Site Map
Children’s Services
Children’s Resources
Associations
- Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC)
- Children’s Literature Association
- Colorado Libraries for Early Literacy (CLEL)
- ilovelibraries (an initiative of the ALA)
- Public Library Association (PLA)
- WEMTA Wisconsin Educational Media & Technology Association
- Wisconsin Library Association (WLA)
- Youth Services Section (YSS) of Wisconsin Library Association (WLA)
Awards
- AAAS/Subaru Science Books & Film Prize for Excellence in Science Books
- American Indian Youth Literature Award
- Americas Award
- Arab American Book Award
- Arthur Tofte/Betty Ren Wright Children’s Book Award
- Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature
- Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards
- Carnegie Medal
- Carter G. Woodson Book Awards
- Charlotte Zolotow Award
- Children’s Africana Book Awards
- Children’s Book Council Children’s Choice Lists
- CLEL Bell Awards
- Coretta Scott King Book Awards
- EB White Read-Aloud Award
- Elizabeth Burr/Worzalla Award
- Every Child a Reader Kids’ Book Choice Awards
- Ezra Jack Keats Award
- Golden Archer Award
- Hans Christian Andersen Award
- International Latino Book Awards
- Jane Addams Children’s Book Award
- John Newbery Medal
- John Steptoe New Talent Award
- Middle East Book Awards
- Mildred L. Batchelder Award
- National Book Award: Young People’s Literature
- Notable Wisconsin Children’s Authors
- Odyssey Award
- Orbis Pictus Award
- Outstanding Wisconsin Children’s Books of the Year
- Pura Belpré Award
- Randolph Caldecott Award
- Regina Medal
- Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal
- Schneider Family Book Award
- South Asia Book Award
- Stonewall Book Awards
- Sydney Taylor Book Award
- Theodor Seuss Geisel Award
- Tomas Rivera Book Award
Readers' Advisory, Collection Development & Reviews
- Starred Reviews, in your inbox (WVLS & IFLS collaboration)
- ALSC’s Notable Children’s Books
- ALSC’s Notable Children’s Recordings
- American Indian Library Association’s Youth Literature Award
- American Indians in Children’s Literature Year in Review
- Bank Street College of Education’s Best Children’s Books of the Year
- Booklist
- Booklist Webinars
- Book Riot’s Children’s Literature
- The Brown Bookshelf
- CCBC BookLists
- CCBC Choices
- CCBC Weekly Book Reviews
- Center for the Study of Multicultural Children’s Literature Best Books
- Children’s Book Council’s Reading Lists
- Conscious Kid’s Book Lists
- Common Sense Media’s Great Audiobooks for Kids
- Darshana Khiani’s South Asian Kidlit
- Fantastic Fiction
- Goodreads
- The Horn Book
- Indigenous Reads Rising
- International Literacy Association’s Choices Reading Lists
- Jennifer Laughran’s Literaticast
- Kirkus Starred Reviews: Children’s
- Kitty Felde’s Book Club for Kids
- KiBooka
- Latinxs in Kidlit
- Lee and Low’s Diverse Book LIsts
- Literature Map
- Notable Books for a Global Society
- Novel Mind
- NPR’s Books We Love
- Rainbow Book Lists
- Rise: A Feminist Book Project
- School Library Journal Reviews
- School Library Journal’s The Yarn
- Shelf Awareness
- USBBY’s Outstanding International Books List
- We are Kit Lit Collective’s Summer Reading List
- Webjunction’s Inclusive Collections for Supercharged Storytimes
- Webjunction’s Readers’ Advisory courses
- We Need Diverse Books
- What’s Next Books in a Series
Graphic Novels & Manga
- ALA’s 2022 Best Graphic Novels for Children Reading List
- Graphic Novel Recommendations for Kids and Teens, Steph Cherrywell, Antio PL, 2020
- No Flying No Tights
- A Super-fast History of Manga in the US and Purchasing Suggestions, Steph Cherrywell, Antigo PL, 2018
- YALSA’s Great Graphic Novels for Teens
Homeschooling
Programming
- Adventures in Storytime
- Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) Blog
- Bay Area Discovery Museum’s Activity Guide
- Cooperative Children’s Book Center (CCBC)
- Dinovember: Facebook group, Pinterest
- Early Literacy Librarian
- Every Child a Reader
- Every Child Ready to Read
- Free and Low Cost Programming ideas
- Jenny Arch
- Jbrary Blog
- Kiss the Book
- Mother Goose on the Loose
- New York Hall of Science’s STEAM Activities Guide
- PBS Learning Media
- PBS Wisconsin Education
- PLIX: Public Library Innovation Exchange
- The Programming Librarian
- Read Aloud 15 Minutes
- Reading Rockets
- Saroj Ghoting
- SciStarter Citizen Science
- SEAL: Solar Eclipse Activities for Libraries
- Sesame Workshop
- Sowing Seeds Librarian Blog
- Storytime Solidarity
- Storytime Katie Blog
- Storyline Online
- SurLaLune Blog
- Webjunction’s Programming courses
- Webjunction’s Supercharged Storytimes course
- Wisconsin Science Festival
- Wisconsin Water Library’s Curriculum kits
- Wisconsin Water Library’s Outreach programs
- Wisconsin Water Library’s STEM kits
- Youth Services Information Exchange (YSIE) Facebook Group
- Youth Services Section (YSS) of WLA
- YSS Blog
Toolkits
ALA’s Partnering for Stronger Programming
ALA’s Selection and Resconsideration Policy Toolkit for Public, School & Academic Libraries
ALSC’s Championing Children’s Services Toolkit
ALSC’s Early Childhood Trauma Toolkit
ALSC’s Intellectual Freedom Programming Toolkit
ALSC’s Library Services to Underserved Children and Their Caregivers Toolkit
ALSC’s Learning Beyond: 21st Century Summer and Out of School Time Programs for Youth
ALSC’s Public LIbrary & School Library Collaboration Toolkit
ALSC’s Toolkit for Program Challenges
Autism-Ready Libraries Toolkit
Bay Area Museum’s Reimaging School Readiness Toolkit
ReadyNow’s Library Staff as Public Servants: A Field Guide for Preparing to Support Communities in Crisis
Smithsonian Learning Lab’s Talk With Me Toolkits
TeachingBook’s Diverse Books Toolkit
TeachingBook’s Early Literacy Toolkit
Urban Libraries Council’s Science of Reading Toolkit
WLA’s Intellectual Freedom Toolkit
Workshops, Trainings & Get-Togethers
2026 Making Summer Easier Webinar Series
Making Summer Easier, Part 1: Summer Library Program Check-In and Idea Exchange (WVLS and IFLS)
Summer Library Program season doesn’t have to mean stress and staff burnout. This recording features library peers from across the region sharing practical ways to rethink summer programming to save staff time, reduce anxiety, and still delivers a fun, meaningful experience for patrons.
Sponsored by IFLS and WVLS, this session is worth one contact hour for library director certification.
- Making Summer Easier, Part 1 Recording
- Making Summer Easier Slide Decks:
- Making Summer Easier Part 1 Activity Report
Making Summer Easier, Part 2: Collaborative Summer Library Program Resources
Every year, Wisconsin participates in the Collaborative Summer Library Program (CSLP), which means Wisconsin public libraries have access to resources to develop engaging programs, decorations and book displays, reading challenges, and promotional materials, to name a few. Emily Rogers (WVLS) and Leah Langby (IFLS) walk you through these free resources. This webinar is especially helpful for those who are new to the summer library program or who haven’t used the CSLP resources before.
Sponsored by IFLS and WVLS, this session is worth one contact hour for library director certification.
Youth Services Information Exchange Meetings
2024 Youth Services Workshop
Tour of TB Scott Free Library
Puppet Workshop by Pam Corcoran
Plan Your Next Program with AI by Kristie Hauer
Science-Based Reading by Mary Newton
2024 CCBC Workshop
2023 Youth Services Workshop
2023 Workshop Notes by Session
Summer Reading Program
Summer Math Program
“Dynamite Dozen” by Cathy Pescinski
“Adverse Childhood Experiences” by Nancy Baacke
- TEDMED: How childhood trauma affects health across a lifetime
- Experiences Build Brain Architecture
- Serve & Return Interaction Shapes Brain Circuitry
- Toxic Stress Derails Healthy Development
- ACE Pyramid
- ACEs Study Questions and Resilience Questionnaire
- ACEs Stress and Early Brain Growth
- Children’s Survival Coping Skills
- Dr. Bruce Perry’s Quote
- Dr. Bruce Perry’s Arousal Continuum
- Family Tree
- Flower and Candle Exercise
- Trauma-Informed Support for Children
- Where Trauma and ADHD Overlap
- HAVEN Inc. brochure
2020 School Librarian Panel Virtual Workshop
“Realities of and Relationships with School Librarians: A Panel”
Three public school librarians will gave a brief tour of their space(s) and described the realities of working in public school libraries: duties, schedules, challenges and accomplishments.
Anna Julson (Bridges Virtual Academy, Merrill) slides
Michele Green (Greenwood) slides
Paula Norman (Tomahawk) slides
What Kind of Collaborator Are You? see the full details on the WI Libraries for Everyone Blog
2019 Super Storytimes Workshop
- 2019 Annual Youth Services Workshop- Super Storytimes
- PICTURES! Rib Lake, Tomahawk, MCPL, Rhinelander, LE Phillips/Eau Claire
- Music and Movement in Storytime from Jerissa Koenig
- Sensory Friendly Storytime Handout
- Storytimes with Steam from Krista Blomberg
- IFLS Storytime Kits book these for a ready-to-use storytime (songs, cds, books, puppets, props, activities all included)
2019 Madison Public Library - The Bubbler
- Workshop – The Bubbler Makes Over WVLS
- Bubbler Slides
- Make a Zine! need 8.5×11 lettersized paper or 11×17 works too
- PICTURES! with Artist Bird Ross get creative with fabric and paper for intentional, experiential learning in the library!
2018 Youth Services Workshop: TEENS in the Library
2018 STEAM in Youth Services Workshop
Attendees learned how to create high-interest STEAM programs on a low-to-no budget, tackle local STEAM grant writing, test out virtual/augmented reality, the 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten App, passive coding activities, AND tried an Hour of Code!
Emily Zorea, Youth Services Librarian of the Brewer Public Library in Richland Center, kick-offed the day with “Engaging Families, Youth, and Teens around STEAM and Thematic Programming.” Julie Kinney, Teen Librarian for Marathon County Public Library, and Tammie Blomberg, Director of the Rib Lake Public Library, led the group through the Hour of Code and talked about bringing coding concepts to teen and adult library users.
Find more from Emily at her Sowing Seeds Librarian blog.
Attendees participated in passive coding activities and left with inspiration and coding lesson plans in hand! Activities and lesson plans courtesy of Linda Liukas, author of the Hello Ruby book series. The Hello Ruby series written for children is a “whimsical way to learn about technology, computing and coding.”
National Library Week: April 19-25
Get ready for the 68th annual National Library Week with honorary chair Mychal Threets! This year’s theme, “Find Your Joy,” encourages everyone to discover what brings them joy at the library. Free celebration graphics and tools are available from ALA.
Youth Performer Booking Spreadsheet
Did you have an awesome performer? Did a program wow attendees? Add the information to this spreadsheet.
Monthly Public Library Services Updates
2026 Updates
2025 Updates
2024 Updates
2026 Summer Reading
Online manual code for 2026 is now available! Contact Emily Rogers if you don't have access.
The CSLP Store is now open! The online store is here.
Thank you to the Wisconsin Department of Instruction for a statewide membership to the Collaborative Summer Library Program (CSLP). Find the complete manual on the CSLP website.
2023 YSS Performers Showcase
Summer Math Adventure
The Wisconsin Mathematics Council offers a challenge for students to practice their math skills during summer. Children complete the program by finishing 5 activities and can receive a bonus for completing all 25 activities.
StoryWalk® Exchange Spreadsheet
StoryWalks® available to borrow among the WVLS libraries.