Last week, I attended Power Up:  A Conference in Leadership for Youth Services Managers and Staff.  Woah!  Lots of big ideas and smart people and great connections and things to think about!  Look for more about this conference coming out over the course of the next few weeks right here on this blog (and other blogs and Twitter, come to think of it).

One smaller idea to share, I learned from someone in a small group discussion.  I didn’t catch her name (no excuse), but she talked about working in the Parks and Recreation Department of a small town 30+ years ago.  At that time, the youth services librarian worked with Park and Rec staff so THEY could provide storytimes to kids during the summer, when it was time for the kids to stop running around for a few minutes so they wouldn’t overheat.  Sometimes we want to do it all ourselves, but with a tiny staff, this just isn’t possible.  This seems like a great way to find more team members in a small town–train the folks who are hanging out with kids all day so they can help!  Provide them with books and other resources.  Everyone wins!

These kids will be ready for a reading break soon!