YOUTH SERVICES FORUM – WORKSHOP XXIX: Youth Services Are Lit!
A DAY OF HOT TOPICS AND ISSUES IN LIBRARY SERVICES TO CHILDREN AND YOUNG ADULTS
October 7, 2019
8:45 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Coffee 8:45 a.m. – 9:15 a.m.

Registration Link

NOTE: Registration reflects a commitment to pay regardless of attendance

Monroe Township Library
4 Municipal Plaza, Monroe Twp., NJ 08831 -- Phone: 732.521.5000
Directions: http://www.monroetwplibrary.org/library/library-location/

Sponsored by:
The Children’s Services and Young Adult Sections of the New Jersey Library Association, The NJ State Library and the NJ Association of School Librarians

Deadline: Sep. 27, 2019

NOTE: Registration reflects a commitment to pay regardless of attendance

PROGRAM DESCRIPTIONS
9:30 am – 10:30 am

Leeza Hernandez – Finding the Write Words During this interactive workshop, illustrator and author Leeza Hernandez will take you behind the scenes and share her process of writing and illustrating picture books including her favorite story figure-out-able exercise: The Spidergram. She'll discuss how she struggles with words, and shares ways to overcome creative block as well as guide audience participants through a character-building activity. Leeza will also share tips on how to incorporate some of the exercises from the workshop into your own programs. Session concludes with a brief Q&A. Follow Leeza on Instagram @leezaworks

When Leeza Hernandez isn’t working as an art director for a local parenting magazine, this painter, printmaker and doodler can be found hanging out with her artist family, traveling or noodling in her studio on books for young readers. She’s inspired by the world around her, from foreign countries and cultures to everyday objects. She grew up on the Isle of Wight in the south of England and currently lives in New Jersey with her husband, daughter and tabby cat, Jaspurr-purr. Leeza has illustrated Sandy Donovan’s Bored Bella Learns About Fiction and Nonfiction (Picture Window Books), Ann McCallum’s Eat Your Homework series (Charlesbridge); NY Times best-selling author John Lithgow’s Never Play Music Right Next To The Zoo (S&S), as well as Dog Gone! and Cat Napped! (Penguin/Putnam). Her latest includes THIS IS THE DAY! by Amy Parker (Scholastic) and DID YOU BURP? by April Pulley Sayre (Charlesbridge) as well as the Mia Mayhem chapter book series (Simon & Schuster).

10:40 am – 11:30 am
Stories, Songs & Stretches: Yoga Story Time
If you work with preschoolers and early elementary age kids and are looking for ideas on how to design and facilitate a yoga story time, Stories, Songs, and Stretches! online training can show you how to use yoga and movement to create playful, active story times and support children's early learning and social-emotional development. Learn how this program provides the skills and resources to train participants to use yoga-inspired movement intentionally to help young children develop physical literacy, early literacy, and social-emotional skills through embodied play.


Peggy Wong is a Children’s Librarian at Piscataway Public Library. After a solid career in the financial industry, Peggy changed careers to become a Children’s Librarian to share her passion for art, music, literature and fitness with children. Peggy loves using technology in her library programs to create interactive story times to inspire and nurture self-confidence, early learning, and a love of reading in children. Peggy also enjoys planning programs that celebrate cultural diversity and enjoys working with children with special needs.

Welcoming Teens to the Library
The library serves everyone, but that doesn’t mean that we are all instantly comfortable with everyone who walks through our doors. We may respond to teens based on unconscious prejudice or assumptions about their behavior and needs. Understanding and appreciating the way teens think can help us provide a welcoming atmosphere and set healthy boundaries with patrons in this unique developmental stage.

Pham Condello is a supervising librarian specializing in youth services, from teen brains to teen culture. Although she loves scrunchies and friendship bracelets she is not a VSCO girl.

We Have Diverse Books, Now What?
So you’ve added diverse books to your library’s collection, you put up your Black History Month display in February, and you put up rainbows for Pride Month in June – but are you doing enough to serve your community? There are always ways to do better. Panelists will discuss ways to identify gaps in your library’s diversity services, collection development, programming and displays – and what you can do about it.

Jenna Ingham is the young adult librarian at Summit Free Public Library. Jenna is a new librarian and was selected as a 2019 NJLA Emerging Leader. She currently serves on the 2020-2021 Rainbow Book List Committee, which is fitting because she was a rainbow for Halloween last year.

Stacey Shapiro is the teen/programming librarian at Cranford Public Library. She is an ALA Emerging Leader, class of 2019 and a member of the Printz 2020 Committee.

Akiema Buchanan is originally from Los Angeles, California. She has a BA in English and MLIS from Wayne State University. She currently works at Paterson Free Public Library as a Teen Librarian.

Lunch 11:45 am – 12:30 pm

12:30 pm – 1:20 pm
KEYNOTE: Wil Mara – Myth of the Reluctant Reader
Wil Mara has been a published author for more than thirty years, with most of his work in the area of children’s nonfiction for school and public libraries. In the early 2000s, he began investigating the phenomenon of reluctant readership, and the results of this research have been disseminated over several years via his ‘Myth of the Reluctant Reader’ presentations. Wil will share his overall thoughts on the Reluctant Reader concept, core data from the past lectures, and suggested strategies going forward. He will color the discussion with stories from his writing and editing experiences, as well as the many author visits he has made to various libraries over the years, which have afforded him firsthand interaction with reluctants as well as the librarians who deal with them. Copies of his books will be available and Wil is happy to meet and greet with all in attendance.

Wil Mara is a veteran author with more than 270 books to his credit, both fiction and nonfiction. His work for children includes more than 175 educational titles for the school and library markets. He has also ghostwritten five of the popular ‘Boxcar Children Mysteries.’ His titles have received excellent reviews from SLJ, Kirkus Reviews, Horn Book, Children’s Literature, and many others. Wil also served as a professional editor, production director, and executive for more than twenty years, working for such storied publishers as Scholastic, McGraw-Hill, Harcourt Brace, and Prentice Hall. His new supernatural series for middle-grade readers ‘Twisted', was praised by one school librarian as “The substantial replacement to ‘Goosebumps’ that I’ve been waiting forever for.” The Junior Library Guild picked the second 'Twisted' book, House of a Million Rooms, as a Main Selection title just two weeks after its release. And the 'Twisted' stories are currently being developed as a Netflix original series. Wil is also an executive member of the Board of Directors for the New Jersey Center for the Book. More information can be found at his website---http://www.wilmara.com/.

1:30 – 2:20
Chapter Quest
Explore your favorite myths, folktales, and fairy tales with an interactive math roleplaying adventure, Chapter Quest. Accessible for ages 7 and up, this one-time and/or series program can be utilized for an audience of 4-20 attendees and encourages literacy while engaging both STEM and social learning. Participants of this workshop will be playing a sample of the game, so be ready to roll for initiative!
Hannah Lee, MLIS, is the Head of Youth Services at Sayreville Public Library, where she leads both early learning and social skill development programs for ages 0-18. She is the three-year champion of the oldest D&D convention in the world, Princecon, and uses her skills as a storyteller as a professional Game Master-for-hire for ages 7 and up.

Wild @ Heart – Connecting Youth to Nature
In this session, NJ Audubon will present practical information about outdoor learning that libraries can easily implement. We will share resources regarding the benefits of using the outdoors as a classroom and have an interactive discussion about how libraries are already using the outdoors as a classroom.
Christine Whorton has served as the Teacher Naturalist for New Jersey Audubon’s Urban Education initiative since 2015. She works to fulfill New Jersey Audubon’s mission of connecting all people with nature by delivering STEM and nature-based outreach programming to youth, families, and adults in their own communities throughout the state.

Lending Nontraditional Items @ Your Library w/Petting Zoo
Do you want to start lending nontraditional items – things that are “outside the box?” How about a popcorn machine or American Girl dolls? Is a Go-Pro Camera kit or a Roku Stick on your wish list? In this hands-on session, librarians from Livingston, East Brunswick, Cherry Hill, Sparta, and Cape May County libraries will be demonstrating many of their nontraditional items and lending kits. Come with your questions about packaging/storing the items, lending periods, check-in/check-out procedures, fines, replacement costs, etc. You will not be disappointed in this information-packed session!