Spring Institute Home  |  SPRING INSTITUTE 2022 HOME  |  FEATURED SPEAKERS |  SPECIAL EVENTS |  EDUCATION SESSIONS  |  LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Spring Institute For Youth Services 2022 Featured Speakers

Opening Author Talk: Angeline Boulley 

Author and Michigander, Angeline Boulley will join us to talk about her book and inspirations. Set in the Upper Peninsula, the debut young adult novel The Firekeeper's Daughter was an instant NY Times bestseller and is in production as a Netflix series with Barack and Michelle Obama's company. It's an exciting crime thriller packed with Ojibwe culture along with themes of identity and resilience.

In this riveting novel, a biracial, unenrolled tribal member and the product of a scandal, Daunis Fontaine, has never quite fit in—both in her hometown and on the nearby Ojibwe reservation. When her family is struck by tragedy, Daunis puts her dreams on hold to care for her fragile mother. The only bright spot is meeting Jamie, the charming new recruit on her brother’s hockey team. After Daunis witnesses a shocking murder that thrusts her into a criminal investigation, she agrees to go undercover. But the deceptions—and deaths—keep piling up and soon the threat strikes too close to home. How far will she go to protect her community if it means tearing apart the only world she’s ever known?

Angeline Boulley is an enrolled member of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, is a storyteller who writes about her Ojibwe community in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. She is a former Director of the Office of Indian Education at the U.S. Department of Education. Angeline lives in southwest Michigan, but her home will always be on Sugar Island. Firekeeper's Daughter is her debut novel.

Moral Injury, Vocational Awe, and Impact: Leveling Up When the Chips Are Down

As youth librarians, we are particularly attuned to how those around us feel and engage with the world, and we draw comfort and inspiration from youth and families as we see them grow and thrive. On a bad day, we could boost our morale by reminding ourselves of the importance of our institutions on our community. However, this month marks COVID-19’s second anniversary, which has turned our jobs upside-down, created distance between those we love to serve and ourselves, exacerbated partisanship, and increased book challenges. Tara Haelle, in a 2020 essay, told us that our surge capacity was depleted … but now it’s 2022 … what is going on? In this presentation, we’ll talk about how the combination of too much vocational awe and moral injury (a term referring to times when our morals have been distressed, especially at work) may be at play, and how we can envision ourselves – and our workplaces --  to level up in the months ahead.

Kristin Fontichiaro is a clinical professor at the University of Michigan School of Information. An award-winning educator, she has taught students across K-12 and at the graduate level. Her current projects include developing culturally competent online instruction for school librarians, building the capacity of public library leaders, and developing data literacy skills. She coordinates the world's largest certificate program in public library management on the Edx.org platform as well as multiple public library leadership initiatives. Additionally, she is a prolific and multiple award-winning author for children and librarians. Her most recent books include Making in School and Public Libraries and Creating Data Literate Students.

Taking Care of Us: Level-Up Your Work and Health Through Physical Literacy 

Stressed out? Notice you are taking more sick days than usual or have less enthusiasm or energy than normal? Whether you are knotted up over work, personal issues, climate change, the pandemic, or politics, it seems like there are plenty of reasons to feel overwhelmed. Join library director, yoga teacher, and award-winning author, Jenn Carson, as she teaches you how to de-stress at your desk, maintain healthy posture, avoid injury, and regulate your emotions through breathing, stretching, and increasing your physical literacy. Participants will leave with take-home posters of easy self-care routines that will help to reduce stress and leave them feeling recharged instead of drained. 

Jenn Carson, MSLIS, CYT, CCYT is a professional yoga teacher and the director of the L.P. Fisher Public Library in Woodstock, New Brunswick, Canada.

She is the creator of the website yogainthelibrary.com and has been delivering movement-based programs in schools, libraries, and museums for over a decade. She is the author of Get Your Community Moving: Physical Literacy Programs for All Ages (ALA Editions, 2018) and Yoga and Meditation at the Library: A Practical Guide for Librarians (Rowman & Littlefield, 2019). She also blogs about her physical literacy adventures at the ALA’s Programming Librarian website: programminglibrarian.org.