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wiki commons search – author Stephan Brunet Macphreak

…Auf Wiedersehen…adieu!

It seems amazing to think that I have been blogging over here at the ALSC blog for 8 years now. But like all good things, it’s time for my regularly scheduled blogging here to come to an end.  It has been a wonderful experience that has led to great connections among other librarians and educators, as well as an opportunity to reflect on my own practice.

I just wanted to take a moment to thank all of the folks who work on the back end as well as my fellow bloggers.  The ALSC blog is a fantastic resource that has truly grown over the years.  I know that I look forward to checking it everyday, and even more often during conference time.

I’d also  like to encourage readers to take the opportunity to become  regular posters.  Reflections of everyday practice, sharing out of program successes and challenges, talking up favorite books/apps/authors/sites, and writing about the joys and frustrations of our work is helpful not only to readers, but to our own work as well.

Thanks for the opportunity!

The post So long…farewell… appeared first on ALSC Blog.

I found myself circling the exhibits a few times while I was on the lookout for the ALA Joblist and Career Development Placement Center. Now, before you excitedly google my job, no I am not in the market, thank you very much. I love my library.

So why the placement center?

I wanted to take advantage of the amazing photography service. It’s been awhile since I have had an actual headshot taken, and let’s face it – sometimes that selfie just won’t cut it. So I found the placement center (it’s right near the post office on the exhibit floor), checked in at the desk, paid my $20 and headed over.

There were 2 professional photographers there and we took several shots. The photos will all be sent to me digitally as raw files so that I can filter them up to my heart’s delight!

This is a great opportunity, that I highly recommend. Good photos help your brand, allow consistency across social media platforms, and are super handy to send off when you need a bio for a speaking engagement. The photographers hours are today and tomorrow from 9am -5pm.

If you are not in the market for a headshot, the placement center also has resume review, on the fly mentoring, and career counseling.

Why not take advantage of these great services?

The post Taking Advantage of the Resources at #alamw16 appeared first on ALSC Blog.

Creative commons wiki image – free use.

Let’s face it…we all have favorites. Favorite authors, favorite bits of curriculum, (favorite patrons…shhh!).  I am at a favorite point of teaching with my second graders right now.

We have been embarking on an American Tall Tale Study. I use Mary Pope Osborne’s American Tall Tales, as well as several stand alone picture books, including Osborne’s New York’s Bravest, and Isaacs’ Swamp Angel with the children.  We talk about geographical truths and wild exaggerations. We talk about humor and fear. We talk about who tells the stories and who is represented.

At the end of our study, I ask the children to create their own tall tale character who would fit into the world of Paul Bunyan.  Fun, right?

Turns out, in the past, it has been super hard for some students, and I figured out that I wasn’t being clear enough about world building.  7 and 8 year olds are sometimes a bit contrary, and the moment I tell them they get to create a tall tale character, the hands shoot up and inevitably I get asked, “Stacy! Can I make a character who is 5 inches tall?“, “Stacy! Can my character be from outer space?“, “Wait…does it have to be human?“.  This year, I really set the scene talking about setting, place and similarities with my students.  We spoke about the realities of the time period, as well as the fact that the characters don’t have super powers like we know super powers…rather they tend to have exaggerated human abilities (though of course there are exceptions).

When it came time to start designing their characters, the students had to think about things like age, gender and size.  But this year they thought more carefully about naming their character, and about where their character would live based on the special abilities they wanted the character to have.  One student even said, “I think my character would be better friends with Paul Bunyan than Davy Crockett because he’s a hard worker — not a bragger”. 

Sometimes it’s hard to remember we have to slow down and really set the scene for young readers.  When we do, the outcomes are often head and shoulders above what have come before.

The post Favorite Bits appeared first on ALSC Blog.

CC0 Public Domain

Over this past weekend, the Progressive Education Network (PEN) held their biannual conference in Brooklyn New York.  Our school was fortunate enough to be able to attend en masse when our Director decided to close school on Friday and send everyone.

It was my first non-library conference, and I have to say that it clarified a few things for me.  One of the main take aways is that we need to build bridges and trumpet our skills further and more widely.

A highlight of the conference for me (for obvious reasons) was the “Authors as Activists and the Importance of Diverse Book” panel featuring Jacqueline Woodson, Andrea Davis Pinkney and James Lecesne.  All of the authors had so much to say (see my twitter feed and the hashtag #NYPEN2015 ) but what struck me the most were many of the questions that the educators in the room were asking.  They were questions that wouldn’t necessarily be asked if the teachers had strong librarians in their schools, or strong relationships with librarians.  A fellow librarian and I kept looking to one another in surprise when questions like, “How can I find good books highlighting diversity” were directed to the authors.

A small group of librarians met during lunch to talk about how we can help educators beyond our own school walls. It quickly became clear that we need to get ourselves established at the very least resource-wise within educator focused associations. As more and more schools restrict access to libraries in-house and go without librarians, it seems more important than ever to make sure that the knowledge and resources we have aren’t simply kept in-house.

The post PD Outside of the Library World appeared first on ALSC Blog.

I consider myself a bit of an old hand at blogging.  While I may not be as on it as some of my peers when it comes to frequency of posting and such, I have been at this since 2005.  I have seen many blogs come and go, and I have seen many trends come and go.  But for the first time in a while, I got excited about a blog because of its message and its timely nature.

The blog I am excited for is Reading While White : Allies for Racial Diversity & Inclusion in Books for Children & Teens.  I have high hopes for the conversations this blog will be starting.  It is clear from initiatives like #weneeddiversebooks , and the #blacklivesmatter movement as well as the political climate, that discussions of race are on the forefront and are necessary.  The mission of Reading While White states in part-

“We are White librarians organizing to confront racism in the field of children’s and young adult literature.  We are allies in the ongoing struggle for authenticity and visibility in books; for opportunities for people of color and First/Native Nations people in all aspects of the children’s and young adult book world; and for accountability among publishers, book creators, reviewers, librarians, teachers, and others.  We are learning, and hold ourselves responsible for understanding how our whiteness impacts our perspectives and our behavior.”

I like that the creators state that their mission is a work in progress, and is apt to change.  I like that the creators are naming their own privilege, holding themselves accountable and are are leaning in and being action oriented.  I am excited about this resource because as a white educator and a mother of two white daughters I feel a strong need to be a part of this narrative.

My own school is embarking on bringing conversations about race to the surface in a very intentional way.  Our history and legacy is one of social justice, and it is increasingly apparent that everyone needs to be aware and action oriented on this front. Our Director’s expectation is that every member of our community — students, faculty, staff, administration and board members, along with parents and caregivers, will be having active discussions about race/ethnicity, racism and privilege. He states, “Until those of us who identify as ‘white’ can acknowledge and examine the privilege that comes with our race, race will divide us.” I am expecting to refer teachers and parents alike to this blog as a resource, a conversation starter and a source of different viewpoints.

The post Important Resource appeared first on ALSC Blog.

Creative Commons search – maker supplies

Sometimes, school life and library life overlap.  Sometimes they don’t. Often I read the posts of my public library friends and find myself nodding my head and then I read the posts of many school librarians and my experience doesn’t mesh with theirs.  There are two hot topics that are happening right now in both the arenas of education and libraries and we should definitely be expanding our thinking and reading outside of the library and the school publications proper.

Makerspaces.  Unless you’ve been under a rock for the past 3-5 years, you’ve been reading about, learning about, or implementing some aspect of making whether you are in a school, a school library or a public library. I know that as children’s librarians we have been participating in maker culture for years, but the new focus really is more than a rebranding.  The blending of digital and analog, the open ended and problem solving nature of presenting students and patrons with possibilities instead of directions are both different from some of the making that we were doing early in my career as a youth services librarian.

Design Thinking. I recently participated in my own school’s Innovation Institute which brought together members of the faculty to use design thinking to solve a problem or create something new to share with our faculty and students.  The Gates Foundation and IDEO have created a Design Thinking Toolkit for Libraries.  While this way of thinking and problem solving is definitely taxing on the brain, it does tend to lead to innovation. We are always telling our students to take risks in their learning, and as librarians we should be willing to take some risks in ours as well.

The following are some links from the education world that easily lend themselves to library environments.

Edutopia – Design Thinking

Maker Ed – Projects and Learning Approaches

Teacher Librarian – The Philosophy of  Educational Makerspacea

Knowledge without Borders – Design Thinking for Kids

I’d love to hear back from librarians who have successfully used design thinking either with colleagues or kids. Also, feel free to drop your favorite maker link into the comments!

The post Ideas with Crossover Possibilities appeared first on ALSC Blog.

LREI – Wikimedia commons

I was lucky this week to host a fellow librarian from another NYC independent school.  She had attended a workshop at my school earlier in the year and wanted to chat about the job of the “American school librarian”.  She is to be returning to France soon, and is going to be writing a paper on the subject.

We chatted about our respective schools for a bit and then got down to the real meat of the conversation.  What does it really mean to be a school librarian in the USA today? What are our roles? What could our roles be?

Within this conversation, she filled me in on what it is like to be a school librarian in France. She lamented the fact that there are no elementary school positions — there are only middle and high school librarians in France.  I found this incredibly interesting, as my experience has shown me that elementary positions in the States seem more easily defended than high school positions (“they can just use the internet”).  We spoke about research, stand alone classes, pushing in and progressive integrated curriculum.

I have to say, this tête à tête was just what I needed to get the wind back in my sails for the end of the school year.  It reminded me again about the importance of our jobs as school librarians and the importance of opening the doors and letting folks into our spaces and our practice.

The post Opening the Doors appeared first on ALSC Blog.

Folks at #libtechcon15 . Photo by Jay Heath

At my school (LREI), our Library and Edtech departments merged a few years ago. We are in a bit of a unique position since two of our dedicated tech people are degreed librarians, and the Department Chair of the Edtech department is actually our high school librarian. So our joint department numbers 9 strong with 6 of us holding MLS degrees. We are fortunate to work and play well together, but our sense from attending conferences and meetings was that we are a bit of a rarity.

In the fall, we hosted the first #libtechcon14 where we invited librarians and tech folks to come in pairs or teams for an unconference style day that would touch on some of the hard questions about communication, working together and the future of libraries. The event sold out quickly and once it was over, we were asked to consider hosting the conference again.

This time we widened our view and decided why not partner with another NYC independent school to co-host the event. I strongly believe that broadening the conversation and sharing resources is essential to our success in libraries and we soon partnered up with Ethical Culture Fieldston and their librarians and tech folks to host #edtechcon15 up in the Bronx.  We looked at what had worked well the first time around, as well as the reflections from participants that let us know what they wanted more and less of. We added an essential question portion asking big questions about collaboration, literacy and future job descriptions. One of the most powerful activities involved all participants anonymously writing down their hopes and fears on separate post-its in terms of library and tech. As job descriptions morph and lines blur, librarians and tech integrators are finding themselves redefining their roles in ways that are both exciting and scary.

I hope this conference will become a bit of a wandering staple the NYC independent school world.  I can see this model working not only for schools, but for public libraries as well —  to foster community between branches, departments or counties.  I know that I left energized with plenty of ideas as well as new contacts.

The post #libtechcon15 appeared first on ALSC Blog.

Creative Common search.

It is time for school librarians to dust off their summer reading lists and refresh them.  I know that the public librarians are wondering how we can possibly just start thinking about summer reading now, but in the school things are a bit different.  We tend to release the students to you all to fulfill their summer reading duties!

Since the majority of librarians at my school came from the public systems, we are hyper sensitive to the look and feel of our summer lists.  We remember keenly the super long, out-of-print, completely off grade level lists that we had handed to us.  So we make sure not to contribute to that problem.

My own lists are updated every year with award winners, books that will give students a running start in terms of curriculum, books that provide both mirror and window opportunities as well as some personal favorites.  I don’t reinvent the wheel every year, but instead add about 30-40% new titles each year.

In the past I reformatted the lists to read “Lower Elementary” (grades 1 and 2) and “Upper Elementary” (grades 3 and 4). While I enjoyed the fluidity, the parents were much more comfortable with set grades.  So there is quite a bit of overlap in titles between the grades. And that is ok.

This year, I am thinking of embedding some book trailers into the lists as well to freshen them up even more.

What do you do to your reading lists to keep them fresh?

The post Summer Reading appeared first on ALSC Blog.

Creative Commons Search Crystal Ball Take #3, by Isabel T

While I listen to the meteorologist telling me to expect snow tomorrow, and see the pictures of my friends’ vacations on Instagram, I find myself reflecting on my library year and the changes that I want to be making.

When I first started in the school library, the culture shock was fresh and up front. I was used to working in a large public library with a population ranging from babies to teens in my section. We rarely saw parents. We rarely questioned book choices. We were always running. Finding books, readers’ advisory, RIF programs, lapsits, story-times, loads of programs and lots of desk time.

When I started at school I had a full compliment of classes, but the collection I was working with was a fraction of the size.  Parents were always in the library.  This was different.

Anyone who has worked both in school and public libraries understands that the charges of the jobs are different. As a school librarian, my main role is to support the mission of the school. I also support the classroom teaching and of course all of the readers. It is wonderful really getting to watch students grow into readers and scholars.  But there seemed to be an element of fun that was missing at school that was always present in the public library.

As I have spent time at school (13 years and counting), I find myself adding elements of my old public library life into my school library life.  Crafting and making, heart throb biographies, and DEAR are all making their way into my curriculum. Puppets may be next.

So as I look back at this year and at the soft goals that I try to have most if not all of my work with the students connect to, I have figured out one more to add.

Joy.

The post Spring Break appeared first on ALSC Blog.

Urban Dictionary’s definition of Shelfie.

In our library we have a bulletin board just to the right as folks walk through the door.  We’ve always kept it looking “nice”.  Some timely book displays…occasionally some student work (our second graders’ tall tale characters are a favorite) graced the construction paper background.  But honestly?  I was getting bored looking at it all the time.

So I did what any good librarian would do and I headed to Pinterest for some ideas.  Sure there were lovely book ad type of displays, but this is exactly what I wanted to get away from.  And I realized, what I wanted was for our students to have an interactive experience.

We started with gratitude.  Modeled off the Gratitude Graffiti Project we seeded our bulletin board with post-its featuring things we are grateful for. Every time anyone (teacher, parent, student) walked through our doors they were invited to add something.  In no time our board filled up with positivity.

Next, I found this fabulous first lines interactive board on Pinterest. Intriguing first lines have always been of interest to me, and I knew some titles that would have to be included.  It’s super easy to switch out the titles after a little while to freshen the board up, and I have to say, circulation of the titles featured has gone up as well!  Bonus!

Our next venture helps our students see that not just our fabulous team of librarians are readers, but all the folks in our school.  We put out a call for staff and faculty to send us a selfie AND a shelfie.  We will ask our students to see if they can pair up the person with their shelf!  The next month we will put out a call to the students, and feature their selfie/shelfie combos.

Our bulletin board is quickly becoming a talked about, interacted with and exciting part of our space.

The post Making the Bulletin Board Your Patrons’ First Stop appeared first on ALSC Blog.

CSK Seal

I mentioned in a previous blog post that I was going to embark on a Coretta Scott King illustrator award study with my students.  I am lucky enough to be fully in charge of my own curriculum, so what I decided to do was to swap out the Caldecott study I had done in the past.

So far we have read 5 honor and winning titles including Beautiful Blackbird, Mirandy and Brother Wind, Uptown, Ellington Was Not A Street, and Jazz on a Saturday Night.  We will continue reading until winter break. After break we will work on our ballot and vote for our favorite of the titles that we have read.  Luckily, one of these classes has library during the award announcements and we will be watching the live stream.

The discussions about the art work have been rich and informed (“I think it’s collage”- “Wow…those pictures look so realistic!” -“Blackbird has brighter colors. Ellington Was Not A Street has quieter colors.”)  What has been more telling to me are the discussions about the content. While I cannot recall ever hearing a student notice “all the characters are white”, they have been noticing “all of the characters are African American.” These comments are the ones that let me know that I need to be making an even more conscious effort to diversify my book choices across the board.

Photo by Stacy Dillon. Cossayuna Lake NY

In our lives as busy and distracted librarians, it’s easy to get sucked into always keeping that running list in our minds.  You know the one.  It has all of those “to-do” tasks on it that have to get done in the next 2 hours, shift, day, week and month.  I know that I always have several balls in the air and am trying to stay ahead of the game.  It often leads to worrying about what’s next rather than being present in the task at hand.

I was speaking with a teacher about this not so long ago, and she told me about a mindfulness workshop she had attended.  She told me that it had not only helped her practice as an educator, but she was using the techniques with her students and it was making a difference in their lives at school as well.

I started looking around the web for some articles not only just on mindfulness, but on mindfulness in the practice of librarianship as well.  Here are some links have proven helpful to me as I begin to slow down, take a breath and be present in my practice.

Mindfulness for Librarians, by Devin Zimmerman

Insights and Practical Tips on Practicing Mindful Librarianship to Manage Stress, by Kristen Mastel and Genvieve  Innes

Mindfulness 101, posted by The Nocturanal Librarian

The Resource Page from The Mindfulness in Education Network

Of course this takes time. And our connected lives give us some hard habits to break.  I am typing this up while at the breakfast table, with several tabs open at once! I hope that you will consider adding some mindful practice to your days.

Photo from pixabay

This is more of a question, than it is a post.

I work in a school that embraces technology. Many of our students have devices, either as part of our one to one program, or they have their own personal devices.  The library in the morning has shifted as a result of the omnipresent tech.

Don’t get me wrong…we do not expect a quiet library, especially in the morning. But now the groups of students are huddled around, eyes on screens, raucously commenting and enjoying their selfies/videos/games/instagrams/apps etc etc etc.

So. How to harness this? How to direct it? I have a couple of ideas brewing, but I thought I would put it out to the great brain. Any and all ideas appreciated.

Image from creative commons reuse search “post its” – source Hyper Island FB

As summer winds down some public librarians are feeling thankful and school librarians are gearing up.  I have spent a considerable amount of time planning my year (and realizing that some of those plans will get sidelined).  Each year for the past several school years, I have tried some new organizational methods, but have yet to find something with staying power that smooths transitions and helps me in my day to day life.

I was excited when earlier in the summer #readadv had a chat on this very subject. How do librarians get and stay organized?  What is working for other people?  The storify for this chat can be found here.

It was interesting because folks definitely seemed to use a variety of tools – demonstrating that no one method works for “all the things”.  Being of a certain age myself, I have to say that there is an appeal to some of the analog methods and I am more likely to remember something if I write it down on a post-it than if I type it into my google calendar.  Now, don’t get me wrong – I live off my google calendar for the majority of my in the moment time, but when in comes to actual planning, I need something more visual.

Enter bullet journal.  Some folks have been talking about this on twitter and in blog posts for a while, and this is the method I have decided to experiment with for my overall planning of the school year.  The beauty of this system for me is that it seems infinitely tweakable to allow for my own idiosyncrasies.  I can color code, add post-its (and stickers!), dog ear pages, and blend as much of my outside of school life as my teaching life as I see fit.

I will check back in with you all later to see if I can make this one stick!

How do you all keep your library lives organized?

Creative Commons Search – Jessie Wilcox Smith picture books in winter from A Child’s Garden of Verses 1905

As a mom-slash-librarian, I have worked pretty hard to try to make sure that my daughters are readers.  There are books of all sorts in every room of the house, I read in front of them on our commute, and at home, and I read to them when they let me.  As my oldest daughter reached tweendom, I thought, “This is it! I will finally be able to share all of my favs with her!” Cue sad trombone music.  I had to accept the fact that while she is a reader, she is her own reader.  Some of our tastes overlap, but there are often times when we aren’t interested in each other’s books.  And that’s okay.

Many times other parents see my kiddos reading and ask me how I did it.  Or assume that my job did it for me. And many other times the follow up question is how they can get their own kids to “elevate” their reading, meaning  “the classics”.  At these moments I do my best to avoid all signs of side-eye, give a reassuring smile and ask them why the classics?  Is it because they themselves have fond memories of reading the classics?  Are they looking down at the children’s books their kids are reading as somehow “less than” with regard to the classics?

I remind them that the vocabulary in capital L literature is often difficult and unfamiliar to younger readers, which can lead to frustration.  I then tend to recommend reading the classics together so that the parent can scaffold the unfamiliar bits, define some old fashioned language, and add some context.

Ultimately, the message I always try to get across when presented with the classic(s) question is that all reading is good.  If your child is super excited about a mass marketed series paperback, go with it.  Ask your child about what makes it so great.  Read along with them and earn their trust.  Then when you leave the piles of books around the house they can be made up of best sellers, series and classics.  Over time, readers might just pick one up on their own, which in my opinion is the best way to have it happen!

If you are online at all, you have to be seeing posts about why we need diverse books as well as ways to diversify your own collection.  I have always considered myself a librarian who keeps her eyes open for new diverse titles, and tries to find ways to incorporate them into my work.  But when I faced facts, I realized that I could be doing more, so I am planning on making some curricular changes.

While I always make sure to book-talk titles with diverse characters and situations, I don’t always do the best job with the reading aloud (especially of chapter books for the younger set).  My next two read aloud chapter book read alouds feature characters of color, including Keena Ford and the Second Grade Mix Up, and Ruby Lu Brave and True.

The second change I am making is incorporating a Coretta Scott King illustrator study into my curriculum.  I have always done a Caldecott study, which features some diversity to be sure, but I want to be more direct in the study and celebration of illustrators of color.

Diversity work and social justice work is very important to me personally and to my school as well.  I am looking forward to hearing what programs/curricular pieces/author studies you have in place or are planning.

Image from freefoto.com

I don’t know about you all, but the kids in my library are feeling SPRING FEVER!  There are quite a few ways to capitalize on this and harness it rather than just stare at in wonder.

One of the first things I like to do it take the kids outside.  Even though our school is firmly planted in an urban environment, right outside of our front door is a collection of city benches where I can bring the kids for independent reading or for a story time.  There is quite a bit of noise out there so I try to make sure any read aloud is short and boisterous.

A less weather dependent way of adding some spring to the library, is simply reading some books that are spring themed or related in some way.  Some of my favorites are:

Clementine and the Spring Trip, by Sara Pennypacker

The Curious Garden, by Peter Brown

and then it’s spring, by Julie Fogliano

In for Winter, Out for Spring, by Arnold Adoff

What are some of your favorite books to read aloud to welcome Spring?

At school we just had our professional development day and the overarching topic was student voice.  As a part of the planning committee I have been thinking on this topic for a long time, and have been figuring out ways to incorporate student voice more fully into the school library environment.

image search cc – megaphone from pixabay

I always ask my 4th graders to reflect at the end of the school year.  What are their favorite parts about library as a special? What do they like about the space and collection?  What would they change given the chance?  I love this practice, but it also isn’t so effective since it happens at the end of the school year.

I am now thinking of including my students more in the ordering process, as well as in the curricular planning.  Of course, we always take student requests during the year as we order, but I am thinking of more explicitly sitting down with the classes and talking about the collection.  I would tell them about the mission of the library and the school view of purpose, and see if we can come up with an order list that will fill the holes and satisfy the recreational readers as well.

Do your students have a voice in your libraries?  I’d love to know how and where you incorporate student voice.

One of the things that I miss the most about working in the public library is the programming.  I know, I know…when I was in the public libraries, programming could be overwhelming as I worked in large branches with loads of kids.  I took to twitter to muse about missing crafting, and got some suggestions from my PLN that morphed into our “Maker Mondays”.

For a variety of reasons, I decided to make this pretty much a passive program. Because of our active after school program, I decided to make it happen before school when there are usually quite a few kids hanging out.  Since I like crafting so much, that is the genesis of the idea of “making”.

I have chosen basic crafts to start (thank you pinterest!).  Our first week, we simply cut out paper snowflakes and wrote some hopes and wishes for the New Year on them to hang in the students’ windows.  The second craft (seen above) is a simple book mark using paint strips, construction paper, and ribbon.

So far we have had a variety of students ranging from 2nd graders to 7th graders take part.  The program takes minimal planning, and induces many smiles.  I’m so happy I tried it!

I am a bit of an anomaly when it comes to being a school librarian.  I work with a team, I am in an independent school that does not participate in standardized testing, and common core is not a factor.  So many of the issues that face so many school librarians do not necessarily apply to me.

That said, even if I feel like a bit of spare peg, it is incredibly important to take part in the larger conversations happening in the field.  While attending the SLJ Leadership Summit in Austin in September, I was lucky enough to share a table with Elissa Malespina ( @SOMSlibrary ) and she told me about #tlchat (teacher librarian chat) on twitter.  #tlchat is a monthly chat filled with concerns of teacher librarians, and each month the topics are broad strokes like “Collaboration”, “Participatory Culture”, “Building Your PLN”.

I took part for the first time this past Monday during the collaboration chat.  Not only did I get a few new ideas, I also found inspiration.  Inspiration, as I have said before, is fuel for me.  Even though I work with a team in a progressive environment, it is pretty incredible to connect across geography with professional peers.

If you have never participated in a library related chat on twitter, I encourage you to do so.  Here is a list of chats that may help you find some inspiration!

• #readadv – Reader’s Advisory Chat
• #edtechchat – Educational Technology Chat
• #storyappchat – Chat about writers creating storybook apps for the iPad
• #titletalk – A chat about books and promoting reading and readers
• #pblitchat – A chat about picture books
• #alscchat – And of course the chat hosted by alsc members focusing on a variety of topics.

Please add any other chats you find valuable into the comments!

Do you ever feel overwhelmed?  By all of the things?

Some of my stats.

• My current pile of “to read” titles on Goodreads sits at 138.  And as discussions on Heavy Medal heat up, the pile grows.
• My weekly classes number at 15.  We are a school that changes curriculum from year to year, so planning is ongoing and constant.
• The number of folks I follow on twitter comes in at 864.  The vast majority of them are educators/librarians/authors and I am very interested in what they have to say.
• If I can’t get to a professional conference, I try to follow the back channel.  Some of the hashtags I am following on top of twitter followers are #pen2013 #sljsummit #teacherlibrarian #readadv #edchat

This list doesn’t even include all of the weekly trolling I do to try to find edtech that matches my curriculum, the extra bits you chip in with when you are part of a school community, plus a leadership role with regard to PD.

Every now and again, as professionals, we need to sit back and weed some of the things. I’m not just talking about our collections either.  Weeding outdated books is easy compared to culling down the list of all of the things that we want to do.  How often do you take stock of “all of the things”?  What is necessary?  What can you let go of?  I often tell new librarians that it is important to be okay with the fact that it is impossible to do it all.  I just have to remember to practice what I preach!

I am not just a librarian, I am also a mom of 2 daughters.  Every now and again, my roles collide into a serendipitous teaching moment.

Recently, I took my youngest daughter (aged 8) to the New York Public Library to see the exhibit “The ABC of It: Why Children’s Books Matter.”  It is a stunning exhibit that uses “…a dynamic array of objects and activities, the exhibition celebrates the extraordinary richness, artistry, and diversity of children’s literature across cultures and time.”  There are all sorts of aspects to the exhibit that charmed me as a librarian, and my daughter as a reader.  She posed gleefully in the bedroom from Goodnight Moon.  She crept straight through a wild thing.  She loved the words on Milo’s map.

But what stopped her in her tracks?  The banned books.  After explaining to her what banning books means, she nodded her head and then came back with, “Wait….what?!?”  She didn’t understand why some of her favorite titles were stacked up there so high.  She walked quietly through the section, looking intently at defaced illustrations, and she tried to puzzle through.  At the end she said to me, “But mommy…if someone doesn’t like a book, or doesn’t like the ideas in a book, why don’t they just stop reading it themselves?”

Out of the mouths of babes.

During the week of September 22-28, we will be starting a new tradition in my house.  Each night we will sit down as a family and read a banned book.  And we will spend some time reflecting on our own freedom to read.

Inspiration is found in isolation for some, but not for me.  I am actively seeking it!  Each summer I try to rework my curriculum, learn a new skill/technology, and read plenty of books to inform my readers advisory skills.  This summer, however, I am thinking big.

Big thinking ususally means big change.  I have learned over time that no matter how inspired I may be to make changes, it will take lots of time and effort to bring others along.  As a school librarian, my days are often dictated by the schedules of other people, teachers and administrators and what this means is that I need to be creative in implementing change.

Some of the big ideas I am thinking about have been inspired by other school librarians and movements that are afoot in the spheres of education.  From the reconfiguration of the library furniture (based on the reflections of our students) to the bigger idea of makerspaces, I am reconsidering the way that I do things.  The following are some of the links, sites and blog posts that have gotten my creative juices flowing, and I hope that they may inspire some of you as well!

Buffy Hamilton’s article plus links on makerspaces on her blog The Unquiet Librarian.

School Library Journal article, by Margaret Sullivan on Divine Design (April 1, 2011)

This blog post from Tania Sheko on the future of school libraries. (Brave New World blog)

Claire Moore’s ALSC Blog post on Kids Advisory Boards in the library.

I am wondering where you are finding inspiration these days!

I have been attending ALA meetings and conferences for many years now.  I have tried to be active in ALSC and have taken on different roles in different committees.  What Annual has often meant to me in the past was a whole lot of committee meetings.  Sure, I tried to get out onto the floor and talk with some publishers and discover new books, but the main thrust of my attendance was my committee.

This year, I looked at Annual through a new lens.

I was on the outgoing side of my Newbery tenure this year, and as such I have yet to commit to another committee!  Anaheim meant celebration for me.  But it also gave me an opportunity to look at my time at Annual in a different light.

Without hours of committee meetings, I was free to explore the sessions that were being offered.  And what happened because of that?  I left Anaheim feeling truly inspired.

Like Renee, I attended the session There’s An App for That.  Before listening to these knowledgeable folks, I looked at iPads as a student device that could be used in the library, but I hadn’t considered using mine for storytime!

I discovered new (free) resources that I am happy to bring back to my teachers and kids.

I also dove into the YALSA and ALSC joint President’s Program that looked into the “Digital Lives of Tweens“.  Not only did this session, enlighten me as to tween tech use in other parts of the country, it gave me a greater understanding about the lives and upbringing of today’s tweens.

And last but not least, there was the AASL President’s Program where Lori Takeuchi (Joan Gantz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop) shared the latest research on just how families and children are using technology in their everyday lives.  Again, the session was enlightening and inspiring.

I am going to continue using my new lens to look at Annual attendance.  I will make my schedule not only based on my committee meetings, but will be sure to make time to attend several of the sessions that are sure to leave me with a spring in my step and ideas for my program!