Mel's Desk

How about a little serendipity, right here?

When I volunteered for a winter round up spot I did not know the date I’d get would be almost 3 years to the day from my original Flannel Friday post (Friday, January 21, 2011!). It totally gives me chills to know we are part of an amazing collaboration that is still going strong. You all get super bonus universe points for everything you do to share with and support each other.

Here is the first round of the round up! I have a couple more waiting for me to add them after dinner, and there is still time to get me a link if you haven’t yet.

Love & Valentine Ideas!

Bridget shows a little love for Monkeyface by Frank Asch!

Christine at Feltboard Ideas shares some hearts and gathered together a few rhymes to go with.

Kathryn at Fun with Friends at Storytime has an inspired-by-Flannel-Friday set of envelopes plus two more ideas for the flannelboard, plus book suggestions!

Miss Kristie and Miss Sue each have a Valentine idea over at Library Village! You must see their adorable felt envelopes and a story with a frog and a kiss.

Linda wrote and designed a new draw-and-tell for Valentines Day at Notes from the Story Room! If you’ve never tried a draw-and-tell, check out her step by step instructions and photos for her story “Something Special” … you’ll be adding this technique to your storytimes in no time!

Lindsay at with kiddos @ the library made a felt set to go with the book On Mother’s Lap–a story about finding enough room and love for everything, even the new baby.

Lisa at Thrive after Three was looking to add to her flannelboards for toddlers and adapted the Jane Cabrera book Mommy, Please Carry Me (read her paired scarf activity too!)

And I have a Letters & Mailbox prop idea today!

Extra Bonus Anytime Ideas!

Woot! Welcome Becky to her very first Flannel Friday post ever! She’s sharing a couple of Flannel-Friday inspirations in her bugs storytime at A Librarian Less Ordinary. (Etsy clip-art vendor alert!) She is at Hebrew-immersion school, how cool, so also check out how she is starting to include Hebrew words into her storytimes.

Andrea at Roving Fiddlehead Kidlit found a genius idea for how to take a flannelboard on the go. Or you could make a whole set for storytime–or put them in storytime-to-go kits–how else could you use these?

Cate is working on a new infographic at Storytiming, but the link isn’t live quite yet. Check out her one from last week for Little Miss Muffet while you wait!

K is bringing home a baby penguin instead of a bumblebee at Storytime ABC’s!

UPDATED 1/24: Lisa at Story Time with the Library Lady had a link late Friday, but I was a terrible host and did not do a final check after she posted! Here’s a great round up of soup books with two great crafts, both easily adaptable to other themes.

Mollie has not one, not two, but 10 Little Babies over at What Happens in Storytime!

OK, it’s been MONTHS since I had a Flannel Friday post and now that I do it isn’t even a flannelboard. And it’s something that I’ve been working on for a looooong time (like, years) because, busy.

But here you go!

I was trying to think of different activities that could go along with a Valentines storytime that wouldn’t be all kissy-kissy. Mailing valentines came to mind and though there are adorable felt envelopes out there, I knew that would be beyond my reach in terms of time and effort.

But since kids are seeing fewer letters than they used to, and using the mail less often in general, a real envelope struck me as a valuable object to share and talk about. And if you’re using a real envelope…why not a real stamp too? Face it: 1-cent stamps are as cheap as any sticker you are going to find!

I bought teeny-tiny gift envelopes and asked a volunteer to put a small blank piece of cardstock inside (to make them sturdier), seal them, put the stamps on and “address” each one. We made them in sets large enough for every child to have one. The idea is not for the child to open the envelope (though that will inevitably happen with some) but to be able to look at it and talk about it (there’s a front, and a flap, and a stamp, and an address, and a return address…).

Then I took gift boxes,

and turned them into mailboxes: cut a slot in one side, covered the front in colored paper, and fit them together.

I didn’t want to seal them so I could open them up and get the letters out! Because that’s what you do with these, let the kids mail their own letters. Hand one out to each child and let them look at them and talk about them with their adult. Then you can call them up one by one to drop their letter in the mailbox, or you can walk around with the mailbox to each child and let them mail it from their seat. I don’t have a cute rhyme to say or sing–so if you think of one let us know!

You can use these for Valentines, of course, but also any time you are talking about friends or friendship, gifts, faraway places, community workers, or nursery rhymes (A Tisket A Tasket).

Happy Flannel Friday!

Here’s some other great letters/envelopes/mailbox activities (thanks to @Rachel_nk @lmkrabbenhoft @choosejoytoday @klmpeace who found many of them!)

Busy Crafting Mommy: Flannel Friday: Another Valentines Day Set
Storytime Katie: Flannel Friday: Six Little Valentines
Read It Again! Flannel Friday: Mailing Letters
Storytime Secrets: Flannel Friday: Letters From Favorite Characters
Future Librarian Superhero: Letter of the Day Without Puppets
Libraryland: Don’t Let the Pigeon Writing Center
The Wielded Pen: You’ve Got Mail Storytime

Today’s round up is going to be right here at Mel’s Desk! If you have a blog and you’re new to Flannel Friday, check out the basics and ask for help if you need it; I’ll be checking comments frequently tonight and tomorrow. If you’d like to contribute to Flannel Friday but don’t have a blog, let me know and I can host you here or find another FF member to help out.
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Unrelated PS: I’m running a Reader Survey for Mel’s Desk–read about why and take the survey! Thank you!

Well, it turns out I’m kind of not doing one post a week like I said I was going to but I *did* say things would be a little cattywampus while I geared up again, so there you go.

This weekend I was looking at my reader survey results and having fun starting to plan out new posts and blog housekeeping and stuff like that. One of the first things I’ll be working on is the Storytime Resource Page update I announced *cough* back in September. I am looking forward to getting to know some new blogs and adding even more to my reader, so I’m repeating my request: If you have a blog or know of one that is not on my list, please let me know!

But my MAIN reason for writing this quick post is this response to the survey…

…which shows that half of everyone found me through another blog or through Flannel Friday, which is, of course, made up of other blogs. So a lot of you wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for someone else being awesome and generous by 1) writing a great blog and 2) linking to Mel’s Desk.

I can’t even begin to tell you how much this blogging community means to me and how much I value it for my work. Thank you for being a part of it, whether you blog, or read, or share all these great posts. Your support keeps this network vital. I’m looking forward to having more time for reading and blogging this year, and for passing along what I find!

PS: Still looking for a replacement for Google Reader? I use Newsblur and love it.

Anne wrote a post on developing a Professional Learning Network for Storytime Underground that brought tears to my eyes. Partly because I am so gratified to have had the opportunity to play even a small part in her journey as a children’s librarian, just as she and so many others have played a part in my own. But mostly because it so well reflected my own experience on what a long, slow, changeable process it has been to create a vibrant and valuable set of connections among my colleagues and my peers. And it’s not necessarily a smooth or linear process, either. Nor does it happen in the same way for everyone, or employ the same tools. As I’ve followed the conversation online today I’ve decided there are two things I would like to speak to.

One thing I’d put out there is that there’s no one right way to do all this. I’ve been on Twitter for going on 6 years and my current patterns of interaction look nothing like those of my first few months. As a resource, I use my blogging network a lot more and listservs a lot less than I did five years ago. This is what works for me at the moment. I would hate for someone to look at my activity and think, “I’m not doing it that way, I must be doing it wrong.” There are LOTS of places to build networks: on Twitter, through blogs, in listservs, in committees, at your workplace. There are lots of legitimate ways to use EACH of those networks: My husband has 240 tweets and I have 24,000 tweets and we’ve both been on Twitter the same amount of time and we’re BOTH using Twitter appropriately and well.

The second thing is that getting started in networking doesn’t have to be all-or-nothing. You don’t have to be instantaneously be 100% present and visible in every group 24/7. Online, I have people I just follow, and other people with whom I have conversations. Or I might respond to someone’s baby storytime tweets or blog posts, but not their teen advisory group thoughts. Or maybe I will respond during the day to work-type topics and on the weekend to baking and Twizzler-related posts. There are choices offline, as well: you might to volunteer for a short-term project for an advocacy group rather than a 3-year stint on a state library committee.

It’s also not an all-or-nothing situation because you don’t have to “Have An Idea” or “Craft a Brilliant Thought” before you can add your 2c to whatever network you’re in. The act of responding to someone else’s thoughts or questions is SO CRITICAL because so many ideas are created or refined IN conversation, and in the give and take between two or more minds. Your reply might be just the thing that was needed to hit the spark that becomes a new program or service or strategy. And I know that the more I responded to those kind of conversations myself, the easier it became for me to put my half-baked wild-hair what-if thoughts out there and take that first step to providing something for someone else to respond to. EVERYONE has experience–whether a lot or a little doesn’t really matter–and that experience automatically qualifies you as someone with something of value to contribute.

By which I mean, if you’re more comfortable lurking, or if lurking meets your goals, by all means lurk. But don’t lurk because you don’t want to participate the exact way someone else is participating. You can step in your own way. And don’t lurk–in person or online–because you think you don’t count. You do.

Hey everyone, I have been blown away this week by the generous and thoughtful responses to my very first Reader Survey. A MILLION thanks for taking the time to respond. I am learning so much about how you use Mel’s Desk and what you value, and have been totally humbled by your kind and supportive words.

My head is already bursting with plans and ideas and post possibilities, but it’s going to take awhile to synthesize all this information and create a strategy for the immediate future. So the next couple of months may seem more-of-the-same or a little scattershot while I continue to juggle getting new content up at the same time I’m tweaking goals and directions.

But I am SO EXCITED. Stay tuned!!!

And really, only four of you use Mel’s Desk as a cover for goofing off? You guys are way better than me. 🙂

There’s still plenty of time to add your two cents! Here’s the link to the survey. Thank you!

With a big hat tip to Annie at So Tomorrow, who has conducted a reader survey for her blog the past couple of years, I am launching one of my own!

Mel’s Desk is coming up on its fifth anniversary this spring and it is trite-but-true to say how much has changed in those five years. At work, my job responsibilities have changed a couple of times and my professional interests have become even more focused on [spoiler alert!] early literacy. Outside of my library, the online network of children’s librarians has grown rampantly and, not coincidentally, the number of cool projects I’ve been able to be involved with & learn from has also increased.

Here on the blog, I’ve transitioned through several interests as well, originally posting more program and storytime plans, then concentrating on Flannel Friday contributions, and most recently sharing literacy-based storytime ideas and best practices.

I still have lots of ideas and am still excited about writing for Mel’s Desk, but especially interested in how continuing this blog can be a valuable process for both me and my readers. As a result I am really curious about what you have to say–what types of posts have most resonated with you, what topics have been most helpful, and, now that there are so many more smart children’s librarian bloggers in action than there were five years ago, where are the gaps? What would you like to see addressed?

Thanks for being on this journey with me, whether it’s been five months or five years.

Here’s the link to the survey. Thank you!

Hi all! I am happy to be back from my blogging sabbatical .

I want to first thank all of you for your patience with my down time and with the fact that my posting in 2013 was pretty irregular all year as I struggled with too many things on my list. I missed being in conversation with you here this fall, but was very grateful for the break. So grateful that, instead of spending December building up some scheduled posts and doing some housekeeping stuff, I ignored it all until a couple days ago! So that’s a heads-up that I will be tinkering with Mel’s Desk as we go through the rest of the winter.

I’m also going to be more conscientious about a regular blogging schedule, which means that starting Monday, I’ll be posting just once a week most of the time, at least until I get my feet under me and a decent stockpile of drafts written up. But I am looking forward to blogging again!

What are you looking forward to in the coming year?

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“2014 Calendar” by Dan Moyle licensed under CC BY 2.0

You guys, I was hoping that I’d be able to keep up with a good blogging schedule this fall, but after a decent September I am already struggling again. After thinking about it all weekend, I’ve very reluctantly decided that I need to take an official break for a few months, so I can meet some other deadlines and then regroup.

I will most definitely be back! My current plan is to work on other projects in October and November, be able to spend some time in December getting posts written and scheduled, and then relaunch in January 2014.

Which means now is a good time to let me know if there’s a topic you’d like to see addressed! It would make me happy to have a few ideas simmering on the back burner while I am fighting the Hydra that is my current to-do list. 🙂

Thanks for being such great partners in thinking and learning about storytimes. Have a super holidays and I will see you in the New Year!