This summer, I enrolled in Storytime University, and I am having a lot of fun completing my homework!
Storytime University is the brainchild of the fabulous joint chiefs at Storytime Underground. It was created as a way to recognize the official and unofficial training and professional development we all undertake as children’s and teen librarians, and to encourage us and motivate us to keep that learning going, wherever we are on our career paths.
The chiefs have created a series of badges you can earn by completing activities. They range from small, easy things like, “Comment on the Storytime Underground Facebook page,” to big, harder things like, “Give a webinar.”
I love it. I think Kendra, Amy, Brooke, and Cory have done a great job. I love that there’s a lot to do, and I love that there’s a range of difficulty–so no matter where you are in your career or your professional development, you can jump in and find a next challenge that’s just right for you.
I’ve been a children’s librarian for a long time. It’s been almost 25 years since I started my career at an indie bookstore, and 18 since I got my degree and first library job. I’ve also been fortunate in my opportunities and have been able to pursue a lot of cool projects. Both of those things together mean that I’ve already had the chance to do a lot of the things on the SU badge list.
Now, the joint chiefs have made it clear that our past accomplishments totally and completely count towards current badges at SU. If you already run a blog, then of course you can mark yourself down for the “Write a blog post” badge.
But you know what? I decided I would challenge myself to earn all of the badges starting from June 2014. I figure I’m at a good halfway point in my career, and at the same time I’m starting fresh in a lot of ways as a brand-new supervisor. I think working on Storytime University stuff over the next year or so is going to be a fun way to jumpstart this next phase.
You can see where I am so far on my journey!
Are you enrolled too? If so, that’s awesome. What’s something new you’ve tried as a result of Storytime University?
If not, it’s never too late! To get started you can enroll on the Storytime Underground website. And have a great first day of school!
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