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Letter From the President
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Dear Friends,
At home these days I can’t help but step outside and peer into my garden to see what growth has shot up since my last visit. Every day there’s something new! At the CCBC this spring, newness has also been sprouting up all over! The highly anticipated 2015 Choices popped up at a great Annual Meeting/Choices Day celebration with a brilliantly revised format. Many picked excellent literature from the selection at the Spring Book Sale, which also yielded new members. A fresh crop of Charlotte Zolotow Award books were celebrated with a lovely event, which you’ll see pictured in this newsletter. And I’m pleased that soon we will bring on a bright new bunch of board members to resume the good work of the Friends in the fall. I wish you a refreshing and rejuvenating summer and hope you’ll join us this fall in continued support of the CCBC’s mission to connect readers with quality children’s literature.
Be well,
Maegan Heindel
President, Friends of the CCBC
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It wasn't much more than a year ago that work began on the new CCBC space. All of the deconstruction and reconstruction necessary to get ready for the move, as well as all the planning and packing at the old location, had to happen in a tight timeframe. And except for perennial problems with our front entrance (we’ve decided it must be haunted), everything went relatively smoothly. That was largely due to the work of my wonderful CCBC colleagues, Megan Schliesman, Merri Lindgren, and Emily Townsend. Change is never easy, and change that comes with lots and lots of boxes and mammoth wooden wheeled carts, and poring over plans, schematics, budgets, and library furniture catalogs, is even more challenging. So I want to highlight one special talent that each one demonstrated during the move.
Our newest librarian, Emily Townsend, it turns out, is a master at organizing volunteers. Her sign-up sheets are a thing of beauty, and she was so good at finding folks to fill in the open slots, then training them once they arrived, and helping them understand just how much we appreciated them, that we even had people show up, day after day beyond their scheduled shifts because they were so eager to work for Emily. Emily is applying those same talents toward working with our Read On Wisconsin advisory committee members, putting together a statewide focus group to help us figure out what’s needed with Read On Wisconsin, and using social media in all sorts of creative ways to expand the reach of Read On Wisconsin. Last fall, Emily hosted our first-ever Twitter chat with author Elizabeth Wein, who lives in Scotland, and students at 18 different high schools throughout Wisconsin talked with her about her book, Code Name Verity. And if you missed the Twitter chat as it happened, you could read it later on Storify, and look at the map of the state that showed where all the participating high schools were located. And, of course, you know me – I love seeing those little virtual map pins way up north. That worked so well that she arranged another Twitter chat, this time with Wisconsin author Pat Zietlow Miller and Wisconsin children’s librarians. And that’s just one of the many creative things Emily has done with Read On Wisconsin on social media this year. There is much more on the horizon. Keep your eye on the ROW website for regular updates.
Merri Lindgren has many gifts, not the least of which is the ability to listen to thousands of hours of audiobooks for an ALA evaluation committee, and still read hundreds of print books for CCBC Choices – I honestly don’t know how she does it. But I learned last summer that Merri has another gift and that is measurement. She is a wizard with a tape measure, let me tell you! And how do I know this? Because, it turns out, the designer we had for our new space was wonderful and talented, but it seems her overall design philosophy might be “Measure once, cut twice.” So when we got our new furniture for our new space, it didn’t always fit the way it looked like it would on paper. Sometimes we were expecting a shelving unit with twelve shelves, and it arrived with six shelves. So now where do we put the 700s, 800s, and 900s in our nonfiction collection? Merri figured it all out, often times on the spot as furniture was being delivered and set up.
There were so many little snafus with the move overall that it got to be comical. And the person who was on top of all of that with phone calls and emails to the appropriate body was Megan Schliesman. I’ve always known Megan to be a detail person, but I didn’t know just how detailed her details could get! Just a warning: If she’s expecting you to do something and you haven’t followed through, Megan will track you down. And through it all, Megan has maintained her sense of humor – it can actually be fun to test and re-test door alarms with Megan. The only time things got tense was when we were picking out colors for the seat covers on the stools out in the corridor. The four colors you see on the stools at our iPad bar were the four colors Megan and I could agree on. But I’m not sure we could have done the move without Megan. She handled all the day-to-day details while at the same time doing the day-to-day things we do here at the CCBC – responding to reference questions, speaking to classes, maintaining the website, overseeing the Intellectual Freedom service, and traveling around the state for outreach visits.
I am one of those lucky people who wakes up every morning, looking forward to going to work. I love my job! And Emily, Merri, and Megan are a big part of what makes the CCBC such a great place to work.
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KT Horning
Director, CCBC
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Choices Day and Friends of the CCBC Annual Meeting
(Photos: J. Matzner)
Each year, with great anticipation, members of the Friends of the CCBC speculate about the cover color of the annual edition of CCBC Choices. This year was no different, and on the morning of March 7 dozens of Friends were delighted to arrive at the 38th Annual Meeting & Choices Day 2015 and receive an orange copy of the publication. No matter the hue, receiving the new edition of Choices was only the beginning of a day filled with new business and booktalks.
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For the first time, Friends enjoyed a delicious buffet-style breakfast to kick off the morning’s events, which took place at the CCBC’s new location in the Teacher Education Building. For many members, this meant they were able to see the Lois Ehlert window mural and browse the new space for the first time. The newest Choices books were prominently displayed in the spacious new Elizabeth Burr Room.
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The Annual Meeting included reports from the Friends Board of Directors and CCBC Director K.T. Horning, as well as nominations for new 2015 Board members and bylaws changes.
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KT discussed the process of moving the CCBC’s collection of books from the old location in Helen C. White to the new location. During the move, CCBC librarians evaluated much of the historical collection and discovered some gems, including an original copy of Our Folk Tales by Julius Lester.
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KT kicked off Choices Day with a box full of humorous Advanced Reader Copy books with extravagant book packaging, including a beach ball, fake food, and the deluxe edition of a book about dinosaur farts (sound effects included).
As always, the booktalks gave everyone additions to their to-read lists, and tons of beautiful new books to check out. CCBC Librarians Megan, Merri, and Emily gave short booktalks of their favorite selections of children’s and YA lit. Among these were Viva Frida by Yuyi Morales, Hana Hashimoto, Sixth Violin by Chieri Ukgake, Gaston by Kelly DiPucchio, and Gabi, a Girl in Pieces by Isabel Quintero.
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With all the fantastic books and a new edition of CCBC Choices, hopefully we’ll all stay plenty occupied until we reconvene for Choices Day 2016!
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Charlotte Zolotow Award
(Photos: J. Matzner)
On April 25, literature enthusiasts, Friends, and authors convened for the annual Charlotte Zolotow Award ceremony at the CCBC. The Zolotow award is awarded to the author of the best picture book text published in the United States in the preceding year, and this year’s winner and honor books were full of funny, gentle, rhymically delicious stories. Visit the CCBC’s website for the full list of amazing titles! |
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The audience waits with anticipation for the program to begin
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CCBC Director KT Horning welcomes Friends to the 18th annual Charlotte Zolotow Awards program
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Megan Schliesman opens the presentation with a brief tribute to Charlotte Zolotow
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Tonya Bolden (left) accepts her honor from Charlotte Zolotow Committee member Kristine Klopp for her book Beautiful Moon: A Child’s Prayer
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Barney Saltzberg, who won an honor for Chengdu Could Not, Would Not Fall Asleep, makes a video acceptance in which he told the audience that Charlotte Zolotow had bought his very first book
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Elizabeth Bluemle makes her acceptance remarks for her honor book Tap Tap Boom Boom
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Jenny Offill couldn’t be with us in person but she accepted from her home via video, with an assist from her title character, Sparky
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Members of the 2015 Charlotte Zolotow Award Committee with the winning books. From left: Kristine Klopp, Barb Huntington, Megan Schliesman, Karen Lenoch, and Ruth Sias
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Two of the Highly Commended authors joined us for the event: Thelma Lynne Godin (left), author of The Hula-Hoopin’ Queen and Jamie A. Swenson, author of If You Were a Dog
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At the reception new Friends Board member Shannon Furman (left) chats with former Friends President Kim Dahl
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Honor book winner Elizabeth Bluemle poses for a photo with CCBC librarians Merri Lindgren and Emily Townsend
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Tonya Bolden signs a book for Friends member Julie Shaull
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Elizabeth Bluemle with CZ Committee member Karen Lenoch holding her Honor Book, Tap Tap Boom Boom
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Spring Friends Book Sale - Fantastic!
The Spring Book Sale on Saturday, April 11 was a great success! The Friends-Only presale, which debuted last fall, took place on the same day as the sale this time around. Doors were opened to Friends an hour before the public. This allowed many Friends to stay past the first hour to continue browsing the excellent selection (we will repeat this for the Fall Book Sale).
For the first time, we offered a special discount during the last hour of the sale, when all new books were priced at $1 each. We will also repeat this in the fall so even more of you can take advantage of the best deal in town.
Our new book sale coordinator, Maria Parrott-Ryan, says she couldn't have asked for better help in making things run smoothly. Thank you to the CCBC librarians and wonderful Friends volunteers for all your excellent help, and we look forward to seeing you at the fall book sale!
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Meet Your New Friends Board
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This summer, some of our Board members will transition out of their positions and we will welcome our recently elected members. As we bid our exiting Board members farewell, we thank them for their wonderful dedication and hard work! We are all so grateful for their time and commitment. (Photo: J. Matzner)
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Meet your new Board members below! We are looking forward to working with them to continue the excellent tradition of Friends events and activities.
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Erin Anthony, Vice President
Erin is the Knowledge Coordinator for the Wisconsin Collaboratory for Enhanced Learning, which is housed within UW Madison’s engineering department. Her favorite current illustrators are Jon Bean, Julie Flett and Erin Stead. She lives in Madison with her 3 bicycles and hopes to acquire a kitten soon.
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Shannon Furman,
Recording Director
Shannon Furman is a school librarian at Lake View Elementary in Madison. Along with her family, Shannon enjoys being out in nature, riding bikes, walking her dog Murphy, and of course, reading books.
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Minetta Lippert,
Director At Large
Minetta Lippert is the Youth Services Librarian at the Dwight Foster Public Library in Fort Atkinson, WI. When she is not at work, Minetta spends time reading middle grade and young adult fiction, running, and knitting.
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Marianne Siess,
Membership Director
Marianne Siess is Senior Managing Director of the Information Services Department at the Wisconsin Foundation and Alumni Association. In her free time Marianne enjoys reading fantasy, science fiction and young adult fiction, as well as gardening and other outdoor activities.
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This year, we are also welcoming a new Book Sale Coordinator and implementing a Communications Chair position. We are excited to work with them in continued support of the Friends and CCBC!
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Katrina Dombrowski, Communications Chair
Katrina is the Youth Services Director at Columbus Public Library. She is from Park Rapids, MN and now lives in Fox Lake, WI with her husband and 8-year-old English Setter, Patch.
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Maria Parrott-Ryan,
Book Sale Coordinator
Maria Parrott-Ryan is a freelance writer specializing in educational content for children and teens. She lives in Madison with her husband and three-year-old daughter. She loves reading picture books with her daughter and middle grade novels in her free time.
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KT Receives 2015 ALSC Distinguished Service Award
Let’s celebrate K.T. Horning, the 2015 recipient of the Association for Library Service to Children’s (ALSC) Distinguished Service Award. This DSA honors an individual who has made significant contributions to library service to children and to ALSC. There is no doubt that KT is deeply deserving of this award! We know the great work she has done for the CCBC and it is a pure delight to recognize the many ways she has had an impact nationally on youth services and literature.
The award committee noted a number of highlights in K.T.’s prodigious career. She served as ALSC President and board member, on many evaluation and award committees including chairing the 1995 Newbery Committee, and the 1997 Batchelder Committee as well as on this year’s Laura Ingalls Wilder. Her strong ties with REFORMA resulted in an annual Pura Belpré Award and strengthening the national Día celebrations. Beyond ALSC involvement, other committee and award work includes Ezra Jack Keats Award committee, the Charlotte Zolotow Award committee, the ALA Coretta Scott King Award Jury, the ALA Stonewall Book Award, and USBBY’s Hans Christian Andersen Award Committee.
As a writer, she has given us “From Cover to Cover: Evaluating and Reviewing Children’s Books,” a go-to guide youth book selectors as well as co-author credits (with CCBC colleagues) on “Multicultural Literature for Children and Young Adults, Volume 1 and 2.” She authors deeply researched and deeply thoughtful articles on the state of and history of children’s literature and awards.
She has mentored and taught many of us, both formally through ALSC and UW-Madison CE classes and in countless presentations, and informally as we talk with her. Among her ALSC honors, she delivered the May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecture entitled “Can Children’s Books Save the World: Advocates for Diversity in Children’s Books and Libraries.”
DSA chair Julie Cummins said about her: “K.T. is a visionary leader, literary critic, brilliant scholar, gentle teacher and inspirational mentor who lives by a high standard for children’s and teen literature. She has been a passionate and knowledgeable advocate for diversity and multiculturalism in youth literature in all her professional work. Through her professional service to ALSC and through her service on multiple award committees for ALSC, ALA and other organizations, she has fully demonstrated her drive for excellence. She is strongly committed to the membership of ALSC, frequently engaging new members in probing conversations. She is a consummate professional who imbues every discussion with incredible insight, grace, and wit."
I think we would all add a Sharon Creech inspired “Huzzah!” to that!
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Letter From the Membership Director
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Thank you for your continued support of the Friends of the CCBC! Right now is a great time to be a Friend with many exciting events on the horizon for the fall, such as the highly anticipated Charlotte Zolotow lecture given by Yuyi Morales, the second annual CCBC Bowl, and of course, the book sale! The wonderful CCBC events also create the perfect reasons to encourage your friends to become Friends! Keep in mind Friends memberships also make great gifts, especially for those just starting their their careers in any area related to literature.
As always, please keep us up-to-date with any e-mail or address changes by emailing membership@ccbcfriends.org. We want be sure to keep in touch!
Thank you,
Jamey Stanosz
Membership Director, Friends of the CCBC
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Mark Your Calendars!
Upcoming Friends Events
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The 2015
Charlotte Zolotow Lecture
The 2015 Charlotte Zolotow Lecture will be delivered by Yuyi Morales on Tuesday, October 20, at 7:30 p.m., in the Marquee Theater at Union South. Yuyi is the winner of a 2015 Pura Belpré Award and 2015 Caldecott Honor for her book Viva Frida. The CCBC librarians have heard Yuyi speak a number of times, and they can attest to the fact that she is always an amazing, dynamic, and creative speaker. You won’t want to miss her lecture, so be sure to save the date!
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Volunteering Opportunities
Interested in volunteering for the Friends, but concerned about time commitment? Consider writing a newsletter article! The Board is always looking for Friends to write articles about CCBC events, and we want to hear from you! If you are planning to attend an event and would like to write an article about the experience, or simply want to be on our list of writers, please email Kelsey Johnson-Kaiser (details below).
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Board of Directors 2015-2016
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President: Kelsey Johnson-Kaiser
Vice President: Erin Anthony
Treasurer: Amanda Youngs
Recording Director: Shannon Furman
Membership Director: Marianne Siess
Director-at-Large: Minetta Lippert
Director-at-Large: Mary Morgan
Ex Officio: KT Horning, CCBC director
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Interested in Joining the Board?
The nominating committee meets after the first of the year to determine the candidates for upcoming open positions.
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Please contact Kelsey Johnson-Kaiser,
President-Elect, at president@ccbcfriends.org.
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