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Like any other skill, children need long stretches of time to practice writing if they're going to develop strong writing muscles. Seeing as muscles need to be used often to get bigger, it's important teachers are providing kids with (four or) five times a week to engage in a writing workshop where they have at least 30 minutes of independent writing time.

We’re all in the same boat it seems—looming piles of professional reading that you’ll get to “someday,” schedules to create for staff and for upcoming programs—that sometimes it feels like there is too much to get done and not enough of you to go around!

Over the past decade in Children’s Services, especially when I’ve been managing a branch or a citywide program, I have definitely felt this way. So I would like to share two quick tips that I’ve found to be really helpful when I’ve felt like I’m on a treadmill going too fast that I can’t get off.

1. The To Do List vs. Scheduling Appointments (spoiler alert—I’m pro scheduling appointments)
   We all have a to-do list, right? And there is always that one thing (or more than one thing) that somehow seems to always be on the list week after week. As much as I love procrastination, and sometimes the anxiety it gives me gets me over the hump of getting started, this is not a great way to live day to day. While I still have a small to-do list that consists of small, easily completed tasks or reminders, I’ve started scheduling appointments for the things I noticed I was putting off over and over. Professional reading?  There is an appointment on my calendar for 30 minutes of professional reading twice a week. This blog post?  I scheduled an appointment to write it. By creating an appointment instead of just having it on an open-ended to-do list, I’ve carved out a time I’m committed to it. Give it a try on something you are putting off, and let me know in the comments how it worked for you.

2. Using Your Energy to Your Advantage (i.e., set yourself up to win)
   What does your energy level look like during the day? What time of day are you most productive? What times of day is it easier or harder for you to focus?  For myself, I find that I’m most able to tackle tasks that require mental focus and creativity early in the day. If I need to write a blog post, if I need to create a program outline, etc., I create an appointment for myself between 9:30 and 11:30 a.m. By the end of the day—by say 3:00 p.m.-ish—I find that it’s harder for me to focus; something that would take me 20 minutes at 9:00 a.m. takes well over an hour in the afternoon. So I try to arrange my day with focused tasks that require creativity early in the day. That book-shifting project?  That’s definitely going to happen after 3:00 p.m., AND then there is the likelihood of kids and teens who want to help me. (Plus that is something I can easily go back to after being interrupted for homework help or finding just the right science project book). What about in your library?  When are your busy hours?  Early storytimes?  Afterschool hours?  When have you noticed that there is a block of uninterrupted time?  When are you more likely to be busy answering questions and finding books?  Try tracking the ebb and flow of your time for one week and see if you can identify patterns.

Those are two of the things I’ve learned over the years to help me not only be more productive, but that also help keep me sane when things get really busy. If you are interested in more tips from your ALSC colleagues, check out the upcoming webinars from the members of ALSC’s Managing Children’s Services Committee, with topics like Communication, Scheduling, Managing Financials, and Supervising: www.ala.org/alsc/edcareeers/profdevelopment/alscweb/webinars.

Image courtesy of the author.

Rachel Fryd is the Young Adult Materials Selector at the Free Library of Philadelphia. In the past she has managed citywide programs and partnerships as the Youth Services Coordinator and managed a neighborhood library in West Philadelphia. She is currently a member of ALSC’s Managing Children’s Services Committee as well as YALSA’s Best Fiction for Young Adults Committee. She loves cheese, farmers markets, and pastries but hates broccoli.

The post Making Your Schedule Work for You in the New Year appeared first on ALSC Blog.

I’ve written some thoughts on storytime schedules before. While I didn’t have any answers, ultimately I ended the blog with how I was willing to change my storytime schedules to benefit my patrons. This month, I made a list of the decisions the library has made after considering our patrons needs/requests. There are more than listed (especially when the library shares its two programming rooms with a variety of inside and outside groups), but these are the things that patrons frequently thank us for:

A screenshot of my library’s storytime schedules for this January. [Screenshot courtesy of the author.]

• Having a combination of both registration storytimes and drop-in storytimes. All of the events with the small circle “R” are registration. The others are drop-ins.
• Providing each age group with at least two day choices during the week. We do our best to alternate this between M/W/F and T/R because of preschool options.
• Scheduling our “on our own” preschool storytime (Junior Genius) at the same time as toddler storytime (Talented Toddlers) for parents who have kids in each age group. Parents drop off their preschooler and go with their toddler to storytime.
• Having a preschool storytime (Discovery!) in the afternoon for those who do morning preschool every day.
• Planning weekend and evening programs. (Our Monday night community outreach storytimes weren’t showing up in Evanced — I’ll have to check that in the morning.)

And my newest thank-you:

• For finally creating a “siblings welcome” storytime (Super Siblings) for parents who have a toddler and a newborn/baby. Just today I had a mom chase me down in the library to tell me how happy she is that this storytime is happening!

So, how do you balance storytime schedules? Have you or your library made changes to the storytime schedules because of specific patron requests or needs? I’d love to hear about it in the comments!

– Katie Salo
Early Literacy Librarian
Indian Prairie Public Library
http://storytimekatie.com

The post Storytime Schedules appeared first on ALSC Blog.

The one question that comes up again and again, no matter what part of the country I happen to visiting, is TIME.

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I just finished reading the July 2008 Issue of Real Simple, which I’ve been subscribing to for years. Since I didn’t start it until AUGUST, I realized that the cover story “More free time: realistic ways to tame your schedule,” was one I should read. If you’re the kind of teacher that I [...]