YAACING spring 2018 by Young Adults and Children's Services

YAACING | Spring 2018

Table of Contents Message from the Chair 5 Message from the Editors 6

News PNLA Young Reader’s Choice Award Nominees 2018 - Noreen Ma 7 Red Cedar Award Call for Volunteers 8

Columns Jbrary: We’ll Link to That - Dana Horrocks and Lindsey Krabbenhoft 9 YAACS Continuing Education - Kate Wood & Nikky McCarvill

Diversity in Children’s Literature - Tracy Stremlaw 19 Ink: a Teen Journal of Writing and Visual Art - Julia McKnight 22 Booksmack Marshmallow Toss - Ardie Burnham 23 Mindfulness Storytime - Jenny Zhang 25 Work Experience for Teens - Rebekah Adams-Brush 27

Call for Submissions 28

Teens Only - Amy Dawley

Features

Bilingual Storytime for Parents and Children - Brittany Lank

Cover art by Dawn Lo 2018

YAACING | Spring 2018

Message From the Chair I am so happy to say that Vancouver Island Continuing Education Coordinators Nikky McCarvill and Kate Wood held their inaugural event this month. Open to Vancouver Island and surrounding islands this event focused on STEM programming with a presentation by VIRL’s Allison Trumble. Kudos to Kate, Nikky and Allison for picking our creative brains and stirring up some momentum. The Youth Service Institute 2018 is underway. We are building on last year’s success and anticipate another exciting day. The morning will feature Peggy Thompson from Toronto Public Library, who will outline her recent work with the City of Toronto on a Middle Years framework, along with her continued work supporting family literacy during the middle years. The afternoon will highlight work at the local level through a series of presentations by library staff from libraries across BC. Start thinking about what you’d like to share, we will be recruiting presenters very soon! YSI will be held on the Tuesday leading up to BCLA’s conference and will be located at Richmond Public Library’s Brighouse branch. The YAACS AGM will also be held during the conference and everyone is welcome to attend. Between YSI, YAACS and the conference, I look forward to having numerous opportunities to see you. I wish to thank the YAACs crew for everything you do and I also wish to thank you - the YAACING readers! There are many different ways to be involved with YAACS, drop me a line if you’re looking to engage. See you at BCLC, Sarah Harrison YAACS Chair, BCLA sharrison@gvpl.ca READ MORE ISSUES OF YAACING

YAACING | Spring 2018

Message From the Editors After a long, cold, unusually snowy winter, your editors here at YAACING are more than ready to welcome spring! This issue of YAACING is packed with great information that we’re sure you’ll enjoy - hopefully while taking in some of that much-needed spring sunshine! We’ve got something for just about everyone this issue, from a mindfulness-themed storytime program for toddlers and preschoolers, to a “Book Smack” program for school-aged kids, to a work experience program for teens! Whatever age group you work with, we hope there will be something of interest for you in this exciting issue. On that note - we want to hear from you, our YAACING readers! Let us know what areas of library youth services interest you, or that you would like to read more about in future issues of YAACING. Our goal is to create a resource that reflects and serves our professional community, and we can’t do that without your help. So, send us an email at yaacing@gmail.com and let us know what you would like to read about in YAACING! We'd also like to extend a very warm welcome to two new members of the YAACING team - Shenuri Nugawila is our very talented layout designer, and Dawn Lo is our brilliant illustrator. You can find more of Dawn's work on her website: http://www.dawndawndawnillustration.com/. Thank you Shenuri and Dawn for all your hard work on this beautiful issue!

Here’s wishing everyone a happy, sunny spring filled with exciting programs and learning opportunities. Your Editors, Julia McKnight and Jane Whittingham READ MORE ISSUES OF YAACING

YAACING | Spring 2018

PNLA Young Readers Choice Awards

Voting is set to begin soon for the PNLA YRCA. Please see below for a quick FAQ regarding voting. 1. When do readers vote? a. Between March 15 and April 15 2. Who can vote? a. Young readers in grades 4-12 and whose state or province are PNLA members are eligible to vote. Students must have read or listened to a nominated title(s) in order to vote. Students may vote in more than one division, however, they must have read a title(s) in the division in which they are voting. 3. Where do readers vote? a. At a student's school library or a participating public library. If you are unsure how to vote, please contact your YRCA representative. 4. How do readers vote? a. Libraries will provide their own ballots or use ballots available on the PNLA website. 5. Where should we send the ballot counts? a. Votes should be submitted to the state/provincial YRCA representatives or to the YRCA Chair. YAACING | Spring 2018

In case you missed the 2018 nominees, here they are: Junior Division (Grades 4-6) Goodbye Stranger by Rebecca Stead Roller Girl by Victoria Jamieson Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen The Terrible Two by Mac Barnett Illuminae by Amie Kaufman Masterminds by Gordon Korman The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Unusual Chickens for the Exceptional Black Poultry Farmer by Kelly Jones Senior Division (Grades 10-12) Circus Mirandus by Cassie Beasley Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi The War that Saved my Life by Kimberley Coates Brubaker Bradley Carry On by Rainbow Rowell Crenshaw by Katherine Applegate Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard Fuzzy Mud by Louis Sachar Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo Intermediate Division (Grades 7-9) A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Magnus Chase – The Sword of Summer by Maas Rick Riordan I was Here by Gayle Forman The Nest by Kenneth Oppel We Are All Made of Molecules by Susin The Blackthorn Key by Kevin Sands Nielsen Nimona by Noelle Stevenson Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella The success of YRCA relies on librarians Noreen Ma is the BC Representative of PNLA and YRCA as well as a librarian and to promote YRCA at their libraries and branch head at the Vancouver Public to give young readers the opportunity to Library vote.

Red Cedar Award Call for Volunteers The Red Cedar Award, B.C.’s Young Readers’ Choice Award, is looking for new volunteers to join their dedicated group of organizers. Volunteers meet several times a year to select read submissions and select nominees, create and curate online content, and plan a yearly award gala. Meetings take place in the Lower Mainland, but volunteers from across the province and welcome and encouraged to participate, and teleconferencing is always available at meetings. All library staff and students with a passion for Canadian children’s literature are welcome and encouraged to participate! For more information, you can contact Katherine Parker at redcedaraward@gmail.com YAACING | Spring 2018

We’ll Link to That! Are you getting tired of your tried and true felt story collection? Nothing rejuvenates a storytime quite like a freshly cut flannel! We’ve collected some new, or new-to-us stories which positively lend themselves to the felt board, now it’s up to you to bring them to life! Stack the Cats by Susie Ghahremani

Trying to add more STEM elements to storytime? This cat themed counting book is perfect! The Lego Librarian has a version that looks identical to the book and includes a step-by-step guide to turning books into felts. Addition never looked so good.

YAACING | Spring 2018

Tickle Monster by Edouard Manceau French author Manceau is a genius when it comes to shapes. Transform a monster into a friendly neighbourhood scene in this interactive felt story. We shared this one on Flannel Friday and the early literacy messages that go along with it are not to be missed. 8

A Good Day for Hat by T. Nat Fuller, illustrated by Rob Hodgson

Could You Lift Up Your Bottom? written by Hee-jung Chang, illustrated by Sung-hwa Chung

We had never heard of this book before but we saw it featured in Jen in the Library’s toddler shape storytime and then again on Storytime in the Stacks so we knew it must be good. It’s another story that includes hats and shapes and a bit of trickery. You could reuse a lot of pieces for other felt stories which is an added bonus. This book is a surefire hit with the preschool crowd and the felt version would work just as well. Check out the different versions librarians have created so far on Storytime Station, The Buckeye Librarian, and Literary Hoots

So we really like this book, could you tell?! But as Anna at Future Librarian Superhero notes it’s a perfect one to extend with flannel. She has created a simple bear for Mr. Brown and then captured the whimsy of his eclectic hat collection. Scale it up with accessories and other characters or just keep it simple with his hats - your choice! Polar Bear's Underwear by Tupera Tupera

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Night Animals by Gianna Marino Hooray for Hat by Brian Won

This is a perfect storytime book, especially as summer approaches and families will be heading outdoors to hike or camp. Wendy at Flannel Board Fun has done an incredible job at adapting not just the animals but some of the effects which really sell this story. This book (and its subsequent siblings) is highly participative and a delight to read and tell with felt. There are a few different versions and we love both: Miss Mary uses bright animals with neutral faces and some sneaky velcro while Laura at Library Lalaland gave each animal a grumpy face on one side and a cheered-up face on the other, so all you have to do is flip. Pure genius! Lindsey Krabbenhoft is a children’s librarian Have you fallen in love with a new felt story? at Vancouver Public Library, who loves all Send us an email at jbrary@gmail.com to tell things storytime. Dana Horrocks is the Director of a small public library in New us all about it! Brunswick. Together they make up Jbrary which is a library of storytime resources for those of us working with children. Join us for songs, rhymes, fingerplays, and more at www.jbrary.com YAACING | Spring 2018

YAACS Continuing Education: STEM Professional Development Workshop Our first Vancouver Island - Professional Development workshop was a great success. Led off with a fantastic presentation on STEM by Allison Trumble from the Vancouver Island Regional Library in the Comox Valley, her engaging presentation offered many different ideas on how to incorporate STEM into library programs. Workshop attendees also had the opportunity to make slime (FUN!!) as well as ice-cream, a fun and delicious treat! The second half of the workshop was a resource sharing roundtable discussion with everyone sharing one (or more!) ideas about interesting and different STEM programs that they have tried themselves or wanted to try. The three hours went by really quickly and a huge amount of information was shared. The resources from Allison’s presentation, as well as the group resource/program sharing information will be compiled into a document and distributed to the YAACS listserv within the next month. Overall a really awesome first VI – Pro-D event. Thanks to all who attended! We are hoping to have our next Professional Development workshop in Nanaimo sometime in May, so stay tuned for the date, time and location! Kate Wood & Nikky McCarvill Vancouver Island & Surrounding Islands Continuing Education Coordinators

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Save the Date: Youth Services Institute YAACS and BCLA will host the second Youth Services Institute, a day of professional development for library staff who serve children and families, on May 8 2018 from 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. at the Brighouse branch of the Richmond Public Library.

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YAACING | Spring 2018

Building a Crisis Collection at Vancouver Island Regional Library One of the things I find the most interesting about being part of the team at the Vancouver Island Regional Library is the differences between the sizes of the branches in the 39 communities we serve. As part of VIRL’s Teen Services

collection is not locked to one particular branch. This is a fantastic way to serve all our communities, but it presented a problem when it came to ensuring books were on the shelves for teens who may be in crisis and needing supportive materials

Committee, any service or program we

now.

design has to work for any sized

The intrepid members of VIRL’s Teen

community, from Woss to Nanaimo. As

Services Committee put their heads

librarians focusing on teen services, one

together and the idea we came up with

of the major challenges we face is the lack

was what we internally refer to as the

of reliable internet connectivity in many

Teen Crisis Collection—a selection of core

of our small communities. It is my

books that tackle tough issues teens may

committee’s job to be sure that no matter

face. The Crisis Collection is designed to

what level of access teens have to

ensure quality, informative, and

technology, they can get the accurate

supportive materials are present in

information they need in a timely way.

branches at the point of need for teen

In 2017 VIRL’s Teen Services Committee tackled the challenge of how to provide supportive information for teens in moments of crisis. VIRL’s collection is floating, which means that other than reference materials, the rest of the

customers. Our goal was to reduce barriers to accessing materials, so that in a crisis, teens do not need to request materials and wait for their arrival, or even necessarily ask staff for assistance on sensitive topics.

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Crisis Collection Titles: ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out by Kuklin, Susan. ISBN 9780763656119 Depression: A Teen's Guide to Survive and Thrive by Toner, Jacqueline. ISBN 9781433822742 Freaking Out: Real-Life Stories About Anxiety by Wells, Polly. ISBN 9781554515448 The Gender Quest Workbook: A Guide for Teens and Young Adults Exploring Gender Identity by Testa, Rylan Jay. ISBN 9781626252974 Grief Recovery for Teens: Letting Go of Painful Emotions with Body-Based Practices by Popowitz, Coral. ISBN 9781626258532 Hello Cruel World: 101 Alternatives to Suicide for Teens, Freaks, and Other Outlaws by Bornstein, Kate. ISBN 9781583227206 How to Like Yourself by Bradshaw, Cheryl M. ISBN 9781626253483 In Love and in Danger: a Teen’s Guide to Breaking Free of Abusive Relationships by Levy, Barrie. ISBN 9781580051873. The Letter Q: Queer Writers' Notes to Their Younger Selves. ISBN 9780545399333 My Kind of Sad by Scowen, Kate. ISBN 9781550379402 One in Every Crowd by Coyote, Ivan. ISBN 9781551524597 Mindfulness for Teen Anxiety: A Workbook for Overcoming Anxiety at Home, at School & Everywhere Else by Willard, Christopher. ISBN 9781608829101 Mindfulness for Teen Depression: A Workbook for Improving Your Mood by Abblett, Mitch. ISBN 9781626253827 A Still Quiet Place for Teens: A Mindfulness Workbook to Ease Stress & Difficult Emotions by Saltzman, Amy. ISBN 9781626253766 Stopping the Pain: A Workbook for Teens Who Cut & Self-injure by Shapiro, Lawrence. ISBN 9781572246027 Strong at Heart: How it Feels to Heal From Sexual Abuse by Lehman, Carolyn. ISBN 9780374372828. What's Eating You? A Workbook for Teens with Anorexia, Bulimia, and other Eating Disorders by Nelson, Tammy. ISBN 9781572246072

Our goal was to buy a set of these materials for each of VIRL’s 39 branches, ensuring that no matter their internet connection or library card status, teens could walk into their local library branch and get the information they need. Working with the lovely folks of our support services and collections departments, members of our Committee worked to put these items in place with special cataloguing rules that kept the YAACING | Spring 2018

books in their home communities. While we chose not to specially label these materials in any way, there was a period of internal communication to educate our branch staff, letting them know these materials wouldn’t be going anywhere and would be in their communities when teens needed them most. What resulted was that we received so much positive feedback from our 13

coworkers who are in contact with their community’s teens, especially those in the smallest centres. Not only were teens checking these materials out, so were the adults in their lives—we also heard that many branches were finding the books out in the library’s reading areas, stuffed behind other books, etc. It might not have the most easily-measured impact, but we knew the Crisis Collection was working and being used. 2018 presents “Year 2” of VIRL’s Teen Crisis Collection and we are planning on expanding its reach by incorporating some fiction titles into the mix, as well as creating pathfinders and supportive pamphlets providing information on how teens can access further help and local resources. We’re looking forward to where this initiative

will lead. Sometimes it’s easy to forget that not all teens have access to the internet, a computer, or a smart device. As lovers of libraries and advocates for teens, it’s our job to remember the realities of life for all of our teens, not forgetting those in the smallest of our communities in British Columbia where connectivity may be limited. I encourage you to consider taking a second look at your teen nonfiction collection and giving it a hard weed if it needs it! Some of these materials may be lifesavers and updated information is essential. If you’d like more information on VIRL’s Teen Crisis Collection or anything else, please reach out. I love making new library-land friends. Drop me a line any time at 250-247-7878 or at adawley@virl.bc.ca.

Amy Dawley is the Customer Services Librarian II at the Gabriola Island Branch of the Vancouver Island Regional Library and serves as the Chair of VIRL’s Teen Services Committee. In 2013 Amy received the British Columbia Library Association’s Young Adult and Children’s Service Award in recognition of exceptional service to children and youth in British Columbia.

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YAACING | Spring 2018

Bilingual Storytime for Parents and Children Whether you are a child or an adult, learning a new language can be a daunting task. For children entering French immersion, the challenge of learning a new language is piled on top of all of the other skills that children have to learn when they enter school: social skills, healthy habits, routine behaviour, sharing, the list goes on and on. Luckily, children are incredibly adaptable and learn a lot of these skills quite quickly. However, as a previous French immersion student myself, I can tell you that one huge obstacle to learning French as a child was the limited amount of practice that I could have outside of school hours. My family and friends didn’t speak French and we had a very difficult time finding community events geared towards French immersion students and their English speaking families. What can a library do about this problem? This year the Prince George Public Library has been offering a program called “Read to me in French” to help bridge this gap. This is a bilingual storytime aimed at younger school aged children in French immersion and their families. This program offers a half hour a week where children get to hear and participate in stories, songs and rhymes in French. Even better, parents and guardians get to learn and practice these French pieces as well! The idea for this French storytime came from Heather Gloster, Youth Services

YAACING | Spring 2018

Librarian at the Prince George Public Library, who some of you may be familiar with from her previous pieces in YAACING. As I mentioned earlier, I was in French immersion through my entire school career, so when Heather pitched this idea I jumped all over the opportunity to facilitate this. I was beyond excited when I started planning this program, so naturally I told my parents all about it. Their response to me was “Wow! That would have been amazing to have around when you were a kid!” So far, we’ve had similar feedback from the families who have participated. The main goals for this program are relatively straightforward: provide a fun environment for children and their families to learn, hear and practice their French, highlight some of the French collection available at our library, and build confidence and enthusiasm in school age children. Not too difficult, right? Of course, as I’m sure you all know, achieving these goals is much easier said than done. We are doing quite well so far, but I can tell you that this program doesn’t look at all how I expected it to at first, and that it is still changing to fit the needs of the families attending. Through participant feedback and my own reading of the groups, this program has evolved in to a dynamic bilingual storytime, and I know it will continue to change as it grows.

One of my favourite sessions so far has been “under the sea” themed, and it looked something like this: Welcome song: Bonjour mes amis!

Song: C’est la baleine

Discussion: Welcome question and important words

Action song: Le bateau dans l’eau

Action song: Si tu aimes le Soleil Book (English then French): Little White Fish/ Petit poisson blanc Flannel board song: Slippery Fish/ La belle pieuvre

Book : Le poisson magique Flannel board story: Baleine bleue, baleine bleue, qu’est-ce que tu voix? Flannel board story : Cinq petites méduses Goodbye song: Au revoir mes amis

Every session follows a theme, and before the families arrive I set up a white board and write down some important or repetitive words in English and in French, usually with a (horribly drawn) picture between. I also set up a table with some fun books in the collection that I think the families might like, and make sure to welcome families with a quick Bonjour mes amis, bienvenue à la bibliothèque! Finally, I always ask a question for families to answer in French, and the practice they get while responding and discussing is so valuable. The stories that have been the most fun and the most useful are those that heavily involve participation and the use of lots of visual cues. In order to make things easy to follow along with, I provide families with a print-out of the songs that we do in both English and in French, and use a lot of flannel stories, action songs, and big books. I do my best to provide descriptive commentary to any activities that we do

strictly in French, and we do A LOT of “repeat after me” style songs and stories. So far I have had several returning families and I’ve noticed a huge difference already in the children’s and parent/guardian’s confidence to ask questions and practice the French language out loud. I’ve also experienced an added benefit that I hadn’t anticipated: I have personally had so much fun! As a French speaker who learned through immersion, I was a little worried this program would be overwhelming. However, it has been so much fun for me, and I know that it has been great for the families involved. I’m beyond excited to see where this program goes in the future! If you feel like this might be they type of program that would fit your own library, you want to hear more about it, or you want to include a French version of one of your favourites in your next storytime, please don’t be shy! You can reach me at blank@pgpl.ca and I’d love to share some ideas.

Brittany Lank is a children’s library assistant at the Prince George Public Library. YAACING | Spring 2018

Diversity in Children’s Literature: What Does it Mean and How Do We Support it? Part one of a four-part series Diversity is a topic relevant to the work of children’s librarians because it is important for all children to be able to identify with the story they are reading. If children can see themselves in a book, there is a sense of belonging and importance created. This sense goes far beyond the walls of the library and can deeply affect the way we see ourselves as adults and the way we view each other, as members of the same community, school, and country. There is a need for diverse characters and less stereotypical plot modelling from publishers. When publishers are aware that there is a demand for more diversity in children’s services, and when they understand what diversity means to children’s literature, they can support books from authors that represent different and non-mainstream viewpoints, more often. The series explores four different resources on the topic of Diversity in Children’s literature and provide a summary for each one. Attention is given to each articles’ relevance to both library students and library professionals, and there are suggestions on ways to incorporate these lessons into our everyday practice.

Resource Review #1: Milestones for Diversity in Children’s Literature, By Kathleen T. Horning This study recaps for the reader a timeline of important steps that have been made on behalf of diversity in children’s literature. Author Kathleen Horning discusses the importance of revolutionary “firsts” as being important in setting markers in the social mindset of the times, and points out that these markers have often been put forth by librarians. These markers often impact what will get published the following year.

Progress is often measured by the “firsts”, which can become the impetus for breaking down many diversity barriers. YAACING | Spring 2018

Librarians have always been at the forefront of this movement and they continue to be champions of diversity, however the work of previous generations of librarians is enormous and outweighs the work done to further diversity in the last forty years. This article is inspirational to library students and professionals while providing proof that more emphasis must be put on this area, especially as the diversity gap is growing. Horning’s article offers summaries of major accomplishments for diversity in libraries, beginning in 1920 when W.E.B. Du Bois spearheaded The Brownies Book, a monthly magazine created for African American children. Due to a poor subscription rate, it was forced to cease after only 24 issues, but this marked the beginning of recognizing that the need for such a magazine existed. In 1921 Pura Belpré, a Puerto Rican immigrant, was hired by the New York Public Library and pioneered bilingual Storytimes that served the Spanish immigrant population. In 1927, Charlemae Hill Rollins was hired as a children’s librarian at the Chicago Public library and worked hard to fight against stereotypical portrayals of African Americans in children’s literature. In 1941 Rollins would publish a list of recommended books for black children that countered negative stereotypes. In 1928, Dhan Gopal Mukerji became the first person of ethnicity to win the Newbery Award for “Gay-Neck: The story of a Pigeon”. In 1932, “Pop and Fifina: Children of Haiti”, the first children’s book about black people, was published. Augusta Baker is noted as being an infamous children’s librarian at the Harlem library, known internationally for her storytelling. Then, in 1938, at the New York City Public Library, The James Weldon Johnson YAACING | Spring 2018

Collection was unveiled featuring 40 books that had positive portrayals of black people. Other milestones include the first contemporary portrayal of a Chinese girl in Mei Lei, 1939, which won a Caldecott. In the same year, Tobe by Stella Gentry Sharpe was written in response to a student’s question as to why there were no books with kids that looked like him. In 1945, Call me Charley by Jesse Jackson, became the first book with an African-American protagonist. In 1946, My Dog Rinty by Ellen Tarry and Marie Hall Ets, was written about an African-American boy but illustrated in black and white photographs to avoid prejudice. The book “Story of the Negro” by Arna Bontemps would win a Newbery in 1949. Bontemps was the first African-American to win a major ALA award. Firsts in Activism In 1955 Augusta Baker published the article “Changing Librarian in a Changing Neighborhood” offering advice on how to make children of colour feel welcomed at the library. In 1964 “The Council on Interracial Books for Children”, was created in response to many authors, illustrators and educators demands that more diverse books be made available while calling for an eradication of stereotypes. Interracial Books for Children was published by CIBC in 1966 and in 1969 Augusta Baker penned an open letter in Publisher’s Weekly entitled “Guidelines for Black Books: An Open Letter to Juvenile Editors”.

Diversity Awards and organizations promoting diversity “Firsts” 1969 - The Coretta Scott King Award established. 1996 - The Pura Belpre award is established to encourage books by Latino authors and illustrators. 2003 - APALA (Asian Pacific American Librarians Association) hands out its first award for children’s books with positive portrayal of Asian history and culture. 2006 - American Indian Library Association creates a Youth Literature Award to honor writing and illustrating about American Indians. 2014 - We Need Diverse Books is created as a coalition of authors, illustrators and librarians to advocate for diverse children’s and teen literature. 2015 - First time both the Newbery and the Caldecott awards both go to people of color. Closing Thoughts It is important as a library professional to know the work that has been done around the subject of diversity and the names of some key players. There have been some strong voices for diversity in children’s library services and many barriers were broken leading up to the 1970’s with the civil rights movements. But through this article, we can see that work did noticeably slow down after that time. There is a sense that the article is encouraging a new wave of diversity movements, perhaps due to the influx of more ethnic cultures in North America and the widening diversity gap. As a student and library worker, it is important to know there is more work to be done, while being inspired by the activism of the past. YAACING | Spring 2018

Bibliography Horning, Kathleen T. "Milestones for Diversity in Children's Literature and Library Services." Children and Libraries: The Journal of the Association for Library Service to Children 13.3 (2015): 7-11.

Tracy Stremlaw is a student of Library and Information Technology at Langara College.

ink, a teen journal for writing and visual art Vancouver Public Library is launching its first ever teen journal for creative writing and visual art: ink. This project is the brainchild of Lisa Mudracoff, information assistant with VPL teen services. Lisa was inspired by Toronto Public Library’s incredible youth-led journal Young Voices, which has been published annually for over fifty years. The writing and artwork in Young Voices is created and selected by teens. Contributors are invited to join the Young Voices Editorial Youth Advisory Group the following year. The EYAG meets monthly to provide teen input on such things as organizing the launch party, planning an annual networking event for contributors, and of course, poring over the thousands of submissions to select the works that will be published in this year’s issue. To support and mentor the teen editors, TPL recruits local artists and writers to act as guest editors for Young Voices. The guest editors attend EYAG meetings to mentor and provide selections guidance to the teen editors, as well as lead free workshops at the library throughout the year. According to Ken Sparling, coordinator of Young Voices, many of Toronto’s most prominent writers and artists were first published in Young Voices. In many cases the guest editors were published in Young Voices as teenagers and come back to share their talent and passion. While passionate

about the magazine, Sparling has found it equally rewarding to see teens grow from adolescents into adults in the Young Voices EYAG and form long-lasting friendships while supporting each other’s creative pursuits. We hope to create a similar platform at VPL with ink. For the first year of ink, Lisa and teen services librarian Julia McKnight will jointly coordinate the promotion, selections, and publication. Contributors will be invited to form the first EYAG at VPL. The submission deadline is April 30 and the magazine will be launched in November 2018. Ink w ill be available both in print and online. More information on submission guidelines can be found on our website. We are extremely fired up about this project and will be working hard to make it a success! Look out for issue #1 this fall! Julia McKnight is a teen services librarian at Vancouver Public Library. julia.mcknight@vpl.ca

YAACING | Spring 2018

Program: Book Smack & Marshmallow Toss for School-aged Kids

Many of us have heard about library Book Smacks. They sound like tons of fun but are always promoted as adult events. I thought this was something school kids would get into, so I created a kid friendly book smack. Here is how it works! Each participant has 30 seconds to talk about a book they have read. I set a timer, and when I say “go!” the speaker tries to get the listeners excited about the book they are sharing before the time runs out.

Speakers tend to talk really fast which can be very funny! If the timer goes and the speaker is still talking, everyone gets to throw a marshmallow at him/her! The results are hilarious! Photo caption: Kids playing Quelf (Ardie Burnham 2018)

You may be wondering how law and order reigns when kids are given marshmallows to throw. Before they even get their marshmallows, the rules of the game are explained.

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Photo caption: Kids playing a-minute-to-win-it game called Cookie Face

I always go first to break the ice. This helps get the kids excited and eager to talk about the books they love. However, if they are still too shy to share, I read the first page of a few books of my choice.

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Be respectful and attentive listeners. Only throw your marshmallow if the timer goes and the speaker is still talking. Underhand throws only! Marshmallows can be confiscated if privileges are abus

No one gets to toss marshmallows, though, if I am reading from a book. After the book sharing is finished, we spend the rest of the time playing games like Minute-to-Win-It, Quelf, or Spoons. The livelier the game the better, to end this delightful event! Ardie Burnham is a youth services librarian at the Salmon Arm branch of Okanagan Regional Library

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Do not eat your marshmallow! You only get one.

YAACING | Spring 2018

Toddler/Preschool Mindfulness Storytime Here is a storytime outline with stories, songs and rhymes encouraging the practice of mindfulness so that children can relax, focus on the present, and experience gratitude, compassion, and empathy. Welcome: We wave and sing hello, we wave and sing hello, With our friends at storytime, we wave and sing hello! (clap, nod, stamp, etc)...

Book: When Lions Roar by Robie H. Harris

Fingerplay:

Here is a cup and here is a cup And here is a pot of tea Pour a cup, and pour a cup And drink it up with me

Action songs: The more we get together If you’re happy and you know it clap your hands Scarves: Rain on the grass (shake scarf on floor), rain on the trees (shake high), rain on the roof (hold above head), but not on me (drop). Sun on the grass, sun on the trees, sun on the roof, but not on me Snow on the grass, snow on the trees, snow on the roof, but not on me Leaves on the grass, leaves in the trees, leaves on the roof, but not on me Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pF cL4xn3us

YAACING | Spring 2018

Stand: (To the tune of: Frere Jacques)

Walking walking, walking walking Hop hop hop, hop hop hop Running running running, running running running Now we stop, now we stop Head and shoulders (Variations: slow motion, fast, silently…) Stretch: I’m as tall as a tree (reach up high) I’m as big as a house (widen stance with arms out wide) I’m as thin as a pin (stand straight with arms down by your side)

I’m as tiny as a mouse (squat and sit back down)

Action:

Calming activity: Ask children to place hands on their stomachs and breathe in while counting to three. Hold breath in for three counts, then exhale for three. This activity helps calm an energetic crowd after an active song. This will also help bring children’s concentration back and focus on the next book, song, or activity. Source: http://www.alsc.ala.org/blog/2016/08/ mindfulness/ Book: Breathe by Scott Magoon

Open, shut them, open, shut them, Give a little clap, clap, clap. Open, shut them, open, shut them, Put them in your lap, lap, lap. Creep them, creep them, Creep them, creep them, Right up to your chin, chin, chin. Open up your little mouth, But do not put them in. Shake them shake them Shake them shake them Shake them just like this, this, this Roll them, roll them, Roll them, roll them Blow a little kiss! Goodbye: It is time to say goodbye to all my friends It is time to say goodbye to all my friends It is time to say goodbye, give a smile and wink your eye It is time to say goodbye to all my friends More books to share:

● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

La La La by Kate DiCamillo How kind! By Mary Murphy Zen Shorts by Jon J. Muth The Thankful Book by Todd Parr Now by Antoinette Portis All the world by Elizabeth Garton Scanlon A World of Pauseabilities: An Exercise in Mindfulness by Frank J. Sileo I am Peace: A Book of Mindfulness by Susan Verde Thank You Bees by Tony Yuli

Jenny Zhang is an auxiliary children’s librarian at Vancouver Public Library. YAACING | Spring 2018

Work Experience Program for Teens

This year at my library, we are piloting a Work Experience placement for local teens. All of the high schools in our district offer a Work Experience (or similar) program and have a coordinator who helps students find volunteer placements. The program allows students to explore different careers, gain real-life work experience, and earn credits toward graduation. Offering placements at the library has had several benefits: I’ve meet teens that are not library regulars, I’ve developed new contacts at the high schools, and we’ve widened our scope of library services for teens. Of course, there have also been some growing pains. Initially, when we were exploring the possibility of this pilot, a school Work Experience coordinator informed us that most postings were 15 hours 2 hours 2 hours 2 hours resources ● 2 hours ● 2 hours _________ ● ● ● ●

around 100 hours of supervised volunteer work. That seemed like a big ask. Like many other unionized libraries, we have to be careful about offering volunteer work that library workers are ordinarily paid to do. Finding 100 hours of work for a student to do (not to mention training and supervising them) was beyond what we could offer. Fortunately, by being up-front about what we could and couldn’t offer, we came to an arrangement where our Work Experience student could combine a smaller number of hours at the library with another placement elsewhere. We agreed on a trial of 25-30 hours and worked on a breakdown of hours that could be used for subsequent placements. Hopefully, this will simplify and streamline the organizational process.

Book Buddies/Tech Tutors – 1 regular teen volunteer program Shadowing a shelver/page Shadowing Teen Engagement Librarian Shadowing/assisting LIT in public training session for digital Assisting in Saturday storytime and/or Family Fun Time Assisting in Library book club or other program

~25 hours

I really enjoyed having our first Work Experience student with us. I did my best to bust some librarian stereotypes and show her the realities of working in a public library. Going forward, we feel confident enough to offer Work Experience placements on an ongoing basis. Rebekah Adams-Brush is a teen engagement librarian at the North Vancouver District Public Library.

YAACING | Spring 2018

Call for Submissions YAACING is published four times per year and is always looking for submissions that might interest children’s and teen specialists in BC libraries. We accept articles, program descriptions and ideas, conference reports, and much more. If you would like to write a regular column, send us a brief pitch. Submissions should be no more than 1500 words, sent in an editable format (not PDF). Please include a byline with your job title and workplace, or for students: your school, program and class information, if applicable. YAACING invites your contributions to our Reviews and Felt Story sections: Reviews: Please send us reviews of books, blogs, websites, or other resources. Submissions should be no more than 300 words. Longer reviews may be considered for publication as featured articles. Felt Stories: Share your creativity! YAACING is looking for felt story patterns. Submissions should include a printable pattern, photograph of the finished product, and related rhyme or note about the origin of the story. The deadline for the Summer 2018 issue of YAACING is May 1st 2018. Please email your submissions to the editors at YAACING@gmail.com

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YAACING | Spring 2018

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