In Case You Missed It: Winter 2014

It’s baaaaack! The hiatus of ICYMI was almost entirely accidental. Summer reading planning hit, my sister got married, my grandfather fell and was diagnosed with Parkinson’s, I decided to job search and then got a new job and now here we are.

I had been saving stuff since NOVEMBER in my Feedly reader. I decided to just do 2014 posts and wipe the slate clean. I’m hoping to make this seasonal since it’s such a time-intensive post to write, but obviously I want to keep sharing the AMAZING things that my INCREDIBLE colleagues are doing in their libraries.

So, without further ado…In Case You Missed It!

ALA Elections
• 3.7.14 Kelly is on the ballot for Printz Committee this year. She lays out all the reasons why you should vote for her and I’ll add my own here: I served with Kelly on Outstanding Books for the College Bound and can personally attest to her dedication and incredible value as a committee member. Kelly is someone you want on your team because she truly gives it her all. I know she’ll be an asset to her fellow committee members, her chair, and that she will give careful, serious consideration to all books nominated.

Books & Collection
• 2.6.14 Sharon wrote an unconventional Flannel Friday, all about weeding the storytime collection of flannels. I love the practical tips that are given, as well as the pictures!
• 2.25.14 Anna has a great new idea brewing about finding picture books that have everyday diversity in them. Books that predominantly feature diverse characters and reflect everyday kid life (loose tooth, new baby, bedtime, etc.). Join in by visiting her post & emailing!
• 3.5.14 Lisa wrote a super relevant post about organizing and ordering for a new storytime collection, something that is ringing super relevant to me given the job change!
• 3.7.14 Beth absolutely ROCKS a new Pop Culture Reader’s Advisory tool with recommendations for fans of ABC Family’s “Switched at Birth”. As a huge fan of the show (thank you, Drea!), I can personally second every book that Beth suggests.

Libraries & Librarianship
• 2.12.14 Abby got tips and tricks for reading aloud! A must-read for new and seasoned librarians.
• 2.19.14 Marge encourages and reminds us to share what we know with others. This really resonated with me; I never intended Storytime Katie to be a resource for others but my life is richer because of the online connections that I’ve made because of the blog. I don’t know what I would do with you all!
• 3.5.14 Amy writes at Storytime Underground about how the YS profession needs to start shouting that our work has value and is important and that we need to share it if we’re going to change how people perceive us. So, arguably the single most important post in this round-up.

Outreach & Partnerships
• 1.13.14 Marge partnered with a local yoga instructor (full disclosure: my dear, dear friend Rachel!) to collaborate on a yoga storytime. I love this kind of unconventional partnership and already have this in the works at my new library!
• 1.30.14 Brooke gave us the rundown on her preschool tour, based this year on Dinosaur Vs. the Library!
• 2.18.14 Marge talks about her library’s new program that encourages all staff members to get involve in programming. A circulation staff member reached out to international students from the local university and had a wonderful global countries & cultures program for the kids!
• 3.5.14 Lisa created an AMAZING Kindergarten Literacy Night based around The Pigeon. It was held in the library, but I’m counting it as outreach since it was a partnership/school-requested event. I love the activities that Lisa planned, especially that sweet Pigeon flannelboard!

Preschool Programming
• 1.22.14 Amy rocked out with the parachute play program and managed to make a program work even when the iPod didn’t!
• 2.7.14 Amy gave us a way to get out that winter cooped-up energy with her Preschool/Toddler Obstacle Course! I think I need to start hoarding Baker & Tyler boxes and shelving boxes and all those boxed that the library sees every day.
• 2.10.14 Anne shared her awesome Mother Goose Games program and all I can say is: I know what I’m doing Summer 2016.
• 2.12.14 & 2.13.14 Lisa writes up her latest Play to Learn program, based on Go Away, Big Monster! She also posted about the creation of the color wheels featured in the program in another post. I want to steal this program SO MUCH. What a great literacy program!!
• 2.13.14 Meg isn’t afraid to embrace STEM anymore with her shapes PreSchool Explorers program! I love Meg’s willingness to step out of her comfort zone to do a great program for her kids.
• 3.5.14 Amy did a great hands-on art program: Little Learners. After a special message to the parents to remember their patience, Amy gave the kids scissors to make some Kandinsky inspired pieces. I think Amy’s book choices were spot-on and I’m sure the kids had a great time!

School-Age Programming
• 1.13.14 Amy wrote about her Family Fort After-Hours program. I desperately want to do this at my library now!
• 1.15.14 Erin has the absolute most dedicated teen volunteers EVER at her library’s Life-Sized Candyland. Take note of their truly inspired costumes!
• 2.14.14 Amy took a ton of pictures of idea for a fingerprint maker craft! This is a great tie-in with the Ed Emberley books that Amy mentions and something I’d definitely use with a variety of ages.
• 3.7.14 Sue kicks off Library Village‘s new school-age blog with a great post about making connections with pre-teen/tween patrons via the latest fad: rainbow looms. I’m looking forward to all that the new blog offers!

Storytime
• 1.6.14 Kendra revamped her Baby Storytime. And I definitely going to use the Smooth Road bounce considering we’re entering pothole season in Illinois!
• 1.6.14 & 2.3.14 Erin is posting a new series called “A Few of My Favorite Themes.” THEMED STORYTIME PACKETS AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD. January’s theme was snow and February’s was Valentine’s Day!
• 1.24.14 Anna told her how she re-vamped (in mid-program!) an unruly storytime program.
• 2.13.14 Lindsey finished her Toddler Storytime planning series. It is basically the only thing you’d need to read to start up Toddler Storytime in your library. And it has been my biggest how-to source to do the very best toddler storytime I can at my new library.
• 2.19.14 Mollie and Leah answered a reader-submitted question: how do you do storytime on a tight budget? Their recommendations are perfect and easy to implement for any librarian.
• 2.24.14 Amy blew my mind with a ballet storytime featuring a REAL-LIFE BALLERINA. Four-year-old Katie is wishing for time travel to be a real thing already.
• 3.7.14 Melissa and Lisa want to know about the average storytime workload. If you do storytime at your library, would you mind stopping by to take their survey?

For more awesome round-ups, please visit Stacked’s Links of Note, Jbrary’s We’ll Link to That!, and Storytime Underground’s Coolest Thing on the Internet.