MLA Conference Dates set for 2020

The MLA/DLA annual conference will be held from May 6-8, 2020 at the Hyatt Regency in Cambridge, Maryland.

The theme for this year is "Into the Roaring Twenties" and a full schedule of preconferences, keynote speakers, and breakout programs is scheduled.  

Watch for more information on the conference website https://www.mladlacon.com/

We'll be announcing the application deadlines as soon as the registration information is posted.

ALA Mid-Winter deadline is November 8

November 8 is the deadline for all Pratt staff who wish to request funding to attend the ALA Mid-Winter Conference in Philadelphia.  Please have your signed paperwork to us by that date so that we can meet the early bird deadline.

• Be sure to include your ALA membership number with your request, and your login and password  if you want us to complete your registration.

• If you are also a member of MLA, please include your MLA membership number, as we can get an additional discount for MLA members.

• The forms and instructions are available on the SD&T blog "Forms" page.  Download the forms you need and remember to save copies for yourself.

If you have any questions, please contact us and we'll be happy to walk you through the forms and/or the process.

ALA sponsored scholarships

ALA also has a number of scholarship opportunities.   Please see the following link for an announcement about their graduate program scholarship opportunities: 

http://www.ala.org/news/member-news/2019/09/accepting-scholarship-applications. 

The deadline for applications is March 1, 2020.

ALA Annual - Preservation and archiving

There were several meaningful initiatives regarding preservation, assessing digital collections, and personal digital archiving.   But the session I thought was most feasible and scalable for the Pratt library was Preservation Week 101. In light of memory lab offerings that may be part of future endeavors at Pratt, this session provided examples of programs that introduce preservation topics of interest to a public audience. 

Introduction programs included the following topics:

Saving Family Photos 

What to Do with Digital Photos? 

What to Do with Family Recipes?

These programs might consist of a panel of speakers, some artifacts such as the panelist’s family photos or the librarian’s and the why and how of preserving photos. These kinds of programs can attract public interest and help to determine the focus for a memory lab service. They can also be tied to existing genealogy workshops. The programs can be a precursor to memory lab offerings or standalone without a memory lab.

ALCTS at http://www.ala.org/alcts/preservationweek/howto offers excellent resources, webinars and slide presentations to get started.  Initiating these sessions would help to gauge interest and focus areas as part of a survey/assessment before investing in memory lab equipment.

Rose Anne Ullrich

Information Services

ALA Annual - Ready, Set, Bank @ Your Public Library

A standout session I attended at this year’s ALA Annual Conference was “Ready, Set, Bank @ Your Public Library,” led by a Capital One rep and librarians from Queens and Houston. I primarily chose to attend this one because I was interested in how a public library might work with a for-profit business to benefit patrons. This session offered so much more than I was expecting, especially in terms of marketing programs to users. 

The goal of this initiative was to promote mobile banking to older adults (don’t call them seniors!) who may be hesitant to embrace new technology. Many of Pratt’s patrons rely on mobile devices to get online and I think we need to consider this for future programming and instructional opportunities. Don’t assume that older customers don’t use digital technology; often, they just need someone to teach them how to use online tools. Most are happy to embrace it so long as it’s relevant to their lives, such as connecting through social media or looking up health information. When it comes to online banking, they often have security concerns. We can address this by promoting the benefits, such as being able to see real time transactions and maintaining privacy and independence. 

Libraries are an ideal setting to reach these customers and I appreciated that the videos and resources are not brand-specific. The resources only mention “the bank”, not Capital One specifically. The libraries they partnered with were able to benefit from their extensive market research and implement microlearning in short videos the bank created. The program has expanded to include lesson plans in Spanish. These focus less on technology skills and more on the banking system in the U.S. The Capital One representative mentioned that any of their banks could possibly offer trainings at our branches. For more information, head to www.readysetbank.org 

If you weren’t able to make ALA this year, you can read a digital copy of the American Libraries’ wrap-up issue here: https://t.co/rxXIq8eNXT 

Katy Troeschel

Social Science and History Department

ALA Annual - Reflections on Diversity

The 2019 American Library Association Conference offered many opportunities to reflect on diversity, and to find ways to include diverse elements of the US population in everything we do.

Here is a taste of two of the sessions I attended:

“Muslims in Story” – Ms. Sadaf Siddique, coauthor of the book Muslims in Story: Expanding Multicultural Understanding through Children’s and Young Adult Literature, talked about the intent and the content of the book. This book is a collection of resources and curated booklists that will help educators expose their audience to positive images of Muslims.

A powerful way to counter bias is for Muslims (or anybody else who is the victim of prejudice) to tell their own story through actual personal experiences. The book’s purpose is to show commonality. It is not so much about religion. It is about the people and how diverse they are. The books that the authors included in their booklists have a common quality. They are culturally authentic and they depict positive images that will make Muslim children feel proud of being Muslims.

Muslims in Story includes a thematic framework to use throughout the school year. Some of the themes featured in the book are: Historical presence of Muslims in America, Muslim kids and heroes, Fasting traditions among the various Muslims in the world, Similarities between religions, Respect and tolerance between people, Knowledge overcomes everything. Each story comes with complete lesson plans and extra resources.

For more details, read an Interview with Sadaf Siddique and Gauri Manglik

“Ready to Learn: Public Media and Library Partnership for Early Science and Literacy Learning” – The “Ready to Learn (RTL)” initiative’s “goal is to promote early learning and school readiness, with an emphasis on supporting children from low-income, underserved communities.” PBS (Public Broadcast Service) and their librarian partners from one library in Kentucky, and the other one in Tennessee shared their successes and failures in offering the Family Learning Community workshops.  

These workshops are usually divided into 4 weekly sessions, but they can be adjusted to be a standalone program. Each session is composed of 4 parts:

EAT: Participants eat a meal together and get to know each other

EXPLORE: Hands-on explorations and discussions in groups (inter-family connections)

MAKE: Families work together on their own projects

SHARE: Participants share their projects with the other families, and give feedback to each other.

Most programs and resources necessary to set up such workshops are available for free to all educators at PBS Learning Media.  The website is a treasure trove of information!

Sylvie Merlier-Rowen
Children's Department, CEN

ALA Annual - Best Fiction for Young Adults

In attending ALA 2019, I was lucky enough to sit in on a panel discussion of YALSA's best fiction for young adult lists led by students from the DC area. It was a rare treat to actually hear reactions from teens who thoughtfully read and reviewed the list, taking into account literary quality, plot, inclusiveness and #ownvoices. 

This filled in my knowledge gap around what teens and precocious tweens are reading, as well as providing actual feedback in real time around important texts with which to be familiar. Because my teen literature knowledge is limited, this was a condensed opportunity to hear from the actual demographic what they like to read. I can't wait to pick up a copy of A.S. King's Dig!

This was also a networking opportunity, as several members of the local literary committee, Capital Choices team, were there to provide feedback about  programming in the greater Maryland area. 

http://www.yalsa.ala.org/thehub/about/selected-lists-the-hub/best-fiction-young-adults-nominees/

Cornelia Beckett

Programs and Outreach

ALA Annual - Safer Libraries

I want to first start out by saying that ALA 2019 was great and I really enjoyed my first experience. The weather in DC that weekend was perfect for a conference. I got to meet some many different people. The atmosphere was inviting and exciting. I had a full itinerary for each day and for the most part, I was able to attend all the sessions I planned to attend.

The opening session featured young adult author Jason Reynolds who spoke of libraries as sacred spaces where all are welcome and one can build a family and be of service. Reynolds also drew a parallel between religious institutions and libraries. He challenged librarians to reimagine their roles in the lives of their young patrons, and to be willing to consider changing the way they do things to meet that role.

My favorite session was presented by PLA entitled, Safer Libraries: Building Staff Resiliency and Library Safety Branch by Branch. In the session staff from DC Public Library collaborated with Defend Yourself, a local company that works to empower people — especially women and others targeted for abuse and assault — to end violence and create a world where they can be fully themselves. Together, DCPL and Defend Yourself developed a library-specific safety training for staff that teaches self-defense concepts such as avoidance and prevention, assertiveness, direct communication, and boundary setting, de-escalation, and bystander intervention.

I am encouraging all my fellow colleagues to please consider attending a conference like this one. I learned so much and can’t wait for other opportunities to attend.

Ashley T. Mitchell

Edmondson Avenue

ALA Annual - An Overview

The American Library Association’s Annual Conference and Exhibition 2019 was held on June 20th to the 25th in the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in the heart of the nation’s capital, downtown Washington, D.C., and it is the biggest conference and exhibit for librarians in the industry. To date, ALAAC 2019 was one of the most worthwhile experiences for me as a library professional, having attended eleven events (nine of which were professional panels), networked with a variety of folks in the industry, and even being re-tweeted by the official Rakuten Overdrive twitter account for my fanart of the Libby app! But that’s a story I’ll save for last.

 The main reason I attended ALAAC 2019 was for the professional panels. I picked the ones I went to because of a mixture of reasons: some looked interesting, some directly tied to my work in YA, some spoke to my values as a librarian, and some of them featured celebrities that I admire. Here’s a short list of all the panels I attended and their associations with specific groups:

·         Opening General Session feat. Jason Reynolds (ALA)

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·         Pitfalls of Neutrality: What Does Inclusivity Mean in Libraries (ALA - OIF)

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·         Turning Enemies into Advocates: How Empathy-Based Training Eliminated Barriers Between Youth & Our Staff 

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·         Launching and Maintaining a Library After-School Space for Grades 6-12 

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·         Social Unrest, Democracy and Librarianship in the 21st Century (ALA - EMIERT)

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·         From Fortnite to 'Big Mood': Keeping Up with Teen Trends 

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·         Auditorium Speaker Series featuring George Takei (ALA) 

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·         Tough topics in YA: How the 2019 debuts are tackling the dark—but real—issues teens care about 

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·         An International Leaders Forum: Leading a Vision for a Global Community of Libraries (ALA - IFLA)

·          

To kick off ALAAC 2019 with Jason Reynolds is an absolute treat, and every librarian who attended the panel would wholeheartedly agree. He was a terrific speaker and eloquent wordsmith: his talk about the value of libraries was as enlightening as it was inspired, and I felt ready to tackle the rest of ALAAC 2019 as I walked out of the opening session! This was good because I had some days that had panels back-to-back: a mistake I won’t repeat again. In the panels that were specifically young-adult orientated, I learned the serious risks that bias has in both the smaller interactions between staff and patrons, staff and staff and staff and administration regarding YA topics, as well as the larger, macro-level institutional biases that would affect the work being done in the field. For example, two of those panels highlighted how stereotypes play into how other staff and adults would treat teens, and best practices to either avoid or to help exercise empathy in the face of bad first impressions. The more wide ranging panels that appealed to my sense of librarianship and values of social justice were also eye-opening, as they highlighted the very real reactions, pushback and successes of implementing some as (seemingly) simple as gender-neutral restroom signs, and how libraries can uphold positive social justice values in the face of discrimination and in light of a globally minded and international world. And as for celebrities, I would have never forgiven myself if I missed a chance to see Captain Hikaru Su--uh, I mean, George Takei in real life, albeit from far away. He was also talking about his upcoming middle-grade graphic novel called They Called Us Enemy, which in the light of current events and my own identity as Asian-American was moving and important to learn, and a book I’d absolutely order and recommend to as many patrons as humanly possible.

The other half of ALAAC 2019 was the exhibition hall, a two city-block wide stretch of basically everyone in libraries, library-adjacent businesses, and, most importantly, library schools. I spent hours in this hall greeting friends, making contact with publishers, learning how to play the various games I intend to set-up and run in the Govans branch, and filling my half-dozen tote bags with free books, ARCs, and swag, but the most important interactions I really had with folks in the exhibit hall were the conversations I had with the various universities that offered degrees in library and information sciences. Every one of these colleges had kitschy giveaways and random raffles (one of which I won--thanks for the baller tote bag, Drexel University!), but it was really the conversations and interactions that I had with the people who attended the booths that brought home how cool it is to be a librarian and how becoming one with a degree isn’t too far-fetched! I particularly had an amazing talk with a professor, Dr. Cecilia L. Salvatore from Saipan, working on research about indigenous diasporas, and we immediately bonded over the issues of the label AAPI, a notorious bar in Guam and the Japanese soldier who hid nearby twenty years after WWII ended, and just so much more about our shared cultural heritage. She told me to look her up in Dominican University and to please, please apply for my masters there, and I’ve never been more sold about a school by one person as I have by hers! Just from this one convention alone, I’ve never wanted to get that MLIS degree more than I have now.

To that end, going to ALA was an absolutely stellar experience, and a must for anyone seriously thinking of making libraries a part of their career path. The people I’ve met, the stories I’ve heard and the many, many positive things I’ve experienced in ALA have really affirmed my career choices here in Pratt, and I hope to go back again knowing what I know now to really experience ALA to the fullest. 

But, before I conclude this post, I also want to highlight a particularly fun interaction I had with the communications folks in the Rakuten-Overdrive booth, the folks who created the e-book/e-audiobook app Libby: I draw for fun, and months ago, I created a mascot-type character for the app, and the Rakuten-Overdrive folks loved it so much that they re-tweeted it on their official Twitter page! But, because I didn’t have my business cards with me, they couldn’t credit me in the initial tweet. To that end, I was lucky I brought my drawing supplies with me because I drew them more Libby fanart right on a business card with my twitter handles on them, which they also re-tweeted! Outside of that conversation with a professor, this was the single best thing to happen to me in ALA!

Paolo Jasa

Govans Branch

ALA Annual - Trends in Librarianship

Before I share some highlights of what I learned at the conference, I want to relay what complements the Pratt received courtesy my badge labeling my place of employment.  EPFL was readily recognized for going fine free, for the wash and learn initiative, and for its architectural beauty and renovation.  I hope this kudos brighten your day by proxy.

Trends in Librarianship

One pair of sessions I attended speaks to the ever evolving nature of our profession.  “A Hard Look in the Mirror,” presented by Greater Victoria (Canada) Library (GVPL), shares how they reorganized librarians’ roles (with plans to augment library assistants’ in future) to be less about audience served – age and otherwise – and more about niches they call “portfolios.”  Librarians now split their time between branch operations and portfolio work that serves the whole system.  The idea is to look up from the mundane coordination and oversight to develop true leadership in librarianship.  The primary categories, “pillars,” involve lifelong learning, storytelling, and digital literacy; they are further broken down into specialties according to staff strengths and interest.  These are the result of two committees’ work: service design and service delivery.  It is stressed that libraries looking to follow suit explore and define how best this model works for their own communities.  In a nutshell, GVPL refers to their model as Community-Inspired Library Service.  A toolkit is available at issu.com/docs/hard_look_in_the_mirror_reflecting.

“Going Deskless” is right up our alley as we continually seek to diminish barriers – physical as well as financial.  Hillsboro (Oregon) Public Library (HPL) presents how they accomplished the feat of completely removing public service desks in favor of “orbiting” with the added tools of a “service layer,” ranging from a large logo button to the popular three-pocket apron, and technology “perches” stationed throughout the library.  Staff buy-in gets achieved by inviting input during planning, providing time to reflect, and empowering change adaptation.  None of the changes have been based on assumptions: a “design thinking” process involves staff and patrons alike, utilizing a variety of steps including focus groups and surveys.  All the while, staff are encouraged to practice “work like a patron day” occasionally as a worthwhile test and means to perspective.  HPL sums up their philosophy with a triad of points.  Libraries today are not about the books but service; we should not be transactional but interactional; and we use more and more automation and thus shift our focus to high-quality personal service. 

Health Outreach and Programming

The National Library of Medicine (NLM) and their National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NNLM) – the latter with regional coordinators who collaborate with and assist all libraries in their jurisdiction, including public libraries – presented “Transforming Communities through Health Outreach and Programming.”  It is fundamental to support health literacy, especially in the face of both health disparities (e.g. abilities, genetics) and healthcare disparities (e.g. socioeconomics).

Their free information resources abound, and I share a sampling here.  Medline Plus is designed to be not academic but accessible for consumers and even offers a print quarterly for distribution!  HealthReach is multilingual and multimedia to help even more patrons decipher their health needs.  News in Health has digestible tidbits and offers its own print monthly newsletter to libraries.  Go4Life is especially for seniors. 

NNLM has the area covered in terms of programming.  Their Engage for Health materials help libraries teach community members how best to speak with their doctors.  The NNLM Reading Club has kits for a thematic book club and is always adding new titles.  There is a wealth of materials to uphold National Health Observances.  They even promote Tales & Travel Memories, a fun programming initiative for those with dementia.

I will wrap up rather than diving in to NLM’s support of Citizen Science.  But I will insist that EPFL be sure to join the NNLM for full access to and assistance with health resources and programming for Baltimoreans. 

Lauren Read

Periodicals

ALA Annual - Teaching Teens Readers’ Advisory

Are you looking for a creative way to engage your teens with the library and books? Does your YA collection need a boost to get it off the shelves and into the hands of readers? Do you need some ideas for how to put your CYC intern to work this summer? If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, read on to hear about BookMatch Teen, a session from this year’s ALA Annual Conference. 

 During this session, two librarians from Brooklyn Public Library talked about the teen internship they started about two years ago that centers around training teens in readers’ advisory. Teens had to apply for the internship, go through an interview process, and then commit to completing the 9-week internship. During those 9 weeks, interns were trained in readers’ advisory (librarians showed them how to use the OPAC, Goodreads, Novelist, etc and taught them how to do a reference interview), met authors and other professionals from the publishing world, learned about marketing techniques like #bookstagram, went behind-the-scenes of the collection development department, learned how to write book reviews, and made book lists as a final project. The teens also made a “Match Box” where people could submit readers’ advisory requests and the teens would make a personalized list for them.

 This internship had some really great results for both the teens and the library. Teens got to experience the interview process and were exposed to careers not only in librarianship but also in publishing and marketing. They learned valuable customer service skills as they tackled the reference interview process, and also realized that everyone, including teens, deserve great customer service. They became confident, comfortable library users and had great success getting teens to check out books. My favorite result was that many teens mentioned the program helped them improve their social skills, and many made new and lasting friendships with other interns.

 BookMatch Teen was obviously a large-scale program. The coordinators advised offering a stipend or another incentive like volunteers hours since it was a big commitment and teens’ time is valuable. It would be great if we could incorporate something like this into our CYC program here at Pratt, but I think there are ways to do aspects of this on a smaller scale, too. You could start a “Readers’ Advisory Club” with teens you notice already have an interest in reading and introduce them to basic library skills. You could show your CYC intern how to use Goodreads or other RA tools and ask them to make booklists around specific themes. Maybe you could set up a table for them in the teen section so kids could go to them for recommendations once you’ve given them some training. You could even make this into passive programming by creating a “Match Box” and recruiting a few enthusiastic readers to answer the requests. The possibilities are endless! For more information on the BookMatch Teen program, visit their website: https://www.bklynlibrary.org/incubator-submissions/bookmatch-teen . 

Meaghan McKeron

Collection Management

ALA 2019 - Defining the Educational Role

My first ALA  Conference was a whirlwind of excitement and information as I traveled from one session to the next, finding time to engage with a few of my favorite authors along the way. Among those sessions was one that really stuck with me: I attended Defining and Embracing the Instructional Role for Youth Services Librarians.  The thesis of this session was that teaching and learning are already core elements of public service.  We, as public librarians, are already “educators.”  But, to quote the session, “by explicitly framing our work as instruction, we can ensure that this teaching and learning is empowering, equitable and enjoyable.” 

But what does that mean? 

Formal learning environments, like schools, follow state or national standards.  Common Core is an example of this.  Using these standards as a background, the educator can set a clear measurable outcome for instruction.  “Students will be able to…”  If at the end of the lesson they are “unable to…”, the lesson was unsuccessful.  So, how do we translate this to public librarianship and how can we implement this at Pratt?

As we go through this transitional period and begin to re-evaluate how we do many things here at Pratt, one topic that I hear repeatedly brought up is “programming.”  What makes an effective program?  How do we evaluate if a program is successful?  How can we tie programming into our organization's goals?  For all of these questions, I believe it comes down to our role as educators.  It starts with a change in the language.  Other library systems are already doing this.  One our neighbors calls their librarians and library associates “instructors.”  Programs are called “classes.”  It is this synchronicity in terminology with the schools that helps cement their association.

For most, coming to a library program is “fun” not “educational”... or is it? By changing our terminology, we change the expectation.  This session showed, it’s as simple as adopting standards and re-framing the way we present ourselves.  We as public librarians at Pratt provide so much instruction that it seems a shame we cannot quantify it.  

Session leaders made sure to specify that any formalized organization standard could be used as the framework for outcomes, including a library system’s strategic plan.  Because the session was geared toward those involved in young adult and children’s services, they used the framework of the YALSA Teen First: Basic Learning Outcomes.  The six categories: community, creativity, digital citizenship, leadership, learning and literacies all list outcomes that can be adopted for library programming.  In using these guidelines as the outcomes for programming, it becomes easier to evaluate the programs’ effectiveness.  The best part?  It doesn’t require anyone to do anything major. 

The first step during program planning is to ask the questions:  “What is my outcome?”  “What competencies can I use to evaluate my outcome?”  I’ll give you an example.  One of our branches is having a Dungeons and Dragons program.  Their original description states: “Journey through fantastic realms and battle ferocious beasts through the magic of D&D. No prior table-top experience required.”  Using this new approach, we would post an outcome at the program like “Teen participants will collaborate with others using materials provided to create an original adventure through the realms of Dungeons and Dragons.”  In this instance, we’ve utilized three of the learning outcomes and still done the same program.  Plus, now that we have an established outcome it is much easier to evaluate if the program was effective or not. 

I am not saying that this is something we must do, but as the conversation is moving forward about programming, this might be something to consider in the future.

Read more:

Instruction & pedagogy for youth in public libraries http://publiclibraryinstruction.web.unc.edu/

Teens first: basic learning outcomes guide http://www.ala.org/yalsa/sites/ala.org.yalsa/files/content/Teens%20First_%20Basic%20Learning%20Outcomes%20Guide.pdf

Jamequa Summerall

Collection Management

Manga Classics at ALA 2019

As an ALA first timer, I wasn’t sure where to start. So it was a very good thing I went to a seminar surrounding burnout prevention. If it wasn’t for that first talk about making sure I took breaks and ate, I don’t think I would have survived very well. Because I listened to that advice, I remembered that ‘I’ come before everything else, which can be hard sometimes to remember. One of the signs of burnout is total exhaustion and that constantly treating yourself is constantly coping, not consistent self-care. This is something I need to work on and I know I am not alone.

Afterwards, most of my sessions were about a mix of collection development, program ideas, and staff relationships. One vendor I was really excited about turned classic books like The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Emma into manga. They used the same language and said they even tested how well readers of the manga would do on a literature test when pitted against someone who read the printed text (they tended to do better). I have the link below to the books on Amazon if you want to peruse the collection.

I also listened to this great presentation by the Brooklyn Public Library about how they trained their teens as Readers’ Advisory, which gave them confidence, critical thinking skills, research skills, and more ownership of their library. The kids actively answered RA questions, participated in outreach programs, and (at the end of the multi-month paid program) the kids submitted a book requisition list, which became a special part of the Brooklyn Public Library collection. I don’t think I have stopped talking about this program since I heard about it, it sounded so beautiful.

Kelsey Riggs

Forest Park Branch

Manga Classics on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Midsummer-Nights-Dream-Manga-Classics/dp/1947808109

Some networking notes from the Association for Talent Development annual conference

I recently attended the ATD conference, and went to a relly interesting session on networking, called Networking for People Who Hate Networking.  In the workshop, they defined networking as creating meaningful and beneficial connections one person at a time.  This was interesting, as we generally think of networking as meeting a bunch of people at an event, but if you don't gain something from the interaction then it's just talking.

Both extroverts and introverts can be successful networkers; they just need to approach it differently.  Introverts don't have to fake being extroverts in order to network successfull, but they should do a bit of preparation before the event so that they can be confident in their interactions.  Introverts may have more difficulty starting a conversation, but they tend to develop more meaningful connections.

Here are some tips that you can use to improve your networking skills, regardless of the situation in which you find yourself:

• research in advance - what is the purpose of the event, why are people there, who is likely to attend and what connections would you like to make?
• volunteer to help with the event - particularly good for conferences or meetings since people are always glad to have help and you become an instant "insider" with lots of opportunities to talk to others
• arrive early to group events - it's less daunting and you have time to focus on each of the newer arrivals rather than trying to navigate a large group
• spot check before you arrive - are you pulled together?  Have your business cards handy?
• get in a line - this sounds funny, but often we meet interesting people while waiting in lines, and you never know who might be a good connection
• eat or (soft) drink before the event, this keeps that magic spinach from appearing in your teeth
• if you take someone's business card, take a moment to make a note on the back of who they are and why they talked to you, so when you follow up later you can remember who they wereand why you have their card (this works for vendor rooms too, what did you discuss with that company?)
• practice active listening, don't look over someone's shoulder when you are talking to them and focus your attention on what they are saying
• be authentic - don't try to impress someone, just share your information and thoughts
• don't hang on one person all night, you need to circulate (be a best-seller not a research tome)
• follow up after the event, remind the person where you met and what you discussed (from your notes on the business card), otherwise you aren't building a connection

MLA 2019 - Using Children's Literature to Help Children of Trauma

The theme of “What if…?” at this year’s MLA conference inspired librarians to focus on the
possibilities of librarianship and ways we can improve our services to have a greater relationship
with our community. One program particularly made me consider our potential to facilitate healing
with our youngest customers.

In the program “What if…We used Children’s Literature to Help Children of Trauma Heal?” Dr.
Colleen Lelli outlined the needs of young children exposed to trauma and how we can use children’s
literature to create “bibliotherapy” opportunities for conversations and healing around  books. She
outlined the effects of acute (short term) or chronic (repeated) stress and how toxic stress can
manifest in children’s behavior. She explained that stress comes in different levels.

While mild/moderate stress can be motivating for a child, chronic or toxic stress quickly leads to trauma. She also explained that our understanding of trauma is constantly changing and affects something like 66% of the population, but our vocabulary for dealing with it is unfortunately limited. This is especially tragic for children affected by chronic/repeated stress, which can have the effect of
limiting children’s receptive and expressive vocabulary, leading to confusion and trouble with
problem solving. Dr. Lelli left me with many simple strategies I’m excited to implement when
working with our young customers.

Here are some of the simple strategies offered for helping children connect with texts:

• Since children of trauma are often unfocused readers, ask them questions of the text to keep them focused on subtler details. 
• Since they often act instead of plan, set goals for them to help with their task analysis and participation in classroom activities. 
• Practicing simple phrases like “Please focus on the directions I’m about to give,” cues these children to be prepared for the directions. Asking them to summarize directions once you’ve given them reinforces these connections.
• Create visual task cards to show each step of a task, and have children work in groups so that they can summarize together what they have heard. 
• To help with expressive language encouraging children to use graphic organizers to keep track of ideas they are interested in writing or talking about.  Encourage them to practice talking about areas of personal interest for 2-3 minutes at a time. 
• Provide children with verbal prompts to solve problems and resolve conflicts with peers.
• Try exercises like cutting up a comic strip and asking them to put it in the correct sequence can encourage critical thinking. 

Matthew Hickey
Children's Dept. CEN

Further reading:
https://goo.gl/tYicwz - Books to Teach Grit and Resilience
https://tinyurl.com/y5jy5xb8 - Books in which Children Witness Violence or Trauma

MLA 2019 - William G. Wilson Maryland Author Award winner Mary Amato

The 2019 winner of the William G. Wilson Maryland Author Award is children’s author Mary Amato.  Ms. Amato is an author of YA books, poetry, plays, and songs, and her books won numerous awards including The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators National Magazine Writing Award and Nonfiction Book Grant, the Beehive Book Award, the Buckeye Children’s Book Award, and the Arizona Young Readers Award.  She is also the founder of The HIVE, The Brown Bag for Creatives, and the Silver Spring Town Center, Inc. Arts Salon and co-founder of the Firefly Shadow Theatre.  Ms. Amato works with numerous non-profits in Maryland and teaches workshops on writing and the creative process.  She also gives ukulele lessons. 

Starting with a song written just for the award luncheon, Ms. Amato shared that when she was a child she knew every inch of her public library, where her “friends in fiction” would put images in her head.  After the luncheon, Ms Amato signed copies of her books and chatted with many of the attendees.  For her afternoon program, she used examples of her works and those of other children’s authors for her discussion on how to incorporate themes and songs into programs for children.  Passing out several of her own ukuleles, Ms. Amato discussed how useful the instrument can be not only for singing with children, but also how easy they are for children to learn to play and how suited they are for little hands.

As part of Ms. Amato’s lively and fun program, attendees worked together to re-write “Row, Row your Boat” as a library based song, and then the group sang their creation “Read, Read, Read your book” while accompanying themselves on the ukuleles. 

Lisa R. Kenyon

SD&T

Recommended (by me) reading:  

Open Mic Night at Westminster Cemetery Sixteen-year-old slam-poet Lacy Brink wakes up dead—and confused—in Westminster Cemetery. It’s the job of Sam, a young soldier who died in 1865, to help her adjust to the strict rules of the afterlife. Lacy proposes hosting an open mic; and when Sam and the other ghosts finally express themselves, surprising emotions emerge in this darkly hilarious tale about truth, forgiveness, and love. Contains explicit language and mature themes so probably best for mid-teens and up. 

Edgar Allan’s Official Crime Investigation Notebook  In this humorous and touching mystery, fifth grader Edgar Allan tries to catch a thief who leaves poetry instead of fingerprints at the crime scenes. Recommended for ages 8-12. 

Note:  although these are YA books, both can be enjoyed by adults

Librarians ARE Wikipedians

The Wiki Scholars Program was highlighted by Staff Development & Training in Fall 2018. The program instructs professionals in academia and libraries to become Wikipedia editors and/or initiate library partnerships with Wikipedia. The program was presented by the Wiki Education Foundation https://wikiedu.org/ and sponsored by the National Archives and Records Administration.

As a result of the Centennial Celebration of Women’s Suffrage celebrated in March 2020 many archives, libraries and museums are preparing and expanding content on this theme.  Wikipedia is no exception. It was an honor to be a part of a Wikipedia Scholars cohort as we learned to edit and create 2 biographical articles to increase the quality and quantity of information about suffragists on Wikipedia. Our instructions included using mainly secondary resources to create articles. Having chosen two Baltimore suffragists I searched some resources familar to librarians such as the Library of Congress, the Maryland Historical Society and several databases. It was more challenging than I had anticipated to find resources that were both in the public domain and accessible online. I had the opportunity to review resources that were less familiar to me such as SNAC at the National Archives and Records Administration http://snaccooperative.org and the HEARTH Archive at Cornell http://hearth.library.cornell.edu.

Since most Wikipedians are male there is a disproportionate amount of male editors and this seeps out in the form of lack of information by and about women. Through the Scholars program my cohort along with others were able to make contributions that change that statistic.  Becoming a Wikipedian is a positive way to engage and make a change for the better so I hope other librarians will be encouraged to participate. Though It was intense I am glad I gave myself this challenge which led to a sense of accomplishment, inspiration, and motivation to do more.

        The majority of my time was spent finding facts about suffrage and the lives of women in early 20th century Baltimore. With a cohort of about 8 librarians we met online weekly to review our progress, work out any difficulties, and take self-administered quizes to check our mastery of quality fact-finding, copyright issues and editing. By the end of the 3 month program I had created an article about Etta Haynie Maddox, vocalist, suffragist and first Maryland woman to attend law school (Baltimore Law School now the school of law, University of Maryland) to become a lawyer, sit for the Bar exam and practice law https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etta_Haynie_Maddox.

Though disappointed that her photo was under copyright I was pleased to complete my first article by bringing an unknown Baltimore lawyer and suffragist into view. In 1902, Maddox successfully fought the state legislature to permit Maryland women to take the Maryland bar exam and practice law. In 1910 she submitted the first suffrage bill to the Maryland state legislature. For those who might be interested, it was exciting to find a bit about her sister at our own www.digitalmaryland.org here <ahref="http://collections.digitalmaryland.org/cdm/ref/collection/scws/id/462">Page 2 (page 1 is missing)</a>

For a second article I chose to edit an existing biography about another Baltimore suffragist, Edith Houghton Hooker https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edith_Houghton_Hooker. Hooker was a social worker who attended Johns Hopkins in the early 1900s and became part of the social hygiene movement. She believed women’s rights and women’s public health challenges could gain much needed attention by supporting womens’ right to vote. She founded the Just Government League of Maryland, established the Maryland Suffrage News and became the editor for the national newspaper, The Suffragist. There are some primary source materials regarding Hooker at www.digitalmaryland.org such as this suffrage phamphlet dated around 1912 http://collections.digitalmaryland.org/cdm/ref/collection/scws/id/107 for those interested.

The nature of Wikipedia as an open access repository of information that anyone can edit may seem unsavory until, like with most new initiatives, involvement in contributing to articles and engaging in the Wikipedia community reveals the many attributes and benefits for librarians and libraries. Then there is an awesome discovery that even Wikipedia itself makes users aware of their tools that should be used to verify information found on Wikipedia. Wikipedia even provides the caveat that not everything you find will be accurate-it is a dynamic platform that is in constant motion. Though clearly accuracy is what the organization strives to do with multiple layered checks for quality control. But there is an increased need to engage librarians in order to have greater accuracy in citations and reference lists. Additionally its an environment that can be used to educate patrons about determining what is fact and what is fiction.  The realization dawns that engagement in this self-described encyclopedia of the world is a win-win partnership for public libraries. To find out more about engaging library patrons in Wikipedia see GLAM-Wiki on page 4 https://www.ifla.org/files/assets/hq/topics/

info-society/iflawikipediaandpubliclibraries.pdf.

The future is more than promising for this resource to continue to grow in quality and quantity. It is already being used as a teaching tool, reference resource, and to engage communities in a stronger sense of ownership of their own history. Its informative, fun, and gives power to its users, editors and libraries to change the world and provide access to otherwise hidden or limited-access information and collections.

 Finally, in addition to the objectives to make Wikipedia more accurate, complete and accessible there are efforts to make it more inclusive across all subjects and all underrepresented people. Editing biographies, for example, helps to remove bias and highlight the rich diversity that makes up the real world. Correcting a citation supports increased accuracy and reliability. Uploading historic Baltimore photos can help to address underrepresented communities. Who better to do that than public librarians that already show students of all ages how to find accurate information, who strive for diversity and inclusivity in storytime and collection selection, and seek to provide access to technology, research guides, educational events, and electronic materials that address the needs of their communities every day?

See Also

Cummings, John, Fenoll, Carme, Hinojo, Alex & Tramullas, Jesus. (2016).  Opportunities for Public Libraries and Wikipedia: a discussion paper [International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), The Information Society, News, 20 January 2017, Presenting the IFLA Wikipedia Opportunities Papers]. Url: https://www.ifla.org/node/11131.

OCLC WebJunction. Wikipedia + Libraries: Better Together. Retrieved March 5, 2019 from

https://www.webjunction.org/explore-topics/wikipedia-libraries.html

OCLC WebJunction. Wikipedia + Libraries: Empower Communities to Learn from and Share Reliable Information. Retrieved March 5, 2019 from

https://www.oclc.org/en/member-stories/wikipedia-libraries.html

Proffitt, M. (2018).  Leveraging Wikipedia: Connecting Communities of Knowledge

9780838916322. Publisher: American Library Association. https://books.google.com/books?id=hYZ8DwAAQBAJ

Rose Anne Ullrich, Librarian

Information Services