Build your foundation The first step is to be an excellent educator. Your lessons should foster “opportunities for learners to demonstrate personal curiosity and creation of knowledge” and “support the diverse developmental, cultural, social, and linguistic needs” represented in your community, according to the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) National School Library Standards for … Continue reading Up to the Challenge
“California wildfires are being magnified and made so much worse by the bad environmental laws which aren’t allowing massive amounts of readily available water to be properly utilized. It is being diverted into the Pacific Ocean. Must also tree clear to stop fire from spreading!” This tweet was a statement by a US president about … Continue reading Battling Information Illiteracy
Know your audience Who do you want to know about summer learning? Parents and caregivers? Teachers? The teens themselves? Other organizations serving youth in the community? While the answer is undoubtedly all four, think about your library and community. How does word get around about your events? Maybe it’s from parents reading your quarterly newsletter … Continue reading Get the Word Out
First, ALA Editions acquisitions editor and Dewey Decibel contributor Jamie Santoro speaks with Caitlin Williams, author of Be Opportunity-Minded: Start Growing Your Career Now (ALA Editions, 2019), about tips for those on the job hunt and job market trends. Next, Dewey Decibel host and American Libraries associate editor Phil Morehart talks with David Connolly, recruitment … Continue reading Dewey Decibel Podcast: Get a Job!
Why meet with professionals? Often the best information about a specific career comes from people working in that field. Career counselors recommend that teens interview professionals informally in areas that interest them. Such interviews can: Provide an insider’s view of the profession or a specific company or organization. Reveal information on what education, certifications, or … Continue reading Career Workshops for Teens
When possible conversions loom on the horizon, libraries must be prepared. In all conversion situations, one of the major problems involves the building shaping the library rather than the library shaping the building. Many spaces may lack the basic functional needs of libraries, such as ceilings high enough for reflected uplighting, sufficient power supplies, workable … Continue reading Repurpose with a Purpose
“The first flier I ever designed had a clip-art border,” confesses Lamarre, head of children’s services at Duxbury (Mass.) Free Library (DFL) and a freelance graphic design consultant. “I had no idea that that wasn’t the proper way to design an eye-catching flier.” Pixelated photos, inappropriate font choices, and other design depravities—including, yes, clip art—often … Continue reading Cutting Out the Clip Art
What made you want to write this book? ALA Editions published the first version of the book, Creating the Full-Service Homework Center in Your Library, in 2001 after I went around the country researching public library homework centers—something that no one had done before. I thought once the original book came out, nobody would ever … Continue reading A Conversation with Author Cindy Mediavilla
The challenge comes in maintaining a paid or volunteer workforce large enough to provide sufficient assistance to the multitude of students who use the library every day after school. Most libraries cannot afford to hire the number of part-time employees needed to provide necessary homework help. Nor are they prepared to recruit and train a … Continue reading Staffing Your Homework-Help Center
What made you want to write this book? I had to write this book—libraries are hungry for information on how to better serve their homeless patrons. I provide training in libraries around the world, and everywhere I go, library staffers ask for tools to help. It is exciting to meet so many allies in the … Continue reading A Conversation with Author Ryan J. Dowd
Can you imagine what this would feel like? My imagination is unable to conjure such raw terror. Somehow, the police found her and her children and drove them to Hesed House in Aurora, Illinois—the second largest homeless shelter in the state and the largest outside of Chicago. I am executive director of Hesed House, but … Continue reading The Librarian’s Guide to Homelessness
What made you want to work on this book? I have been passionate about the links between Wikipedia and libraries for a long time. I have been editing Wikipedia pages since 2005 and deeply engaged with its community since 2012. Because of my day job, I could see so many possibilities for librarians to connect … Continue reading A Conversation with Author Merrilee Proffitt
