Reflecting On 2016

At the beginning of the year I set several professional goals, phrased as New Year's resolutions, and some specific for storytime. So as the end of 2016 approaches, let's look back and see how I did:

1. Read more. Well, only if you count textbooks and professional articles, but that's not what I originally had in mind. My intention was to read more for pleasure and for RA, mostly middle-grade and young adult, and I did read quite a bit of that the first half of the year. But then when I started an MLIS program in the fall, I found that I had little free time for reading anything outside of classwork, which was an unfortunate but necessary trade-off.
2. Work on Reader's Advisory. Again, I did a significant amount of work on this the first half of the year, but it came to a halt once I started my MLIS program in the fall. I was able put together several bibliographies of read-alikes and themes based on what patrons frequently ask, and I've made an effort to read more reviews and "best books" lists.
3. Take at least one library science class. Yes, and not only did I take a class, I enrolled in an MLIS program. 
4. Continue to develop and expand my storytime skills.
1. Use more non-fiction books. I have used more non-fiction, but there is still room for improvement.
2. Experiment with working in early literacy tips. Okay, I have to admit, I failed on this one. With my storytime being outreach and not having individual caregivers to address, just one teacher, it just feels a little too awkward and direct.
3. Develop 3-4 new storytime kits. I did get 3 more completely finished, and working on another.
4. Finish re-vamping the existing kits. I was not able to get as much done here as I would have liked because another day was added to my storytime rotation, which means I lost half of my collection development time.
5. Find opportunities to work with (or observe) other age groups. I observed a baby storytime, conducted a school-aged STEAM program, and conducted an adult program that was family-friendly. I also got an unexpected opportunity to present a session on early literacy and storytime to a group of childcare providers. I still would like to observe other storytimes as each of our children's librarians have different styles and strengths. I also continued to help the middle school librarian with her book club.

So, there you have it. I'm pretty happy with the progress I made, though a couple of these will continue on into the next year. I definitely did a better job with my professional resolutions than I did on my personal ones! How about you? Did you stick to your resolutions and make progress towards your goals?

Now to give some thought to my New Year's resolutions for 2017....