• Lifestyle

    Federal Budget Cuts, or What Is the IMLS?

    As I promised in a previous post, this is not a blog to become political, but it is a blog to be educated about library issues and this issue is too big to ignore. This post is longer than usual, but I really want people to understand what the IMLS…

  • Lifestyle

    Take Action Tuesday (one week late!)

    Week of Tuesday, March 22 Submit the Share Your Advocacy Story webform. Every day you’re out there advocating in big ways and small for the importance of library service to children. Now it’s time to share your triumphs with other Everyday Advocates and inspire them to do the same! This…

  • Lifestyle

    Everyday Advocacy – Week of Tuesday, March 8

    Introduce Everyday Advocacy to a colleague. Everyday Advocacy isn’t just a one-person show! This week, introduce Everyday Advocacy to a colleague who’s unfamiliar with the initiative.   Rather than introduce Everyday Advocacy to just one person, I’d love to introduce it to all my readers!  Everyday Advocacy is a grassroots…

  • Lifestyle

    Everyday Advocacy – Week of Tuesday, March 1

    I’m participating in the Everyday Advocacy Challenge so each week I’ll be posting a challenge to increase advocacy for my personal job and my profession.  So, here it goes: Week of Tuesday, March 1 Write a diversity elevator speech using value-based language. Want to articulate the importance of creating diverse…

  • Lifestyle

    Funding – A Never Ending Battle

    With a fundraiser for our library happening on Saturday, finances, budgets and money has been on my mind, especially after receiving an email this morning inviting me to attend the National Library Legislative Day the weekend of May 3 – 5 in Washington DC to talk with representatives, senators and…

  • Lifestyle

    Advocacy – The Easy Way

    I’m so proud of myself – I actually read through Children & Libraries (the spring 2015 edition) already!  There were lots of interesting articles, but the one that stood out to me the most was “It’s How You Say It” written by Jenna Nemec-Loise about the importance of using value-based…

  • Lifestyle

    Children's Book Council

    The Children’s Book Council (CBC) “is the nonprofit trade association of children’s book publishers in North America, dedicated to supporting and informing the industry and fostering literacy.”  That really means that the CBC works closely with children’s book publishers to professional development, marketing, and advocacy as well as partnerships with national…

  • Lifestyle

    Storytime University

    If you’re a children’s librarian looking for some new ways to focus on professional development, look no further than Storytime University, brought to you by the fine librarians of Storytime Underground, a group focused on supporting, promoting, and training each other (as in storytime librarians).  Storytime is often not realized…

  • Lifestyle

    ALA Annual Conference

    I’ve been learning a lot, connecting with other librarians, and getting some great new ARCs of some promising new books being published in the next few months. I’ll be heading home tonight and you’ll definitely see my musings about the annual conference in the coming week. And if you haven’t…