WEBVTT 00:00:04.620 --> 00:00:08.820 Patrick Adams. And I'm Caroline Legere. And this 00:00:08.820 --> 00:00:12.099 is Librarians of Littles, a podcast where we 00:00:12.099 --> 00:00:16.179 discuss picture books, include makerspace activities, 00:00:16.179 --> 00:00:20.260 and where we give tips and tricks for working 00:00:20.260 --> 00:00:23.940 with our youngest learners. This is actually 00:00:23.940 --> 00:00:27.160 a bonus episode, our first bonus episode that 00:00:27.160 --> 00:00:30.300 we've ever done, but we just spent the last few 00:00:30.300 --> 00:00:34.220 days at the Texas Library Association. Association 00:00:34.220 --> 00:00:38.439 Conference in Dallas, Texas. And so we wanted 00:00:38.439 --> 00:00:41.719 to just talk about our experiences, some of the 00:00:41.719 --> 00:00:44.600 really cool things that we were able to do, some 00:00:44.600 --> 00:00:46.399 of the things that we were able to learn about, 00:00:46.579 --> 00:00:49.679 and just give just a quick little idea of what 00:00:49.679 --> 00:00:53.280 it's like to go to a very large state conference. 00:00:53.299 --> 00:00:56.899 What we found for sure was that A lot of other 00:00:56.899 --> 00:00:59.460 states have conferences, but not to the scale 00:00:59.460 --> 00:01:02.359 that Texas has. Texas, everything's always bigger 00:01:02.359 --> 00:01:05.180 in Texas and that includes our library conferences. 00:01:05.840 --> 00:01:08.920 So we're going to have a discussion about some 00:01:08.920 --> 00:01:11.879 of the wonderful experiences that we had during 00:01:11.879 --> 00:01:15.129 our time there. So Caroline, you were able to 00:01:15.129 --> 00:01:17.450 go to the first two days of the conference. It 00:01:17.450 --> 00:01:19.709 was a four -day conference. You were able to 00:01:19.709 --> 00:01:21.370 make it to the first two, which is awesome that 00:01:21.370 --> 00:01:23.730 we were able to get you out of your library and 00:01:23.730 --> 00:01:27.329 come to the conference. So if you had to pick 00:01:27.329 --> 00:01:30.829 your favorite thing about the conference that 00:01:30.829 --> 00:01:33.750 we were able to attend, what's your very favorite 00:01:33.750 --> 00:01:36.989 thing that you got to do or experience or see? 00:01:37.349 --> 00:01:39.909 Like, what was the best part? That's such a good 00:01:39.909 --> 00:01:46.209 question and that is so hard. Oh, no. Okay. I 00:01:46.209 --> 00:01:51.510 think it might be the author sketch -off. Nope, 00:01:51.930 --> 00:01:53.650 illustrator sketch -off. Authors don't sketch. 00:01:53.790 --> 00:01:56.950 That's foolish. Sorry. The illustrator sketch 00:01:56.950 --> 00:02:02.969 -off. That was kind of amazing. So I like like 00:02:02.969 --> 00:02:06.150 you were saying I had no idea like I knew that 00:02:06.150 --> 00:02:09.449 TLA was a big deal and I didn't But I didn't 00:02:09.449 --> 00:02:13.629 realize that other states don't have a massive 00:02:13.629 --> 00:02:17.490 conference like this, like a four -day, in a 00:02:17.490 --> 00:02:19.810 giant convention center with all the authors 00:02:19.810 --> 00:02:22.710 and all the things. But definitely my favorite, 00:02:22.849 --> 00:02:26.349 I think, was the Illustrator Sketch Off, which 00:02:26.349 --> 00:02:28.669 you recommended, and it was a great recommendation. 00:02:30.710 --> 00:02:34.349 So we got to see, oh, I have to remember all 00:02:34.349 --> 00:02:36.710 the names of everybody who went. Maybe I need 00:02:36.710 --> 00:02:39.120 to pause this and look it up. Hold on a second. 00:02:39.139 --> 00:02:41.939 We can pull this up pretty quick. Hold on. Yeah, 00:02:41.939 --> 00:02:44.120 I've got my phone. I'm pulling it up on the app. 00:02:44.879 --> 00:02:47.560 I assume it's still on the app. It should be. 00:02:48.719 --> 00:03:02.219 Let's see. That was on Wednesday. Here it is. 00:03:15.099 --> 00:03:16.900 Gosh, I'm gonna have to figure out how to say 00:03:16.900 --> 00:03:23.520 these things Okay, I'm looking at it, but I have 00:03:23.520 --> 00:03:33.520 to say it now It's not so Monty ho yes, it's 00:03:33.520 --> 00:03:40.039 the it's the wish yo wish wish wish wish wish 00:03:40.039 --> 00:03:44.120 tree of each a Is that... how do you... is that... 00:03:44.120 --> 00:03:51.919 what nationality is that? That would help. Oh 00:03:51.919 --> 00:03:57.400 my gosh. Okay, I'm just gonna try it. Okay, here 00:03:57.400 --> 00:04:01.520 it tells us if you click on her name. Oh. So 00:04:01.520 --> 00:04:07.319 she's a comic book illustrator, artist, recently... 00:04:07.319 --> 00:04:11.789 Oh wait, maybe not. Okay. Let me see, hold on. 00:04:12.289 --> 00:04:14.349 Let me see what I can do. As I recall, they were 00:04:14.349 --> 00:04:16.689 struggling to pronounce her name as well. Yes, 00:04:16.750 --> 00:04:20.509 it wasn't just you. So, there you go. I know. 00:04:24.930 --> 00:04:35.410 She is... a... Tongva? And Scottish. Oh snap. 00:04:35.750 --> 00:04:38.850 That doesn't help. I was like, if it's Spanish, 00:04:38.889 --> 00:04:45.870 I can do it! Yeah. Okay. She was born in Santa 00:04:45.870 --> 00:04:52.029 Monica mountains on the property of Satweewa. 00:04:53.170 --> 00:05:01.089 Yeah, that's fun. Okay, I'm just gonna go for 00:05:01.089 --> 00:05:07.709 it. Mm -hmm. Yep. You ready? Yep. Okay, so my 00:05:07.709 --> 00:05:10.579 favorite thing was definitely going to see the 00:05:10.579 --> 00:05:14.540 artist illustrator sketch off. So what that was, 00:05:14.560 --> 00:05:18.579 was they had, um, seven amazing illustrators. 00:05:18.879 --> 00:05:24.339 Um, it was Raoul the third. Is it roadie or road? 00:05:25.319 --> 00:05:29.420 I think it's roadie. I think it is too. Roadie 00:05:29.420 --> 00:05:38.480 Montejo. Naila McGruder, Raina Telgemeier, Kat. 00:05:40.779 --> 00:05:44.120 Fajardo. Fajardo? You reckon? Fajardo? Okay. 00:05:44.160 --> 00:05:48.579 Fajardo. And Cat Fajardo. And I know I don't 00:05:48.579 --> 00:05:52.600 see it in - Bob Shea was a - I think he was a 00:05:52.600 --> 00:05:54.300 late entry. Was he a bonus? I think he was a 00:05:54.300 --> 00:05:59.699 late entry, yeah. Okay. Alright. And Bob Shea. 00:05:59.879 --> 00:06:04.600 And Bob Shea, we're all illustrating. And Greg 00:06:04.600 --> 00:06:08.629 Pizzoli was a moderator. Guess you would call 00:06:08.629 --> 00:06:11.589 a host a judge. They called it a judge at first, 00:06:11.610 --> 00:06:15.149 but he was clearly not just a judge. Yes, so 00:06:15.149 --> 00:06:18.790 Pretty much you have these seven amazing illust 00:06:18.790 --> 00:06:23.230 award -winning illustrators who are kind of incredible 00:06:23.230 --> 00:06:25.370 and like everything they touch turns to gold 00:06:25.370 --> 00:06:28.910 and Greg Pizzoli was giving them these really 00:06:28.910 --> 00:06:32.170 off -the -wall things that they had to draw within 00:06:32.170 --> 00:06:36.470 like three minutes and once that was all done 00:06:36.470 --> 00:06:40.889 they raffled off the illustrations to the audience 00:06:40.889 --> 00:06:45.889 and it was just it was hilarious. It was so much 00:06:45.889 --> 00:06:48.250 fun. I don't even think I can adequately describe 00:06:48.250 --> 00:06:51.790 how amazing it was getting to see these artists 00:06:51.790 --> 00:06:54.750 in action and how kind of quickly they kind of 00:06:54.750 --> 00:06:57.730 came up with their ideas and There was a lot 00:06:57.730 --> 00:07:01.730 of improv involved there. Greg Pizzoli like had 00:07:01.730 --> 00:07:05.069 a list of things to choose from as far as like 00:07:05.069 --> 00:07:09.170 prompts and things that he was that the convention 00:07:09.170 --> 00:07:11.529 I think just gave him a list of things that they 00:07:11.769 --> 00:07:16.290 he could use as far as prompts goes, but he definitely 00:07:16.290 --> 00:07:19.470 kind of got the audience involved and let the 00:07:19.470 --> 00:07:22.329 audience kind of help pick some of the silly 00:07:22.329 --> 00:07:24.329 things that everybody had to draw. So some of 00:07:24.329 --> 00:07:26.709 the things were like they had three minutes to 00:07:26.709 --> 00:07:30.290 draw something like their least favorite food 00:07:30.290 --> 00:07:33.509 as a villain. That was a lot of fun. And then 00:07:33.509 --> 00:07:37.089 there was like Greg Pizzoli said two things that 00:07:37.089 --> 00:07:39.129 he hated to draw more than anything else even 00:07:39.129 --> 00:07:42.629 after like 20 years as an artist. He hated to 00:07:42.629 --> 00:07:46.790 draw horses and bicycles. So everybody had to 00:07:46.790 --> 00:07:49.509 draw a horse riding a bicycle and just silly 00:07:49.509 --> 00:07:53.329 things like that. And it was so much fun. I'm 00:07:53.329 --> 00:07:57.870 happy to announce that I won one of the raffles. 00:07:58.069 --> 00:08:03.629 Actually, we both did. I have my picture of one 00:08:03.629 --> 00:08:06.350 of the prompts was Greg Pizzoli said since he 00:08:06.350 --> 00:08:09.250 was being so mean and having everybody draw things 00:08:09.250 --> 00:08:12.970 that they hated to draw, he told them to draw 00:08:12.970 --> 00:08:17.550 a picture of him. So I have a picture that Kat 00:08:17.550 --> 00:08:21.129 Pajardo made of everybody throwing terrible things 00:08:21.129 --> 00:08:24.250 at Greg Pizzoli because he's being the mean judge 00:08:24.250 --> 00:08:27.110 and he's got a shirt this is meanie on it and 00:08:27.110 --> 00:08:31.490 I'm so excited that I have that. That was cool. 00:08:31.629 --> 00:08:35.110 I was excited. I ended up with, for the prompt, 00:08:35.129 --> 00:08:39.049 draw the food you dislike most as a villain. 00:08:39.250 --> 00:08:43.370 I ended up with a Reina Telgemeier villainous 00:08:43.370 --> 00:08:46.169 mushroom that I'm working on. I got to find a 00:08:46.169 --> 00:08:47.690 frame for it so I could put it up in the library 00:08:47.690 --> 00:08:50.750 because I'm really excited about that. That one 00:08:50.750 --> 00:08:52.750 was exceptionally cool. That was one of my favorite 00:08:52.750 --> 00:08:56.009 drawings of the evening. That was well done. 00:08:56.220 --> 00:08:59.519 Yes, it was a really cool event. And this was 00:08:59.519 --> 00:09:01.860 something that some of the librarians from my 00:09:01.860 --> 00:09:03.720 school district mentioned to me last year. And 00:09:03.720 --> 00:09:05.039 they were like, you got to check this out. And 00:09:05.039 --> 00:09:08.080 I went and it was a blast. So when I heard you 00:09:08.080 --> 00:09:09.500 were going to make it this year, I was like, 00:09:09.700 --> 00:09:12.139 we got to go to this event. It's so much fun. 00:09:13.179 --> 00:09:16.360 The energy level is just through the roof the 00:09:16.360 --> 00:09:20.940 entire time the illustrators are Just they they're 00:09:20.940 --> 00:09:23.500 all such good sports about it and just like you 00:09:23.500 --> 00:09:26.139 can tell they're just having a blast being goofy 00:09:26.139 --> 00:09:29.440 Bob Shay, especially was just like completely 00:09:29.440 --> 00:09:33.440 off the wall the entire time but they all have 00:09:33.440 --> 00:09:37.740 such a great sense of humor and like truly their 00:09:37.740 --> 00:09:42.200 Artistic ability and their ability to just off 00:09:42.200 --> 00:09:46.220 the cuff work with the the random prompts that 00:09:46.220 --> 00:09:49.799 were given to them was it's pretty amazing so 00:09:49.799 --> 00:09:51.840 it was really a cool event and I'm glad you were 00:09:51.840 --> 00:09:54.679 able to come because it really is it's become 00:09:54.679 --> 00:09:57.639 one of my favorite events to go to as well that 00:09:57.639 --> 00:10:00.960 was yeah that was hands down my favorite so good 00:10:00.960 --> 00:10:03.440 choice glad we got to go see that what was your 00:10:03.440 --> 00:10:06.200 favorite thing at the conference I think my favorite 00:10:06.200 --> 00:10:10.240 thing was the ability to connect with so many 00:10:10.240 --> 00:10:14.279 authors we our second day at the conference we 00:10:14.279 --> 00:10:18.990 spent the entire day just meeting authors and 00:10:18.990 --> 00:10:23.529 illustrators and I think that was one of the 00:10:23.529 --> 00:10:27.009 coolest things like we got not just because we 00:10:27.009 --> 00:10:30.190 got like a ton of books and like we got signatures 00:10:30.190 --> 00:10:33.929 and stuff like that but just like we got to connect 00:10:33.929 --> 00:10:36.830 with those authors and those illustrators and 00:10:36.830 --> 00:10:39.649 like they they made the line move quickly but 00:10:39.649 --> 00:10:42.960 it wasn't a here's your book go it was like You 00:10:42.960 --> 00:10:45.220 can have a moment and you can talk to these people 00:10:45.220 --> 00:10:48.740 and like make those connections and it was just 00:10:48.740 --> 00:10:51.820 so cool to be able to meet so many authors who 00:10:51.820 --> 00:10:56.679 were just so happy that people are interested 00:10:56.679 --> 00:11:00.059 in their work like like I kept saying you and 00:11:00.059 --> 00:11:02.980 I both kept saying this is kind of like Disneyland 00:11:02.980 --> 00:11:05.460 for librarians because we get to like see all 00:11:05.460 --> 00:11:07.399 these authors and meet all these people and do 00:11:07.399 --> 00:11:10.039 but I really think that the authors really get 00:11:10.039 --> 00:11:13.350 something out of it too because The pure joy 00:11:13.350 --> 00:11:16.490 that you could see on their faces that everyone 00:11:16.490 --> 00:11:21.590 was excited to see them. And you could just tell 00:11:21.590 --> 00:11:24.490 that they were just so happy that people were 00:11:24.490 --> 00:11:26.429 appreciative of their work. And it was just really 00:11:26.429 --> 00:11:28.809 cool to be able to make those connections with 00:11:28.809 --> 00:11:32.840 so many amazing authors and illustrators. we 00:11:32.840 --> 00:11:35.419 posted a bunch of pictures on our social medias 00:11:35.419 --> 00:11:37.799 of like some of the authors and stuff and a bunch 00:11:37.799 --> 00:11:39.460 of them have already reached out and come hey 00:11:39.460 --> 00:11:41.840 thank you so much so glad that you were able 00:11:41.840 --> 00:11:45.320 to get to our our line and get this book or you 00:11:45.320 --> 00:11:47.940 know i hope you enjoy reading this and like it's 00:11:47.940 --> 00:11:50.100 just so cool to be able to make those connections 00:11:50.100 --> 00:11:53.779 with those authors we were super fortunate um 00:11:53.779 --> 00:11:59.500 that just randomly one of the authors was out 00:11:59.500 --> 00:12:02.059 and around at on the first day that we were there 00:12:02.279 --> 00:12:07.519 um and she happened to be an author that their 00:12:07.519 --> 00:12:11.539 book is in the book battle that my my district 00:12:11.539 --> 00:12:14.740 does and so I went over to get a picture and 00:12:14.740 --> 00:12:17.740 she was just so happy to hear that we were using 00:12:17.740 --> 00:12:21.720 her book to to get kids to read for a challenge 00:12:21.720 --> 00:12:24.639 kind of thing and then we ended up standing in 00:12:24.639 --> 00:12:26.519 line with her like she was in front of us in 00:12:26.519 --> 00:12:29.360 line for half an hour and just able to you know 00:12:29.360 --> 00:12:32.649 talk and just like realize that these people 00:12:32.649 --> 00:12:34.870 are just they're humans too and they just they're 00:12:34.870 --> 00:12:37.070 just as excited to be there and to meet people 00:12:37.070 --> 00:12:40.529 that have read their books and I think that's 00:12:40.529 --> 00:12:43.110 my favorite experience is being able to see all 00:12:43.110 --> 00:12:46.370 of those people and just kind of Make that kind 00:12:46.370 --> 00:12:49.529 of personal connection with them It was really 00:12:49.529 --> 00:12:54.110 cool. It really was it was It was very something 00:12:54.110 --> 00:12:56.889 very special about kind of coming together to 00:12:56.889 --> 00:13:02.019 kind of celebrate all of these artists and and 00:13:02.019 --> 00:13:06.740 authors. That wasn't very well spoken, but that's 00:13:06.740 --> 00:13:13.879 OK. That's OK. Yeah, it was it was very special 00:13:13.879 --> 00:13:16.440 getting to come together like that to kind of 00:13:16.440 --> 00:13:19.799 celebrate reading, celebrate learning, especially 00:13:19.799 --> 00:13:24.169 in Texas, where we do. honestly have to live 00:13:24.169 --> 00:13:26.190 with some book banning and things like that. 00:13:26.190 --> 00:13:30.850 So it was nice to see everybody celebrated and 00:13:30.850 --> 00:13:35.190 just all the joy that we got to experience surrounding 00:13:35.190 --> 00:13:37.610 all the reading and the books and the things. 00:13:38.490 --> 00:13:42.769 Everybody's just so kind and just really working 00:13:42.769 --> 00:13:47.190 together to kind of help spread the literacy. 00:13:47.809 --> 00:13:50.809 It's a lot of fun. Yeah, it was it was great. 00:13:51.090 --> 00:13:53.700 And then so you were only able to make it for 00:13:53.700 --> 00:13:57.679 the first two days the Thursday and then Friday's 00:13:57.679 --> 00:14:03.139 really just a half day but on Thursday there 00:14:03.139 --> 00:14:06.200 were two really cool experiences first being 00:14:06.200 --> 00:14:10.820 that Lewis Sacker was one of the general session 00:14:10.820 --> 00:14:15.059 speakers he has a new book coming out in the 00:14:15.059 --> 00:14:18.159 fall I think it comes out around August and it's 00:14:18.159 --> 00:14:22.909 his first like adult book Not adult in that like 00:14:22.909 --> 00:14:26.009 necessarily like content but like the main character 00:14:26.009 --> 00:14:28.570 and the focus of the book is an adult character 00:14:28.570 --> 00:14:31.289 and so he they talked a little bit about the 00:14:31.289 --> 00:14:33.529 process of making that and he read part of it 00:14:33.529 --> 00:14:36.230 to us and So I'm looking forward to that. That 00:14:36.230 --> 00:14:37.750 was a really cool experience because growing 00:14:37.750 --> 00:14:42.649 up reading his books like, you know holes and 00:14:42.649 --> 00:14:45.129 There's a boy in the girls bathroom and that 00:14:45.129 --> 00:14:47.470 kind of thing. So to actually be able to see 00:14:47.470 --> 00:14:51.269 him and hear him talk about his process. He's 00:14:51.269 --> 00:14:56.450 definitely he's I mean, his big books came out 00:14:56.450 --> 00:14:58.289 in the late 90s. So he's a little bit older. 00:14:58.309 --> 00:15:00.490 And so some of the answers that he gave her like, 00:15:00.509 --> 00:15:03.409 I don't know, I don't know how that idea came 00:15:03.409 --> 00:15:05.549 up. It just was there kind of thing. Like, but 00:15:05.549 --> 00:15:09.250 at the same like, but in an endearing way, you 00:15:09.250 --> 00:15:14.149 know, it was very fun to hear him speak and talk 00:15:14.149 --> 00:15:17.179 a little bit about his experience as an author. 00:15:17.200 --> 00:15:20.360 So that was really cool. And then something that 00:15:20.360 --> 00:15:24.100 was very special at the conference this year, 00:15:24.100 --> 00:15:30.279 they did a screening of the new documentary that's 00:15:30.279 --> 00:15:36.940 coming out soon called The Librarians. And it 00:15:36.940 --> 00:15:43.820 is a documentary about the book banning and issues 00:15:43.820 --> 00:15:48.279 that many of us have been dealing with for the 00:15:48.279 --> 00:15:51.139 last couple years. This particular documentary, 00:15:51.399 --> 00:15:57.080 it's directed by Kim A. Snyder. They do a great 00:15:57.080 --> 00:16:02.240 job of talking about those librarians in states 00:16:02.240 --> 00:16:05.059 like Texas and in Florida and other states also 00:16:05.059 --> 00:16:13.220 that have had to become the defenders of of libraries 00:16:13.220 --> 00:16:15.399 and the defenders of books and the defenders 00:16:15.399 --> 00:16:19.700 of intellectual freedom. And it was a super moving, 00:16:19.940 --> 00:16:29.360 powerful movie. So they're currently doing the 00:16:29.360 --> 00:16:34.039 film festival circuit, but they've been to Sundance 00:16:34.039 --> 00:16:36.220 and they've been to a bunch of other film festivals. 00:16:36.639 --> 00:16:40.639 And so this fall, it should be coming out in 00:16:40.639 --> 00:16:44.100 theaters. I'm not sure how widely that'll be 00:16:44.100 --> 00:16:46.299 happening, but they're working on that for the 00:16:46.299 --> 00:16:48.840 fall. And then after that, they're working for 00:16:48.840 --> 00:16:52.059 distribution and things. But it was amazing if 00:16:52.059 --> 00:16:57.980 our listeners have the opportunity to see this 00:16:57.980 --> 00:17:01.879 documentary, whether it's in theaters or at one 00:17:01.879 --> 00:17:03.820 of the many screenings that they're working to 00:17:03.820 --> 00:17:07.470 set up. over the next year, or once it comes 00:17:07.470 --> 00:17:11.690 out and goes to a streaming service of some kind, 00:17:11.910 --> 00:17:15.309 that would be amazing for you to do that, because 00:17:15.309 --> 00:17:18.569 it really does talk about some of the immense 00:17:18.569 --> 00:17:21.049 issues that we've been having as librarians to 00:17:21.049 --> 00:17:25.369 take on and deal with, and it's just a really 00:17:25.369 --> 00:17:30.289 powerful story that everyone should hear and 00:17:30.289 --> 00:17:35.299 understand. It was really cool. Yeah, unfortunately 00:17:35.299 --> 00:17:37.920 I wasn't able to get a sub on Thursday or Friday, 00:17:38.059 --> 00:17:40.579 but I'm very much looking forward to watching 00:17:40.579 --> 00:17:44.579 that documentary in particular. It sounds really 00:17:44.579 --> 00:17:48.440 interesting. It is, and I'm sure for you and 00:17:48.440 --> 00:17:51.140 I, especially knowing one of the librarians that's 00:17:51.140 --> 00:17:56.680 in the movie, it was very emotional. Some of 00:17:56.680 --> 00:17:58.960 our friends were there with me watching it and 00:17:58.960 --> 00:18:03.420 there were tears. Cause we've all been dealing 00:18:03.420 --> 00:18:05.900 with this for a couple of years now and it's, 00:18:05.900 --> 00:18:09.579 I'm hoping that it's a pendulum and it starts 00:18:09.579 --> 00:18:14.819 to swing the other way soon. I hope, but yeah, 00:18:14.819 --> 00:18:17.900 they do a really great job of telling this story 00:18:17.900 --> 00:18:23.799 and is sharing a lot of different points from 00:18:23.799 --> 00:18:25.619 a lot of different librarians and how they're 00:18:25.619 --> 00:18:29.359 having to deal with that. And so, yeah, it's. 00:18:29.519 --> 00:18:32.980 It was very powerful It sounds like it and like 00:18:32.980 --> 00:18:36.160 you were saying like I do think I mean everything's 00:18:36.160 --> 00:18:38.660 a pendulum right everything changes nothing's 00:18:38.660 --> 00:18:43.420 everything's fluid, but Like part of changing 00:18:43.420 --> 00:18:48.240 it is awareness, so I'm hoping that with Documentaries 00:18:48.240 --> 00:18:51.619 like this and just like spreading the word like 00:18:51.619 --> 00:18:55.160 this It'll kind of help a little push that pendulum 00:18:55.160 --> 00:18:58.500 a little bit sooner rather than later. I hopefully 00:18:58.799 --> 00:19:04.279 I don't know. I'm endlessly optimistic. Um, but 00:19:04.279 --> 00:19:06.779 yeah, I'm, I'm, I'm very much looking forward 00:19:06.779 --> 00:19:08.700 to watching that when it is out on a streaming 00:19:08.700 --> 00:19:11.420 service or if it, if it's really anywhere in 00:19:11.420 --> 00:19:14.440 this area, I do intend to go to a theater and 00:19:14.440 --> 00:19:16.940 watch it in the fall. And I bet that if there, 00:19:17.099 --> 00:19:19.440 I bet if they do, even if it's a limited release, 00:19:19.460 --> 00:19:23.099 they'll probably have it in the DFW area, which 00:19:23.099 --> 00:19:25.839 means that we could probably set up where We 00:19:25.839 --> 00:19:27.660 could probably set up where we get our group 00:19:27.660 --> 00:19:31.279 of librarians together and do a screening of 00:19:31.279 --> 00:19:34.180 it again as a group. I bet we could figure that 00:19:34.180 --> 00:19:36.579 out. That would be really good. Oh, absolutely. 00:19:36.759 --> 00:19:40.900 That's happening. Yes. Other than like those 00:19:40.900 --> 00:19:44.660 special things, it was cool. We got to meet Michael 00:19:44.660 --> 00:19:48.660 Threats. We got to listen to him talk about library 00:19:48.660 --> 00:19:54.559 joy. We got to... hear about his struggle and 00:19:54.559 --> 00:19:59.180 his perseverance through mental health and his 00:19:59.180 --> 00:20:02.480 basically it I don't want to say the word plea 00:20:02.480 --> 00:20:05.539 but just his His expression that that is something 00:20:05.539 --> 00:20:08.000 that as librarians we need to be focused on and 00:20:08.000 --> 00:20:10.359 helping people with which I completely agree 00:20:10.359 --> 00:20:15.339 helping especially as in libraries with a school 00:20:15.339 --> 00:20:18.579 library is helping our students find that balance 00:20:18.579 --> 00:20:22.259 so that they can have positive mental health 00:20:22.259 --> 00:20:26.940 attitude and making sure that we're a place where 00:20:26.940 --> 00:20:31.660 they can be safe is super important, of course. 00:20:32.400 --> 00:20:34.319 Michael Threats was also able to talk to us about 00:20:34.319 --> 00:20:38.259 some of his work with preservation societies 00:20:38.259 --> 00:20:42.259 to preserve our stories. That was really cool. 00:20:42.700 --> 00:20:44.799 And then the other really great thing is that 00:20:44.799 --> 00:20:48.349 there were a lot of really good presentations 00:20:48.349 --> 00:20:50.549 put on by other librarians that we were able 00:20:50.549 --> 00:20:54.990 to go to and attend and hear about. We got to 00:20:54.990 --> 00:20:58.410 hear about using puppets in the elementary schools. 00:20:59.849 --> 00:21:05.069 You know, he got to hear about some new horror 00:21:05.069 --> 00:21:06.769 books that were coming out. That was a cool author 00:21:06.769 --> 00:21:11.250 panel that we went to. We got to see kind of 00:21:11.250 --> 00:21:14.089 the curriculum at a glance for a couple of schools 00:21:14.089 --> 00:21:16.769 for the whole year. That was nice. That gave 00:21:16.769 --> 00:21:19.910 us some good gave me some really good ideas for 00:21:19.910 --> 00:21:23.930 um the future and you know some different ideas 00:21:23.930 --> 00:21:26.329 that we could do next year like next year when 00:21:26.329 --> 00:21:29.849 i create my curriculum so yeah there is a lot 00:21:29.849 --> 00:21:34.109 of um we i went to a session about ai and using 00:21:34.109 --> 00:21:37.410 that in school which was interesting and it brought 00:21:37.410 --> 00:21:41.430 up a lot of good points about teaching students 00:21:41.430 --> 00:21:45.069 to especially in like the upper elementary grades, 00:21:45.509 --> 00:21:53.009 but teaching students to use AI in a respectful 00:21:53.009 --> 00:21:55.730 and kind of controlled manner so that they're 00:21:55.730 --> 00:21:58.829 not just plagiarizing, but using it as a way 00:21:58.829 --> 00:22:03.589 to gather and curate the information that you 00:22:03.589 --> 00:22:07.470 need so that you can then do the assignment or 00:22:07.470 --> 00:22:13.220 whatever, which is kind of a cool idea. And then 00:22:13.220 --> 00:22:17.240 I was able to go to, being in an elementary campus, 00:22:17.460 --> 00:22:19.579 I have through fifth grade, one of the things 00:22:19.579 --> 00:22:22.339 that a lot of my students really enjoy are graphic 00:22:22.339 --> 00:22:24.460 novels and the manga. And so I was able to go 00:22:24.460 --> 00:22:30.339 to a presentation about curating lists of manga 00:22:30.339 --> 00:22:34.200 for students under 13, which can be challenging 00:22:34.200 --> 00:22:36.940 at times. And so they had a really great presentation 00:22:36.940 --> 00:22:42.059 on that. I got to meet, or I got to go to a presentation 00:22:42.059 --> 00:22:43.980 that was an author's panel, author illustrator 00:22:43.980 --> 00:22:48.200 panel for authors and illustrators from the state 00:22:48.200 --> 00:22:51.380 of Texas that did picture books. And so I got 00:22:51.380 --> 00:22:53.839 to hear about that kind of stuff. It was, it 00:22:53.839 --> 00:22:56.680 was good. And then, oh, one of the, on Friday, 00:22:56.799 --> 00:22:58.839 which was the last day and it was a half day, 00:22:59.079 --> 00:23:06.680 I got to learn about one librarian's focus on 00:23:06.680 --> 00:23:10.980 how she starts in like, July and kind of plans 00:23:10.980 --> 00:23:14.299 out her entire school year and starts planning 00:23:14.299 --> 00:23:17.660 like what programs to include and what concepts 00:23:17.660 --> 00:23:20.599 to hit and that kind of stuff. And so that was 00:23:20.599 --> 00:23:22.460 pretty cool. I'm going to try that this year, 00:23:22.940 --> 00:23:27.099 see if I can kind of have a better, like the 00:23:27.099 --> 00:23:31.000 end and goal, the end in mind kind of goal of 00:23:31.000 --> 00:23:33.589 what things do I want to hit. and where do I 00:23:33.589 --> 00:23:35.329 want to put them in the year so that I actually 00:23:35.329 --> 00:23:38.569 get the two of them instead of so much of a oh 00:23:38.569 --> 00:23:42.329 yeah yeah instead of just being like oh in two 00:23:42.329 --> 00:23:44.349 weeks I really I need to hit on this within the 00:23:44.349 --> 00:23:46.170 next two weeks I should figure out a plan of 00:23:46.170 --> 00:23:49.150 how to do that like if I start at the end and 00:23:49.150 --> 00:23:50.910 work backwards I think that would be a really 00:23:50.910 --> 00:23:54.390 great thing and then uh the last session I went 00:23:54.390 --> 00:23:58.009 to on Friday was super cool it was um a librarian 00:23:58.009 --> 00:24:03.009 from Houston um she's on most of the stuff. She's 00:24:03.009 --> 00:24:06.430 Rachel Reads on a bunch of the social media platforms. 00:24:06.630 --> 00:24:10.250 She does a lot of stuff. And so she's an amazing 00:24:10.250 --> 00:24:14.390 librarian. And the campus that she used to be 00:24:14.390 --> 00:24:15.809 on when she was in high school now she's at a 00:24:15.809 --> 00:24:17.190 middle school, but the campus that she was on 00:24:17.190 --> 00:24:20.190 when she was at high school, they had a licensed 00:24:20.190 --> 00:24:24.890 counseling professional on staff. And so it was 00:24:24.890 --> 00:24:29.670 about how they work together to make the library 00:24:29.670 --> 00:24:32.579 like, a safe place for a lot of kids and doing 00:24:32.579 --> 00:24:35.940 a lot of social emotional learning with the school 00:24:35.940 --> 00:24:40.839 library and other students and like having the 00:24:40.839 --> 00:24:44.299 students come in when they are getting stressed 00:24:44.299 --> 00:24:46.420 and having that anxiety stuff and here's what 00:24:46.420 --> 00:24:49.160 we can provide in the library to help them see 00:24:49.160 --> 00:24:53.559 this place as a calming place to be able to get 00:24:53.559 --> 00:24:56.039 their emotions under control so that they can 00:24:56.529 --> 00:24:59.250 Start to think more clearly and go back to the 00:24:59.250 --> 00:25:00.990 classrooms and continue to work and that kind 00:25:00.990 --> 00:25:03.170 of it was just yeah It was a really great idea 00:25:03.170 --> 00:25:07.009 presentation. And so that's that's another great 00:25:07.009 --> 00:25:10.089 reason to attend these conferences because you 00:25:10.089 --> 00:25:12.509 get to learn from so many amazing librarians 00:25:12.509 --> 00:25:16.690 that have so many wonderful ideas and You get 00:25:16.690 --> 00:25:18.210 to see how they do it. They're the ones that 00:25:18.210 --> 00:25:21.329 are actually like Boots on the ground doing it 00:25:21.329 --> 00:25:24.130 and so you can see Hey, this is something that 00:25:24.130 --> 00:25:26.099 actually works and it's really it's nice to be 00:25:26.099 --> 00:25:29.920 able to do that instead of just sitting in a 00:25:29.920 --> 00:25:32.380 pd session where it's somebody who's been out 00:25:32.380 --> 00:25:34.319 of education for years and they're telling you 00:25:34.319 --> 00:25:36.160 how to do everything like these are the ones 00:25:36.160 --> 00:25:38.680 that are doing it daily and so you know it works 00:25:38.680 --> 00:25:41.180 you know well and then like realistic point of 00:25:41.180 --> 00:25:44.519 view you know yeah well then being a librarian 00:25:44.519 --> 00:25:48.339 by nature a school librarian anyway is a little 00:25:48.339 --> 00:25:52.089 bit isolating Um, on your day to day anyway, 00:25:52.269 --> 00:25:54.049 because there's no, there isn't anybody else 00:25:54.049 --> 00:25:56.529 on campus for you to really collaborate with 00:25:56.529 --> 00:25:59.549 or bounce ideas off of. So it's really, there's 00:25:59.549 --> 00:26:01.470 something very special about coming together 00:26:01.470 --> 00:26:05.150 and meeting with other people who do the same 00:26:05.150 --> 00:26:07.910 thing as you, because in your day to day, you 00:26:07.910 --> 00:26:10.450 really don't have that. There's no collaboration 00:26:10.450 --> 00:26:13.170 really other than we're fortunate that we have 00:26:13.170 --> 00:26:16.650 each other, but I don't see you every day by 00:26:16.650 --> 00:26:20.779 any means. So. it's really just like when I have 00:26:20.779 --> 00:26:23.240 a huge problem like I can I'm more fortunate 00:26:23.240 --> 00:26:24.640 that we have each other but like most people 00:26:24.640 --> 00:26:29.279 don't have that so um yeah it's really great 00:26:29.279 --> 00:26:31.940 to go to these things and get to network and 00:26:31.940 --> 00:26:35.400 find some fresh ideas from somebody else yeah 00:26:35.400 --> 00:26:39.039 um so those people that are listening hopefully 00:26:39.039 --> 00:26:43.140 they have at least some kind of conference state 00:26:43.140 --> 00:26:45.380 conference local conference that they can attend 00:26:45.380 --> 00:26:47.839 but If they're outside of the state of Texas 00:26:47.839 --> 00:26:51.220 and are interested, next year's conference is 00:26:51.220 --> 00:26:54.460 in Houston, which not the best place, but it 00:26:54.460 --> 00:26:57.359 is next year in Houston. It's also weird next 00:26:57.359 --> 00:27:00.400 year. It's a Sunday, Monday, Tuesday. It's only 00:27:00.400 --> 00:27:02.279 three days instead of four. And the first day 00:27:02.279 --> 00:27:08.180 is a Sunday. Um, so that's unique, but, um, I'm 00:27:08.180 --> 00:27:10.339 looking forward to going again. I think next 00:27:10.339 --> 00:27:13.140 year I sent you a text with the picture, uh, 00:27:13.220 --> 00:27:16.390 we need to We need to submit again so that we 00:27:16.390 --> 00:27:18.109 can present again. So hopefully we'll be able 00:27:18.109 --> 00:27:22.390 to present next year in Houston. And maybe some 00:27:22.390 --> 00:27:25.009 of our listeners will be able to attend our session. 00:27:25.170 --> 00:27:27.410 I don't know. We'll have to see. Yeah. But that'd 00:27:27.410 --> 00:27:33.190 be pretty cool. Sure would. Yeah. All right. 00:27:33.450 --> 00:27:38.069 So yeah. Hey. Special little bonus episode, but 00:27:38.069 --> 00:27:41.289 I just thought since we were going anyway, we 00:27:41.289 --> 00:27:43.609 might as well. talk about all the cool stuff 00:27:43.609 --> 00:27:46.470 we got to do right um we got to do some real 00:27:46.470 --> 00:27:50.609 cool stuff yeah so much fun it was a lot of fun 00:27:50.609 --> 00:27:53.990 it was a good time and hopefully houston will 00:27:53.990 --> 00:27:58.750 be just as good i think so i really do tla is 00:27:58.750 --> 00:28:02.390 always a good time it is it is and so like it's 00:28:02.390 --> 00:28:05.009 in houston next year the two years after that 00:28:05.009 --> 00:28:08.210 it's in san antonio and then it'll be in fort 00:28:08.210 --> 00:28:11.289 worth the following year so we got Three more 00:28:11.289 --> 00:28:13.970 years outside of the DFW area, but it'll be back 00:28:13.970 --> 00:28:17.190 in Fort Worth the fourth year or so. Yeah, I 00:28:17.190 --> 00:28:19.410 really like that Fort Worth location too. It's 00:28:19.410 --> 00:28:21.089 just looking forward to it. So convenient. Even 00:28:21.089 --> 00:28:23.430 though it's only four years away, but that's 00:28:23.430 --> 00:28:25.890 okay. It's just convenient. It works really well. 00:28:26.509 --> 00:28:29.650 So yeah. Convention Center down there is good. 00:28:29.910 --> 00:28:33.549 Yeah, and better than Dallas, there's actually 00:28:33.549 --> 00:28:36.390 places to eat around and stuff like that. Yeah, 00:28:36.809 --> 00:28:41.720 good location. Yes. All right. Do you want me 00:28:41.720 --> 00:28:43.519 to do the outro on this bonus episode? Sure. 00:28:43.559 --> 00:28:47.359 Why not? Okay. Are you ready for it? Ready. Okay. 00:28:48.480 --> 00:28:51.039 Thank you all for joining us today on this episode 00:28:51.039 --> 00:28:54.140 of Librarians of Littles. We hope you found some 00:28:54.140 --> 00:28:56.339 fresh ideas for inspiring our young readers. 00:28:56.700 --> 00:28:58.599 Please be sure to subscribe and connect with 00:28:58.599 --> 00:29:01.039 us on social media. Happy reading, everyone!