Professional Development Opportunities and GIVEAWAY!

Hi all! First, I want to apologize that this blog has in many ways become a channel for self-promotion. I realize that I am doing a less than stellar job at keeping it up-to-date with fresh bilingual storytime programming content. The simple fact is that there are only so many hours in the day, and (like everyone else) I do the best that I can to keep up! I am very fortunate that a number of new opportunities have found their way into my life, and currently, this blog is much further down on the priority list than some of my other responsibilities. But, it's still one of the best tools that I have to let you know when I am offering training and other professional development opportunities, so that's what I am often sharing. I do feel bad that I'm not giving you more...so that has inspired a giveaway! Read on to the bottom of the post for more information.

There are lots of professional development opportunities happening with me this spring. On March 7, my four-week workshop "Building Relationships, Building Bridges: Library Outreach and Marketing to Latino and Spanish-Speaking Families" starts through Library Juice Academy. It is very common that libraries struggle to connect with Latinos and Spanish-speakers, particularly first-generation immigrant communities. This workshop helps participants explore potential barriers to access and how to overcome them. We focus on outreach, identifying and working with community partners, and marketing/advertising. I strongly recommend this course for anyone who is considering launching a bilingual storytime program, especially if you are hoping this storytime will help attract new library users from the Latino community. It's also useful for library staff in adult services, outreach, administration or any library department looking for strategies to improve relationships among the Latino and Spanish-speaking community.

I also have two ongoing workshops on bilingual storytime that I offer through Northern Kentucky University. One is a workshop for library staff who are themselves bilingual, the other is a workshop for library staff who are not bilingual. Each explores the fundamentals of bilingual storytime programming, but they are presented differently, as the ways in which bilingual/nonbilingual staff will go about designing and implementing bilingual storytime are different. These workshops are entirely self-paced, and the new session starts on March 6 (though participants can join anytime from now through April).

Finally, I co-authored a book! What an experience! I poured my whole heart into this work, and I'm truly proud of the outcome. Once Upon a Cuento: Bilingual Storytime in English and Spanish, co-authored by myself and Dr. Jamie Campbell Naidoo, will be available from ALA in May. Check out the beautiful cover illustration from illustrator John Parra!

So friends, you can see, I may not be as active here these days, but there is a lot going on. Did you know that I'm also a yoga teacher, specializing in teaching yoga to kids? And guess what? I'm writing a book about that too! The tentatively titled Stories and Stretches: Enhancing Storytime with Yoga and Creative Movement is going to be published by ALA sometime in late 2017. It will be a guide for librarians and staff who offer storytimes on how to incorporate yoga and other kinds of creative movement into their programs. I'm so excited to be working on it! If this sounds of interest to you, you can check out some of my ideas for sharing yoga with young children on my other blog at www.katiescherreryoga.com.

Now, on to the giveaway! This year, illustrator Rafael López won the Pura Belpré award for illustration for his work in Drum Dream Girl by Margarita Engle. In celebration, I have two of his past books to giveaway to two lucky blog readers - My Name is Celia / Me llamo Celia by Monica Brown and Book Fiesta! by Pat Mora. To enter, simply leave a comment on this post by March 6, 2016. You can tell me a topic you'd like to have more professional development on, share something that's been useful if you've participated in one of my workshops in the past, share what you think of Drum Dream Girl or other books illustrated by Rafael López, or simply say you'd like to be entered in the drawing. On March 7, 2016, I will randomly select two winners from those who posted and announce them in the comments. Be sure to watch for this, as I will need you contact me with your shipping address if you win (please do not share your shipping address in the comments - watch your privacy, people!). Spread the word...I'd love to see lots of names in the drawing! In the meantime, check out this great reaction video from Rafael learning he won the 2016 Pura Belpré award for illustration! And thanks for reading!