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)

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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