by Leah Langby | Dec 29, 2021 | Keeping Up With Kids
I got a note from the fabulous Yia Lor (UW Madison Extension–Eau Claire County) asking for help promoting a really awesome-sounding, free, virtual conference for parents, Raising Wisconsin’s Children. It is designed for parents and caregivers, and as such...
by Leah Langby | Dec 21, 2021 | Keeping Up With Kids
Libraries and schools in the US (and that includes Wisconsin) are enduring a tremendous uptick in challenges to materials. Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom, recently said that during her 20 years...
by Leah Langby | Dec 6, 2021 | Keeping Up With Kids
One of my kids used to call monarchs “harmonicals” so that’s how I still think of them. At a recent youth services check-in, Lindsey from Augusta mentioned that she raised a bunch of monarch caterpillars and people of all ages were excited to help! ...
by Leah Langby | Dec 3, 2021 | Keeping Up With Kids
At a recent youth services check-in, someone mentioned that their small town had lost four people to COVID-related deaths in the past week, and two were pillars of the community. She mentioned that the whole town is muted and she is looking for ways to support the...
by Leah Langby | Nov 30, 2021 | Keeping Up With Kids
What a timely webinar! Please take note of this awesome webinar being offered by NEWI and featuring Wisconsin experts and resources! Challenged Books at Your Library: Managing and Addressing Censorship Attempts (sponsored by NEWI) Date: Wednesday, December 15, 2021...
by Leah Langby | Nov 22, 2021 | Keeping Up With Kids
Yia Lor, the UW-Madison Eau Claire County Extension Human Development and Relationships Educator, reminded me that this is the time of year that Hmong New Year is celebrated. It’s a great time to look at your book collection and make sure you have books by and...
by Leah Langby | Nov 19, 2021 | Keeping Up With Kids
A lot of folks in the library world live in dread of someone coming up to them with a a request (or demand) that a library material be removed from the collection. Even the thought of someone coming up with a question or concern about an item can be scary to...
by Leah Langby | Nov 16, 2021 | Keeping Up With Kids
A few weeks ago I posted about the StoryWalk(TM) Week sponsored by the Association for Outreach and Bookmobile Services and Let’s Move in Libraries. Nearly 500 libraries submitted stories! I hope some of you submitted yours! Even if you didn’t, check...
by Leah Langby | Nov 4, 2021 | Keeping Up With Kids
At today’s check-in we discussed displays. Here are a few things that came up: Staff favorites are often a hit (have as many staff participate as possible, and be sure to include books for all ages, 0-adult). Themes can be fun—let yourself go wild. You can tell if a...
by Leah Langby | Nov 2, 2021 | Keeping Up With Kids
I know many of you have developed fantastic opportunities for people in your community to enjoy picture books OUTSIDE, while walking around parks, downtown areas, in the yard outside the library, and many other creative places. Many of you have added to the IFLS...
by Leah Langby | Oct 22, 2021 | Keeping Up With Kids
I’m so excited that IFLS will be hosting two webinars with the award-winning Katherine Schoofs, the Youth Services Librarian/Assistant at the Aram Public Library in Delevan, Wisconsin. Katherine will be talking about program planning during COVID and share some...
by Leah Langby | Oct 14, 2021 | Keeping Up With Kids
Youth Services Check-In Notes from October 13, 2021. Topic: Promoting Diverse Books We started with the question: What are some things that work for you to promote diverse books? Here are some great ideas from your colleagues: Florence in Bloomer talked...