Get out your favorite dress (or old bridesmaid gown) and shine up your jeweled eyeglass chain ... it's award time ladies and gents! There is no better time of year for librarians than mock book awards. Whether it's Caldecott, Newbery (yes one 'R'), or Printz, there is something effervescent and exciting about book award season. Perhaps it's that the mock events happen during the kick off to the holidays, that make it feel as if everyone in the whole world is in on the thrill. Or maybe it's knowing that you have picked the winner in your mind long before the officials have (smarty-pants that you are). Regardless, it's the time of year when librarians like me stock up on the nominees and read until my eyes burn. Librarians love the competition! Last year, I fell in love with The Adventures of Beekle, long before it won the coveted medal of honor. The sweet innocence of the imaginary friend and the bright and expressive illustrations tugged at my heart. It's a beautiful book to read in words and pictures. This year, one of the nominees in the mock Caldecotts has had the same effect on me. Completely different than last years winner, Last Stop on Market Street focuses its lens on what's real and tangible and right in front of us everyday. CJ and his grandma live and love in a very real world with lessons and perspectives we all need to remember, this season, and especially in the current state of the world. It's emphasis on people, not things, is extraordinary and deserves to be recognized. Of all the books that seem to be contenders, I sincerely hope the Caldecott committee considers the realness of Market Street and the importance of its message. Whatever the outcome, Market Street is a winner in my heart. Happy reading!
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THIS, ladies and gentlemen is what I love about being a librarian today. Right there. Wigs and costumes and workshops on how to do them better! Yesterday I had the pleasure of being a part of the first annual LIPopCon, a pop culture conference for librarians and educators. I attended three workshops, and all of them had me excited and planning for some fun things this summer and fall. I try hard to vary my literacies, but being a part of the comic and pop-culture world can be intimidating and overwhelming. Libraries, and especially teen librarians, are the gateway to these creative interests. At PopCon, we talked about the legitimacy of graphic novels in the reading and art realm, as well as how to serve the fandom teens and create a welcoming and inclusive spaces for all. Everyone who was there, was there with purpose and it was truly a great experience. I hope to see more of LI PopCon in the future! Summer Reading is nearly here and I'm up to my eyeballs in pinterest pages of crafts and activities. My summer calendar is jam-packed with activities and performers of all kinds and lots of things to keep families, kids and our teens engaged and feeling the "power" of libraries this summer. This week I went to the NLS Summer Reading workshop for a morning of idea sharing and motivation. It was great (and we made a craft!) I am thinking of those masks for our teens, as well as bringing in some real-life heroes for a weekly "Hero Hangout", in addition to the many programs and activities we will have on hand. What are some of your summer reading plans and activities? Share! Inform, Inspire, Ignite! The Youth Services Section of the New York Library Association's 2015 Spring Conference is this Friday! It's always great to share and discover new ideas and get a renewed enthusiasm for what we do each day. The best part for me is that I have been invited to participate as a panelist! I've blogged about my experiences using iPads at events and traditional library programs and now I'll have the chance to share that live and in person. I am proud and honored to be in the company of colleagues and panelists that inspire me as well. It is sure to be an informative and exciting workshop. So if you're going, join us for the iCan:Integrating iPads and Apps into Youth Programming, session #3, and be sure to say hello! And if you're not, do not fret! I'll be posting our workshop and pinterest board for you to gather ideas from. Now... what do I wear? I didn't realize I wanted to be a librarian until I was already wayyyy into grown-upville and had an undergraduate degree and a career in marketing and promotion, and two kids. I skipped out on PTA meetings and followed my passion until I found my way into a Library Science program at CW Post. I had been out of a classroom and off a college campus for over a decade and I was petrified at the thought of going back. "Would everyone look at me as an old lady?" and "Do they still use notebooks and pens?" And the dreaded one...."Will I make any friends??"
Ladies and gentlemen....Let me introduce you to my friend Laura, one of the very first people I met in my very first class at Post. Laura and I went on to be in many of the same classes together as we both pursued our librarian degrees. We worked on zillions of projects together and also shared a boat load of laughs and Panera coffee meet-ups in off hours. Laura and I have been through virtual life and real life together over the years. We met celebrities! We are friends and colleagues. The best thing about Laura is that she is an awesome librarian and she has continued to inspire me professionally. She's creative and smart and she shares my passion for being a librarian so we can talk nerdy librarian stuff endlessly and it's perfectly ok. Laura is the real deal. And now Laura has a BLOG! I am super-excited about Library Laura because Laura has amazing programming ideas that I plan to steal all of. I hope that Laura and I can share a few ideas back and forth and maybe even guest blog on each other's site... Laura? Maybe??? So head on over and send my first librarian friend Laura some blog-love. Check out her recent programming for Valentine's Day, (the "love is blind" game is amazing!) and let her know if you use any of her awesome ideas! XOXOXO I'm not much for blogging worthwhile book reviews...and it's not for a lack of trying. I simply read so many that my own opinions seem less than stellar and I lose motivation. I do, however, love when my fellow coolbriarians blog about books. It's even better when the reviewer is a librarian I know in the real world and happens be someone whose work I admire and respect. So shout out to to fellow librarian, Marie, and her ever-growing blog of awesome book reviews. Be sure to check out her blog Stacked Shelves for great book likes (and dislikes) and her most recent post "The Little Things" where she talks about the *minor* mistakes in novels that irk many of us who can't overlook them. Happy reading people! |
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