Children's Services Division, OLA - Blog

Children's Services Division, OLA

Youth Services Summit

9/10/2021

Saturday, September 25, 2021

Join us for the 2021 Youth Services Summit on Saturday, September 25th for some fall camaraderie on all things youth services! We especially hope to see you in the morning for discussing what Summer Reading looks like next. Feel free to join us with coffee and snacks in hand. You are welcome to attend just one session, or stay for all topics. Most sessions will not be recorded due to the participatory nature of the presentations. Please tell us in advance here if you plan on coming!

Link to registration
Link to schedule

Need more information? Check out our Youth Services Summit webpage.

Amendments to CSD Bylaws

8/22/2021

Dear CSD Members,
The CSD Board has prepared some amendments to our bylaws. If you have any questions or would like to make comments, please email: csdpastchair@olaweb.org. Looking for our full bylaws? Click here. We will send out the voting ballots in the near future.

1. Change CSLP (Collaborative Summer Learning Program) Representative from elected to appointed position, in article 11.051, and change the title of CSLP Representative to Summer Reading Chair throughout.
Reason for this change: Often it is difficult to find sufficient candidates for multiple Board positions. The State Library of Oregon no longer contracts with CSLP and now provides summer reading program materials through iReads.

2. Change the Performer's Showcase Chair to an appointed, voting Board position in article 11.051.
Reason for this change: The Performer's Showcase Chair is responsible for one of CSD's long-standing core activities that provides an important service to the library community.

3. Change title of Web Editor to Communications Chair throughout.
Reason for this change: Communications Chair more accurately reflects the responsibilities of this position.

4. Remove article 11.0524 requiring 1/3 of ballots be returned for valid elections, to a simple majority of returned votes.
Reason for this change: This change makes CSD election policy consistent with other OLA Divisions which allow simple majority for elections.

5. Specify nominations for Lampman Award are to be made by Oregon residents in article 11.103.
Reason for this change: During the most recent nominations we received several nominations from outside of the OLA organization, Since the Lampman award honors "a living Oregon author, librarian, or educator who has made a significant contribution to Oregon in the fields of children’s literature and library services," it makes sense to open nominations to Oregon residents.

Lampman Award 2021

8/12/2021

Congratulation to Tehlor Kay Mejia, our 2021 Evelyn Sibley Lampman Award recipient for her significant contribution to Oregon in the field of children’s literature from the Children’s Services Division of the Oregon Library Association (OLA). The Evelyn Sibley Lampman Award is presented annually by the Children's Services Division and is given in memory of Evelyn Sibley Lampman (1907-1980), noted Oregon teacher, journalist, and author of children’s books.

Southern Oregon resident Tehlor Kay Mejia is an author of YA and middle grade fiction featuring queer, Latinx characters. For more information about Tehlor, check out our Lampman Award webpage.

Thank you to Jane Corry, Holly Campbell-Polivka and the entire Lampman Award Committee for their work!

We are looking for committee members for the 2022 Lampman Award. If you would like to participate, please contact csdwebeditor@olaweb.org.

Author

Tara Morissette
CSD Communications/Web Editor
Library Assistant, Oregon City Public Library

Community Engagement Grant: Outcomes

7/12/2021

Last winter, I applied for and won the $3000 Libraries Transforming Communities grant. I planned to host a series of virtual conversations with young families, thus combining community engagement and conversation with some of the principles of early literacy. My experience of parents who are new to parenting is that the connection with other parents is invaluable. Just knowing that other parents are having similar experiences is heartening, and often conversations will spark new ideas for successful parenting. Unfortunately, even with a grant that helped to provide digital access, I didn’t get a great turnout for my virtual events. The engagement I had with families was rich, but they weren’t engaging with each other. I’ve recently transferred the conversation project to an in-person, outdoor program and am having much more luck engaging with lots of families, but it’s not the focused conversation opportunity I was hoping for.

So at first glance, this hasn’t been a particularly successful grant project. And I think it’s important to acknowledge that not all grant projects are successful and that we shouldn’t let that stop us from taking a chance on trying something new with grant funds. While the program may not have gone exactly as I’d planned, the community still benefitted and I still learned a lot about engaging with my community.

Part of this grant process is to take the "Libraries Transforming Communities: Facilitation Skills for Small and Rural Libraries.Facilitation Skills E-Course" and I was lucky enough to take this course as part of a cohort with virtual get-togethers after each segment of the course. (The course is also available asynchronously and free of charge. I recommend it!) Taking this course greatly increased both my ability to host a facilitated conversation and my confidence and excitement about doing so. As a result of taking this course, I now feel ready to plan a community conversation about food. This new conversation ties in with adult and teen programming we’ve been doing over the last couple of years, and will also engage several community partners we’ve been building relationships with. Participating in the grant process was vital to being able to take this next step, so I’m so glad that I did!

Author

Susan Cackler
Library Supervisor/Programs Coordinator
Banks Public Library
Incoming CSD chair

iREAD Graphics in Spanish

6/4/2021

This year, iREAD received a request for Spanish-language graphics in addition to the Spanish and English bookmarks and posters they already offer for sale, and are offering them for download. Going forward, such graphics will be included in the Resource Guide along with the other reproducible spot art.

Please check out the CSD summer reading page.

Spring Workshop Series - Thank you!

5/12/2021

On behalf of the CSD Board, I wanted to take a moment to thank everyone who attended the CSD Spring Workshop Debrief Sessions. I also appreciate everyone who has taken the time to engage in the Watch & Reads or plan to in the future.

This is the first time we've done the Spring Workshop and fundraiser virtually. What did you think? Feel free to email brycesa1@gmail.com with feedback.

We wanted to make sure to send along some tips and takeaways from our debrief sessions:
April 30: Programming
-Watch & Reads
-Debrief notes

May 7th: EDI
-Watch & Reads
-Debrief notes

Want to find these resources at a later date? Head over to our spring workshop pag e.

The Spring Workshop Fundraiser: Virtual Auction
Thank you to everyone who participated in the CSD fundraiser this spring. Whether you bid, bought, or donated, your support is greatly appreciated. The fundraiser brought in over $700.

What's next for CSD?
If you were a member back in 2019, you might recall our first Summer Reading Summit in the fall! We are planning on having a similar learning opportunity called the Youth Services Summit. We are unsure if this will be in person or virtual, but will very likely have a virtual component. Stay tuned for more info, and thank you for your support of CSD!

Bryce Kozla
CSD Co-chair

Spring Workshop Series: EDI in Services

5/4/2021

1. The Spring Workshop continues. Our next watch & read is about EDI in services. Click here for the content. Remember, you can watch or read any of the links, or none! These resources aren't going away so feel free to bookmark them.

2. If you can, join us for a debrief/sharing on May 7th, 11 AM-1PM. The Zoom Link is pasted and highlighted at the top of the shared Google Doc.

3. Check out this EDI tip from Bryce. See YouTube video below.

CSD Spring Board Meeting: May 3rd at 1 pm

4/25/2021

Join us for the Oregon Library Association, Children's Services Division (CSD) virtual spring 2021 board meeting. Here is the link to the Zoom meeting. We start at 1:00 pm PST and would love to have you join in the conversation.

Hope to see you there!

The CSD board

CSD Virtual Booth at the OLA Conference

4/18/2021

Welcome to your virtual OLA, Children's Services Division at the OLA Conference. Click on the crayon links to find out more about CSD. Click on certain leaves on the tree for a mix of fun stuff and great information.

A larger view of the Virtual CSD

Author

Tara Morissette
CSD Communications, Social Media and Web Editor
Library Assistant at Oregon City Public Library

CSD Open Positions

4/12/2021

Are you interested in impacting children’s library services and programming? Are you passionate about serving children? Do you know someone who is? Please consider nominating yourself or someone else for the OLA, Children’s Services Division Board. Work with your peers to make children's libraries a better place. You learn new things along the way. Email us to let us know your interest.

Position Openings

Incoming CSD Chair: The primary responsibilities of the Incoming Chair are to advocate for CSD members as a member of the OLA Annual Conference Program Committee; to coordinate CSD’s annual fundraising activity (typically held concurrently with the Spring CSD Member Workshop); and to support and learn from the current Chair and Past Chair. This is a three year commitment. Click here for the full job description. This position will start in September 2021.

Performer's Showcase: Respond to inquiries from performers and update Performer contact list as needed. Organize the performer's showcase event.  Click here for a detailed job description. This position would start immediately.

Secretary: The secretary is a voting member. They attend CSD events and take notes.  Click here for a detailed job description. This position would start immediately.

Mock Workshop Co-Chair: Plan and provide a mock workshop based on one of the ALA Youth Awards. This year it will be the Caldecott Award. Stephanie Goodwin has offered the co-chair the event and is looking for a partner.  Click here for a detailed job description. This position would start immediately.

Summer Reading Chair: Works closely with OYAN Summer Reading Chair and State Library Youth Services Consultant to provide communication, workshops, and support for Oregon libraries’ summer reading programs. This includes sharing iREAD information, workshops, timelines, and updates. Coordinate Summer Reading fall workshop their second year in office. This is a two year commitment. Click here for a detailed job description. The position will start September 2021.

Communications/Social Media Committee Members: Committee members help create content for the blog and promote CSD events. This position would start immediately.

Author

Tara Morissette
CSD Communications, Social Media and Web Editor
Library Assistant/Oregon City Public Library

Oregon Library Association
Children's Services Division
Oregon Young Adult Network
Public Library Division

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