Walk Like a Penguin...No, Really!

It's that wonderful time of year for us northern-tier-staters. Below zero temps, followed immediately by thaws that create roof-annoying/destroying ice dams; snow and ice storms and plenty of shoveling. Pretty consistently throughout the winter though, the ice is the icky stuff - both to drive and walk on. 

This week's public service announcement: walk like a penguin when you are navigating sidewalks and roads that may be icy - I say "may" because snow loves to hide tricksy black ice underneath it. This walking style will save many a fall, bad bruise or broken bone.

Or be like me and just snowshoe!

Dells of the Eau Claire River County Park, Aniwa

Are We Mad to Work with Kids? [Hint:Nope]

I spent my career as a youth librarian, educator and consultant on public library youth services. Like many who have worked primarily with kids, I have always been aware of a certain...shall we say... lack of respect within the library profession for those who work with kids.

There is a tendency among some in the profession to treat youth librarians as if they are children themselves. It is a subtle and maddening prejudice that stands in the way of position promotions, raises, opportunities to lead projects and take a place at the table of leadership. Much like any form of discrimination, it forces children's librarians to prove themselves over and over, to work harder but achieve fewer rewards for it, and to have to listen to asinine people presume they know more - and better - than you despite your professional expertise.

This type of treatment is not just found in the library profession of course. The medical field, teaching; social work...whichever profession it rears its ugly head in, it often means that funds, staffing and services for children are given a lower priority. It's makes us crazy to fight battles over and over again to prove the worth of the choice to serve children.

That's why I was so excited to see the American Library Association's Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) the recent rollout of a great toolkit that really gives some needed resources to all youth librarians to stand up and advocate for the importance of not just youth services but youth services librarians.

The professionally produced resources include a video; powerpoint template to use with presentations to the community (or administration and board)  at the library; graphics to illustrate the work of youth librarianship; and ideas for programs and networking to increase understanding of youth work and more.

Every youth librarian can embrace this and use it to up advocacy for their work and for the children they serve. I applaud ALSC for this. Now let's use it!

Snowmageddon (eyeroll) Season is About to Begin

It's Minnesota. It's November. We are on the verge of our yearly winter wonderland.

I LOLed when I ran into this lovely sarcastic and very funny graphic about regional reactions to snow. It gets at the core of all the silly snowmageddon hype that swirls around the weather as we get to winter.

Growing up in Green Bay and living in Wisconsin most of my life, snow is just a thing you live with.

The happiest people live with it well. For the active-love-to-be outside-happy people, there’re snow angels; skiing; snowshoeing; sledding; tobagganing; skating; hockey; and lots of fine shoveling. For less active happy-hygge-hibernaters, there’re tons of reading; writing; thinking; contemplating; stoked up fires; slipping outside for a moment in sub-zero temps to throw boiling water up in the air so it crystallizes as it falls; driving along "snow-peeping" at white-covered hills, trees and structures; ice falls; nestling in to wait out blizzards.

I guess I've been one of the happy ones. I love the cold crisp, allergy-less and bug-less air; dressing in layers (you can always add layers to stay warm; you can never take enough off in hot weather to get cool); snowshoeing on trails broken by deer; stretching my muscles cross country skiing with the requisite post-workout hot cocoa or tea.

Here's to winter - and to you - wherever you are during the next 4 months. May you find happiness in flakes and cold - or warm temps as the case may be. I just feel lucky to take mine cold!