by Leah Langby | Sep 12, 2025 | Keeping Up With Kids
It’s a rough and confusing time to be alive. I appreciate it when I come across some guidance and ideas for how to talk about some of the scary things we are encountering with the youth and families we serve. The Western States Center has a lot of excellent...
by Leah Langby | Aug 27, 2025 | Keeping Up With Kids
Thanks so much to Shelly Collins Fuerbringer from the L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library in Eau Claire for these inspiring ideas! This summer we offered a CD weaving project with the idea of stringing all the finished products together to create a beautiful wall...
by Leah Langby | Aug 15, 2025 | Keeping Up With Kids
I got an email from the Children’s Book Council today that you might want to consider: The Children’s Book Council and Every Child a Reader are offering a new “Keep Bans Off Our Books” kit for librarians, teachers, and booksellers in support of the right to free...
by Leah Langby | Aug 12, 2025 | Learning Loop
Christinna Swearingen from the Rusk County Community Library in Ladysmith received a scholarship to attend the Rural Summit in Anchorage, Alaska. The scholarship covered the conference, but not travel costs, and IFLS was able to assist with those costs thanks to an...
by Leah Langby | Jul 9, 2025 | Keeping Up With Kids
It’s the middle of the summer, a time when many libraires are in the thick of increased programming, larger numbers of kids and teens in the building, and when general mayhem and chaos is high! In case you are re-thinking things, as many people do in the...
by Leah Langby | Jun 27, 2025 | Keeping Up With Kids
Happy summer! I hope it is mostly happy to have your libraries bustling with activity and excitement about programs and more! I know it can also be an overwhelming time, and sometimes behavior from teens (and others) can be one of the tricky parts to manage. I got...
by Leah Langby | Jun 20, 2025 | Learning Loop
Both Darien Becker (Prescott) and Judy Kraetke (Park Falls) took the four-week online UW Madison iSchool course The Next Chapter: Programs and Services for Older Adults with instructor Angela Meyers this spring, and both wholeheartedly recommend the class to...
by Leah Langby | Jun 2, 2025 | Keeping Up With Kids, Learning Loop
Thanks to Nikki Witt, the Youth Services Coordinator from the D.R. Moon Memorial Library in Stanley for sharing insights and take-aways from the UW Madison iSchool Course: Playing Around: The Library’s Role in Playful Learning for Young Children. Nikki was...
by Leah Langby | Jun 2, 2025 | Learning Loop
Thanks to Florence LaBeau, the children’s librarian in Woodville, for sharing these three take-aways from sessions she attended at the WAPL Conference in May. Florence received a scholarship from IFLS, made possible with funding from the Wisconsin Department of...
by Leah Langby | May 28, 2025 | Learning Loop
Guest post by Kristina Kelley-Johnson, Director, Somerset Public Library. The library received scholarship funds from IFLS (through IMLS) to follow up another inservice training at their library. Small Steps, Big Shifts: What DEI Training Sparked in Our Library...
by Leah Langby | May 22, 2025 | Learning Loop
Thanks to Jessica Dunn from the Colfax Public Library for this post. Jessica received a scholarship from IFLS (with IMLS funding) to participate in an eight-week class from the UW-Madison iSchool, Desk Ready. This eight-week class, “Reference Desk Ready,” was through...
by Leah Langby | May 20, 2025 | Learning Loop
Britta Rice from the Friday Memorial Library in New Richmond attended the Wisconsin Association of Public Libraries Conference this spring, thanks to a grant from IFLS, provided by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction using funds from the federal agency...
