09 Oct Sharing Ellie’s Book with Missouri Libraries (Where Place and Possibility Meet)
If you’re 14 years old and breaking into public speaking, it would be hard to find a better audience than librarians! Ellie had a ball visiting with librarians from around the state at the Missouri Library Association’s 2022 Annual Conference: Restoring Connections. She shared her book, TYPE ONE DIABETES A-Z, with librarians and discussed programming. Our thanks to MLA for the warm welcome!
As school and public libraries hosted events and readings for Ellie, new, unexpected conversations emerged. Yes, the focus is on type one diabetes (T1D) education, but her alphabet book has additional messages—encouraging young writers and developing resilience (the process of successfully adapting to difficult or challenging life experiences).
We even developed a resilience plan handout/prompt that you can personalize by identifying your strengths, people you can talk to, what has helped in the past, advice you would give yourself, etc. We’re delighted to share the resilience plan worksheet with you, and if you have a few minutes, please scroll through Ellie’s presentation to librarians about her book and potential programming ideas as well as the need for a book like TYPE ONE DIABETES A-Z, the impact it has, and more.
Library events increase awareness of T1D, encourage young writers, and help us all develop resilience (the process of successfully adapting to difficult or challenging life experiences). The resilience plan worksheet came out of conversations about managing a chronic illness and navigating life’s changes and challenges.
Thank you to the Missouri Library Association (MLA) for the opportunity for Ellie to share her alphabet book, TYPE ONE DIABETES A-Z, with hundreds of librarians from around the state.
Also, watch this space for exciting programming and partnerships with Missouri’s libraries. It’s always exciting to see libraries purchase the primer, as it means more children and families will have access to Ellie’s book. Ellie is happy to do a reading at libraries or schools at no charge. She donates a portion of proceeds from her book sales to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and wants to share her experience with kids just like her—type one-derfuls.
We spend a lot of time and effort connecting with other families with T1D, and that’s so important, but it’s also great to broaden our community and share the message of living with T1D (an autoimmune disease) with a bigger audience to busts myths and misconceptions and improve understanding.
One of the reasons Ellie is a published author (and enthusiastic reader) is because of librarians inspiring, encouraging, and engaging her from the time she was a small child. Our thanks to our hometown librarians with the Springfield-Greene County Library District.
Ellie says it best in TYPE ONE DIABETES A-Z under the letter “Z” for “Zany”…
“Life with type one diabetes can be zany and crazy. I think about testing, dosing, and always carrying supplies. But I still do the fun things I did before diabetes. With the same strength that diabetes takes, I can do things that I love like writing this book!…”
Ellie is the first to say that the only thing better than writing a book is sharing it with readers! Our thanks to librarians for putting copies on shelves and helping TYPE ONE DIABETES A-Z find its way into the hands, homes, and hearts where it is needed most. As Judy Blume says, “Librarians save lives by handing the right book, at the right time, to a kid in need.”