ALA Chicago

Holy frijoles. It's been a while. And while I've been away, I'm feeling extremely blessed, well rested and a tad spoiled.

I have a wonderful job. THE best. This year I was one of the four librarians my library sent to the American Library Association (ALA) Annual Conference in Chicago. And I networked, learned a few new things, pushed programming a little farther, enjoyed great food, picked up a bunch of free swag, and talked with some amazing children's authors and illustrators.

My co-worker, Amanda, and I took the Amtrak into Chicago, which traveled at night. Two Fridays ago we boarded the train at 1:49 in the morning. It was my first time on a train, and within 20 minutes we were delayed. That delay lasted about two hours because, as we were told so by the conductor, the freight train in front of us "ran somebody over." And that was all we knew. It was never clarified if the train hit somebody in a car, or if a person was actually on the tracks...or what. Hmmm. Yet, I did enjoy myself. I liked that I had plenty of leg room, and the bags didn't have to be kept overhead. I liked that there were more bathrooms and a dining car (there was a sleeper car but we didn't purchase that option). I really liked the fact that we didn't have to go through security, our bags weren't checked, and I could have as many as I wanted without an extra fee. This is also kind of scary when you think about it....

You know what else is scary? Cab drivers. Chicago also brought me that first experience. An eyes-closed-with-a-death-grip-on-the-seat kind of experience. But the hotel, the Hilton in Chicago, was extremely nice. I had two beds, two bathrooms, and a "Welcome Brindi" sign flashing across the computer screen when I walked in all to myself. Not too shabby, my friends.

Friday night was the grand opening program, or as Mr. B called it, The Opening Ceremonies, suggesting a bunch of librarians should be running around with lighted books. Ummm, babe, have you not read Fahrenheit 451? That night was also the opening of the exhibit hall, where hundreds of vendors were out at full force, basically handing out free stuff. The photo below is a shot of the exhibit hall from the second level of the McCormick Convention Center. It was insane, and I'm not sure why Amanda and I decided to head over the first night. Yeah, we're first-timers.

While at the conference, I attended a plethora of sessions targeted at Youth Librarians, including a few on programming for children and tweens, understanding the leveling system (which I think you need a degree in math for, by the way), early childhood literacy, childhood commercialism, and a few on the many uses of a Caldecott. (The Caldecott Medal is awarded annually to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children published the previous year, and the Newbery Medal is awarded annually to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children...just wanted to clear that up because I'll be using those words throughout the rest of this post. They're kind of a big deal.) I was able to hear a few children's and young adult authors/illustrators speak as well.

A little librarian program humor to keep us entertained. :)

We had many opportunities to grace the exhibit hall to pick up a bunch of swag, including a dozen ARCs (Advanced Readers Copies, read: free books not yet published!), pens, bags, food/candy, posters, program tips, buttons, etc. and etc. The first night I picked up this cute Scaredy Squirrel bag and some delicious wine. (LOVE Scaredy Squirrel!) And they had Scaredy's stuffed animal to purchase, and if I had children of my own, I'd have spent way more money than Mr. B would have liked.

If you aren't familiar with Scaredy Squirrel, you need to be!

There were many ARCs for everyone to grab, but I tried to keep it minimal (I had to carry these things around the train station...).

But the absolute best part of the entire conference was the Caldecott-Newbery Award Banquet on Sunday night. It was $94 a plate and, although the library didn't pay for this, it was the 75th Caldecott anniversary so there was no way I was going to miss out on this experience. It was lovely. Phenomenal. Entertaining. Sociable. And delicious.

My co-worker and I at the Caldecott-Newbery Award Banquet.

My adviser/professor during library school is the current Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) president, so I was excited to see her there heading up the banquet. It was so cool seeing all of the medal and honor winners receiving their awards: Newbery winner Katherine Applegate for The One and Only Ivan, Wilder winner Katherine Paterson for her overall lasting contribution to children's literature, and, of course, Caldecott winner Jon Klassen for This Is Not My Hat. Every speech was just wonderful, full of emotion and quite hilarious, especially Klassen's. He's such a sweetheart.

And the food was spectacular. But, you know, the dessert was the best part of the meal. I particularly enjoyed the special Caldecott cookie favor. Oh, and I did try The Gold cocktail, made just for the night's banquet. If you've read my blog for any amount of time, you know I don't drink except for the occasional glass of wine. But this cocktail had rum, and ginger, and citrus stuff, and it was an award banquet. Yes, it was quite strong, and yes, it took me the entire night to finish. And, yes, the elderly lady beside me informed me that I am a slow drinker.

Oh, but she was a gem. She's a retired children's educator who tagged along with her husband, who is the director (I think) of Penn State's library. Her whole group was extremely nice and charming and, honestly, I wanted her to be my grandmother. We had an instant connection. AND she invited Amanda and I out to Penn State to attend a poetry/children's program. We exchanged emails and I know I made a life-long [email] friend and, the good Lord willing and the creek don't rise, I may take her up on that offer. She was just precious. AND her husband is good friends with Kevin Henkes (one of my all-time favorite children's authors), who just so happened to be in attendance (and a previous Caldecott-winner), and he introduced us. I'll admit, it was the first time I couldn't find my words. Fangirl completely. Sadly, I didn't get to tell him how much I enjoyed and connected with his children's book, Chrysanthemum.

My second favorite moment: meeting Caldecott-winner Jon Klassen.

This man = Sweetheart

And, to my excitement, while he was signing my book, we got on the subject of yoga (particularly for your hands) and I was able to explain how I use his and other picture books as part of my yoga story times. He was intrigued and told me to make sure I took stickers back to the kids. I'm not sure if he really meant stickers for all of my kiddos, so I just settled for one :)

ALA madness

I learned so much, met many wonderful people, and I will take every opportunity I have to get back. I felt very blessed to share in this experience with so many passionate, knowledgeable, and creative librarians.

With Love and God Bless,
Brindi

Sunday Sweets

1. Happy Mother's Day, Mama!

2. Well, it was my last week with Stark State's Writing Center. My co-worker and dear friend, Jessica H., brought in cheesecake, lime tortilla chips and guacamole to celebrate. She also made me a banner and everyone signed it. Wow, I'm really going to miss my co-workers. They're some of my best friends. :(


3. On Wednesday, Pemberly finally came home! After almost $400, he looks brand-spanking new.


4. I spent my last day at Massillon Public Library at a Youth Conference with Angel, the Teen Librarian. We had a blast and learned so much about "Teens Going Mobile @ Your Library." There are so many awesome, educational apps out there. Too bad most libraries aren't going to be able to afford these. However, the keynote speaker did mention that we could create a list of recommended apps to show teens if they ask for suggestions.

5. I'm sure you all know about my love of conferences, and this one didn't disappoint. Lunch was actually really good and I met so many friendly people. Like the Teen Librarian from the library I will be calling home as of tomorrow. She was all excited that she got to talk with me first. Also, her last name is Amazing. She can literally say, "Hi. I'm Amazing." Jealous. <--- I later discovered she and her husband had their names changed to "Amazing," but still...awesome.

6. Antony John was the guest author at the conference. I never heard of Antony, but after listening to him book talk his four books, I've marked all of them to read. And I was the lucky attendee that won a copy of his newest book, Elemental, which hits stores in November. It's the first in the dystopian trilogy set in Outer Banks, NC....super excited to dive into this book.

7. Annnnd....I won one of the door prizes! Another book, Secrets (The Ivy #2), by Lauren Kunze and Rina Onur, but I let Angel take that book and we'll switch once we've finished.


8. To celebrate my very last day on Friday, a few of my co-workers and I had lunch at Zoup! and then I got a half-price frappy and had Crispy Chicken Margarita Tacos for dinner. Soooo good. A perfect ending. :)


9. Mr. B and I are house hunting, and we went through a really nice house yesterday. However, it had no garage (which Mr. B desperately wants) and the only washer and dryer hookup was in the kitchen and it was a "stacked" set. Ummm, no. I can't do that. I'd need a stool just to get into the dryer. I don't think so....however the Jack-and-Jill bathroom set up was divine.


10. Oh, and I can't wait to start the summer devotional, Love Like Him, from Do Not Depart. Head on over to their blog site and print out the free PDF. This series starts tomorrow!


With Love and God Bless,
Brindi

Conference Love

I am a huge advocate for work conferences. I think anyone in any profession should attempt to participate by going to their organization's meetings, be it as presenter or audience. It is so important to stay a fresh in one's field whether it be food blogging, tutoring or librarianship. If you have a passion for what you do, then push yourself. Never stop learning!

I love learning.

There are always new things to learn, concepts to try, people to meet and information to gather. Conferences are a great way to become more familiar with your field, update your resume and broaden your experience.


And I only better myself with each conference I attend. There is so much out there for me to try and to learn in all of my fields. There is just something I enjoy about working with my colleagues in order to inform others about what's going on in our writing center or what the library has to offer.

In my young professional career, I have attended two Northeast Ohio Writing Center Association (NEOWCA) conferences for my job as a writing assistant at Stark State, and two Resources for Early Childhood Educators (RECE) conferences for the library as part of my Master's "practicum."

My first conference experience was with the Writing Center at last year's NEOWCA. During that conference, I presented twice alongside my co-workers. One was a panel discussion on technology and non-traditional students. It was really nice to hear that other centers are facing some of the same challenges we are, and that there are many different approaches. The other involved a visual argument debate. This was a fun session, and once the debate got going, it was sad the time ended so soon.

I really enjoy listening to what my colleagues have to say and what information, experiences, and solutions they bring to the table. I always love when I can bring something valuable back to the writing center.

At this year's conference, I presented along with a few of my co-workers on boundaries in the writing center. We discussed issues between writing assistants and students that we face on a daily basis, asking if it's best to have a set of boundary rules in place or if the writing assistant should set them him/herself. We had scenarios to work through, a continuum to finish, and a short video (a co-worker created) to watch. It led to a very interesting discussion.

And I can't help but enjoy those moments! You know, the kind where everyone is taking part in the discussion, and you're learning about each center, addressing problems, sharing information and developing solutions. So fun! (I'm a nerd, I know.)

This year, during my library practicum, I had the wonderful opportunity of attending two conferences focusing on the Akron-Summit County Public Library (a wonderful library!) and RECE. The first, Nature's Realm: Taking Learning Outdoors, fell under my practicum hours, and I learned so much at this conference that I would love to go back every year. I came away with so many ideas for children's story times that I can apply to my future career. I also learned why it's so important to get our kids outdoors to learn about their environment and Ohio. At that conference, I grew as a children's librarian, making me well-equipped and a better candidate for future positions in this competitive field.

Source

The library's RECE department partnered with Summit MetroParks to inform early childhood educators (like head start programs, teachers, day cares, etc.) how important it is to get kids outside exploring their world, their own backyard. Whether you take them on a hike or have class outside, kids need to just be outside!!! The library then introduced how literacy can tie into outdoor learning. It was great! (I learned how to make the coolest turtle craft! and found great tools for story time kits.)

Source

The second conference, Building Healthy Kids, was actually my practicum project, and I had the opportunity to present alongside Laura (she is brilliant at what she does), who works for the library as an Early Childhood Specialist. We presented on the importance of keeping our kids healthy and active, creating healthy habits from infancy, and tying it in with the library and literacy. I spent hours and hours researching (I loved it) valuable resources that early childhood educators (ECEs) can use indoors with limited space. I created various supplemental materials on fitness, health and nutrition, and yoga.

My part of the presentation consisted of a quick introduction on why ECEs should include yoga practices in their curriculums. [I'm a huge yogini. haha. But more on that in a later post.] (We had a lot of information to share in a short 45-minute session.The good thing, we were able to present the same session twice, once in the morning and the afternoon. So what we didn't hit on the first time, we caught the second time around.) I showed them ideas on how to incorporate yoga throughout the day, resources that explain various poses, and I concluded with a demonstration of my own.

I created a yoga story time.

I applied various yoga poses to Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar. A classic I'm sure we are all familiar with. I had so much fun skimming through resources and finding the best poses for preschoolers that fit with the book.

My yoga demo was the hit of the session!

One day I hope to attend the annual American Library Association (ALA) conference and other big ones in this field.

The next time your field is having a conference of its own, make sure you jump on that opportunity!

[And come back and share something you learned!]


With Love and God Bless,
Brindi