Latest / The Wholehearted Enneagram Podcast / Preventing Summer Brain Drain | A conversation with Dawna Ofstehage (our fav librarian!)

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Preventing Summer Brain Drain | A conversation with Dawna Ofstehage (our fav librarian!) · The Wholehearted Enneagram Podcast

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_01: This episode is sponsored by Super Summer Challenge.
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_01: Whether you have one hour a week, one day a week, or 12 full weeks with your kids this summer, Super Summer Challenge is here to help you make the most of every minute.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_01: Our book, templates, online workshop, and personalized coaching will help you create more unplugged, purposeful, and intentional moments this summer.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_01: Instead of fighting against boredom, electronics all day long, or the crazy busy swirl of activities, Supersummer Challenge will help your kids learn new skills, build confidence, and strengthen family relationships.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_01: Find more at SupersummerCallenge.com.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_01: Hello friends, and welcome to the Simply Wholehearted Podcast.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_01: Today we're excited to introduce you to our local librarian, Donna Ostenhag.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_01: She is a librarian at our local library nearby us that we visit almost weekly and have often many overdue finds, even though we're there every week.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_01: Anyway, Donna has always been ready and eager to help us and my kids find great books to expand their world of reading.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_01: We thought it would be fun to have her in the studio and get some practical tips and tricks about not only encouraging love for kids, but things that we can do to help them learn and be ready for kindergarten and continue their growth in literature.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_01: And also some fun tips in the summertime because we know that even though school is out, we still want our kids reading and involved in keeping their minds working before they head into the new school year.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_01: So we had so much fun talking.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_01: We have decided to do two parts with this episode.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_01: And so I hope you enjoy the first part of this conversation and be sure to tune in next week to hear the rest of the story.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, so I know you, Donna, because we go to the library all the time.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_01: As in the kids and I, we sometimes we homeschool, but schooling at home doesn't always work very well.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: So we schooling does not have to be at home.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_01: That's right.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_01: I'm more of the the unschooling sort.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_01: Um if you're looking for a title.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_01: Um but uh school of life.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yes, I like that.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_01: School of life.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_01: That's right.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, so we go and frequent the library quite often, that's fairly close to us, and you are the faithful, you know, librarian of the kids section.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_01: So you are storytime lady.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_01: And you've been doing that for a few years.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_00: So I've been in my current position a little over six months.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_00: Um but my previous I've been at my library for two years, so I just got a promotion.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yay! Oh that's right, congratulations.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so we're we're out we're six months out, so it's it's old news now.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: Um so I've been at my current library for two years.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_00: Prior to that, I was a librarian in Atchison, Kansas for about I was a teen librarian there um for about ten months, and prior to that I lived in South Dakota, and I was a school librarian for eight years.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, okay.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_01: With a few years.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_00: With a mild break in the middle.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_00: So I did five at one school, and then I worked at a grocery store.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, I bet that was exciting for another school.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_01: That's quite a bit different there.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_01: That's a little bit of a switch.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_00: And there was for a time that I was working at the at the elementary library.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_00: So I worked at the school, and the school that I worked at was uh second through fifth grade.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: And then I worked at the public library doing teen services.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_00: And then I also worked at the liquor store.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_00: So I worked with children of all ages.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_01: Children of all ages.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_01: Children of all ages.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_01: That's great.
• 3:49
  unknown: Yes.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_00: Um the the liquor store was owned by the grocery store that I had that I had worked at, and so I just kind of floated.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: It was just a natural fit.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it was a very small town, too.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_00: A small college town, too.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_00: I would see a lot of the kids in the liquor store and I was kind of Yeah, wait a minute.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_01: What let me see that ID.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_00: They're clearly with their parents, but it's still a little squishy sometimes.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_01: Well, how did you I mean what like did you do a field of study in college that led you to choose?
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, eight years as a librarian plus a couple more.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_01: Like that, that's kind of a like you've made a solid career choice.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I did.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_00: And it was all by accident.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, tell me.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_00: Um so I had graduated from college um with a degree in history.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, yes.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_00: And a minor in psych and a minor in art.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, wow.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_00: So what are you doing with that?
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_00: Who knows?
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you start with some really good information.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_00: And so I started stubb subbing, and um at I graduated in December, and so I subbed that for the end of the year, so that last semester.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_00: So over the summer I was like, you know, just working on odd jobs, doing a whole lot of nothing, just trying to hold on to the college life.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_02: Gotcha.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_00: And not really wanting to become an adult.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_00: Six months after you graduate before you have to start paying those loans back, right?
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_00: And so it was true.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_00: They kind of float, right.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_00: Uh so the fall came and they had contacted me to see if I wanted to sub again.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_00: And I said, Yeah, because I had nothing else to do.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_00: And they kept me busy pretty much every day.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_00: Oh wow the year before.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_00: So I was like, Yeah, absolutely.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_00: So I started subbing, and then I got a full-time job.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_00: And so I went into the principal's office.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_00: I was doing a long-term sub job, and I went into the principal's office and I was like, Hey, I'm sorry, I got a full-time job, and so it's got benefits.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna have some health care, it will be great.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_00: And because this was before it was mandated, right?
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_00: So it was like living a dicey life.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_00: Um I told them on a Thursday there was conferences Friday, no school Monday, and I came back to school on Tuesday and I got called into the principal's office.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_00: I thought I did something wrong.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_00: Cause that's that's that's my main like thought.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_00: What did I do wrong?
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_00: I called in my manager's office now, and I'm like, oh gosh, what did I do?
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_00: Uh it's just it's just the you know, yeah, just the nature of a good person, always thinking they did something right.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and he called me in and and uh got sat down with a business manager um at the school, and and he was like, So tell me about this job you got.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_00: And so I told him, and he's like, What are those benefits like?
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_00: And I told him, and he's like, and how much are you making?
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_00: And I told him, and he goes, How would you like to become our full-time substitute teacher?
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, What?
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_01: What was that?
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, how does that a full-time substitute?
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, I was like, Well, isn't that pretty much what I do now?
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_00: So they gave me a contract.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_00: Um, it was uh it was the same as a teacher's contract, so it was you know nine months.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_00: Um I got paid for 12, you know, because I like somehow break that up.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, I don't do math, that's my husband's thing.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_00: Um so I got this contract and I was like, sure, why not?
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so when I was not subbing for teachers that were gone, they're well, you can hang out in the library.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_00: We had a we had a part-time librarian, and so she basically trained me to do all of the library stuff, and um then she retired at the end of the year.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_00: Wow, and guess who was the only person who knew what to do in the library?
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_00: Wow.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_00: Me.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_00: That's so cool.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so I got that job and I loved it.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I loved working in the library when I was subbing.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_00: Um so it was great, and then like when it became my job, I loved it even more, and I got to, you know, do um, you know, library classes with all the kids, and it was so much fun.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_00: Um so I did that for five years and then and then they cut my position.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_02: Wait, then they did what?
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_00: They cut my position.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, you know, because schools run out of money and yeah, that's like the first thing to cut.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_00: And it was just like right at the beginning of the recession, too.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_01: Right, right.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_00: So I work at a grocery store.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_00: Happens.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, you gotta do what you gotta do to get back, right?
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_00: Um, there's I don't think there's any shame in doing something.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_00: No, no, not at all.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_00: That gets you gets your bills paid.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely not.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_00: Um and so, you know, I I may have been doing a job below below my skill set education level, but that does not mean I couldn't do a good job at what I was doing.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_01: Nor like use it it being a great place to learn and build absolutely other skills.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so I was the customer I like I ran the customer service and you know, and I managed some high school kids and there you go.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_00: It was a lot of fun.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I learned a lot from those kids, you know, they would come in and they would be like, Oh, we did that.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_00: Like, oh no, you didn't, because I just walked around and no you didn't.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_00: And so I learned I learned how to manage teenagers.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_00: And that was that's intense.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_00: I mean it's it's one thing to do it in a school setting, it's another to do it outside of school.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_00: And uh and I I kind of feel like I was maybe a pushover those first five years.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_00: Sure, yeah.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_00: Um and then I worked with him at the grocery store.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, no more, no more.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_01: This ends now, this is a professional setting.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_01: You're gonna step out for this.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_00: And so I got a job.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_00: So the the first school I worked at was outside of the town that I lived in.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_00: I was like 15 minutes away.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_00: Very small town, rural South Dakota.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_00: Everything's everything's a short distance if it's under an hour.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_00: There you go.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_00: Uh which is why my 35 minute commute does not kill me at all.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_00: I actually enjoy it.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_00: Audiobooks, podcasts, movies.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, good stuff.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_00: And so then I got a job in the town that I worked or that I lived in.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_00: And I was the librarian there, second through fifth grade.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_00: And I liked those kids too.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_00: Oh yeah.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_00: So I had to fun age.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_00: So my first job, that three or the five years that was K through twelve.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_01: Oh yeah.
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_00: We had like two hundred and fifty kids.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_00: For the whole school.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_00: And then the second and then that second through fifth grade school was about two hundred and fifty kids.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_00: Oh wow.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_00: So we had we had about the same amount of kids.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_00: There were just four of them in the same age group.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_01: Cool.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, so what brought you to Kansas City?
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_00: I got um, oh well, um, I started library school in January of 2014.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_00: So there's actual thing.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_00: What's library school?
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_00: So I went to it it's where you learn to be a librarian.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_00: It's where you can get a master's of library sciences.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_00: It's an MLS.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_00: This was a thing.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, this is totally a thing.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_00: You guys could both have MLSs as well.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_02: Well, I'd have to have an undergraduate degree first.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I'm sorry.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_00: We'll talk about that later.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_01: I don't want to talk about that.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_01: Um that's for another time.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_01: You know what?
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_00: College is not not for everybody.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_00: No, it's for me.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_01: It's totally for me.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_01: That's not the problem.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_01: It's called it's called having four kids and you were young and life and la la la and fast.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_01: You went to the school of life.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_01: I did.
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_01: Totally.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_00: So college You can still go back at the same time.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_00: She's going to.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_00: She's going to go.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_01: It is at some point.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_01: Going to happen.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_01: So anyway.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_01: But I went back to school.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I went to get my master's in library sciences.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_01: This is so cool.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_01: I really didn't know that.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_00: So, yeah, and we affectionately refer to it as library school because it is the school of library.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_00: Um my husband refers to me as a library scientist because I have a library science school.
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, now that's kind of sassy.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_00: I'm liking that.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm a library scientist and I wear a lab coat, also known as a cardigan.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_01: Oh man.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_00: I am a firm believer that the cardigan love lab coats slash.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_01: I get cold in the library every time.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_01: I I like layer.
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_01: You have to cold.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_01: I know.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_01: I I'm going to the library.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_01: And so it's not shorts and a t-shirt.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_01: I am going to layer.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and it's not like a it's not like a humid cold.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_00: No.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_00: No, it's a dry cold.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_00: Because humidity ruins books.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, if it gets too hot, there's a fire and that ruins books too.
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_00: This is all.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_00: Bring your party in.
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_01: That's right.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_01: In your ear mouth.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_00: Lots of lots of layers is what I suggest.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_01: So which is great in the summertime.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_01: Helpful tip.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_00: So it's freezing in the summertime.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_00: And you go outside and you're like, I can't take off enough clothes.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_00: And then you're like in the library, you're like, oh, where's my parka?
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_01: So no to solve when it's really hot.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_01: Actually, that is what we do.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_00: Just swear, just always have a sweater with you when you go to the library, no matter what time of the year it is.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_00: That's right.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_00: We keep it at a crisp, like, you know, 70, 68 degrees.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_00: Who knows?
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_00: It's cold.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_00: They've told me.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_00: I know what it is.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_01: It's just cold.
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_00: But I don't remember.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_01: Prepare properly.
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, so MLS.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, so I started going uh my MLS program in January of 2014, and it's through and I did it through um Emporia State University.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_00: Uh they have a cohort in Overland Park.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_00: Ah.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_00: Really?
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_00: But the great thing about the program is it's a blended program.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_00: So that means that it is both online and in person.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_00: So there are several classes that you have to take, probably about half of them have in-class components where you attend a weekend long session twice a semester for that class.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_00: So my whole intention was to get my MLS living in South Dakota and just driving down to get to my weekend um classes.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_00: Because I had a roommate from college who lived down here.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_00: Oh convenient.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_00: Him and his wife let me live let me stay with them for the weekend um while I was down here.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_00: And that was great fun.
• 14:29
  SPEAKER_00: And so it was I got to see my friends, I got to learn some stuff, and then I got to drive home.
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_00: Um and then one of my one of my uh classmates was talking about this job that they had just created at her library in Atchison.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_00: And it was a teen library position.
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_00: They had never had a teen library in before.
• 14:51
  SPEAKER_00: I've done lots of teen library services.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_00: I have lots of experience with teens.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_00: And so I applied.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, well, what's the worst thing that happens?
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_00: I get a job and I have to decide if I'm gonna move.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I got it.
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_00: And um and I I remember telling my husband, it's so funny, because I was just like, I got off the phone and I was so excited, and he was not there.
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_00: Um, because he was at work and it was at the end of the day.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_00: And so I get home and I was like, Hey, Peter, I'm moving to Kansas.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_00: You can join me if you want.
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_00: Or join me whenever you're ready or something like that.
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_00: We had been married for like a year and a half.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_00: Oh wow.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_00: And he responded I'm out, see you later.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_02: Join me when you're ready.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_01: I'm just gonna go here and then chase after this.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, that's so funny.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_01: So um Yeah, because that's an important piece there.
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, if you're a single gal, like just like hey, you know, whatever things take me.
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_00: You can do whatever you want when you're single.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, that's funny.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_00: Um so I moved down in May of 2014 and started my job at the end of the school year.
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_00: I finished out the school year and moved down, and then I worked there until April of 2015.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_00: And that's when I started my job at the library that you come and visit me at.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_01: Nice, okay.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, and my husband joined me.
• 16:15
  SPEAKER_00: I was about to say he apparently joined you.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_00: He did this.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_00: He did join me at some point.
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_00: He um stayed back and sold the house or tried to sell the house and um tried to find a job.
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_00: And whichever one happened first, gotcha, he would move to join me.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_00: Well, so he finally joined me in February of 2015.
• 16:33
  SPEAKER_01: Oh wow.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_00: So it was it was a good long haul without him.
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_00: Omaha has a special place in our heart, so it's a good halfway point.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_00: Oh yeah.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we have explored the city of Omaha.
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, no.
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_01: I I mean, I actually hear a lot of good things about Omaha and like it's a really fun place to visit.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_01: And it's a nice location from here, being Kansas City.
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_00: Should you go to the Joclyn Museum?
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_00: No.
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_00: You should, it's great.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_01: Jocelyn Museum?
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_00: Joclyn.
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_00: Joclyn.
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_00: J-O-S-L-Y-N, I think.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_01: Oh.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, no.
• 17:05
  unknown: No.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_00: I say words weird.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_00: Just a museum.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_01: No, no.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_00: Um, it's a museum and they have a lot of art exhibits, but then they also have an interactive children's exhibit.
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_00: See, that makes a big difference.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_00: It's like it's really it's so cool because they can interact with books and make stuff and take it with them.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_01: That's awesome.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_01: No, I love it.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_01: It's great of great.
• 17:26
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so we would meet in Omaha on Sundays and spend the day.
• 17:29
  SPEAKER_01: Oh.
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_01: And then we'd go our separate ways.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we're married.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_00: And and he he finally joined me.
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_00: And then we sold the house in like July.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_02: Ooh, painful.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_02: That was fun.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_00: I was really happy when I got sold.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I loved our house and it's on the market again.
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_00: Oh no.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_00: One of my friends sent it to me and she was like, You want to move back?
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, No.
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_00: I love the house, but no.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, totally.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_01: We had that experience with our Colorado house too.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_01: It was about seven years later.
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah, it was it was a little hard to say goodbye because a lot of good memories there, but we were really relieved too, for sure.
• 18:09
  SPEAKER_00: It's so nice not having having to make a mortgage payment and a renting.
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's that's a good thing.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_00: That was a big relief.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we did that for about a year and a half too.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I know the library, the Johnson County Library, and specifically the Leewood Library, for any of the friends who are listening who are local, this is where they can find you.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_01: But they will have noticed that recently, what maybe in the last six months, the children's section took on a radical like overhaul makeover.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_00: I move stuff.
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_01: That was Donna's doing.
• 18:40
  SPEAKER_01: So those of you who are familiar with what I'm talking about will understand.
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_01: Um uh that there was a dramatic change in that setup.
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_01: And Donna was like the mastermind behind it all in and organizing it and setup, and it's it's been awesome.
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_00: I made that change, like I drew up those plans in I don't know, I want to say May or June of 2015.
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_00: So like right after I started.
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_00: Um, we're we're we're a county government agency.
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_00: Oh so we move slowly.
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_00: We move at the pace of libraries, which is not always the same pace that I want things to move.
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_00: But I I I was very patient and they kept telling me it would happen, and we had to finish Central because Central was being renovated at the time.
• 19:30
  SPEAKER_00: And so we had to finish that project before we could do anything.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_01: I need to go to Central.
• 19:33
  SPEAKER_01: I haven't been since Central.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_00: You should, it's amazing.
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so I was patient and I waited, and then they finally gave me a date, and I was like, Oh yes.
• 19:45
  SPEAKER_00: So in December of 2016, we did a major overhaul where we switched the collection around and made it more user-friendly and more patron centered.
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_00: So it was easier for everybody to find books.
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_01: To navigate it, yeah.
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_01: It's been really, really good for sure.
• 20:03
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and it's more collaborative space too.
• 20:05
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_01: I like that for sure.
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_01: That's it.
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_00: We still have other things that are in the works, but of course the big, the big swap of everything was uh was done, and now we're just waiting for it.
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_01: And I think the biggest change was the no-brainer of putting everything eye-level for the young kids.
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_01: Like the young kids' books are all accessible to them.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_00: I walked in when I first walked into that library, I was like, why are all the children's books on these tall shelves and the teen books are on these short shelves?
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_00: This makes no sense to me.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_00: I still don't know exactly why that was made, why that decision was made.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_00: But I am happy with the new decision that I have made to change that.
• 20:48
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe somebody was trying to keep tiny hands from pulling everything off the shelves.
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, they do that anyway.
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_00: I was gonna do that.
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_00: Like they did that on the tall shelves, and they're like knocking it bonkers.
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_00: They just couldn't reach like the top two shelves.
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, right.
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_00: You know?
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_00: Right, right, yeah.
• 21:00
  SPEAKER_00: And um, and it made it when with those taller table or taller um shelves, it made it harder for parents to see what their children were doing while they were browsing the collection.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_00: So we have a six by six space um which has um interactive.
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_01: And the six by six thing, is that a national no?
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_00: It was created by um Johnson County Libraries.
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_00: No kidding.
• 21:25
  SPEAKER_00: Six skills that children need to know or need to have by the age of six to be um ready.
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_00: Free readers, ready to read.
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_00: So those were actually based on every child ready to read.
• 21:38
  SPEAKER_00: And then uh Bradley Debrick, who is our early l literacy coordinator at Johnson County, he took that and he was like, Well, these were what is a phonological awareness?
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_00: Like, would you know what that is?
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_00: Never.
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_00: No.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_00: Um I mean, unlikely.
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_00: But most people would know what that is.
• 21:59
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, totally.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: And so he took those skills and he broke them down into easy to understand concepts.
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_00: And then created in language and created a program on teaching parents to teach their kids these skills.
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_00: So they 'cause the kids pick up and learn by seeing and doing.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_00: And so if they're seeing and doing these things with their parents, then they're more likely to pick those up.
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, those are good.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_01: And now I'm I'm gonna put you on the spot to list out if you remember the six by six.
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but I will also put it in the show notes so people can kind of refer to it.
• 22:41
  SPEAKER_01: Because I think it's a really great idea.
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_01: Because I thought it was a national thing, because we like since my kids were little, we were going to story time, story hour, we were hearing the six by six, being a little more oriented of you know, like homeschooling minded, um, that all seemed that made a lot of sense and it was a real nice benefit to what I was doing.
• 23:01
  SPEAKER_00: So the so the Kansas State Library actually picked that up and has adopted it as well.
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_00: Um and uh and so it is statewide now, and it's kind of going out where people are using the terms that six by six the terms of six by six to explain and teach these.
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_01: How cool it like, you know, it started here.
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_00: I know.
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_00: It started here in Johnson County at the Johnson County Library.
• 23:27
  SPEAKER_00: That's really neat.
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm really proud to work for them.
• 23:29
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, let's see if I remember them.
• 23:31
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 23:31
  SPEAKER_00: Um often I'll totally put you on the spot.
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_00: Because we're done with story times as of last week until June, and so I have like wiped all of that out of my brain.
• 23:41
  SPEAKER_00: Wow.
• 23:42
  SPEAKER_00: Um not true, but yeah.
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_00: Um but yes, I work.
• 23:47
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I did we had 15 weeks of story times.
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_00: And and I do two a week.
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_00: I do preschool and toddler.
• 23:55
  SPEAKER_00: Uh-huh.
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_00: And I had previously done baby story time.
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_01: So um so when you're done, it's just saying demonstrating, singing, using the story time to to model the skills.
• 24:08
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 24:08
  SPEAKER_00: So you have um talk, talk, talk.
• 24:12
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, take time to rhyme.
• 24:15
  SPEAKER_00: Oh my goodness.
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_00: Um It's okay.
• 24:18
  SPEAKER_00: I just tell stories.
• 24:20
  SPEAKER_00: You're doing good.
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_00: Um look for letters.
• 24:25
  SPEAKER_00: Um If we don't get them all, I'll make sure I'll I know.
• 24:29
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm gonna I'm gonna leave and I'm gonna be like, oh, that's what I want.
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_02: Well, if they come to you, you can just blurt them out.
• 24:34
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I will.
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, totally.
• 24:36
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so there's a couple other ones.
• 24:39
  SPEAKER_00: Um So these are the things that you're telling parents to work on just uh as you're going along through your day and through your life.
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_00: And Yes, oh, one is rhyming.
• 24:50
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, and one is um take time to rhyme, I think, and then the other one is um oh it's it's have fun.
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_01: It might be as simple as that.
• 25:02
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I think what I liked is that it kind of it they modeled it during story time and so they were kind of showing teaching the parents by doing, and then obviously the kids were learning, but then as a parent you felt equipped.
• 25:16
  SPEAKER_01: Usually they gave you some sort of, you know, little um I don't know, item to go along with it that would help review or reinforce whatever was being taught during that.
• 25:25
  SPEAKER_01: And they, you know, it was always fun stories that you could sing or had all of one of one or two or three of those concepts within it.
• 25:31
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_00: So what I do is um because it is very hard to know songs that you don't know, and we want everybody to sing along because I'm not good at singing.
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_00: And if I I have fun with it.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_00: Sure.
• 25:45
  SPEAKER_00: And kids are tone deaf until about the age of six or seven.
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_00: I don't care.
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_00: And so if you were if you're just owning it, yeah, they're down for it, right?
• 25:52
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 25:53
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and they won't know that you're a terrible singer until you know like six or seven.
• 25:57
  SPEAKER_00: So you can get away with it.
• 25:58
  SPEAKER_00: So I always tell I always tell my parents and caregivers that bring kids in that everybody needs to participate, because if I'm singing, they're singing, everybody's singing and we're all having fun.
• 26:07
  SPEAKER_00: And that is the point, is making reading fun.
• 26:10
  SPEAKER_00: And so I put together a PowerPoint slide every week, and um, so then that way I can show like the picture of the book and then put all the words up for the song so everybody can sing along.
• 26:22
  SPEAKER_00: That's great.
• 26:23
  SPEAKER_00: Um which just is encourages everybody to have fun, right?
• 26:26
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 26:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um and so when doing that, whenever I put a book up, I always whatever book I'm using, I always tie it to a skill of one of those six skills.
• 26:38
  SPEAKER_00: And um and so with that I will put the book so you can see what it is and the title and the author.
• 26:45
  SPEAKER_00: And then I always put a fun little like something to go like skill that you can, you know, when you're look for letters.
• 26:55
  SPEAKER_00: Um point out signs that you see when you're driving.
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_00: It's as simple as that.
• 27:00
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, because symbols and signs that you see, even if you can't read them, those are shapes, right?
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_00: And those shapes form letters.
• 27:08
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 27:08
  SPEAKER_01: And so um when they're just connecting the general idea of it where you know like that symbol means something, just like a word will mean something eventually to them, those letters form.
• 27:19
  SPEAKER_00: And have fun.
• 27:19
  SPEAKER_00: That one's a lot of fun.
• 27:21
  SPEAKER_01: Um yeah, I'm sure you do that.
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_00: Just so you know, when a kid's move, this is a big I I feel like a lot of people don't understand this because a lot of parents and a lot of teachers are always worried about the kids having to sit to be able to listen.
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_00: Sure.
• 27:36
  SPEAKER_00: Studies show that kids learn more when they're moving around.
• 27:39
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 27:39
  SPEAKER_00: So if they have one of those fidget widgets where if they're playing with something or if they're drawing, or they're sitting on those balls, that the state possibility balls.
• 27:49
  SPEAKER_00: If they're up and running around, um, they end up picking up more than what you would expect.
• 27:54
  SPEAKER_00: Then they pick up more than the ones that are just sitting there crying.
• 27:57
  SPEAKER_01: That means while Miles is doing cartwheels during my read aloud every day, he's actually learning a lot more, right?
• 28:02
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 28:03
  SPEAKER_01: I learned better.
• 28:04
  SPEAKER_00: They retain, yeah, they retain more information that way.
• 28:07
  SPEAKER_01: Just don't tell him this truth, okay?
• 28:11
  SPEAKER_00: I will not tell him.
• 28:12
  SPEAKER_01: I'm taking the whole handstand cartwheel.
• 28:16
  SPEAKER_00: So I always uh at the beginning of my story time, and of course I have some that come in late, and so they kind of miss this, but I always try to make a point to tell them that I have like a what I call a free range policy.
• 28:30
  SPEAKER_00: We're in a room, we have doors shut.
• 28:32
  SPEAKER_00: Just let them run.
• 28:33
  SPEAKER_00: All the light sockets that are within their reach have covers on them.
• 28:37
  SPEAKER_00: They have covers on them.
• 28:39
  SPEAKER_00: That's here now.
• 28:40
  SPEAKER_00: Um, just let them go because if they need to move, they need to move.
• 28:44
  SPEAKER_00: Especially preschool toddler, they need that's so great.
• 28:47
  SPEAKER_01: I love it.
• 28:49
  SPEAKER_01: Well, friends, I hope you've enjoyed our conversation so far, and we look forward to you tuning in next week to hear more from Donna, our local librarian.
• 28:58
  SPEAKER_01: And in the meantime, if you want to check back on episodes both nine and ten, we have some um great conversations.
• 29:06
  SPEAKER_01: Number nine is with our health coaches and about some small changes that can really add up to big results.
• 29:13
  SPEAKER_01: And then episode number 10 is about passion, prayer, and purpose.
• 29:17
  SPEAKER_01: And we have a conversation with some of our favorite church pastors here at Radiant in Kansas City, Dan and Amy Perkins, about their internship, Radiant Intensive, and some practical ways that you can get more involved with your local body of Christ.
• 29:33
  SPEAKER_01: So until next week, I hope you find more ways to live more unplugged, purposeful, and intentional.