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Spring Institute For Youth Services 2022 Education Sessions

Thursday, March 10, 2022 Sessions

11:00 AM – 12:00 PM  |  1:30 – 2:30 PM  |  3:00 – 4:00 PM

Friday, March 11, 2022 Sessions

10:30 – 11:30 AM  |  1:30 – 2:30 PM

Thursday | 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM

#LibraryTikTok: Libraries take over TikTok!

TikTok is more than a popular social media platform. It is a playground to promote library services, programs, books, and everything libraries while connecting with a wider audience and demographic. Storm Kopitsch and Zoe Guettler are the faces, brains, and fools behind the Fowlerville District Library TikTok account, which has gone viral multiple times. They will discuss different aspects of creating videos on TikTok, including a quick basic TikTok 101, use of sounds, lighting, video series, inspirations, and much more. They'll share their behind-the-scenes setup, how they come up with ideas, and how to make videos that stand out. Jump into TikTok and feel confident there's a place for your library here!

Primary Focus: Library Marketing

Goals:

• Recognize the significance of TikTok marketing for libraries
• Create TikTok videos to promote library services
• Apply TikTok trends to videos promoting library services

Presenters:

Storm Kopitsch, Fowlerville District Library

Zoe Guettler, Fowlerville District Library

Session Materials:

LibraryTikTok_Slides_MLA.pdf

Growing Early Literacy Programs with Ready to Read Michigan

Ready to Read Michigan has been undergoing a transformation over the past two years. Experience first-hand elements of the program training, review the new resources, and contribute to future plans that will support early literacy programming in your library. For example, the new Ready to Read Michigan toolkit will help you communicate to your community with flyers and promotional materials as well as help you train caregivers and parents.

Primary Focus: Early Literacy

Goals:

• Attendees will learn about the multitude of new Ready to Read Michigan resources and how it can support their outreach to families with young children.
• Attendees will experience firsthand some of the ways to implement early literacy practices.
• Attendees will be asked to provide input and help shape future Ready to Read Michigan resources and training.

Presenters:

Cathy Lancaster, Library of Michigan

This is NOT a Book Club: Programming for Young Teens

Have you ever tried to get a regular group of kids into the library and not received the kind of response you were hoping for from your community? Join Lisa as she discusses how she and her co-workers at the Canton Public Library have brought teens into the library for recurring programs and how they have maintained virtual and hybrid models through the pandemic. This session will provide some tips, tricks, best practices, and share programming supply lists and other materials to help inspire ideas to work for your community. During Q&A there will be some fun program building ideas and a look at how volunteer work with organizations like MLA can help you to build your repertoire of youth programming, services, and a community of librarians to share ideas.

Primary Focus: Tween/Teen

Goals:

• Learn how to create and think about programs that will foster a relationship with kids from upper elementary through high school.
• See material lists and ideas for other libraries to try.
• Talk about volunteer work with the MLA.

Presenters:

Lisa Boyd, Canton Public Library

Session Materials:

Slides

Thursday | 1:30 – 2:30 PM

Elevating Youth Voice for Successful Teen Services

In 2016, members of the Teen Advisory Group (TAG) and staff at the Ypsilanti District Library participated in a year-long training with a small cohort of youth arts organizations from Southeast Michigan and learned to use the Neutral Zone of Ann Arbor's Youth Driven Spaces (YDS) model to elevate youth voice. Since then, we've used YDS techniques to drive TAG work and to help teens envision and articulate ideas into pitches and grant proposals that have funded new spaces and services for the library. During the pandemic, TAG wanted to distribute free themed monthly supply packs with a book, activities, and conversation starters to improve teens' mental health. They earned a $24,000 Generator Z grant, which allowed a small youth steering committee to hire other teens to help fulfill their vision. Hear the details of the project and learn specific methods we use that can strengthen your advisory and grow teen program attendance.

Primary Focus: Tween/Teen 

Goals:

• Attendees will take away ideas they can use at the library to let teens' voices be heard and to support teens in authentic work such as program planning, leading, and evaluation.
• Attendees will leave with tools that are in alignment with YALSA's Competencies and Connected Learning, which they can use to help youth turn their ideas into action plans at the library.
• Attendees will learn steps they can take to increase youth leadership and voice through TAG and bring more teens to the library.

Presenters:

Jodi Krahnke, Ypsilanti District Library

Kelly Scott, Ypsilanti District Library

Library-School Partnerships: One box at a time

Wondering how to build stronger partnerships with your schools? Looking for ways to help schools get great books for their students? Wish you could visit every preschool classroom in your district? Connecting with local schools can be difficult and creating a successful outreach program is stressful. At Jackson District Library circa 2005, Head Start classes couldn't come to the library, we didn't have staff to visit 20+ sites, and we were part of the newly founded Great Start. Committed to helping our Head Start teachers have curriculum support, we started a program to send books to classes from October to May. In this session, we will describe how we created the program and how it expanded to cover over 100 preschool-3 grade classrooms.

Primary Focus: Early Literacy, School Age

Goals:

• Learn 2 to 3 new ideas on how to have a successful school/library partnership
• Think about school/library outreach in new ways
• Discover a great outreach program they can adapt to reach their local schools

Presenters:

Gretchen Dula, Jackson District Library

Carrie Gawne, Jackson District Library 

Session Materials:

Library-School Partnerships from JDL.pdf

(Don't) Read This Book: How to Handle Book Challenges

The ALA reports an unprecedented rise in book challenges in the last several months, and libraries in Michigan are no exception. This panel conversation will describe methods and pre-emptive steps you can take to prepare for book challenges and how to handle them when they happen. Library workers who have dealt with this issue will share some of their experiences and provide examples of how to handle challenges. 

Primary Focus: General 

Goals:

Hear the experiences of library workers who have dealt with recent book challenges and censorship issues. 

Learn methods to handle challenges at your library 

Panelists:

Panelists:

Josh Bernstein, Kent District Library

Betsy Raczkowski, Rochester Hills Public Library

Clare Membiela, Library of Michigan

Thursday | 3:00 – 4:00 PM

Black Comics Matter: Resources for Libraries

Comic books have always been political. They are both a reflection and a barometer of our times. From the first appearance of Captain America in 1941 punching Hitler, to recent titles like I Am Alfonso Jones and March, comic books have been and continue to be vitally important avenues to visually tell our stories, to share our histories, and to show experiences and multiple perspectives while engaging both sides of our brain. Join librarians from BCALA and ALA's GNCRT as they discuss their work on reading lists and webinars focused on Black experiences - past, present, and future. These resources were created for educators, parents, and readers of all ages to discuss why Black Lives Matter and Black literature matters.

Primary Focus: School Age, Tween/Teen, Other, please describe

Goals:

• Learn about the existing resources created and publicized by the BCALA and GNCRT Collaborative Committee.
• Learn how to use those resources in their own libraries.
• Have their interests piqued in library engagement at the national level.

Presenters:

Shira Pilarski, Saline District Library

Sandra Farag, Kalamazoo Public Library 

Session Materials:

Spring Institute Presentation Black Comics Matter.pdf

Leveling Up Ideas & Building Stronger Grant Applications

From early literacy to teen engagement, finding funding can be competitive for youth services. Come hear new ideas on programming and community engagement that are strong grant requests. Discover the essential pieces to include in grant requests and learn to build stronger applications.

Primary Focus: General

Goals:

• Attendees will come away with stronger grant writing skills
• Attendees will be inspired to create new, stronger youth services programs
• Attendees will be able to connect programming ideas to grant funders' goals

Presenters:

Cathy Lancaster, Library of Michigan

Karren Reish, Library of Michigan

Session Materials:

Leveling Up Grant Ideas & Building Stronger Grant Applications.pdf

Save the Date: 365 Days of Community Connections 

From bookbikes to storywalks to road rallies and beyond, Orion Township Public Library continues to create meaningful programming outside of the library walls. Utilizing relationships with local community organizations and stakeholders, we plan and execute programming year round that community members have come to expect and enjoy. This session will cover partnerships created with our bookbike, partnerships and other joint programming with our local parks and rec department, downtown development authority, local school district, and more. We will provide examples of how we took that first step and established and grew each connection, and examples of programming that the audience can try at their own library. Starting in January and ending in December, we will take the audience through each month of the year of community connections at OTPL.

Primary Focus: Community Connections

Goals:

• Attendees will leave with 2-3 new community partnership programming ideas they can bring back to their own library.
• Attendees will gain information to increase their confidence in reaching out to local community organizations.
• Attendees will learn 2-3 new community partnership ideas to incorporate outside of summer.

Presenters:

Ashley Lehman, Lake Orion Township Library

James Pugh, Lake Orion Township Library

Session Materials:

2022 SI Presentation Save the Date.pdf

Friday | 10:30 – 11:30 AM

Enhance Programming and Outreach with MeL Connections

The MeL Connections for Youth Programming Guide offers library staff a fresh way to look at using the MeL eResources for programming and outreach. Attendees will explore the benefits of using eResources to design and implement a wide range of "How to MeL" programs and develop a draft plan using the template provided within the guide.

Primary Focus: General

Goals:

• Identify the benefits of using MeL eResources to plan and carry out library programming.
• Generate ideas for programming that would be supported by MeL eResources.
• Analyze the content of an eResource to determine how it can be used to develop a program.

Presenters:

Laura Warren-Gross, Midwest Collaborative for Library Services (MCLS) 

Session Materials:

MLA Spring Institute MeL Connections for Youth Programming.pdf

MeL Youth Connections How to MeL Program Page.pdf

Promoting Diversity Without Making Waves

Librarians may receive pushback from patrons when it comes to displays and collection development.  Boards and/or management may limit what can be put on display, even during celebration months. Learn tips and tricks to incorporate materials in collections, and discover ways to create displays to recognize diversity all year round.

Primary Focus: Family

Goals:

• Attendees will learn how to create displays to serve diverse folks year round.
• Attendees will learn how to build stronger collections to serve their communities.

Presenters:

Mollie Beaumont, Walled Lake City Library 

Session Materials:

Promoting Diversity Without Making Waves.pdf

Programs, Grants, and Capacity-Building: Michigan Humanities Opportunities for Your Library

Curious about the way your library can receive funds for programming? Ready to take part in a statewide reading program or host a traveling exhibit? Michigan Humanities staff will share highlights of four programs and grants that are available now to Michigan libraries, offer tips for successfully applying for funding, and answer your questions about eligibility, timelines, and other important details. Through grants and collaborative programs offered across the state, Michigan Humanities provides opportunities to gain a deeper understanding of the past, the tools for stronger analysis of the present, and a more informed vision for the future.

Primary Focus: General

Goals:

• Raise awareness of the opportunities available through Michigan Humanities’ grants and programs
• Audience members will leave with the knowledge needed to take part in a program and/or apply for grant funding to support their library’s needs

Presenters:

Estee Schlenner, Michigan Humanities

Ashley Ross, Michigan Humanities

Session Materials:

MI Humanities.pptx

Friday | 1:30 – 2:30 PM

Managing Up, Down, and All Around: Lead From Where You Are

Managers aren't the only ones who manage. While they have an eye on the big picture and moving parts, it still takes a team to make things happen. That's where managing up comes into play. Managing up is a tool that staff members in non-leadership roles can use to effect change. But the flipside is that managers need to be open to...being managed. In this presentation, we'll give you perspective from both sides of the management relationship: managing and managing up with emotional intelligence, openness, deftness. We'll give you the top ways to make it a conversation, not a confrontation.

Primary Focus: Library Leadership

Goals:

• Library staff will understand what is meant by "managing up."
• Non-management staff will learn ways of managing up and to build more productive relationships with their managers.
• Management staff will learn to recognize and encourage managing up in their staff and how to be open to it.

Presenters:

Elissa Zimmer, Van Buren District Library

Liz Breed, Jackson District Library

Session Materials:

Managing Up SI 2022.pdf

Using Your Passion in a Virtual (Programming) World

Follow your passion and enhance virtual programs by providing a supply kit followed by virtual instruction.  Since Spring 2020, the Howell Carnegie Library has offered a monthly virtual Junior Artists program to engage elementary-age students. In Summer 2021, we added a seasonal Virtual Teen Bake Along for middle school students following this model. Both programs engage traditionally challenging to reach ages and make the virtual format interactive, fun, and accessible. Junior Artist participants pick up a supply kit at our curbside pickup location. A library staff member over Zoom then teaches participants about a classic artist and explores that artist's style/method while creating their unique masterpiece. Similarly, Teen Bake Along participants also pick up a supply kit at our curbside pickup location.  Over Zoom, a library staff member teaches techniques and tips to create a tasty baked item. These programs can easily be adapted to the passions of your library staff.

Primary Focus: School Age & Teen/Tween

Goals:

• Attendees will learn how and why our model (offering pickup followed by virtual instruction) leads to successful virtual events.
• Attendees will leave with ideas of how to utilize their own passion to follow our model for engaging and successful virtual programs.
• Attendees will leave confident in their ability to adapt our model and run a successful virtual program by participating in a modified mini "Junior Artists" class. 

Presenters:

Janice Heilman, Howell Carnegie District Library

Jen Ryan, Howell Carnegie District Library 

Session Materials:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1QPxPH9Od56AEPyQnDxTqgkOmQxop25-p

Listen While You Work: Starting a Library Podcast from the Ground Up!

Librarians need to meet patrons where they are, and a podcast is a great way to reach an audience. A good podcast entertains and encourages patrons to visit the library, and a great podcast can reach audiences far beyond your own community. Podcasters from a variety of libraries will discuss how they work to stand out amongst the crowd and create podcasts that both educate and entertain. You’ll also get the low-down on the equipment and tools needed to produce a podcast, and how to create your podcast regardless of budget.

Primary Focus: General

Goals:

• Hear how to make a podcast that entertains and educates
• Learn ways to develop your own podcast
• Learn about equipment needed to make a quality podcast regardless of budget

Panelists:

Kevin King, Kalamazoo Public Library

Toni Lea Isom, Adrian District Library

Sandra Farag, Kalamazoo Public Library

Shoshanna Wechter, Ypsilanti District Library

Jarrod Wilson, Kalamazoo Public Library

Jeff Milo, Ferndale Area District Library

Kevin King, Kalamazoo Public Library

Toni Lea Isom, Adrian District Library

Sandra Farag, Kalamazoo Public Library

Shoshanna Wechter, Ypsilanti District Library

Jarrod Wilson, Kalamazoo Public Library

Jeff Milo, Ferndale Area District Library

Session Materials:

KPL Podcast 5AQ handout.pdf