As always, this year’s youth services retreat will be a great chance to relax, participate in sessions directed towards youth services, enjoy wonderful food, network, share ideas, and play. As in past years, the retreat will be held at Carol Joy Holling Camp and Retreat Center near Ashland. New this year is an option to stay overnight not only Thursday evening, but also to arrive the evening of Wednesday, August 24, and stay overnight. This might make it easier for those traveling from a distance.

You can easily register at http://bit.ly/22ndRetreat by the end of the day on August 8th. If for some reason you can’t make the retreat, you can still hear the two feature presenters at the CPLS Youth Services Day on August 19 or at the TRAILS Fall Library Workshop on September 21.

Following is the full program:

Wednesday, August 24th, Optional Early Arrival beginning at 6 pm. Includes breakfast the next morning.

Thursday, August 25th, 22nd Annual Youth Services Retreat, Day One

8:30-9:00 Registration

9:00 – 11:00 Libraries Serving Youth: Growing the Brain! With Sheryl Feinstein,Dean of Education, UNK                                                                                                                  
This special interactive presentation will focus on the transforming brain of our babies, children, and teens in relation to libraries. The fascinating changes that are popping, generating, and igniting in our youths’ brains shed light on how to best understand, support, and mentor these mystifying creatures.

11:10 – 12:00 Book Clubs for Youth with Anneka Ramirez, TRLS
Book clubs are a great tool for instilling literacy skills and maintaining a love for reading. This session will discuss using book clubs for youth as part of your library programming.

12:00 – 1:30 Lunch

1:30 – 2:30 Crowdsharing: “Booktalk” Your favorite websites and resources
In this session, retreat participants may share favorite websites, resources, program and craft ideas. If you go on too long…

2:45 – 3:45 Out of Box Programming Ideas for Teens with Lucy Adkins and Becky Breed
Interested in encouraging young people to tap into their creativity using the resources of the library? In this presentation, we will discuss how writing groups and writing partners—using the generative writing process—can inspire potential slam poets, songwriters—all writers—to dream more and unleash the imagination.

4:00 – 6:00 Best Games for Programming with Spielbound volunteers
Board Games can be used in library programming for all ages to educate, engage, and create community. Volunteers from Spielbound will demo games and guide us as we learn to play games that are new to us.

6:00 – 7:00 Dinner

7:00 – 10:00 Time to exchange ideas, hang out, play games

Friday, August 26th, 22nd Annual Youth Services Retreat, Day Two

7:30 – 8:30 Breakfast

8:30–9:00 Registration

9:00 – 9:50 Tween Read-a-Louds with Denise Harders, CPLS
Story time should not be reserved for preschool or kindergarten children. Listening to stories should be a frequent and enjoyable experience for all readers. Hear about the benefits of reading to older children, learn how to introduce a book you are about to read aloud, and take home a long list of suitable books to read. (And the great thing is, you probably already have the books in your library!)

10:00 – 10:50 The Future of Virtual Reality for Youth Services with Craig Lefteroff
Virtual and augmented reality devices have been hyped for decades, but the technology is finally starting to reach its full potential. In this presentation, we’ll talk about the differences between VR and AR, discuss the plethora of VR devices, and explore how to utilize them in a library setting.

11:00-11:50 Green Screen Magic with Sara Lee, Judy Marco, and Jamie Wright
You don’t have to have a Hollywood budget to have fun with green screen effects. Join staff members from Central City Public Library, to see how they have used green screen effects at events for all ages, to create some amazing looking photos and videos.

12:00 – 1:00 Lunch

1:00 – 2:30 Behind the Scenes with Bruce Arant, Author and Illustrator
Children’s book author/illustrator, Bruce Arant, provides an entertaining glimpse of the twists and turns he has encountered along the path of traditional publishing. His book, Simpson’s Sheep Won’t Go to Sleep!, has garnered notable attention including: two 2014 Nebraska Book Awards, nominee for the 2015-2016 Golden Sower Award; selected to represent the state of Nebraska at the 2015 National Book Festival; placement on the Nebraska 150 Book List.

2:30 – 3:00 Book Sales and Signings, Evaluations and Giveaways

We must leave the premises at 3:00 pm.