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Swirling With New Ideas #alamw15

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There’s a bit of snow outside (in case you haven’t heard) which brings the normal intensity of ALA Midwinter up a notch or two. The shuttle busses are still running and I have winter boots, but I’m taking a pause from snowstorm + meeting logistics to reflect on the thoughts swirling in my head.image

It’s easy to rush around ALA soaking up sessions, networking with familiar and new colleagues, and nabbing book galleys. It’s also just as easy to return home, collapse, and pick up where you left off, leaving ALA inspirations on the floor along with your empty  luggage. That’s why I’m using #snowstormlinus as an opportunity to catch my breath and gather my thoughts. Jenna Nemec-Loise gave an enthusiatic and inspiring keynote at the ALSC Leadership meeting yesterday morning and it’s sticking with me.

During the session, Jenna led us through an exercise on writing and practicing elevator speeches using value-based language. We used this template:

“I help [insert audience] at the library so that [insert proven/expected positive outcome for target audience].

For example, Jenna took the basic statement of “I do story time at the library” and tranformed it into “I help parents and caregivers promote kindergarten readiness at the library so their young children can start school ready to learn.”

BOOM!

I am excited to apply this exercise to my own advocacy efforts. I also hope to adopt this exercise for future training and workshops  for librarians in my state. Too often people take our work with kids and families for granted or worse, see it as “cute.” Using value-based language helps explain and validate the important and life-changing work we do on a daily basis.

So, while I’m probably missing out on an incredible presentation by LeVar Burton, I’m glad I stopped to gather my swirling thoughts so that I can put my #alamw15 experiences to work when I get back home.

Tessa Michaelson Schmidt, Wisconsin Public Library Youth Services Consultant

 

 

The post Swirling With New Ideas #alamw15 appeared first on ALSC Blog.


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