Category: be the best you can be

• Storytime Opera

  Singing is one of those things that every human can do, but many avoid doing because they think they’re not good at it or that they have bad voices. There is no such thing as a bad voice. There are voices that people prefer to hear, but breaking things down in to good and bad–especially…

  Miss Julie

  March 5, 2013

  awesomeness, be the best you can be, different ways to read, early childhood, early literacy, kids, librarians…for the CHILDREN!, libraries-everywhere, minimovers, music, OPINIONS!, participation, personal experience, professional development, programming, rhymes, stories, storytime, toddlers

  children, dancing, five little monkeys, kyle harter, librarian, libraries, music, programs, singing

• Your silence is protection that they do not deserve

  If she had lived, my mother would be turning 66 on March 2nd, 2013. She died in 2007 of an enlarged heart, which, to me, has a poetic justice to it. My mother did not give love easily, but she gave it fiercely. My mother spent much of her life married to a man who…

  Miss Julie

  February 28, 2013

  be the best you can be, personal experience, politics, professional development, stories, storytime, technology, teens

  community, controversey, education, librarian, love, mothers

• Make It So

    As she so often does, Marge Loch-Wouters hit the nail on the head with her post Everything Old is New Again. I wonder, how many libraries with MAKERSPACES consulted their youth departments before creating this BRAND NEW THING? Because, seriously, been there, done that, have the stained shirt to prove it. Some of you might…

  Miss Julie

  February 13, 2013

  artsncrafts, awesomeness, be the best you can be, kids, Librarians, librarians…for TEENS!, librarians…for the CHILDREN!, libraries now!, libraries-everywhere, libraries…of the FUTURE, libraries…of the PAST!, library spaces, marketing, OPINIONS!, outreach, participation, personal experience, programming, technology

• speak

  I think my “ego” post actually contained within it several separate issues, all of which deserve their own careful looking over. Let’s do that, shall we? first: speaking and keynotes. I’ve been to several events where, as one commenter noted, the keynote speaker is someone famous who has just written a (usually awful) children’s book…

  Miss Julie

  January 18, 2013

  be the best you can be, conferences, Librarians, librarians…for TEENS!, librarians…for the CHILDREN!, libraries now!, marketing, OPINIONS!, participation, personal experience, politics, professional development, programming, publishing

  advocacy, community, librarian, libraries, outreach, research, youth services

• say hi to Miss Sarah

  the teen librarian you wish you had (or were) I met Sarah Jones (Teen Librarian) via twitter, and I’m happy to say that via the gloriousness of the internet we’ve become real life friends. I’ve been continually amazed by  her efforts whenever she talks about her job on twitter or facebook, and I finally decided…

  Miss Julie

  January 17, 2013

  awesomeness, be the best you can be, events, Librarians, librarians…for TEENS!, libraries now!, libraries-everywhere, marketing, money money money, OPINIONS!, outreach, participation, personal experience, professional development, programming, reading, reading programs, summer reading, teens

  books, gaming, literature

• ego, thy name is librarianship

  Anyone who knows me will tell you that I have a bit of an attention problem. No, not attention deficit– I have a need to be, if not the center of attention, at least left of center. Even though I am an introvert at heart who needs significant alone time to recharge and prepare, I…

  Miss Julie

  January 13, 2013

  awards, awesomeness, be the best you can be, books, conferences, early literacy, ethics, kidlit, largely unsubstantiated, Librarians, librarians…for TEENS!, librarians…for the CHILDREN!, libraries now!, libraries…of the FUTURE, libraries…of the PAST!, library school vs. real libraries, library workers, marketing, OPINIONS!, participation, personal experience, professional development, reading, reading programs, stories, storytime, technology

  advocacy, books, community, librarian, libraries, literature, outreach, research, technology

• let’s stop worrying and love the common core

  You’ll live to be read another day, sweet Catcher in the Rye. Beautiful illustration by naomi yamada. Dear sweet baby Jane. So if you want a rage stroke, read the articles I’ve listed below. If you want to just read an accurate description of how the fiction/nonfiction actually breaks down in the Common Core, just…

  Miss Julie

  December 12, 2012

  authors, awesomeness, be the best you can be, books, different ways to read, Librarians, librarians…for TEENS!, librarians…for the CHILDREN!, libraries now!, literacy, personal experience, professional development, schools

  books, community, librarian, libraries, literature, sweet baby jane

• welcome, Illinois Library Association/Wee Be Jammin’ friends!

  Wow, this year’s ILA conference knocked it out of the park. I’ll be exploring some of the things I learned in more detail later on, but I did want to say hello to anyone who finds my blog post-conference. In the mean time, the ILA Youth Forum blog has a pretty nice recap of all…

  Miss Julie

  October 15, 2012

  awesomeness, babies, be the best you can be, conferences, early literacy, kids, Librarians, librarians…for the CHILDREN!, marketing, minimovers, music, participation

  youth forum, youth librarians

• Eat or Be Eaten: A Disturbing Storytime for the Older Child

  I’m reading aloud to a group of fifth graders soon, and I knew I wanted to start off with one of my sure fire hits, Gobble Gobble Slip Slop by Meilo So. I’ve read this book with all ages and the repetition, gross out factor, and beautiful illustrations win everyone over. The fat, greedy cat…

  Miss Julie

  September 27, 2012

  awesomeness, be the best you can be, books, folk & fairy tales, kidlit, kids, outreach, picture books, programming, reading, schools, storytime, weirdnesss for the sake of weirdness

  books, dietary choices, eating, fantasy creatures, librarian, libraries, literature, outreach

• September, I remember

  September, how did you get here so fast? Oh, yeah, summer reading (Ingrid breaks it down for you, animated gifs and all). And, oh, yeah, I have a new job (which makes another Ingrid link relevant). I’m going from being a storytime all the time librarian to a school services coordinator librarian. It’s been hard…

  Miss Julie

  September 7, 2012

  be the best you can be, early childhood, librarians…for the CHILDREN!, outreach, personal experience, professional development, programming, reading programs, storytime, summer reading

  advocacy, books, community, librarian, libraries, outreach