his books and in  his name too. I point out that LeSieg is his last name spelled backwards. If we do a related activity with this book, I have them write their first or last name backward and come up with their own pen name!

I "tell" this book rather than read it although I use the book to show the very fun pictures. I have props I use to represent the deer horns, whale spout, tail, duck feet and elephant nose and often have kids come on up from the audience to hold on to them during the story. It is a screaming easy story to use and always kicks off the program with a bang.
I mine the book Sneetches: and Other Stories for two of my favorite stories. The first is one of the shortest and most unknown stories Dr. Seuss every wrote: Too Many Daves about the unfortunately unimaginative parent who named all her offspring Dave and now wishes she had given them more unique names. I have little cards I make with all the 23 names and give them out to kids in the audience - well, and grown-ups and babies too (Babies get "Stinky" and an adults get "Oliver Boliver Butt" and "Paris Garters" and no one's feeling are hurt). Everybody loves this.

The second one is the scariest, spookiest story Dr. Seuss ever wrote: What Was I Scared Of? about a particularly ominous pair of pale green pants - with nobody inside them! We dim the lights a bit and off we go.

Stretch: One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish Dr. Seuss-y
I make up red fish cards and blue fish cards and kids get one of each. To the tune of the hokey pokey, we put our one fish out, then two fish, then red, then blue fish. Great fun for the kids and a nice link to the book that we have on display.

Goodbyes: kids always get a star sticker on their belly.

That is our half hour in a nutshell. I usually pick up a Read Across America packet at the ALA conference and copy an activity sheet or two for kids take home and sometimes have a giant birthday card to sign. It's a great easy way to link into a national PR effort, create fun with almost no preparation effort and celebrate books - a perfect unprogram event!

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With next year's CLSP (Collaborative Summer Library Program)  theme centering on science, I am starting to gather ideas and thoughts and pins on sources for fun programs.  I have this idea that we are going to create a robot-mascot of some sort and use it in many thematic ways. 

One idea I have is putting a robot head on the wall. Then as kids read and we set group goals, we start adding a body part on after so many minutes read. The more kids read, the more complete the robot will be - first a boot, then a leg, then a hand,then an arm and onward. Let's see if that motivates the reading troops!

But more than that, we get to do science all summer.

I know it will be a gimme for programs and activities. That's because STEM and STEAM have entered our public library vocabulary.  It has freed us to look not just at fiction-based programming but at non-fiction-based science: makering, experiments and unprogramming (where kids take the lead in discovery and learning in programs).

A recent post by Allison over at No Time for Flashcards got me excited about the prospects of science for our tots. It goes hand in hand with another favorite blog, library makers Wonder Works, where the littlest kids delve into science and go where few tots and gone before.  I also depend on Amy over at Show Me Librarian (and a frequent ALSC blog contributor on the subject) who generously shares STEAM programs through her blog posts on programs at her library.

You can drop my SLP 2014 Pinterest board over the coming year to see what mischief I'm collecting.

Where are your go to blogs and websites for science and kids? Let's share the good stuff!

Photo courtesy of Pixabay

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My Wisconsin colleague Terry Ehle is our guest blogger today. She took unprogramming to heart and shares the dirt...on dirt. Terry has been a youth librarian for 15 years in Two Rivers, WI population 11,696. She says this about herself, “The thing I love most about my job is that it's never boring. If I lose interest in what I am doing I can change it. "What we've always done" does not apply at my library and I love it. I am really passionate about early literacy and want every child in my area to enter school ready to read. I enjoy talking about books with young adult readers and get a secret rush when asked, ‘Do you have any suggestions?.’ I love Zombie fiction and the color pink. Being a librarian is the most challenging job I have ever had and I wouldn't want to do anything else!”

 

After reading the posts about Unprogramming, I decided to share a successful unprogram at my library based on the book “Dirt” by Ellen Lawrence and 2 ideas I found online.  This book is a part of the FUNdemental Experiment s series by Bearport Publishing.  Easy, inexpensive ideas in this book. We had 75 kids attend and my maintenance man is still talking to me so it was a success!

5 Stations:

Egg Shell Geodes – Super simple even for a big group.  The hardest part is getting the egg shells and that wasn’t even that hard.  Crack the eggs near the top so you have more shell to pour into and rinse.  Mix together 1 tbsp. hot (but not boiling) water and 1 tbsp. Epsom salt.  If all the salt dissolves add a little more.  Add a drop of food coloring if you want, pour into egg shell and stick in fridge for a couple of days.  I put the eggs in Dixie cups for the kids to take home.  See picture to see how they turned out.  I also had some real geodes that the kids could explore.

Dirt Catchers – Create a frame using popsicle sticks, add a loop of yarn to hang, tape a piece of packing tape across frame so that one sticky side is facing out and hang in a corner to see how much diit is in the air.

Worm Discovery – Get 2 tubs of night crawlers from a bait shop and set out wet paper towels to put them on.  Let kids use magnifying glasses to observe what the worms do.  The book has some other things to try.  I had an adult supervise this one.

Dirt & Water – Using baby food jars and a few different types of dirt dug up from around town, have kids put dirt in jar and add water.  Cover, shake, observe.  It’s weird but different dirt does different things.

Dirt Discovery – I made copies of a piece of paper with 3 sections – living, non-living, once living and gave each child a cup of dirt.  They poured the dirt onto the paper and dug through it with a toothpick and tried to find things in each category.  One child even found a worm!

The only talking I did was to let everyone know what the stations were.  I had a volunteer at the egg geode and the worm stations.  The only supplies I bought were worms ($5.00) and Epsom salt ($3.00).  Everything else I had on hand.  If it seems complex it wasn’t, other than gathering egg shells from coworkers and eating lots of omelets myself, I pulled this together in 2 days.

More pictures on Flickr:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/lesterpubliclibrary/

 

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This was our second year of doing an after-hours Friday evening camp-out at the library.  About a half hour after the library closes at 6pm, we re-open for kids and families who are ready to read and camp. Campers are invited to bring sheets or blankets and a flashlight.

Everyone enters the children's area where the lights are off (but since it's summer we have plenty of natural light). Teen volunteers have cleared the tops of shelves and pulled chairs out from tables to create maximum scaffolding to create cozy tents and reading nooks. As families come in we invite them to create a tent and read for 20 minutes or so. We have extra sheets and blankets for those who come without (note to self: next year have some extra flashlights in hand).

The tents kids and parents come up with are nothing short of delightful  - I mean talk about the "E" in STEM. Thoughtful engineering goes into each reading nook created with blankets and book anchors.

After about twenty minutes we gather everyone together for a program. Last year we did spooky stories. This year, with our Dig into Reading theme we had another idea!

While colleague Sara Bryce was at a NASA-sponsored workshop the previous year at UW-Madison, she had learned about a loan program from the UW Geology Museum. Need some interesting rocks or geodes? Why, you can check them out for six months!  We had a collection of geodes from near (IA) and far (Madagascar) that we had on "no-touch" display for a month. Now was the time to unlock the case and get up close and personal with these crytaline wonders.

When kids entered the program room, there were geodes everywhere. Sara did a fascinating presentation using styrofoam bowls and food coloring to show how geodes form and booktalked a book on dragons (geodes and dragon eggs).  Then kids and families got to touch and examine the geodes. We gathered them again, handed out Tootsie Pops (how more geode-like could a treat be?) and I shared a story next to our fake camp-fire.

Camp-outs are a great way to create an "exclusive" feeling program where families get the library to themselves. With minimal preparation and kid-led activities (unprogramming!!), everyone comes away feeling great. Well-worth it!

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Amy Koester of Show Me Librarian and I are tag-teaming at our blogs this week to report out the Chicago ALA Conversation Starter -Unprogramming: Recipes for School Age Success - that we led on Monday July 2 (see below for links to the whole series).  Please join our continuing conversation in the comments or on Twitter by using the hashtag #unprogramming. 

Amy and I were both so excited to have a chance to share the thoughts behind unprogramming at a national conference level. And we were uber pleased to have a SRO crowd of colleagues come to the program.

What's fun about unprogramming is that it really isn't new. Most of you are doing unprogramming already in big and little ways. We are simply pulling the threads together and encouraging everyone to try this more mellow approach and see real benefits. Just starting the conversation, so to speak.

The audience at our program joined the conversation and shared great ideas of how they have used the unprogramming concept in their programs.  Below are a few quick ideas people shared of programs they are doing:

Painting to Music - kids pull up music on YouTube and then paint while listening to it. Disfferent beats elicit different art responses. The art the kids create is then hung in the room.

Stamping - using Ed Emberley's books as inspiration, kids use stampers and stamp pads to create their own nique creations.

Bibliobop - combining books with music and dance

"Training Camps" - train kids to be a cowboy or pirate or logger or astronaut in these free-form programs that allow kids to pick up "skills" they need to become mighty.

Book Club - kids choose individual books to each read and then videotape interviews with each other booktalking their choice.

Guys Read Club - always done with a book component as well as a "smashing" component (water balloons off a roof; TV drop)

Plus Stuffed Animal Sleepovers, Teddy Bear Clinics, Messy Art Club!

Please share ideas for your unprograms in the comments or under the #unprogramming hashtag on twitter.

We storified the twitter feed for more audience reactions and ideas.  Amy will finish our series today with our slide deck.

Thanks for joining us so we could share the fun of this program from ALA in the blogosphere with all of you. And thanks to Amy for being the best presentation partner one could have!

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Worried about helping staff transition between over-planned programs and unprogramming? To create staff buy-in, encourage spending less time on preparation by connecting the budgetary dots: too much time spent prepping a stand-alone program isn’t financially worth it for the institution. 

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Program preparation for school age programs is important but where is the line drawn when the time spent preparing is two, three, five, or even ten times more than the actual program length itself?  Are we, as programmers, leading the charge in the program or empowering the kids in their exploration - are we guides or drill sargeants? Is there a way to organically link the books and materials that surround us every day into the programs and then back again to the collections so that kids understand the fundamental amazingness of the library and its resources?

These questions have led to many conversations and ideas. One of the people I have looked to during this conversation is Amy Koester over at the Show Me Librarian. And now Amy and I would like you to join this conversation at ALA in a few weeks. We will be presenting a 45 minute  "Conversation Starter" on Monday July 1 at 1:30 pm at the Mc Cormick Center Rm S102D.

During this time we want to explore with you ideas on making programming more rich while keeping preparation in perspective.  We'll also share resources that have helped us free ourselves and keep programming and preparation in perspective in our necks of the woods.

We think it's high time we start talking about this...how about you?

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Last week I got a new office chair (my back thanks you!)

The next day, our office manager offered us the box it came in.

I found the good boxcutter. Intrepid Brooke found the brown butcher paper, scissors and a mile of tape and 45 minutes later...

Now come on, do we work in a great profession or what?!?!

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We have started a tradition at our library of holding some kind of kid-led DIY art or decoration program within the first week or two of the start of Summer Library Program.  We gather art materials and let the kids loose.

It may be our easiest, mellowest and most delightful program. And we never have to worry about pre-decorating the area to a theme. The kids take care of it with their creative touches.

This year, thanks to Crayola Window Markers, a crowd of kids created a garden of beauty on our windows. These few pictures hardly do justice to the work of the sixty kids who filled eight windows with their ideas. If you happen to be passing by in the next eight weeks though...

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Ok, ok, so I feel a little guilty even bringing this up. As a blogger, I know I have a slightly bigger audience than I would without. But no guts, no glory. I join my colleagues in the blogosophere to invite you to read through the suggested Conversation Starters at ALA and vote for ones you'd love to be involved in.

I hope you consider two I am lucky enough to be involved in with my fabulous colleagues: Amy over at Show Me Librarian; Amy over at Catch the Possibilities and Mel over at Mel's Desk. After some chatting on twitter that moved over to a google doc (more than 144 characters...wow!), we decided to try the conversations even further out with more people jumping in and proposed two programs for ALA this summer. We are excited about the possibilities!

Thinking Outside the Storytime Box: Building Your Preschool Programming
STEM for preschoolers! Dance parties for toddlers! When we stretch beyond storytime, our youngest patrons benefit from richer learning experiences, their parents and caregivers engage with the library in fresh ways, and staff become motivated by new, creative challenges. Jump out of the storytime box and explore active and passive early-childhood programs that are easy to plan and repeat, maximize your staff resources, and enable you to reach more young families. Our panel will share program ideas, planning resources, and early literacy connections to help you leave prepared to build on the core storytime experience.
Presenters: Amy Commers, Amy Koester, Melissa Depper, Marge Loch-Wouters

Unprogramming: Recipes for School-Age Programming Success  
Do you find yourself spending tons of time planning school-age programs that are over in the blink of an eye? Are you ready to challenge yourself to be more efficient with your staff time and department's resources? Discover how to streamline planning and preparation while offering worthwhile literacy-centered programs--where kids help shape the direction of the program! Panelists will share tips for "unprogramming" at your library as well as ideas for helping staff adapt to this new style. Prepare to leave with a myriad of program ideas and resources for unprogramming on your own.
Presenters: Marge Loch-Wouters, Amy Koester

If these topics are ones you would love to chat on and you are an ALA member, please do vote for these...and a host of other good ones proposed by ALA members. Read them and leap!

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