YAACING Winter 2018
YAACING is the quarterly newsletter of the Young Adults and Children’s Services section of the British Columbia Library Association. We publish articles by librarians and library paraprofessionals serving children and teens. Topics range from library programs and events, to book reviews, story time ideas, literacy tips and more! If you would like to submit something for consideration, please email yaacing@gmail.com.
Table of Contents: Message from the Chair Message from the Editors News 7 Meet the BC SRC Co-Chairs! by Cynthia Ford 9 BCSRC Community Story Award by Cynthia Ford
Features 17 Tween Manga Club by Jane Whittingham
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19 Exploring Stories through Movement by Shenuri Nugawila
YAACS Professional Development: Working with Teens in Crisis and Building Cultural Understanding
20 Hosting a Kids Variety Show at Your Library! by Heather Gloster
by Julia McKnight
22 Hunger Games: All about Survival by Ariel Caldwell
Columns 12 New and Noteworthy Books by Sadie Tucker 16 Jbrary: We’ll Link to That! by Dana Horrocks and Lindsey Krabbenhoft
Cover Art by Dawn Lo Design by Shenuri Nugawila
Rhythm
&
Message from the Chair Winter is upon us, for better or for worse! The year is flying by in a whirlwind of activity! We enjoyed a tremendously productive fall season with professional development workshops in the lower mainland and on Vancouver Island. In October, Burnaby Public Library and YAACS hosted a day of programming workshops entitled Rhyme Time and School-Age Programming Ideas. The morning was dedicated to enhancing the storytime repertoire and the afternoon was all about middle years! This provided an opportunity for fellow children’s librarians to share ideas and draw on each other’s expertise. In November, our Continuing Education Coordinators for Teen Services – Claire Badali and Rebekah Adams-Brush – shone brightly! Hosting at Surrey Public Library, they provided lower mainland youth librarians with a very well-attended and informative workshop: Working with Teens in Crisis and Building Cultural Understanding. Following the panel presentation, Claire and Rebekah facilitated a lively discussion on how we might apply some of the recommendations in our libraries. Looking ahead, Nikky McCarvill and Kate Wood, YAACS Vancouver Island Professional Development Coordinators, are gearing up to present a series of four workshops in 2019. Each workshop will focus on a different age group from babies to teens. More information is available in this issue of YAACING and more details on topics, guest speakers, dates, and locations will be available in the months to come so keep an eye on that listserv! Stay tuned also for a call-out to provide input on our topic for the 2019 YAACS Youth Services Institute! Hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season! Vice-Chair Julia McKnight julia.p.mcknight@gmail.com
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Message from the Editors Oh what fun it is to curl up and read this time of year! Our latest edition of YAACING is here to help you with that. We’re excited to introduce a new column, New and Noteworthy Books, by Sadie Tucker. And in other news, the YAACS Professional Development Coordinators for teen services put on an amazing workshop to support library staff working with youth in crisis. If you weren’t able to attend, that’s okay, we’ve got you covered! Read on to learn about the recommendations from frontline service providers. In this issue, we have some great articles to inspire your programming, including a Hunger Games program that strengthens teen resilience and a tween manga program with an awesome bookmark craft. Find out how one library hosted a successful kids variety show, then get some ideas for incorporating rhythm into storytimes for the younger set. Be sure to check out the fabulous book recommendations for babies through to teens. Happy reading, everyone! Stay cozy! Your YAACING editors, Julia McKnight and Leah Pearse yaacing@gmail.com
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NEWS
1. MEET THE BC SRC CO-CHAIRS As winter settles over the province and the 2018 SRC becomes but a lovely memory (and hopefully an entry into the SRC Community Story Award!!), a small group of people are hard at work, planning, creating, designing, and, of course, imagining next year’s SRC. Two of those people are the BC SRC Co-Chairs: Jennifer Lee and Laura Zaytsoff. We are so very grateful they share their time, energy, and creativity with us! I thought you might like to know a little more about them:
Jennifer Lee, Assistant Manager, Teen Services at Vancouver Public Library Our system has 22 locations and I am based out of the Children's Library at the Central Branch. Our library is always bustling with children, families, caregivers and educators. The secret? We have a dedicated staff team that makes this place truly special and gives our library the welcoming reputation it deserves! We also have the best (and only) public rooftop garden in Vancouver, perfect for reading a book on a sunny day. For many libraries, Summer Reading Club is THE big event of the year and I love being part of the team that is behind-the-scenes helping to make it happen. Many people don't realize how much back-and-forth happens between the artist and the committee members as we explore ways to realize the theme of the year. It's amazing to see how the artist can take all of our feedback (and there is a lot!), incorporate their own point of view, and create something better than anything anyone could have imagined on their own. Each year, our Content Creators come together from libraries big and small around BC to contribute to the SRC Manual. The manual is such an important resource for many libraries but it's also the product of many libraries working together. The amount of work that goes into its creation in such a short amount of time is impressive; SRC wouldn't be the same without our Content Creators and their teams!
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NEWS Laura Zaytsoff, Children, Youth, and Outreach Librarian, Castlegar & District Public Library The Castlegar and District Public Library is a single branch library and is a part of the wider Kootenay Library Federation. Our library currently services around 10,307 people. I am really enjoying collaborating with everyone else on the team to create next year’s theme. I love watching everything unfold piece by piece and have always been intrigued by what goes on ‘behind the scenes’. It has been fascinating to watch the art develop from an initial chat to the loose sketches, to the current development of the poster. Doing art for a hobby, it is amazing to see something come to light out of just an idea. I love watching Jami get inspired and excited about the ideas and seeing that inspiration transform into art. Living in a rural area, it is really great to meet all of the content creators from around the province through the magic of the internet! I am looking forward to collaborating and getting to know everyone throughout the next few years. I am certain some really great things will be created! Summer Reading Club has been a passion of mine for the last ten years, when I started as a coordinator at the Castlegar Library. I am beyond thrilled to continue this passion as co-chair and look forward to watching the magic unfold as we get ready to ‘Imagine the Possibilities’!
2. BC SRC COMMUNITY STORY AWARD NOMINATIONS Have you submitted your story to the BC SRC Community Story Award? Each year, the BC Summer Reading Club presents this award to an individual whose story best demonstrates the impact of the SRC within their community. Our 2018 winner was Ardie Burnham of the Okanagan Regional Library. You may read her beautiful story “SRC Sanctuary” here. Previous winners include Selina Powszedny of the Squamish Public Library (2017) Lise Kreps of the Burnaby Public Library (2016), Vancouver Public Library’s Miranda Mallinson (2015), and Rossland Public Library’s Beverly Rintoul (2014). We would love to hear your story! Now that summer is truly over (sigh), what fond memories of this year’s SRC still linger? How did this year’s BC SRC impact your community? To submit a story for nomination for the SRC Community Story Award, please send an email to bcsrc@bclibrary.ca with the subject line: SRC Community Story Award by December 31st, 2018! The winner of this year’s SRC Community Story Award will be announced in early spring of 2019 and the winner will attend the BCLA Conference (May 8-10) as our guest! Winter 2018 | YAACING 7
NEWS YAACS Professional Development: Working With Teens in Crisis and Building Cultural Understanding YAACS is thrilled to have two new professional development coordinators in the lower mainland. Claire Badali is a teen librarian at Surrey Public Library and Rebecca Adams is a Teen Engagement Librarian for the North Vancouver District Public Library. They have teamed up to coordinate workshops for library staff serving teens and library students interested in working with teens.
Aboriginal culture, language and teachings, particularly those of local residency.” FRAFCA offers a wide range of services for Indigenous families, children, and youth. For youth ages 1326 the organization provides weekly programs such as a youth drop-in, life skills workshops, and youth culture nights. They also provide services to support at-risk youth. These include outreach in collaboration with Ministry of Children and Family Development (MCFD), and a safe house. The FRAFCA panel included All Nations Safe House staff, Indigenous Youth Empowerment Outreach staff, friendship centre youth programmers, and Indigenous Youth Urgent Needs workers. Panelists described the work they do within the friendship centre as well as our in the community and talked about how they engage and build relationships with youth in crisis. Library staff then had the opportunity to ask questions about how we can support youth in crisis in the library. Tips from Fraser Regional Aboriginal Friendship Centre Association on working with youth:
On November 3 2018 Claire and Rebecca hosted their first YAACS pro-d event, Working With Teens in Crisis and Building Cultural Understanding, presented at Surrey Public Library’s City Centre Library in partnership with the Fraser Region Aboriginal Friendship Centre Association (FRAFCA). The workshop featured an incredibly engaging and knowledgeable panel of guest speakers from FRAFCA’s Youth Services team, followed by a group discussion. FRAFCA’s mission is “to support the activities that promote the health and well being of Aboriginal People and to promote the resurgence of resident 8 YAACING | Winter 2018
How do we develop relationships with teens in the library who are in crisis? • It takes time • Earn trust by showing up, being there, being consistent • Build trust in a respectful way • Say hello! • Some youth will jump right in, others will be more reluctant • Be sincere! • Don’t act like you’re above or below the youth • Have a thick skin: don’t take behaviour or comments personally
NEWS
• Listen: you don’t have to give advice, don’t have to solve the problem. Just listen, with patience and empathy. • Work together as a team (of staff/youthserving people), so you can bounce ideas off them • Get to know the kids, and show them that you remember little things about them, like their names, what they have said about something • Don’t close the door: keep the relationship open. Sometimes these kids put you through tests. • Definitely set boundaries, and don’t let them abuse you, but keep the door open for sometime in the future. • Talk to the regulars – they can help with keeping group behaviour appropriate. What would be useful training for frontliners? • • • • • • • •
Listening skills, communication skills Nalaxone training Mental Health First Aid Trauma-informed practice How to diffuse mental health breakdowns Managing hostile interactions Boundaries and self-care If there is an incident, have a safe place to debrief. Make sure your team knows how important it is to talk about incidents and how to reach out to supports • Cultural sensitivity training (for libraries/ library staff) – “even make a safe place to come, have a corner for smudge and prayer” • If there is a group of youth in your library who are experiencing a collective trauma or grief a Mobile Response Team of certified professionals could come to your location. They have different sections (like overdose, suicide, etc) and will ask “just tell us where and how many people”.
The library defaults to calling the police: what else can we do? • Call the outreach teams: • Pacific Community Resources Society (PCRS) updates every day • Sometimes Community Centre youth workers can help • Call Inter-Regional At-Risk Youth Link (IRAYL), they have outreach workers who engage with youth along the skytrain lines • Call 911 and ask for Yankee 10/Yankee 20 • Ask youth “are you connected to anyone I can call for you?” • Don’t threaten by saying you’ll call the police • Kids may already have a cop they feel they can trust; offer to call that person directly • Let youth know you’re concerned for their safety, frame it that way • Call 911 if you need to • The FRAFCA safehouse is open 24/7. In Vancouver, there is ASH and Directions and Covenant House • Call MCFD Afterhours • Call 211: they’re amazing – over the phone they will help find “shelter for a 16 year old boy in Vancouver” – they have updated listings on which shelters/houses have beds available
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NEWS How do we deliver rules compassionately? • Have a list [of rules, behaviours] posted • Let youth know “by the way, these guidelines are posted over here” and “this says what behaviour is acceptable and you’re not doing that” • Be casual but firm: “dude, why are you doing this?” • If they have to leave the library because of their behaviour, let them know that they’re not banned and are welcome to come back • Use a warning system. For example, “this is the third time I’ve had to speak to you about this; time to go for a walk.” • Suggest they take a walk around the block or “take 5” • Explain the reasons behind the rules, not just the rules • Let them know their impact on other people • Use “good cop/bad cop” • “When you approach the behaviour directly, they realize how immature they’re being” Make it funny, KEEP IT LIGHT • Develop rapport and build 1-to-1 relationships when you have the chance • It’s okay to lay it down! “We’ve approached you enough times about [this SPECIFIC] behaviour, and you need to leave until you can change that behaviour in the library.” Make it clear what you expect of them when they return • Have a “respect” sign, such as respect yourself, respect this place, respect others
• When promoting a program or activity, “You have to be pumped and engaged, otherwise they won’t get into it” • You need to sit with them to get them started • Let youth know about what’s happening in other places for free • Give youth tasks. Ask, “Can you help me do this instead?” and “Are you okay?” or “What’s up today?” • Youth are coming to the library for a reason, they want to be there. After the panel, Claire and Rebecca moderated a discussion during which attendees shared one thing they learned and would take back to their library from this event. It was a great opportunity to reflect on the panel and consider how and what to share with our organizations in order to support our teams in serving youth. The responses were very specific to the communities library staff were serving and provided a window into the day to day realities in our colleagues’ library systems. A big thank you to FRAFCA for sharing their knowledge and expertise with YAACS and thanks also to Claire and Rebecca for organizing this informative and meaningful event! For more information about the Fraser Regional Aboriginal Friendship Centre Association please visit their website. http://frafca.org/
What activities can we provide for youth who are hanging out? • Family board games or movie night at the safehouse • Channel young people into artistic expression, “get it out” • FOOD 10 YAACING | Winter 2018
Julia McKnight is a teen services librarian at Vancouver Public Library.
Save the Date! Following two successful workshops in 2018, the YAACS Vancouver Island Professional Development Team is pleased to present our 2019 series of professional development workshops, each focusing on a different age group. All library staff and students working with children and youth are welcome to attend. Cost is by donation, suggested donation $15
Session 1 – February - Focus on Teens – Location Victoria Session 2 – May - Focus on Babies – Location Nanaimo Session 3 – August - Focus on Tweens – Location Nanaimo Session 4 – November - Focus on primary/intermediate children – Location Victoria More information on topics, guest speakers, dates and locations to come! Thanks to all who filled out our survey; it gave us lots of valuable information!
Nikky McCarvill (SSIPL) and Kate Wood (GVPL)
YAACS Vancouver Island Professional Development Coordinators
COLUMNS
New and Noteworthy Books Babies, Toddlers, & Preschoolers Big Box, Little Box (Hart, Caryl) (T-PreS) A cute book dedicated to a cat’s love of boxes. A good title for group storytimes.
The Snuggly (Huser, Glen) (PreS-gr.1) Todd has a new baby sister and his father has brought home a snuggly to carry her in, “so she’ll be close and safe.” One day, Todd decides to bring it to school for show-and-tell. On his way, he runs into a number of friends who think that something that keeps items “close and safe” sounds like a marvelous idea! By the time Todd gets to school, the snuggly is packed full of treasures! Maybe more treasures than it was meant to hold... Canadian. Bird Builds a Nest (Jenkins, Martin) (PreS-gr.1) Follow a bird as she hunts for her breakfast and then gets down to the hard work of building her nest. A preface and end note both encourage adult readers to discuss basic principles of force in conjunction with reading the story, but the book is more useful as a starter book on birds than it is on physics. Regardless, the illustrations are charming and readers will cheer for the little bird as she assiduously constructs her nest. A lovely example of a non-fiction picture book. Starred reviews: HB, SA 12 YAACING | Winter 2018
Crunch, the Shy Dinosaur (Dunlap, Cirocco) (PreS-K) Crunch is a shy dinosaur, can you get him to come out? A fun, interactive book that is great for group storytimes.
Neck & Neck (Parsley, Elise) (PreS-gr.1) Leopold is a giraffe who lives in a zoo and enjoys being admired by the visitors. When a child shows up with a balloon in the shape of a giraffe, Leopold is appalled to see the visitors' attention wander away from its rightful place (him!). A humorous, non-didactic story about emotional cause and effect. Illustrations suitable for group storytimes.
I Won’t Go with Strangers (Geisler, Dagmar) (PreS-gr.2) A gentle and reasonably non-didactic book about not accompanying strangers. Lulu is waiting to be picked up from school and it's raining. Many wellmeaning acquaintances offer to take her home, but Lulu replies that she doesn't know them and her mom told her to wait. A great tool for practicing how to say no firmly and politely.
COLUMNS Primary Grades Box Turtle (Himmelman, John) (PreS-gr.3) In 1892, a box turtle is born. Over the next 116 years, she observes as the world around her changes. A neat mesh of biology and history, accompanied by lovely illustrations. Ayobami and the Names of the Animals (López Ávila, Pilar) (PreK-gr.3) When the war is over, Ayobami is able to return to school. In order to get there, she cuts through the forest promising the animals that, if they let her pass, she will write out their names once she learns how. A sweet cumulative story. Starred reviews: K, GR (4.1*)
Ten Cents a Pound (TranDavies, Nhung N.) (K-gr.5) A mother performs backbreaking field labour in an unnamed country. Her child wants to stay and help, but the mother firmly and gently encourages the child to concentrate on their studies so that they can go to school and have a better, gentler life. The text can be best described as free verse poetry. A tear-jerker for caregivers and a conversation-starter for kids (with some adult help). Canadian.
We Don’t Eat Our Classmates! (Higgins, Ryan T.) (PreK-gr.3) Penelope is excited to start school. The only problem? All of the other students are human children! How can a T-Rex resist such delicious temptation? After eating, and spitting out, her classmates, she has difficulty making friends. It's only when she has a taste of her own medicine that she realises that she must change. Funny, with illustrations suitable for group storytimes. Starred reviews: K, PW, GR (4.5*)
Danza! (Tonatiuh, Duncan) (gr.2+) An illustrated biography of Amalia Hernandez, who incorporated traditional Mexican folk dances into more modern dance forms and established a soon-to-be famous dance company. Starred reviews: BL, K, SLJ, GR (4.1*)
Starred reviews: CM, GR (4.2*)
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COLUMNS School Age Novels The Princess Dolls (Schwartz, Ellen) (gr.3-6) Set in 1942 Vancouver, Esther and Michiko are best friends. They were born on the same day and share a passion for princesses. When they see dolls of Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret in a store window, they are entranced. When their birthdays roll around and only Esther receives a doll, a rift begins to form between the two girls. A gentle story that also doesn't flinch from the racism and abuses that occurred both in Canada and abroad during WWII. Canadian. Adventures of a Girl Called Bicycle (Uss, Christina) (gr.4-7) 12-year-old Bicycle has lived at the Mostly Silent Monastery since she was three. When Sister Wanda decides to register Bicycle in summer camp, in the hopes that she will make friends, Bicycle decides to embark on a cross-country bike ride in order to meet her hero, Zbig, a famous cyclist. Through her travels Bicycle makes numerous friends, meets a ghost, and is followed by a menacing woman in black. A quirky tale to say the least! Starred reviews: K, PW, SA, GR (4.2*)
Bodie Troll (Fosgitt, Jay P.) (gr.3-6) Bodie is a fearsome troll... Well, he *wants* to be fearsome. Unfortunately, his short stature and utter adorableness get in his way. A funny graphic novel that's sure to entertain. Starred reviews: GR (4.2*)
Very Rich (Horvath, Polly) (gr.4-7) Authors such as Dahl, Dickens, and Travers have been mentioned in conjunction with this book. Its premise is fantastic, the pace is breakneck, and its social commentary is cutting. Rupert is from a poor family. When Rupert passes out in front of the Rivers' mansion, he is brought inside and welcomed to the holiday party in progress. In short order, Rupert wins a dizzying amount of prizes and then loses them all. Members of the Rivers family feel badly and decide to make it up to him. What follows is a madcap series of sometimes magical adventures. Canadian. Starred reviews: CM, QQ
Amal Unbound (Saeed, Aisha) (gr.5-8) Amal lives in a Pakistani village and dreams of becoming a teacher. Her goals are hampered by her household and responsibilities and one day her frustration gets the better of her. When she insults a member of the village's ruling Khan family, she is forced to enter indentured servitude in order to make up for her error. Navigating a complex social hierarchy that is new to her, Amal begins to realise that her education may hold the power to upending the Khan family's power. Starred reviews: K, PW, SLJ, GR (4.3*) 14 YAACING | Winter 2018
COLUMNS Teen Darius the Great is Not Okay (Khorram, Adib) (gr.8+) Between his chronic depression and the bullying he experiences at school, Darius' life is a challenge. When his mother decides to take the family to Iran in order to visit her ailing father, Darius doesn't see his life getting any easier. He's never been to Iran and barely speaks Farsi. Fortunately, the visit ends up going better than anticipated. This just might be a turning point in Darius' life. Starred reviews: K, PW, SLJ, GR (4.3*) Sometime After Midnight (Philips, L.) (gr.9+) An extremely cute, modern retelling of Cinderella featuring two guys. When Cameron and Nate meet at a club, they just seem to fit; they even love the same indie bands! This fairy tale encounter crashes to a halt when Nate discovers that Cameron's dad owns the big music label that ruined his own father's career. After Nate rushes out, all that Cameron has left is a blurry photo of Nate's marked up sneakers. Cameron's famous sister posts the photo to Instagram and what follows is a social media storm of epic proportions. Will love prevail? You know it will! The Second Life of Ava Rivers (Gardner, Faith) (gr.9+) When they were six years old, Vera's twin sister, Ava, was kidnapped and never found. Ever since, Vera's family has been broken. The household is stifling and brooding, full of selfblame and regret. Vera can't wait to leave for college. Then, after 12 years, Ava reappears and the family seems to be on the road to healing. But all is not as it appears. Atmospheric and full of mystery, Booklist calls it, "a well-crafted, genre-defying story that deserves a wide readership." Starred reviews: BCCB, BL, VOYA
I Am Still Alive (Marshall, Kate Alice) (gr.8+) Jess hasn't seen her dad, who lives in the Canadian wilderness, for 10 years. Then her mother dies and she is forced to move in with him. The two have barely reached a detente when her father is murdered and his cabin is burned down by his unsavory colleagues. Now Jess, along with her dad's dog Bo, must survive in the Canadian wilderness as winter approaches. A story of survival, suspense... and revenge. Starred reviews: BL, K Rice Boy (Dahm, Evan) (gr.9+) A graphic novel set in a (very) strange and wondrous world, Rice Boy lives a lonely existence until an android named One Electric arrives to tell him that he is destined to restore peace to the land. Together, the two venture forth to bring kindness back to the world. Initially self-published, then reprinted via a Kickstarter campaign, and finally published by Iron Circus Comics, the book has been on a journey itself - nevermind the story! Starred reviews: PW, GR (4.4*) The Adventure Zone: Here There Be Gerblins (McElroy, Clint) (gr.10+) Based on the popular "Adventure Zone" podcast, which follows three brothers and their dad as they play Dungeons and Dragons. This is a hilarious, meta graphic novel for RPG and adventure fans alike. If you're offended by profanity, though, you may want to give this one a miss. Starred reviews: GR (4.3*) Winter 2018 | YAACING 15
COLUMNS
Jbrary: We’ll Link to That! Jbrary recently received an email from an MLIS student asking us for our favourite resources that have made a lasting impression on us. What a great question! So this quarter I thought I'd share the websites, books, and toolkits that have helped me my journey as a children’s librarian.
Blogs:
• Mel's Desk: Mel has been blogging for years and shares her storytime plans and reflections on her blog. She’s pushed me to think critically about early literacy and how I can model and support it in my programs. One of my great role models for sure! • The ALSC Blog: The Association for Library Services to Children has an excellent blog where people from all over share ideas. Every post is different and it’s a great way to stay up-to-date with the professional world of children's librarians.
Professional Development Books:
• Reading Picture Books with Children by Megan Dowd Lambert: Lambert changed the way I read books aloud in storytime. Her book is written in an accessible style which helped me slow down and focus on the child’s experience of picture books as works of art. Great for anyone working with school-age kids too! • NurtureShock: New Thinking About Children by Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman: This book covers a wide range of child development topics with each chapter focusing on a different topic. This book changed the way I talk about race with small children.
Organization Websites:
• Colorado Libraries for Early Literacy: Not only do they have an amazing collection of song and rhyme videos in different languages, but they also give away an award for picture books based on the 5 early literacy practices every year. • Zero to Three: My go-to resource for anything related to early brain development and language acquisition. Research-based!
Tools of the Trade:
The Community-Led Libraries Toolkit: This toolkit provides a framework for how to implement the communityled model at a library which aims to reach underserved and marginalized communities.This framework guides my community outreach efforts as a children's librarian and also supports my values as a social justice advocate. What resources have had a lasting impact on you? We’d love to hear about them! Shoot us an email anytime at jbrary@gmail.com.
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Tween Manga Meetup Craft: Manga Collage Bookmarks
FEATURES
We recently started a tween manga program at our library, where kids in grades 4-7 can get together and share their love of Japanese comic books, make new friends, and do a fun craft. The program was designed to meet the needs of manga fans who aren’t quite old enough to participate in our teen manga and anime program, while also providing staff with an opportunity to promote our manga collection. The meetup format is kept pretty informal, with the emphasis on conversation and fun. Participants are invited to share any manga that they’ve been reading recently, and there’s time set aside for the facilitator to highlight a couple of books or series in the collection that participants might enjoy reading.
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FEATURES A big part of each meeting is the craft – crafts are a great icebreaker, especially for new group members or kids who might feel shy or less comfortable speaking in front of others. It’s often a lot easier to share your feelings when everyone’s looking down at their crafts, and not directly at you! I’ve been on the hunt for easy, affordable manga-related crafts that use supplies I already have around the office, and for our first meeting we kicked things off with these manga collage bookmarks. The finished bookmarks look great, and are very easy to make, so participants can craft while chatting about the cool new series they’ve been reading. As a long-time manga nerd, running this program is kind of a dream come true, and I only wish that I’d had the opportunity to take part in something like this when I was a nerdy tween! Supplies: • Cardstock or thick paper • Scissors • Glue • Decorating supplies • Masking tape / book tape • Discarded manga / manga magazines Assembly: • Cut your cardstock into strips – these are your bookmarks! • Cut images from the discarded manga and glue them to the bookmarks • Decorate! Add colour, glitter, whatever you like. • Use strips of masking tape to “laminate” the finished bookmarks, which reinforces them and makes them a bit sturdier. • Note: If you don’t have enough discarded materials, you can find scans of manga pages online, which you can print off and cut up to make the collages. • Of course, you can also use this craft with different discarded materials for different occasions – cut up worn out Christmas or Halloween books/magazines, for example, as part of holiday programs. The options are nearly endless! • Now grab your scissors and have some fun!
Jane Whittingham is a Children’s Librarian with the Vancouver Public Library. 18 YAACING | Winter 2018
Exploring Stories Through Rhythm and Movement I’m a music enthusiast and enjoy incorporating music and movement during story times. I find that it’s a great way of exploring stories and connecting with the characters within each story. You can try pairing songs to stories that could be favorites of the group, popular hits, and even ones that you know and enjoy. This is also a great way to use and promote your library’s CD music collection! I use several different genres and styles of music during story times which allow children to explore and learn various rhythms and sounds that draws on their imagination and brings the story to life. You can get creative with how you want to implement music into your story times– whether it be as a provocation, a movement activity during or even as an extension of the story. Here are a few of my favorites to which I’ve incorporated Classical pieces and other popular tunes. The music chosen for each story allow for visualizing and bringing the story and its characters to life. • • • • • •
Little Swan by Jonathan London - Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s classical piece “Swan Lake”. Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me by Eric Carle – Claude Debussy’s Clair De Lune Jazzy in the Jungle by Lucy Cousins - The Lion Sleeps Tonight by The Tokens Rain by Linda Ashman - Raindrops keeps Falling on my head by B. J. Thomas Let’s Sing a Lullaby with the Brave Cowboy by Jan Thomas – Brahms – Wiegenlied Duck! Rabbit! By Amy Krouse Rosenthal – The Duck by Sergei Prokofiev
These are a couple of my go-tos for incorporating dance and music into storytimes: Feel the Beat: Dance Poems that Zing from Salsa to Swing by Marilyn Singer This is another favorite that incorporates music within poetry and the rhythms are reflected throughout which makes for a lively and fun experience.
Camille Saint-Saen’s The Carnival of the Animals This was the first book with CD that inspired me to try adding music into each of the stories presented during the story time sessions. The sounds, beats and rhythms allow for all kids to fully engage in and to participate in the movements of the animals.
Shenuri Nugawila is a Children’s Librarian for the Vancouver Public Library. Winter 2018 | YAACING 19
FEATURES
Hosting a Kids Variety Show at Your Library!
At the Prince George Public
Library we try to have a fun activity for families to enjoy on school district non-instructional days. I felt tired of the same old Pirate Day, (Robert) Munsch Mania, or Harry Potter event and thought it would be fun to give our young patrons a moment to shine at a library Variety Show! We picked out the date of the event far in advance so I was able to talk it up with young patrons as early as the beginning of summer. At first, I thought it was going to be a snap to fill up an hour-long block but soon realized that while some patrons are very talented, they might also be very shy. I started to panic a bit and even posted on our local Homeschooler’s Facebook page and didn’t get any response. That was when I discovered it wasn’t going to be this organic process that I had envisioned where I made connections with kids in the stacks and signed them up to read a poem at the show. I was able to get 10 youth to commit to performing at the show from conversations in the library but I knew that in order to fill an hour we needed more acts! I quickly got on the phone and called the local dance teacher, as well as the Bel Canto choir. The dance teacher was able to bring us four dance performances and the choir brought one of their teens who is studying to be an opera singer. It was nice because these groups both had more teens in them and that was something that my recruitment had lacked. 20 YAACING | Winter 2018
On the day of the show we had 20 children performing in all different acts including, playing the violin, cello, ukulele and piano, singing both pop music and opera, performing a musical that a family of 5 created themselves, Highland and Ukrainian dancing, as well as one of our young newcomers presenting a speech on her homeland, Korea! We had 16 acts confirmed on the day of the event, but unfortunately one small performer couldn’t get over her stage fright so we ended up with 15 acts. In my emails to the parents and teachers I asked them to please tell me how long each performance was because I really wanted to stay around the one hour mark like the show had been advertised. I introduced each act and needed time to set up instruments or music between performances. It turned out we finished up almost right on the one hour mark.
Here is a breakdown of the program so you can easily implement it into your library: Who: Community youth performing in a variety show at the library. Ask patrons that you know who might be interested and also have a back-up selection of different groups in town that you can call on. Where: If you are lucky enough to have a dedicated library programs room, this is where we held our show. Due to the large volume of people that came we had, one mother requested that next
year we have a stage because the smaller members of the audience in the back couldn’t see. If this is available to you I would suggest that you set up a stage. Every child comes with some fans, and due to the non-instructional day, the place was packed with around 90 people! When: A school non-instructional day worked for us but it might also be a fun program for spring break or just a weekend in the winter. We hosted our show from 1:30-2:30 pm. Why: The variety show helps children know what activities are available in their community to join. It also helps boost their confidence in a welcoming environment as some of them performed for the very first time! How much: For us, this was a very inexpensive program. The only thing I can think of that we had to pay for was the color printing for the program. We thought about going all out and having a reception by buying some cheese platters, but in the end, I am happy we didn’t because we had too many people here!
Potential issues: It might be trickier than you think to fill an entire hour-long show with kids you have connections with in the library. Brainstorm different community organizations that might be able to connect you with young entertainers! Be clear with what type of sound system you have at the library. For us, the easiest piece of equipment to use for this event is our CD player. On the day of the event, however, one mother brought a USB key causing me to scramble around with another staff member to come up with a last minute solution. The end result: The Kids Variety Show was tons of fun! Everyone was entertained and feeling proud of their act! There was no expensive materials to purchase and it brought a bunch of people into the library fostering a fun sense of community.
Heather Gloster is a youth services librarian at Prince George Public Library.
Winter 2018 | YAACING 21
FEATURES
Hunger Games: All About Survival
This year, the Vancouver Public Library’s Teen Services department lined up “Fantastic Fandoms” for our Teen Summer Challenge programs. We organized Maze Runner challenges in the Van Dusen Garden maze, Fantastic Beasts at the Beaty Biodiversity Museum… and my branch took on the Hunger Games. I knew we had to reframe our program -- the Hunger Games books feature a brutal regime where children kill each other and couples are forced, all for public entertainment. Our own neighbourhood had recently seen a publicly-noted uptick in teen assaults and we wanted to be sensitive to that. At its core, Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games series is all about survival and that's what our program would focus on. From the beginning, it was important to me to include Indigenous content in appropriate ways. Just as YA fiction has moved from LGBTQIA2S books that featured identity as the novel’s “problem” to now featuring characters who do amazing things and also happen to be queer, our programming doesn’t have to be an “Indigenous program” in order to include respectful inclusion of Indigenous content. One of the key elements of this Hunger Games program was taking a more culturally-informed approach, and that starts with the land we’re on. Britannia is located on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and sel̓ilwətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) peoples, and we serve a strong Indigenous population with roots all over the Americas. The Britannia site is complex – it offers a variety of co-located services, including a community centre with an ice rink and swimming pool, a high school, an elementary school, and the public library branch. Because our library has strong relationships with community partners, I brought the reframed program idea to them. Lindsay Grant is based at Britannia and works with the City of Vancouver’s Office of Resilience, and Erin Grant works with Aboriginal Life in Vancouver Enhancement Society (ALIVE), as well as Raycam Co-operative Centre. Between the three of us, the program became more than the sum of its parts. We met several times in the month and a half preceding the event on July 25th. 22 YAACING | Winter 2018
The major elements we wanted to incorporate were: 1) the characterization, plot and setting of the Hunger Games (create a literary fantasy world for kids to play in) 2) engage youth and develop resiliency skills 3) develop the message that as a society, we’re stronger together 4) incorporate Indigenous content as part of our program Plot: A major part of the library’s role in this partnership program was bringing the literary world to life. I did this carefully because I wanted to stay as true to the books as possible, while avoiding the obvious violence and romance. Thus, I couldn’t set the game during the first book (they’re supposed to kill each other), so I set it in the second book as a training activity for the Quarter Quell – nobody’s supposed to die yet. Also, during the Quarter Quell, the tributes begin to work together and realize the Capitol’s game system can be cracked, and this supported the “collaboration makes us stronger” theme of the program. I wrote a character called Cecilia Cressida to emulate Effie Trinket, because in the books, Effie has the power in the book to organize people, and she knows what’s happening behind the scenes. Like Effie, Cecilia explained the game to our teen participants. As Cecilia, I stayed in character whenever teens were present during the entire program, and this dinner-theatre-esque element was the strongest element of world-building that we could create with the parameters we had. Staying in character put the teens into the world we’d built for them. The other adult station leaders had varying levels of connection/commitment to the Capitol. In Catching Fire, we see that the rebellion has started. The other adults in the game conveyed the “working together, we can overthrow the Capitol” message as much as fit with their characters, which they mostly made up themselves. The teens play the tributes, obviously, and we wanted them to have a good training experience. And that brings us back to resiliency and survival. The literary context of this program provided a fun, unusual, and timely shell for teens to practice skills that will help them, their families, and communities survive after a disaster. We focused on challenges that support basic human needs: food, shelter, water, and technology/communication. A major component of all the challenges was that participants had to work together, reinforcing the idea that collaboration is critical for success - again, another skill that’s needed after a major disaster.
Winter 2018 | YAACING 23
FEATURES
Hunger Games Challenges Shelter: Teens built and took apart a tent, and the City of Vancouver’s Resiliency Office staff scored them on time and teamwork. Food: Indigenous herbalist Lori Snyder gave the youth a tour of the garden on site, and then quizzed them on the medicinal/edible/poisonous plants she’d introduced. Water: In the event of an emergency, the stream across the street is a neighbourhood source of water (even if it’s not clean, at least it can be purified). Teens raced to fill a large vessel using a variety of implements, then poured the water into pop bottles. After they filled the bottles, they checked underneath to see which one was poisoned. Technology: Lindsay ran a communications exercise that challenged teens to solve a riddle and answer Hunger Games trivia, using a mirror or tin cans on strings to communicate. Medical: Originally, we wanted a medical component, because after a disaster, caring for injuries is critical (and plays a big part in the books)! Our community health centre outreach person was not available so we ended up cutting the medical station.
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Program Outline: 1. Met the kids at the library; sorted them into Districts 2. Walked them down to the starting/ending spot [with book display] 3. Adults/staff got into position at their stations 4. Cecilia Cressida introduced the game, handed out game materials (map, timetable, scorecard) to each District’s team, answered questions, and at the agreed-upon time, sent the Districts out to their first stations 5. Districts followed their timetable and map to each station; adult station leaders sent Districts on at specific times 6. The “floating Capitolist” walked around the site and had each District roll dice for fortunes/misfortunes that would affect how they played and their points 7. After completing their challenges, Districts returned to the starting spot. They hung out, ate pizza, and chatted while adult leaders tallied their scores from scorecards. 8. Cecilia Cressida announced the winning district, handed out prizes, and read the Conclusion.
My favourite part of this program was how the community came together to support youth resilience at a fundamental level through library programming. The collaboration between the City of Vancouver’s Resiliency Office as well as other community partners has deepened our relationships and provided fertile ground to run programs like this in the future.
Ariel Caldwell is a teen services librarian at Vancouver Public Library. Winter 2018 | YAACING 25
FEATURES
Call for Submissions YAACING is published quarterly and is always looking for submissions of interest to children’s and teen specialists in BC libraries. We accept articles, program descriptions and ideas, conference reports, reviews, felt stories and 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. 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 Spring 2019 issue of YAACING is February 15 2019.
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