Charles R. Smith Jr. (Virginia Hamilton Conference)

To paraphrase, Charles R. Smith Jr., in true multicultural literature, every individual grows.  For him, it appears that photography and writing, particularly poetry ("finding the right words, not necessarily fancy or long or rhyming"), is the mode for individual and societal sharing and ultimately, growth.

During his presentation at the 2011 Virginia Hamilton Conference on April 8, he performed his poems and shared his life; As a child, "I turned to books ... to help me fly" (from track 10 on About Me) and became inspired by various artistic and noteworthy African Americans (see track 11 from Inspirations), including Ms. Nikki Giovanni, who was also a speaker at the conference.

He is a phenomenal performer and witty wordsmith (you'll get his flavor as you listen to track fifteen "I Am a Poet - a Capella"), but I wish I could have recorded and put his presentation on Youtube.  When I got Portrait of a Poet signed (only MP3 downloads are available on Amazon), I did ask if he had already put performances on Youtube.  He answered that he hadn't but that they may have been posted by others.  While I haven't found such poem performance videos, here is a link to Simon and Schuster's Youtube video where he discusses his 2010 Coretta Scott King Award (illustration) book My People.  You can also view a still of the performance in my photo collection below.

One of his last thoughts was, "We are all made up of a variety of things that make us human beings."
 
Thank you for your work, Mr. Smith.

EL Wiki Updated

Here is our group's journey.

Poster Session Publicity

Our group met Diane Chen, a current member of the ALA Executive Board, during the Emerging Leader poster session on Friday, July 10.

I just got word via the EL listserv that she has uploaded pictures of the posters on Flickr.

She also wrote a post on her blog at libraryjournal.com where pictures from our team are highlighted!

Bookmark for February -- Coretta Scott King Author/Illustrator

A second team member created another example of the monthly themed, bookmark idea. This one is for February, the month the team suggested highlighting the Coretta Scott King authors and illustrators themselves.

(Front: One of the author or illustrator's titles briefly described.)

(Back: A brief bio of the chosen author or illustrator.)

Bookmark for May -- Family Theme

This bookmark visual was completed by a fellow team member. It is one example of our monthly themes, bookmark idea. Creating a themed bookmark for each month markets the Coretta Scott King Winners and Honorees as books that can be chosen, used, and bought throughout the year and for any age level.

(Front: Age appropriate title suggestions for Infants/Toddlers/Preschoolers, Pre-K and Kindergarteners, First and Second Graders, Third and Fourth Graders, and Fifth and Sixth Graders based on our team's chosen May theme of "Family.")

(Back: Age appropriate suggestions for Teens and Young Adults

based on our team's chosen May theme of "Family.")

Other Created Content

In June, I will display the content headed by other team members.

Post Card Final

(Front: Image adapted from Kadir Nelson's original artwork available for purchase at: http://www.alastore.ala.org/SearchResult.aspx?KeyWords=kadir%20nelson )

(Back of version 1)

(Back of version 2)

Greeting Card Final

(Front: Image adapted from Kadir Nelson's original artwork available for purchase at: http://www.alastore.ala.org/SearchResult.aspx?KeyWords=kadir%20nelson )

(Middle)

(Back: The Coretta Scott King Award Seal would be placed in the space held by the black square. These award seals are available for purchase at: http://www.alastore.ala.org/SearchResult.aspx?KeyWords=Coretta%20Scott%20King%20Award%20seals )

Greeting and Post Card Front Under Development

(Image adapted from Kadir Nelson's original artwork available for purchase at: http://www.alastore.ala.org/SearchResult.aspx?KeyWords=kadir%20nelson )

Greeting Card Beginnings

One of the first greeting card drafts ...

(Front: Image is Kadir Nelson's original artwork available for purchase at: http://www.alastore.ala.org/SearchResult.aspx?KeyWords=kadir%20nelson )

(Back: The Coretta Scott King Honor, Award, and John Steptoe seals would be placed where the black squares are. These seals can be purchased at: http://www.alastore.ala.org/SearchResult.aspx?KeyWords=Coretta%20Scott%20King%20Award%20seals )

Finishing Individual Assignments

The entire team was able to meet yesterday, April 28. I have made the meeting notes available on our wiki.

Overall, most of our individual tasks are completed or in the final stages of editing. Now we are preparing for our final presentations -- the Emerging Leader Poster Session on July 10 and a final proposal document for the Coretta Scott King Book Awards committee due June 1.

Individually, I will be working on modifying the (front) design of the postcards. A team member found a CSK design (image/font) that the committee has already used: http://ala.org/ala/mgrps/rts/emiert/cskbookawards/docs/cskba-slj-ad.pdf

It is good to be consistent and to work with what is already available.

Post Card Draft 3

Home Library Webpage Proposal Draft

HOME LIBRARY WEBPAGE
We propose the creation of a "Home Library" webpage to market the idea of purchasing CSK books for home libraries.

We propose that the webpage have its own, unique URL that can be included on marketing materials, such as the greeting card and postcard examples detailed below. In our materials, we have used the URL: www.ala.org/csk/homelibraries.

The webpage should suggest the reasons why purchasing a CSK book for a home library is important or fun, assist site visitors with the purchase, and offer supportive material.

The reasons to purchase CSK books could form the main text of this new web page. We propose something like the following:

"Given as gifts, the Coretta Scott King (CSK) Award Winners and Honorees not only help mark special occasions in the lives of youth, such as birthdays, graduations, and a variety of special accomplishments (e.g. in sports, academics, music), they also help strengthen the youth's sense of self, vocabulary, and awareness of the roles African Americans have played in personal and real histories. Though these books express the stories of African American lifestyles, they can help all readers navigative familiar or everyday issues.

Help create or build a youth's personal library by giving a Coretta Scott King book. Your gift will help the youth safely explore the world, yet find themselves."

Accompanying this text would be links (with brief summaries) that assist the site visitor with his/her purchase:

"For Children and Teens -- How to Build Your Own CSK Library": A list of suggestions for children and teens on how to start their own collection. For example:
Ask parents, relatives, and friends to give you CSK awards books for gifts.
If you get an allowance, save it.
If you don’t get an allowance, consider ways that you can earn extra money like mowing a neighbor’s lawn, babysitting, or washing windows for someone.
"Pick the Right CSK Book" = Find a CSK book that matches the recipient's age level and subject interest (Link to our Team's bibliographies that are divided by subject then age)

"Where to Purchase a CSK Book" = a section of links of where to purchase the CSK books online (e.g. http://mail.libraryvisit.org/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.amazon.com / http://www.bookweb.org/index.html)

"Get the Book Signed by the Author or Illustrator" = a link to another new page on the CSK website that lists conferences/events where CSK winners/honors authors and illustrators may be presenting and/or signing books

"Add a CSK Greeting Card to Your Gift" = a link to purchase a paper greeting card, a link to download a greeting card (free), and a link to send an electronic greeting card (free) (See example 1.)

SUPPORTING GREETING CARD (example 1)
We have created an example of the greeting card that could be produced in hard copy, as a download, and as an e-card) that would support the giving of CSK books for home libraries.

In our example, the already approved, Kadir Nelson image of diverse children singing that is accompanied by the Coretta Scott King slogan "Lift Every Voice and Read" (http://mail.libraryvisit.org/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.alastore.ala.org/detail.aspx?ID=2440) was used as the cover image while images of the Winner, Honor, and Steptoe Medal are shown in the inside.

Text for the greeting card could be a standard message such as "I Appreciate You" or "You Are Talented" to reflect the message of the CSK books (and Steptoe Award) onto the child.

The general CSK website (www.ala.org/csk) or Home Libraries emphasized website ( www.ala.org/csk/homelibraries ) could be listed on the back of the card to drive further traffic toward the site.

SUPPORTING POSTCARD (example 2)
To further support the Home Library webpage, we have also created a postcard that can be sent out nationally to homes. (See example.)

In our example, we again used the already approved, Kadir Nelson image of diverse children singing that is accompanied by the Coretta Scott King slogan "Lift Every Voice and Read" (http://www.alastore.ala.org/detail.aspx?ID=2440) as the cover image.

The text focuses on the 2009 Winners/Honorees and directs the recipient to the Home Libraries webpage.

This postcard would not only increase general awareness of the award but also direct the receiver to the proposed Home Library webpage, again to encourage him/her to purchase one for their own or someone else's home library.

Post Card Draft 2

Why not post the first draft, you ask?

The first draft was just my own and first attempts to complete the task. This second draft incorporates some team feedback and my new ideas from that feedback. I am excited to hear what the other team members suggest!

I also have a first draft of the greeting card but will wait for more feedback before I post an image.

I am using Microsoft Publisher to create these mock-ups. The blue and pink lines and text boxes you see above will not appear in the printed versions.

Final Individual Assignments

Though not all team members were able to attend the group meeting on Wednesday, April 8, we were productive. Individually, I also felt productive. I was able to post the meeting minutes to our wiki that same night!

This successful day allowed me to put this EL Project on the back burner for a few days and focus on my other professional commitments. However, a few days have now turned into a week, and I need to start thinking and working on my newly assigned individual tasks:

Text and Mock-Up: Postcards with “Lift Every Voice” slogan and Kadir Nelson illustration on the front and brief CSK information/website (see brochure idea) on the back to be sent out nationally to market the award

Mock-Up (text is done): Creation of a new webpage (text) and CSK “celebration card” to encourage the purchasing of CSK books for gifts/home libraries

It is amazing how less daunting our entire project seems when divided among team members.

I am also now fulfilling the duty of scheduling the group meetings via Doodle. I need to do that ASAP ...

Well, Doodle is experiencing system failure right now, so I'll try again tomorrow.

Steady Progress

My team continues to make steady progress as we approach our individual tasks, seek each others' advice, and share ideas.

I feel as if we are close to the mid-way mark in developing or completing all of the following ideas:

Bibliographies of the CSK books divided by age
Creation of CSK PSA announcement
CSK Book Club
CSK Greeting Card coupled with marketing of giving of CSK books as gifts
Survey to those who are aware of/using the CSK books

We have another meeting scheduled for tomorrow. We can begin to work out the last kinks as well as start talking about how we want to present these ideas to the CSK committee as well as our Emerging Leader peers during our poster session.

Onward and Upward

Now that our team has a clear vision of our goal, it seems like the biggest challenge has been successfully completed. Of course, I am talking from my own perspective, so perhaps what I should be saying is ... Now that I have a better vision of the goal, I feel more confident about my contributions.

I spent several hours this evening drafting one of the team's ideas and am looking forward to how all the ideas will be fitting together.

In other news, I had an enlightening conversation about leadership two nights ago. In talking with my parents, I came to realize that in my past leadership or group experiences in organizations, I have never had the opportunity to work on such a focused task -- concentrating on one vision over a substantial period of time.

Additionally, I gained a less self-centered perspective on the circumstances that bring a certain individual into a leadership position than those first explored in my December post entitled "What Makes Some People Leaders and Others Not?" Watching movies like Milk and W has also given me a background to think and talk about this issue.

Overall, I am learning from and grateful for the experience that the American Library Association Emerging Leader program is providing for me.

We're Done with Our Project!

April Fools ... ;)

Fresh Breath

Whew!

I am feeling even better than at the end of my last post ... as I knew I would as my group continued to communicate and as we continued to receive guidance from our mentors.

The team (plus our mentor :) ) met today via Skype. Besides for a rocky start on my end (with my microphone "not working") and too many ideas than we had time to discuss, all went very well!

I have already posted the minutes to our wiki.

You will see that the audience and goal are indeed changed from what I interpreted in my last entry:

Audience: youth, parents, and families
Goal: to have the audience consider award-winning Coretta Scott King titles as purchases to populate children's home libraries

Our tasks now also support our new goal.

We still have a few team decisions to make in order to flesh out some of the new ideas, but overall, all of us now have the same vision.

This team excercise and overall experience definitely support the definition of leadership (idea of "vision") that I first blogged about on January 1 ...

Re-Evaluation

I devoted much of my time today re-evaluating our project description.

Overall, the biggest change that has occurred is in our audience and goal.

Jan 23 Meeting Notes
Goal: To increase awareness and inspire use of CSK
Audience: School (Classroom teachers, Media specialists), Public (Special services, Child detention centers), Academic (English Department = Professors of lit, Professors of children/teen lit; Education Department = Early childhood education teachers, Middle, High School), Library Schools

Mar 21 Project Description Evaluation
Audience: African American youth, parents and families
Goal: to have the audience consider award-winning Coretta Scott King titles as purchases to populate children's home libraries.

I am looking forward to hearing my team members' interpretations.

Today I also made many updates to our wiki. I added a timeline, our group name, our resource list, meeting notes from March 6 and 17, and our librarian/educator survey. I updated the "Group Communication" section.

I am feeling better.