The very first CATS (Children and Teen Services) conference happened in the programming room of the Nelson Library on a charmingly beautiful September day in 2017. We had all the staff who work with teens and children in the federation in one room for the first time, 21 people. It was exciting to be together and the best part turned out to be the roundtable – the sharing, the inspiring, the brainstorming. It was so useful and practical that we decided to keep the roundtables going all year long. The other memory I have of that first conference – Avi and I, who were not coffee drinkers, thought we were on top of things by providing a pot of coffee. IT WAS NOT ENOUGH COFFEE! Every single feedback form suggested some variation of “more coffee next time please!”
Fast forward to October, 2024, to the fifth CATS conference that took place in Kelowna. With over 100 in attendance and the addition of Okanagan libraries, the conference has grown considerably, but the themes of sharing, inspiring and supporting each other in the work, have carried over.
The keynote speaker, Robin Stevenson, gave a rousing presentation, “Challenged Books: Speaking up for Young People and Their Right to Read.” Stevenson made particular mention of YA literature, which currently counts for 58% of all banned books. The presenter argued that library staff need to defend the right for teens to be exposed to new world views so that they feel more able to make choices in their lives. Never seeing oneself on the pages one reads can result in feelings such as “I am strange” which can be harmful to the individual and detrimental to a healthy society. Stevenson went on to teach a session called “How Libraries can Support 2SLGBTQ+ Youth” where she had a ton of practical suggestions for libraries like starting a queer film club and or fostering pride advisory groups.
There were also presentations on community art projects (ORL), How to start a Dungeons and Dragons Club (Penticton and Hazelton Libraries), and passive programming (ORL).
Erin from Nelson Library got back from the conference and immediately put into practice some of the things she learnt in the latter: “I was so inspired by the simple and engaging passive programming ideas from the conference. They require little money and make use of lots of materials we already have lying around.”
But the question we are all dying to know, how was the coffee supply?
Written by Melodie Rae, KLF website manager. Pictures by Laura Zaytsoff, Castlegar Library.