What are you doing at #alaac14? Come to a Guerrilla Storytime!

Exactly one month from today, I'll be one of those library folks headed to Las Vegas for the 2014 ALA Annual Conference. There's lots to look forward to at this conference, from the 2014 Newbery celebrations, to the program sessions, to the publisher events, to the presentations. And that's not even taking into account the flashy bonus that is Las Vegas itself.

One of the things I'm most excited about, however, is Guerrilla Storytime.

Guerrilla Storytime made its debut at the 2013 ALA Annual Conference in Chicago, and since then, it's become something of a training and advocacy phenomenon. And so, obviously, it must take place with even more energy this year, on its first anniversary!

We the Joint Chiefs of the Storytime Underground hope you'll be able to stop by any (or all!) of the four Guerrilla Storytimes that'll be taking place in Vegas in June:

• Friday, June 27 @ 1 p.m.
• Saturday, June 28 @ 9 a.m.
• Sunday, June 29 @ 11:30 a.m.
• Monday, June 30 @ 3 p.m.

All Guerrilla Storytimes will take place in the Networking Uncommons space at the convention center, and everyone--EVERYONE!--is welcome to attend. Participation optional!

Note: Because we like to share what happens at Guerrilla Storytimes with the Storytime Underground community at large, we would love to have some folks volunteer to take notes, pictures, and/or videos of the Guerrilla Storytimes they attend. The more we crowd-source the recording of these training and advocacy events, the more benefit they can provide. If you're interested, let us know on the Storytime Underground Facebook group!

Circulating Ideas podcast explores Storytime

Not too long ago, Steve Thomas--he of Circulating Ideas podcast fame--talked to a whole slate of terrific children's librarians to really understand everything that goes into storytime. In addition to interviewing Julie from Hi Miss Julie, Anne from So Tomorrow, Anna from Future Librarian Superhero, and Dana and Lindsey from Jbrary, Steve talked to Cory, Kendra, and me about Storytime Underground and our storytimes. These interviews resulted in two podcast episodes, the second of which went live yesterday.

So, if you're anticipating some prime audiobook or podcast time in the next few weeks--while baking cookies, cleaning for holiday company, driving somewhere--I encourage you to check out these two storytime episodes of Circulating Ideas. My esteemed colleagues have some really profound and motivational things to say about this work we do.

Episode 34: Storytime - The philosophies and practices of successful storytimes.

Episode 35: Storytime (Part Two) - Paths into children's librarianship and recommendations for storytime books, crafts, and songs.

Bonus: In the second episode (Episode 35), you can absolutely hear my brain freak out as I try to process the ABSURD question "If you could only choose one book to read for storytime, what would it be?" Everyone else rationally shared their favorite storytime books, but of course I overthought the question. I'm sure you're all surprised.

Join the Storytime Underground!

I blogged recently about the terrific Guerrilla Storytimes that took place several afternoons at ALA. In case you were worried these Guerrilla Storytimes--this advocacy for youth librarians--might be an isolated occurrence, fear not. Because the Storytime Underground is live.

That's right, there's a whole website--nay, a whole community--dedicated to storytime guerrillas like you and the awesome work you do. The site went live last night, and Cory's opening post sets the tone perfectly. Go read it.

The whole point of the Storytime Underground is for youth librarians and their ilk to support each other, promote each other, and train each other. And to that end, I hope you'll get involved. That means making Guerrilla Storytimes happen at library events near you, and adding them to the Storytime Underground calendar. It means posing your storytime questions for the Ask a Storytime Ninja feature, and it means volunteering to be a storytime ninja because you have real expertise to share. Getting involved means sharing the great ideas you find online, be they your own or someone else's, so that the whole Storytime Underground community can benefit. It means sharing what you've learned through your library experience, and learning from the experience of your comrades. That's what the Storytime Underground can be.

So bookmark the site. Add it to your RSS feed. Join the Storytime Underground group on Facebook. Join us in this revolution.

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I would be remiss to not thank the talented collaborators who made the Storytime Underground site what it is, especially in such short time. So thanks, Cory, for brilliant ideas and inspiring speeches; thanks, Kendra, for setting the framework and sharing great content ideas; and thanks, Anna, for hooking the site up with an awesome header graphic. I salute you all.