The Chilling Effect of Ghosting

Image from PixabayHere’s something that I know happens in libraries, maybe even in your library:  people decide not to purchase materials because they are concerned about potential challenges or backlash from the community.  Collection development is...

Community Event Kit

I am guessing that many of the libraries who read this blog get invited to have a table at community events.  This is a great way to meet new people who might not otherwise make it into the library, but it can be time-consuming, and sometimes difficult to think...

Free ALSC Webinar about Summer Learning

Image credit:  Pixabay Making the Move from Summer Reading to Summer Learning Thursday, 1/17 1:00 pm (Central) Children need to keep learning during the summer.  Libraries have long embraced their role in the summer learning landscape.  The National Summer Learning...

NPR’s 2018 Book Concierge

Image credit:  PixabayReaders’ Advisory!  What a staple of our work.  I am always excited to find a new and interesting resource for providing high quality RA, or for suggesting to patrons.For the past several years, National Public Radio has...

Power Up Conference Testimonials!

Image source:  PixabayPower Up:  A Leadership Conference for Youth Services Managers and Staff will be held in Madison March 28-29, 2019.  This is a great conference, and several of your IFLS-land colleagues participated last time it was offered. ...

Giant Games in Eau Claire

Many thanks to Alisha Green from LEPMPL for sharing this guest post!A collage of super-big games created by LEPMPL staff!The good folks in Eau Claire got to celebrate International Games Week with Giant Games!  We’ve supersized everything including a giant game...

Developing Resilience

Image from PixabayMany of you have heard of (or even attended workshops about) Adverse Childhood Experiences and the effects of toxic stress on the long-term physical and mental health of people who experience it as children.  If you don’t know what this...

What About Pronouns?

  Image source:  Pixabay I’ve been thinking about pronouns lately.  It goes with thinking about how to make things like workshops, conferences, and library programming more welcoming, inclusive, and healthy for everyone, particularly trans people.  People...

Affirmations!

Image source:  PixabayThis weekend, Morning Edition featured a crowd-sourced poem featuring things about America that people are thankful for.  The remarkable Kwame Alexander took submissions and turned them into a beautiful poem.  And guess what? ...

Thankful

Image from pixabayNovember can be kind of a gloomy month, and I tend to spend the hours of 3:30-5:30 pm feeling vaguely anxious because it seems wrong for it to be getting dark so early.  Whatever I might think about the origins of Thanksgiving, I truly...