Whenever I talk to my fellow library science graduate students at Dominican University about my internship at ALSC, they always ask–what do I do? What is my daily life like? What am I learning? I thought maybe other student ALSC members or librarians who have assistants or interns might wonder the same thing. The fact is, I do a ton of different stuff! ALSC does amazing things, from their blog to online professional development to Every Child Ready to Read to the ALSC Youth and Media awards and more– and there are only 7 staff members (AKA ALSC superheroes)! I’m a list person, so I’m going to break down my work into a few general categories: I… 1.) Manage award submissions. This category includes one of my favorite things– opening packages of new books! As I process the books and media, I learn what the industry is publishing, the diversity…
Month: December 2013
Adventures in Storytime — starting a program for children with autism and related disabilities
When you start a new program, you enter it with expectations, some apprehensions and the hope that, in the end, everything will work out positively. That belief tends to sum up my current situation with trying to muster an interest in our storytime for children with autism and related disabilities. My colleague, Lisa, and I initiated our first story-time for children with autism and related disabilities which we dubbed “Adventures in Storytime” on the third Thursday in November. We had marketed the program through flyers, word-of-mouth, and email to Special Education teachers in our area and also our county library’s social media site. We chose a concept based story, and using the Boardmaker software through the Autism Speaks grant, we put together visuals and some manipulatives which could be used in conjunction with our story. Our book was Dog’s Colorful Day: A Messy Story About Colors and Counting by Emma…
Apply for the 2014 Bookapalooza Program!
ALSC and the Grants Administration Committee are now accepting online applications for the 2014 Bookapalooza Program. This program offers select libraries a collection of materials to be used in a way that creatively enhances their library service to children and families. The materials are primarily for children age birth through 14 and include newly published books, videos, audio books and recordings from children’s trade publishers. Applicants must be personal members of ALSC, as well as ALA members to apply. Deadline for submissions is February 1, 2014. For more information about this award and other awards, check out the ALSC site for professional awards.
Holiday Time in the Library
It’s the holiday season, and Santa Claus is comin’ to town… Unless he’s not. For many people in my community, Santa doesn’t stop to visit their families. There’s a wide range of religious and personal beliefs about Christmas (even some Christian sects don’t celebrate it as a religious holiday). Yet no matter where one looks in our community it would seem that everyone is celebrating. If you’re a librarian, should it matter to you that Christmas isn’t celebrated by some your patrons or students? Some in our profession say that Christmas is an American holiday, so decorating for it or emphasizing it in libraries is not a big deal. Others are comfortable with book displays, but nothing beyond that. When I was a public librarian, I did a few programs for teens that were holiday-related, like Gingerbread House Construction (really just an excuse to eat candy!) and Holiday Cookie Decorating…
Taking Advantage of Space and Time!
As it gets colder and we start to plan 2014 Summer Reading, two of my favorite memories of the 2013 Summer Reading program pop into my head. As the Director of Family Engagement at the Fayetteville Free Library in Fayetteville, NY this summer through brainstorming and creative discussion as a staff we came up with two awesome and different programs that cost next to nothing and were a huge success: kickball and a sleepover in the library! Kickball League: Our library has a pretty large green space to the left of the building that only gets used for additional parking during big library events. With my love of libraries, sports and coaching I had the idea of starting a kickball league for the summer at the library! I bought a kickball, some bases and cones, then created a waiver for parents to sign for their kids in case anyone got…
Planning Ahead for 2014
As 2013 draws to a close it is time to start making plans for 2014. This is the time of year for resolutions, action plans and performance reviews. It is the time to think about the programs and services at your library and how you can improve on them in the next year. While this stuff is important, don’t forget to also take care of yourself. This is the perfect time of year to decide what you are going to do with all of that vacation time. Whether you have 8 hours or 80 hours in your vacation bank right now, you will earn some over the next year, so plan to use it! I hope that everyone reading this thinks that this is ridiculous and obvious. I hope so, but I doubt it. In 12 years of professional librarianship, this is the FIRST TIME I am planning my vacations…
American Sign Language (ASL) in Your Library
Did you know that American Sign Language (ASL) is the third most common non-English language used in the United States? ASL contains all the basic features of language–it has its own pronunciation, word order, and complex grammar system–making it a completely separate and distinct language from English. Just as we serve patrons in our public libraries who may speak Mandarin, Spanish, Polish, or Arabic, we may also serve those whose first language is American Sign Language. How, then, can we make our libraries an inclusive and welcoming place for those patrons? We can incorporate ASL into library services, library programming, and include it in staff training. Even if we may not notice (at first) any of our library users whose first language is ASL, we still have an opportunity to introduce and expose families to a hands-on second language that is engaging and fun. How do we do that? We…
Book to Many Films: A Christmas Carol
Charles Dickens published his novella A Christmas Carol on December 17, 1843. Such was the power of this critically-acclaimed story it was first “adapted” (read: pirated) a mere month later, in January of 1844. Since the first unauthorized adaptation in 1844, Ebenezer, Tiny Tim, and the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future have been adapted countless times. There are so many adaptation there is a separate Wikipedia page about them. Counting just movies, tv shows, and the theater, there have been over 100 versions of Dickens’ tale. To say that A Christmas Carol is a cultural touchstone is putting it mildly. With so many adaptations to chose from, everyone has a favorite. My mother loves the Alastair Sim version, released in 1951. The kids in our library seem to enjoy the Mickey version, released in 1983. My favorite? Why, The Muppet Christmas Carol, of course! Directed by Jim Henson’s son,…