briefings · 2018-04-01 · column, you’ll discover for yourself how brixton brothers creator,...

October, 2013

Briefings…

A publication of the Youth Services Interest Group of the California Library Association

Inside this Issue:

Meet the Author 2

Train the Trainer @ Los Gatos 6

Summer Food Drive 7 San Mateo PL’s ‘A-Team’ 8 Reading Day @ Mountain View 9 Lego Robots @ Napa Library 10 Princesses, Pirates And Trains 11

Announcements 12

Contact Us 14

It’s not every day that you discover a famous author of children’s books grew up in your hometown, or that the library system you work for happens to have greatly influenced his literary life. If you read Penny Peck’s Meet the Author column, you’ll discover for yourself how Brixton Brothers creator, Mac Barnett frequently visited the Castro Valley Library as a child. I cannot, however, take credit for having bought the books that made such a lasting impression on Mr. Barnett, but I’m grateful that he found his way to the Stinky Cheese Man and The Stupids with another librarian’s help. Hang on, because the wow factor continues with Trish Garone’s summer reading game-themed Food Drive story. Apparently, public libraries all over the state exceeded expectations with record-setting numbers in food collection history. A remarkable feat, to be sure, but even more so as this happened during California Library Association’s wildly successful “Reading is So Delicious” campaign. Oh, and did I mention that some libraries also served lunches to schoolchildren this summer too!? Talk about a hat trick. Remarkably, the hat tricks continue daily as CA youth services librarians kick off the school year by training volunteers, hosting reading celebrations, building robots, and reorganizing collections! My last surprise involves a call to fill two vacant positions on the YSIG Board: Briefings Editor and Program Coordinator. See page 13 for specifics and more information on each position. I have thoroughly enjoyed editing Briefings and it has been a great pleasure meeting colleagues throughout the state!

Celeste Steward, Collection Development Librarian/ YSIG Chair

Alameda County Library, Fremont, CA

Surprises & Hat Tricks

Meet the Author

“Where We Can Get to Know California Authors

and Illustrators of Books for Children and Teens”

by Penny Peck

Mac Barnett

For this issue, author/illustrator Mac Barnett was kind enough to do an interview by email.

Q. Congratulations on your recent book, Count the Monkeys (Disney-Hyperion, 2013). It is hilarious! Was there any special inspiration for the story?

I got the idea years ago when I was on safari in Namibia, which may have something to do with all the animals. But this book, like a lot of my work, is inspired by failure—I like to write stories where things fall to pieces. That is probably a terrible answer if I’m trying to get a bunch of librarians to take a chance on this book at story time though. But please: read it! It’s funny! (I hope.)

Q. I just read it to a Transitional Kindergarten class and they loved it! There appears to be a subtle reference to Red Riding Hood in the book. Do you like to incorporate pop culture references into your stories?

I do, but I tend to incorporate the popular culture of eleventh-century Iceland or nineteenth century Germany. Not a ton of Ke$ha references in my stuff.

Q. Your picture books feature a variety of illustrators – how does the illustrator get chosen for a book? Do you have any say in the matter?

I’m lucky in that my editors have tended to involve me in the selection of illustrators. I know that not all authors get that privilege.

Q. Last year, your book Extra Yarn earned a Caldecott Honor for the artist Jon Klassen; in a way, that is a compliment to you as well. How did that feel?

Oh, it was life changing. I remember what that sticker meant to me as a kid when I was choosing a book to read. Knowing that our book was going to end up in so many more little hands, well, there’s not much more exciting than that.

California Library Association

Youth Services Interest Group

Meet the Author: Mac Barnett cont.

Q. You also write the Brixton Brothers mystery novels; is the writing process for tween books different from picture books? Or similar?

It’s very different. Picture books come in short, inspired bursts. When I’m writing a novel, I spend months wandering around the house, worried about the fact that I’m not writing.

Q. Because you write humorous books, do people expect you to be funny in person? (Pretend you are hearing Joe Pesci’s “Do I amuse you” monologue from “Goodfellas” here).

Wait, have people been saying I’m not funny in person? Who? It was my mom, wasn’t it?

Q. How did you get your foot in the door of the publishing industry? What was your first published book?

I read The Stinky Cheese Man in college, working at a summer camp, and it made me want to write picture books. Months later, when I had my first idea for a story, I was talking about it in the dining hall with my friend Casey. When I said I’d been inspired by The Stinky Cheese Man, she said, “You know my dad wrote that book, right?” I didn’t know how to spell her last name or say Jon’s. It was an insane coincidence. And so I sent my first manuscript to Jon and he sent it to his agent, and that became Billy Twitters and His Blue Whale Problem. Jon and I actually wrote a book together, and it’s coming out this month: Battle Bunny. (Jon Scieszka and Mac Barnett. Battle Bunny. Illus. by Matthew Myers. Simon & Schuster, 2013. $14.99, ISBN 978-1442446731).

Q. Aside from The Stinky Cheese Man, what were some of your favorite books as a child?

I loved all things James Marshall, but especially The Stupids Step Out. There’s a book called But No Elephants! that I read again and again. Frog and Toad. Shel Silverstein. In the Night Kitchen.

Q. What was the public library like when you were a kid in a family of “non-farmers in a farming community” (as your bio says) in California in the 1980s and 90s?



“Months later,

when I had my

first idea for a

story, I was

talking about it

in the dining

hall with my

friend Casey.

When I said I’d

been inspired

by The Stinky

Cheese Man, she

said, “You know

my dad wrote

that book,

right?’”


Q. What was the public library like when you were a kid in a family of “non-farmers in a farming community” (as your bio says) in California in the 1980s and 90s?

By the time I was literate, I was no longer living in rural Lemoore. I spent my reading years in Castro Valley, which is in the Bay Area, but we have our own rodeo parade so I guess it’s a little more country than rock and roll. I spent a ton of time in the library—I’d get an armful of books there every week. It was a red brick building down the street from my house. I could still navigate the aisles blindfolded. The water fountain was ice cold. Coldest water in C.V. Now there’s a beautiful new building somewhere else—amazing natural light, but I don’t know about the water temperature.

Q. You are probably the second most famous person from Castro Valley, after news commentator Rachel Maddow. Congratulations! Do you visit schools and public libraries to talk to kids about your books?

I do! I love visiting schools and libraries. A book is a conversation between a writer and a reader. I write for kids because I enjoy talking to them.

Q. If so, how do librarians contact you for visits?

My email address is on my website, but it’s just [email protected].

Q. Any funny experiences at a school or library visit? Nearly every author or illustrator has a story about the visit that went awry!

Well I was there the day David Shannon made a third-grader cry, but I’m not allowed to tell that story. Last year I got stuck in traffic and was running a little late. When I got to the school, the librarian was reading the kids my book Mustache!. I get to read my books all the time, but I very rarely hear other people reading them. This isn’t really an “awry” story—she did a great job, and I was lucky to be in the back of the room.



“By the time I was literate, I was

no longer living in rural Lemoore.

I spent my reading years in Castro Valley, which is in the

Bay Area, but we have our own

rodeo parade so I guess it’s a little more country than rock and

roll. I spent a ton of time in the

library—I’d get an armful of

books there every week.”


Q. Do you have any upcoming appearances for teachers or librarians?

Jon Scieszka and I are doing a bunch of Battle Bunny events in the Bay Area at the end of October, and I enthusiastically invite all teachers and librarians to come see us. There will be cake (I think)!

Q. Do you have any new books coming out soon you can mention?

Besides this Battle Bunny business I keep flogging? I have a book coming out next spring, illustrated by Chris Van Dusen, called President Taft Is Stuck in the Bath. It is my presidential biography (coming in March 2014 from Candlewick).

Q. How about a time travel story (since that appears to be something you are interested in)?

I actually wrote one! It’s called Oh No! Not Again! (Hyperion, 2012).

Q. Anything else you would like our readers to know?

I’d love readers to know more about medieval Icelandic pop culture so they’d get some of my more obscure jokes, but I don’t have much hope that will happen.

We can’t wait to read Battle Bunny and see you on the road! For Mac Barnett’s upcoming appearances, check out: http://macbarnett.com/

Penny Peck

San Jose State University

School of Library and Information Science

[email protected]



http://macbarnett.com/

mailto:[email protected]

Train the Trainer @ Los

Gatos Library

Each year, staff at Los Gatos Library ask: “How are we going to manage a group of

new summer volunteers who must be trained, guided, and supervised while still

managing our everyday responsibilities?” With only two volunteer supervisors, the

answer to this question was “train the trainer.”

We trained five of our current teen volunteers on two specific tasks we wanted to see

accomplished over the summer. We then paired these volunteers with five new

volunteers to be trained and mentored by our existing volunteers. This turned out to

be a great opportunity for all involved. We didn’t have to spend much time training

our new recruits, and we were able to offer our experienced teen volunteers a

fantastic leadership opportunity.

This “train the trainer” concept was the perfect approach to the challenge of

providing additional volunteer opportunities to our library community while still

being able to manage our everyday responsibilities. The only challenges to our

summer volunteer program revolved around scheduling. Since today’s kids are

busy, we had to plan carefully how to pair up current and new volunteers so no one

would be left working alone. Google calendar came in handy for this, as did a handy

white board that laid out the weekly job responsibilities and each volunteer’s

schedule.

Overall, we had a very successful volunteer program. The teens made some new

friends and contacts and gained valuable leadership skills.

Melissa Maglio, Librarian

Los Gatos Library

408-399-5724



http://index.asp/?NID=42

Summer Food Drive Reaps

41,000+ Pounds for Needy

Families

This summer, public libraries across California partnered with local area food banks to

collect food for those in need. The effort exceeded all expectations. Together, libraries from

Tehama County to San Diego County collected more than 41,000 pounds of food, well

exceeding the original target of 10,000 pounds.

In recent years California Library Association (CLA) has been hearing from libraries about

a desire for more altruistic and service-oriented summer programming. This past

summer’s iRead theme, “Reading Is So Delicious,” presented a great opportunity to create

a summer reading program that could address the issue of hunger in communities across

the state. The program took the form of a statewide food drive called “Acquire A Taste For

Giving.”

Libraries were encouraged to create partnerships with local food banks, hold summer food

drives, run food-for-fines programs, and highlight issues relating to hunger in America.

More than 175 branch libraries participated. The food drive was the perfect opportunity for

libraries to create new community partnerships, specifically with local food banks.

Hopefully, many of these partnerships will continue in the future.

CLA and California libraries are also addressing issues of hunger through the Lunch at the

Library program. This summer, in partnership with the California Summer Meal Coalition,

and funded by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, CLA piloted a program that

combined literacy activities with free summer lunches for children, to help them return to

school in the fall healthy and ready to learn.

A big thanks to all the libraries that participated! For further information on these

programs visit the “Acquire A Taste For Giving” Food Drive page and the Lunch at the

Library page of the CLA website.

Trish Garone, Summer Reading Program Associate




http://www.cla-net.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=566



San Mateo Library’s ‘A-Team’

This summer, Teen Services and Children’s Services at the Main Branch of

the San Mateo Public Library teamed up and develop a series of programs

targeted towards tweens, an often overlooked population in library

programming.

Teen Services Librarian Addie Spanbock and I collaborated to create a

series of craft programs for tweens, which we defined as ranging from fifth

to eighth grades. The program, entitled “Crafts with the A Team,” ran every

other Monday throughout the Summer Reading Game. Crafts included

duct tape wallets and flowers, notebooks from cereal boxes, rubber ducky

decoration, tie-dye wash cloths, and soda pop top bracelets.

We ended the summer with a “Tween Night” after-hours program. Forty

tweens enjoyed a pizza dinner, decorated reusable cloth book bags,

participated in a scavenger hunt around the library, played food bingo (in

keeping with the “Reading is So Delicious” theme), and created candy

sushi. All participants left with a free book, and a few lucky winners of food

bingo left with San Mateo Public Library t-shirts.

The evening went extremely well. It was great to see the tweens interacting

with each other and making new friends while exploring the library. We

received such positive feedback from the tweens in attendance that we have

decided to make this a quarterly event.

Alison Day, Librarian I

San Mateo Public Library



Mountain View Library to Hold

Annual Reading Day

On November 16, the Mountain View Public Library will celebrate its 22nd

annual Reading Day. This popular event brings the community together to

celebrate the joys of reading. Last year we had approximately 2,000

people come through the Library’s doors from 10am to 1pm to participate

in this special celebration.

The event typically includes story times in English, Spanish, and

Mandarin. Our Firefighters and Police Officers are part of the action and

read stories to children in our lobby. See the attached photo of our

Firefighters. Our middle school students join in the fun by coordinating

craft activities and reading scary stories. Our local dignitaries also read

stories in small groups, with participation from our Mayor, City Council

members, our local school Superintendent, Library Board members, and

other leaders in the community. We also have special performances like

puppet shows.

The past few years we have planned the event to coincide with our Friends

of the Library quarterly book sale. This has proved to be a successful

partnership since we encourage Reading Day attendees to visit the book

sale, and the Friends have seen their revenue increase. Everyone wins as

the funds raised by the Friends go back to the Library to support programs

like Reading Day, summer reading, adult programs, and collections.

Rosanne M. Macek, Director, Library Services

Mountain View, CA 94041

[email protected]




LEGO STEM Classes @ Napa

County Library

In an effort to engage children in Science, Technology, Engineering

and Mathematics (STEM) education, staff from the Napa County Library will

facilitate seven LEGO® robotics workshops for children ages seven through

ten. During the workshops, 18 students will build and program robots with

LEGO® WeDo™ robotics kits and laptops. The children will build the robots

with LEGO®s and parts such as motors, pulleys and cables, and program the

robots to perform for friends and families.

The workshops will begin in December and run through June, 2014 at

Napa Main Library. The library’s robotics classes are sponsored in part by a

California State Library grant that funded staff training, STEM-related

materials, and the LEGO® WeDo™ kits and software. The grant also provided

funds to pay for extra help to assist library patrons during the workshops.

LEGO® robotics workshops are also supported by a grant from the

U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the

Library Services and Technology Act, administered in California by the State

Librarian.

Dawn P. Boggs, Staff Services Analyst

Napa County Library

[email protected]




Princesses, Pirates and

Trains--Oh My!

Right to left: Kathy Nemes & Debbi Centi

As patron demand increased for ease in locating materials within our large, popular picture

book collection, we sought an opportunity for all our customers, young and old alike, to self-

serve. With inspiration from the 2012 ALA presentations about the success of other libraries

with similar projects, we reorganized the Folsom Public Library picture book collection this

past summer.

Approximately 12,000 items were weeded, cataloged, sorted, labeled and moved into new

shelving locations. These 12 locations were identified as: Bedtime, Celebrations, Concepts,

Favorites, Growing Up, Nature, Poems/Rhymes/Songs, Read-along w/CD, Stories, Tales (Folk

& Fairy Tales), Things That Go and Wordless books. Within some locations, Stories and

Nature, we identified further subcategories, such as dinosaurs, pirates, princesses. The call

numbers were changed to reflect the subject, rather than author, and labeled with a two letter

designator at the top of the spine. In this way, patrons would delight in finding stories about

popular subjects in the same location. Similarly, within the Tales location, a nod was given to

title, so that books about the same tale could be shelved together.

This was a team effort with much support from our library manager, staff and volunteers. The

entire project took three months, during which time library operations proceeded normally

and staff continued to perform their regular duties.

Folsom families love to browse our wonderful picture books!

Debbie Centi and Kathy Nemes, Youth Services

Folsom Public Library



We’re on the Web!

See us at:

http://cla-

net.org/displaycommon.cf

m?an=1&subarticlenbr=25



Announcements

The Arne Nixon Center Advocates would like to invite everyone to their

Annual Meeting on November 1st in the Henry Madden Library at Fresno

State. Award-winning picture book author and illustrator Elisa Kleven

will be the guest speaker. A catered reception for the author will begin at

6:00 p.m. Her talk entitled, "Scraps and Imagination: Creating

Miniature Worlds in Childhood and in Children's Books" will begin

at 7:00 p.m. The program is free and open to the public.

RSVP to [email protected]

For more information, please send email to [email protected] or call

the Arne Nixon Center at 559.278.8116

http://www.arnenixoncenter.org/events/anca_annual_2013.shtml

Jennifer Crow, Curator

Arne Nixon Center for the Study of Children's Literature

Henry Madden Library

California State University, Fresno

www.arnenixoncenter.org

559-278-8116

~~~~~

Save the Date!

The Association of Children’s Librarians of Northern California (ACL) will

host their annual Institute at the San Francisco Main Public Library on

Friday, March 14, 2014. This year’s theme will be Common Core and the

new push for more books of information in the classroom, with special

emphasis paid to how school and public librarians can assist their local

schools in the adoption of the new Common Core State Standards. It will be

an informative and fun day with speakers in the morning, and

STEM/STEAM activities in the afternoon. Keep up on all of the developing

details by visiting

http://bayviewsandmore.wordpress.com/

See you in March!

Eric Barbus, Librarian I

San Francisco Public Library

[email protected]

http://cla-net.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=25





http://www.arnenixoncenter.org/events/anca_annual_2013.shtml

http://www.arnenixoncenter.org/

http://bayviewsandmore.wordpress.com/


Announcements, cont.

Wanted: Briefings Editor

The YSIG Briefings Editor will create and maintain the Briefings

Newsletter for CLA’s Youth Services Interest Group. The Briefings

Newsletter is a quarterly publication that is written by CLA & YSIG

members.

To view past issues of Briefings Newsletter, please visit:


Wanted: Program Coordinator

The Program Coordinator(s) for the YSIG will create and execute

programs for Spring Fling and Annual Conference events. The program

coordinator(s) will work closely with CLA staff, the Interest Group

Committee, and YSIG members to execute engaging and timely topics

for Spring Fling and Conference programs. It is required that the

Program Coordinator(s) attend Spring Fling and Annual Conference

events.

If you are interested in either position, please submit to me:

1) A short biography about yourself (200 words or less)

2) A statement of intent that describes why you are committed to

serving on the YSIG Board

Please visit the YSIG website for more information about the group. If

you have any further questions in regards to the open positions, please

email me.

Julie Zeoli, Librarian/YSIG Chair

Yorba Linda Public Library

Yorba Linda, CA 92886

714.777.2873 ext. 6

[email protected]






Request for

Submissions/Upcoming

Topics

Interested in contributing to the next issue of Briefings? Want to share some wonderful and successful programs and partnerships at your library? Do you have any pressing topics you would like to read about in Briefings? We want to hear from you!

We are especially looking for new and interesting programs going on at your library or any successful collaborations/partnerships. Please send submissions for upcoming issues to the editor at [email protected]

We look forward to hearing from you!

Help to contribute to YSIG by taking part in the Briefings Newsletter!

A special “THANK YOU” to all those who submitted articles for the October, 2013 issue of BRIEFINGS!!!

Celeste Steward,

Editor

Alameda County Library

2450 Stevenson Blvd.

Fremont, CA 94538

PHONE:

510.745.1586

FAX:

510.793.2879

E-MAIL:

[email protected]





briefings · 2018-04-01 · column, you’ll discover for yourself how brixton brothers creator,...

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