Blogger Aryssa Damron

Bringing Sign Language into Story Time with Corey Tabor’s Fox Books

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Fox Pop

A few years ago, I took a class through ALSC specifically about using American Sign Language in storytime and library programming. I immediately brought my beginner ASL skills into the school library, and used my learning as a chance to learn alongside my students. I learned signs as I needed to for storytimes, search sign dictionaries after student inquiries, and sought out sign language brain breaks. One of the authors I found that lent themselves to ASL inclusion perfectly for elementary school readers was Corey Tabor.  The Fox Series Corey R. Tabor is the author of many beloved children’s books that are perfect read storytimes, read-alouds and quiet reading with families, but his Fox easy reader series is a particular delight for storytimes with kids from around 2 or 3 in age to 1st or 2nd grade. There are eight books in the easy reader series–all leveled as “My First”…

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Blogger Ariel Barreras

My Favorite Children’s Chapter Books: Then and Now

| Ariel Barreras|1 Comment

One of my favorite parts of summer reading is seeing all the children check out their books, excited to start logging their minutes reading! Seeing what children are checking out also helps me to get to know them. Did they check out The Wild Robot? They like an adventure! Diary of a Wimpy Kid? This kid has a funny bone! Seeing all the books checked out this summer has made me reminiscent of the books that I loved as a child. In this post, I will share some of my favorite children’s chapter books from my childhood and from my time as a librarian.

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Blogger Jessica Tarnowski

Summer Scares: Bringing Campfire Stories Indoors

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I have always loved spooky books. There is something fun about being scared—especially when you know you are safe and can enjoy the suspense, mystery, and occasional jump along the way. Some of my favorite spooky stories are the ones shared around a campfire, where even the smallest sound can suddenly feel a little suspicious. Memories of Summer and its scares often come back when I think of those evenings. That love of spooky stories inspired Summer Scares: Creepy Campfire Stories, a program I recently offered for children in grades 2–3. My goal was to recreate the feeling of sitting around a campfire telling scary stories—just without the actual campfire! Setting the Scene Atmosphere was an important part of the program. I dimmed the lights and used a battery-operated campfire, battery-operated candles, flashlights, and nighttime forest sounds to transform the room into our own indoor campsite. This set the perfect…

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ALA Annual 2026

Small Library, Big Conference: A Rural Librarian’s First ALA

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As someone still new to the library profession, I had no idea what to expect from my first ALA Annual Conference. Being selected as a recipient of the 2026 Penguin Random House Young Readers Group Award made attending this milestone event possible. While I was incredibly grateful for the opportunity, I also felt pressure to make the most of every minute.

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Blogger Library Service to Underserved Children and Their Caregivers committee

Thinking about the Caregivers

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The name (at least for the moment) of the ALSC committee I co-chair is Library Services to Underserved Children and their Caregivers. It’s a mouthful and in the two years I’ve been part of the committee, the word in there I’ve thought about most is Underserved. But lately, it’s that last word that really has me thinking: Caregivers. Recently, one of my LIS students shared that she was writing her capstone about the benefits adults get (or don’t) from parent-child programs in libraries. I assumed she meant the benefits as a caregiver: being a child’s first teacher, how to model behaviors, those kinds of things. But as we talked more about her ideas, what she actually meant were the benefits for the adult participants as people. This was, I am embarrassed to admit, a bit of a surprise to me. I assumed if an adult wanted their own needs met…

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Blogger Ariana Sani Hussain

Reimagine, Reenergize, Reunite

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It is a joy and an honor to write my first blog post as your 2026-2027 President of ALSC. Thank you to everyone who reached out leading up to and during ALA Annual Conference with encouragement and offers of help in this year of Reunification. Seeing members from both Divisions expressing excitement, hope, and eagerness to be involved was deeply heartening.

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