It’s a shame that National Dress Day fell on a Sunday when I have absolutely nowhere to go. But I’ll still celebrate by spending some quiet time among my closet full of dresses and I might make a Reel of some of my favorites, we’ll see.
Either way, if you would have told my sixteen year old self that my almost-forty year old self would be exclusively wearing dresses, she would have laughed. I was a tomboy growing up and only developed an affinity for fashion in any sense as I began my professional career. And within the last decade, it’s turned into a general “uniform” of dress, heels, and an accessory like chandelier earrings. There are quite a few stories of professional women who’ve adopted a uniform to help them concentrate on their life rather than their looks or to simplify routines or to fight back against the patriarchy. I have adopted this dress code (get it!?!) to simplify my routine but also because I dress for me, and I love dresses for their design, structure, and beauty, especially when I found Loft. Even my damit pambahay (the Filipino word for house clothes which I discovered in a book) are comfy sweatshirt dresses.
Cheers to National Dress Day and a gallery of some of my favorites. You can always find my dress pics in the library or at home on Instagram alongside my book recommendations. And if you want more about my love of dresses, here was a 2019 post.
I don’t usually fall asleep on the couch at 6pm, but when I do I have an excuse. It was a Friday night after a day that included instruction in the morning about citing sources and then a book discussion virtual author visit collaboration with an outside agency that was doubling as my observation for the afternoon. There was some heightened stress with this event because it had been postponed two weeks earlier due to physical violence at our school that led to a lockdown and early student release. I wanted to make sure this went off without a hitch.
There were a few obstacles to get here:
This was strictly student interest based. This was a collaboration with our county’s case manager for crime victims and those experiencing sexual violence who wanted to pair a book about dating violence with discussion of resources and what healthy relationships look like. We settled on Bad Romance by Heather Demetrios, bought the books, and distributed them to students interested during lunch periods using an “all call”. We had a range of ninth through twelfth graders, though some had signed up because their friend was signing up. Their buy-in waned as we got closer to the event. Students chose not to attend either because of the vulnerability of the discussion or because they weren’t truly interested at the start (maybe it was the donut they got with the book?)
Scheduling the event. Due to the pandemic, our school day shifted start and end times and after school looks vastly different than it used to be. Namely, unless it’s a specific club or sport, they don’t stay after school anymore, so the option to do an after school event wasn’t really discussed. We settled on an “in-house field trip” for the event spanning several periods. But this posed problems for students who had quizzes and tests they couldn’t miss. They came for a little while but didn’t get the impact of the full event.
It was rescheduled. They’re teenagers and my fifteen years as their high school librarian has taught me one thing that is best summed up with the Zits comic from a few weeks back–
I sent emails, I made invitations, I made an updated invitation bookmark, I put it on social media. Yet, some students still didn’t show up.
But with all of that, here were the wins:
For newer librarians, I want you to repeat after me “quality over quantity”. I learned this for my first author visit more than ten years ago. It’s been to have a smaller group of students who want to be there, than pack an auditorium of students who don’t. I will take authentic, meaningful connection even in a school as large as ours rather than trying to force the connection. So when we first started warming up with introductions and book discussion and the student exclaimed that “this was probably like the best book I’ve ever read” you could have wiped up the puddle of tears from underneath my chair. This is why we do the things we do.
We had the author virtually! This was something our community partner had checked in on and when Demetrios was available, we were behind excited. It went deeper when Demetrios told her story and shared super powerful exercises that the students did in addition to the Q&A.
Snacks! You can’t have a program like this without snacks. And because I’m a nerd and had to reread the book anyway, I decided to take notes on any food mentioned in the book to see if that would work. Yup! Snacks included Doritos, Pepsi, Oreos, Twizzlers, donuts, and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. Was that a general mix of unhealthiness? Sure, but it works for snacks for teens who regularly show up with a Monster and Takis at 8am. I won’t always encourage this, but it worked for an afternoon book discussion pick-me-up. And the donuts were the first to go.
True connection. The students that were there were highly engaged with each other and with our community partner, the author, and myself. They valued the conversation and asked whether more of these types of activities would continue. The community partner and I looked at each other and knew that that’s exactly where we were going if this was successful.
Then the bell rang and students were done for the day and week as it was a Friday afternoon, but they left happy and fed. The minute they walked out the door, the reflection conversation immediately began in my head and with the community partner. How did that go? What could we do better? What would we change next time?
Maybe it was because I stayed up way past my bedtime to watch the Bills and the Chiefs game that jazzed me for the week. No, that can’t be it. It was the impending Youth Media Awards on Monday morning that got me excited for the week. Being the chairperson for the Excellence in Nonfiction Award, this was the day. The day where we awarded the winner her medal in front of a pre-recorded but live-stream of the ceremony at the advantageous time of 9am EST and shared the finalists (which had already been shared in December) so that everyone could go out and read them widely– although I’m pretty sure many had already had these titles on their radar.
I wore a new dress, I bought myself a chai tea latte– which I never do– and drove in to work early to log in to our committee’s watch party Meet. My body was buzzing and I was overcome with emotion. It was a different emotion than being in Seattle in 2019 where everyone was together in person for the ALA annual conference and Youth Media Awards both because it was a shared in-person experience but also because it was my first on an award committee. I had already served on a selection committee, but an award committee has a whole different feel. This emotion was a mix of pride, excitement, honor, and pure joy.
The watch party was exactly where I wanted to be because my committee made up of two Lauras, Janet, Rebecca, Mike, Ginny, Yolanda, and Jeana was phenomenal. We had fun and got our work done. We talked for hours about the crop of nonfiction books published in 2021 over the course of a year. We debated. We respectfully disagreed. We laughed. Then Monday morning, we had Oregonians who were logging in at 6am, barely a cuppa something hot in their hands and those of us that were a bit into our work day. And we shared the same excitement to share the books out and hear what the other committees selected as well.
If you’re a librarian, it’s one of the most indescribable feelings to work together toward a shared goal like committee membership is. I urge you to take the leap if you haven’t already.
If you’re an avid reader and book lover, tune in each year to celebrate the love of children’s and young adult literature. Buy the books. Share the books.
If you’re a child or young adult, read. Read. Read. You’re who the authors and illustrators write for.
I won’t pretend I didn’t tear up because I’m good at hiding it. But I was so damn proud. Of the work we did, of the American Library Association and YALSA for their efforts to continue the tradition of the Youth Media Awards, of the authors and illustrators who do the work that we get to celebrate. It’s a shared love of knowledge, art, and words that fills my cup in ways that other things just can’t. There was certainly no ‘case of the Mondays’ for me yesterday. I’ll probably be riding this excitement until February 24th when we get to celebrate with the finalists and winner. Tune in because it’s not over quite yet.
My middle school sons spent the last few months working with a talented group of middle schoolers (and a few elementary schoolers) in their junior production of Willy Wonka. It was a magical experience altogether and not just because my kids were a part of it but because the directors chose bright and fun props and costumes to make the viewer experience a feast for the eyes. And isn’t that what Willy Wonka does when the Golden Ticket winners enter the factory that has been closed to the public for many years?
When it all came to a close after the third and final performance, I reflected on where it began. With a book by Roald Dahl called Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
And isn’t that how most things start… with a book? We don’t give them nearly enough credit sometimes. The best blockbuster movies (and then the reboots upon reboots) and plays, fanfiction and t-shirts– usually based on a book. There are two versions of the book made into a movie, both of which were watched by my kids in preparation for their theatrical performance.
But it usually begins with a book.
And of course I decided to do what I do best and return to the OG- Dahl’s book and found that I highlighted one of the closing passages that seems to always stay true in any version:
“Listen,” Mr. Wonka said, “I’m an old man. I’m much older than you think. I can’t go on forever. I’ve got no children of my own, no family at all. So who is going to run the factory when I get too old to do it myself? Someone’s got to keep it going- if only for the sake of the Oompa-Loompas. Mind you, there are thousands of clever men who would give anything for the chance to come in and take over for me, but I don’t want that sort of person. I don’t want a grown-up person at all. A grownup won’t listen to me; he won’t learn. He will try to do things his own way and not mine. So I have to have a child. I want a good sensible loving child, one to whom I can tell all my most precious candy-making secrets- while I am still alive.”
Imagination. The way a child’s brain works to find the magic and the beauty, right from their own imagination. I can hear the music now.
If ever you need a break, borrow a children’s book (or five) and unlock your own imagination. It can begin with a book.
It is Christmas Eve which means I’ll be celebrating with family today which includes homemaking pierogies and having meatless delights like clam chowder and mushroom soup, dill galumpkis, and of fish. Then after mass in the evening we’ll return to our house before we turn in for the night, awaiting Santa Claus. What I’m hoping for before we turn in, is a little bit of uninterrupted reading time with some chocolates which is exactly was Icelanders do for their annual book flood that most Americans know about by now.
Months before Christmas Eve a catalog goes out for Icelanders to pick and purchase books for one another that are exchanged on Christmas Eve before they retire for the night to snack on chocolates and read. For the book lovers, this is a dream though sometimes unattainable because it’s not as culturally ingrained as it is in Iceland. But one can try. I’m going to make the effort to do just that, even if for a short while.
If this is a part of your Christmas Eve, share it in the comments!
I’m a little biased because over the past year I’ve worked with a group of phenomenal librarians: Ginny, Laura, Laura, Yolanda, Jeana, Mike, Janet, and Rebecca. Together we make up the 2022 Excellence in Nonfiction Award Committee through YALSA (Young Adult Library Services Association), a division of the American Library Association. Our charge is to select the best written, researched, presented nonfiction writing targeted toward kids ages 12-18. We read through hundreds of books, nominate the special ones, debate their merits, whittle it down to five finalists, and then by next month, select the winner to be announced at the Youth Media Awards. It’s the most rewarding work. And here are our finalists:
Check out the full release with annotations on YALSA’s website. I’ll sign off so I can go pop a little bubbly that they’re out in the world!
Pass up the opportunity to go back through the photo archives and share my favorite bookish pictures? Never! A story in five pictures. Share your favorite bookish photos too!
The only #bookface I’ve ever done and it was spectacular, probably because this book is one of my favorites.My first YALSA award committee. These were the finalists (Darius the Great Is Not Okay by Khorram won) for the William C. Morris Award that year. I’ve sat on others and am currently the chairperson for the Excellence in Nonfiction Award Committee. This is in addition to the mountains of books I’ve read for Great Graphic Novels for Teens and Best Fiction for Teens, both selection committees. If you have the opportunity, lend your readership to these lists.As a high school librarian, I get to play host for some amazing YA authors for our students who are book lovers too. Slater’s visit was a fabulous example of the power of nonfiction. My love for books runs so deep and excitable that I often present about books: locally, state-wide, and nationally. It’s my favorite kind of presentation to do because the prep work is *reading*. In addition to presenting, I write about books too. It’s one of the reasons you’re here on my professional blog, but I also spent time writing for our local newspaper’s Books Blog before it was retired. This was my cover photo among some of my personal library’s books.
I often post about my participation in the Dewey’s 24-hour readathon. It’s a break from reality which involves snack planning and stack prepping in addition to the amazing experience of focusing on your reading life for 24-hours (or as close to that as you can get).
Well from great ideas come more great ideas. One of the participants was inspired by her participation in Dewey’s but also knew that 24-hours straight was an unrealistic expectation for her so she created #24in48 in 2012 which expands upon the concept: in this one you strive for reading 24 hours over a 48 hour weekend that begins at 12am Saturday morning and ends at 11:59pm on Sunday night.
This was my first participation and I’ll now keep these events on my calendar alongside Dewey’s. Did I manage at least 24 hours this weekend? Yes, I managed more than 25 and probably could have done more but I did take the time to enjoy the Superbowl on Sunday night. I filled the time with audiobooks and unadulterated print books throughout the weekend which included finishing two audiobooks and several e- and print books.
What I liked most was the inclusion of social media posts to include in an Instagram story centered around current reads and progress but my favorite was the “quotables” where readers could share a quote from a book they were reading with the book cover. I’m a quote lover, so it’s something I’m going to take from the readathon and share more of on social media: quotes that resonated with me in the hopes they lead to discussions with other readers.
Here’s what I read:
The Cadaver King and the Country Dentist by Balko and Carrigan
Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times by May
Witch Hat Atelier #7 by Shirahama
Hunting Whitey: The Inside Story of the Capture and Killing of America’s Most Wanted Crime Boss by Sherman and Wedge (audiobook)
Reef Life: An Underwater Memoir by Roberts
A Song of Wraiths and Ruin by Brown
Troop 6000: The Girl Scout Troop that Began in a Shelter and Inspired the World by Stewart (audiobook)
The Low, Low Woods by Machado and DaNi
Are there reading events that you participate in? If so, which ones and why do you love them?
It’s halfway already??? Here are my answers to the midway survey.
What are you reading right now?Cursed, a collection of retold fairytales edited by O’Regan and Kane
How many books have you read so far? I think 6?
What book are you most looking forward to in the second half of the readathon? Definitely my animal books: Where Have All The Bees Gone? and My Penguin Year.
Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those? A few including taking about an hour break to attend church. But I also do have a family and a dog, so random questions and dinner interrupted, so I roll with it.
What surprises you most about the readathon so far? How quickly it has gone by when it starts at 8am.
I’m cutting to the chase here for the Dewey’s readathon by answering the questions of the opening survey.
What fine part of the world are you reading from today?
Upstate New York
2. Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?
The graphic novel, Belonging which has been recommended by many
3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?
A hand-packed pint of Pumpkin Pie ice cream from Stewart’s
4) Tell us a little something about yourself!
I’m an obsessive Call the Midwife fan.
5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today? If this is your first read-a-thon, what are you most looking forward to?
I’m a hooked participant of the readathon for the last handful of years. As for doing anything different for this one, I don’t know if there’s anything specific. But right now it looks like it might rain so my workout will be on an elliptical and not on the trail.
Readers Be Advised 