Unearth A Story™ 2026 Manual Highlights with Amanda Raiche
View highlights video
View the highlights slides

Unearthing Science with the Detroit Zoo with Zahraa Aljebori and Shelby Lane-Clark
Detroit Zoo Google Drive Resources
View the Detroit Zoo video
View the Zoo slides

Connect, Create, and Celebrate: A Collaborative Strategy for Summer Reading Decorations with Monica Williams, Venus Chavez, Erin Schaarschmidt, Kimberly Manise
View the decorating tips video here
View the decorating slides

Whether you participated in the live Summer Symposium or are viewing the recordings, please fill out the
Summer Symposium Evaluation.

CSLP Shipping Timeline

Order by/Receive by

• Jan 1, 2026 / Mar 1, 2026
• Feb 1, 2026 / Apr 1, 2026
• Mar 1, 2026 / May 1, 2026
• Apr 1, 2026 / June 1, 2026
• May 1, 2026 / June 15, 2026

Board Member Updates

Let’s thank Kate Greene Smith for her Presidency. She assumes the role of Past President and will continue to serve and mentor our incoming Board members. A new strategic plan, great enthusiasm, a keen sense of humor, and a dedication to the mission of CSLP have marked Kate’s presidency (to name a few highlights!). 


Let’s also thank Donna Throckmorton for her year as Past President. She moves off the Board and is due to retire from the Arizona State Library in early 2026.  Not only has she served in executive leadership roles, but she has also been an excellent Arizona State Representative. Donna has mentored everyone on our Executive Committee and will go down in Board history as one of the most organized people we’ve ever had the privilege of working with. 


Katie Perkey, Board Member at Large, completed her term on the Board despite relocating to Maine and subsequently changing jobs. Through all that, she remained with CSLP to see out her term. She’s provided invaluable feedback as a frontline librarian, and we cannot thank her enough. 


Matt McLain, with Salt Lake County Library, was elected to our Treasurer position after completing the term of a former state representative. He will continue as Treasurer for a full term, bringing many years of administrative experience in public libraries, as well as extensive experience with CSLP.  Fun fact: this is his second time serving as Treasurer, and he’s also a Past President. 
 
Anna Foote and Jean Jansen stepped up as Co-Chairs of the Vendor Committee in May 2025, succeeding the former Chair, Jasmine Rockwell (now Jasmine Boogaart).  The Vendor Committee plays a vital role in Board discussions about our product offerings, so we appreciate their willingness to jump in.  We welcome Sara White, Youth Services Consultant at the Washington State Library, as the new Chair of the Vendor Committee to the Board. 
 
Evan Michael Bush, Board Member at-Large, was elected to another term on the CSLP Board. We couldn’t be happier to benefit from his rich experience as the State Rep for the Georgia Public Library Service. Evan has the most brilliant ideas, and he keeps us at our best at meetings with his songs and dances! 

Angela Germany, of the West Baton Rouge Parish Library, has served as the Manual Chair Board Liaison for the past 2 years, providing a positive line of communication between the manual committees and the CSLP Board. While her term as Board Liaison has come to an end, she will continue in her position as Early Literacy Manual Chair in the coming year. We are excited to announce Lindsey Trammell, with Betty J. Johnson North Sarasota Public Library in FL, as the new 2026 Manual Chair Board Liaison.

Welcome to the Board

Jennifer Redford, State Rep for the Idaho Commission for Libraries, will be our President-Elect. She will be learning the ins and outs of the role from our 2026 President, Abby Chumin of the Indiana State Library, Talking Book and Braille Library. What a dream team they will make for CSLP!
 
Former State Rep of South Carolina, Leigh Ramey, will become a Board Member at-Large. Not only will she bring her experience as a State Rep, but she’s now a frontline User Experience Librarian at Beaufort County. We’re looking forward to working with her in this new capacity!

Committee Chairs

Committees keep the work of CSLP moving forward. Without the leadership of our Committee Chairs, we would be hard-pressed to accomplish as much as we do as a national nonprofit organization with only 3.5 staff members. Of course, they are also the key to making CSLP as collaborative as possible. Member input is our super fuel, and we want to thank these outgoing Chairs for their time and commitment:

• Vendor Committee Co-Chairs, Anna Foote and Jean Jansen
• Children’s Manual Chair, Christina Jane Stuck
• Teen Manual Chair, Lindsey Trammel (staying on for another term)
• Outreach Committee, Jennifer Redford
• Social Media Committee, Cari Hillman
• Theme & Slogan Committee, Sara White and Rachel Milburn.  Rachel will continue with a new Co-Chair.
    

• Outreach Committee Co-Chairs, Trisha Hutcherson & Tammy Kruger
• Social Media Chair, Katie Rothley         
• Children’s Manual Chair, Danielle Welsh
• Theme & Slogan Co-Chairs, Rachel Milburn & Jeni Schomber

 
There’s so much great work to be done to keep our summer reading programs strong, and we can’t thank all of these volunteers enough!  

Blooming Poems
Chapter 2 "Fresh Dirt"
Page 86
 

Unearth a Story™ is full of program ideas for dinosaurs and beyond! Chapter 2, titled "Fresh Dirt," has an origami program that integrates poetry. The program, "Blooming Poems," on page 86, uses the classic origami paper fortune teller to create a poetic flower! After creating the fortune teller to serve as the bloom of the flower, add words and phrases on the petals and a green pipe cleaner as the stem. The flowers make a fun display that can also be used to create a poem, using the classic fortune teller game to determine what words from the petals to use.

Adaptation for adults: Omit the poetry and, instead, provide instructions to create a variety of origami flowers to create an origami bouquet.