Nearly forty years ago when I was an elementary education major, my language arts professor took my fellow classmates on a nature walk around the campus to point out all the hidden treasures we might find to enhance our lessons. Shiny berries and dew-dropped pine cones were only the start. There were treasures to be found inside too, from empty thread spools to magazine pictures. I quickly learned to look everywhere, and never miss an opportunity to utilize what I found to share with your students. It has been many, many years since I took that nature walk, but as a Youth Service Librarian, I am still continually watchful for ideas to enhance the experience of the many families who visit the Patrick Heath Public Library. Recently I came across a most intriguing article by Motoko Rich in the New York Times on November 15. According to the author, a…
Month: November 2014
Middle Grade and Young Adult: An Author(s) Interview
It’s a holiday weekend, hooray! I hope everyone has had a most excellent Thanksgiving. I thought for a holiday weekend treat, we’d do something fun here today, so I asked a couple of authors to participate in an interview just for ALSC and YALSA blog readers! The two authors I asked to participate have something in common: they write both middle grade and young adult books. As a librarian who works with all ages, and especially with the “tween” ages (where ALSC and YALSA’s services overlap!), I find myself needing to be familiar with both types of books. The exact definitions of Middle Grade and Young Adult are subjective and amorphous. For the purposes of this post, we’ll just say that the intended audience for middle grade is slightly younger than the intended audience of YA, but both can be enjoyed by all ages. Our authors: Alison Cherry Books: Red…
LEGO Mindstorms for Tweens (Or How I Had to Give Myself a Crash Course in Robotics)
At my library, LEGOs are perpetually popular. We host a LEGO Contest at least once a year with a continual level of success. Also at my library, we are currently focusing on new technology initiatives to enhance our programming. Thus, my idea to combine the two and try a LEGO Mindstorms program was born. As I had never used LEGO Mindstorms before, I did a ton of research well in advance. I put a call out on several listservs for help and ideas, and received a plethora of valuable insight. Then, I asked my IT department to order a Mindstorms EV3 kit to try out to see if it would be doable for us. I worked closely with one of our IT technicians to tentatively make a plan: he would familiarize himself with the robots, be there to troubleshoot, and help with more advanced questions; and I would learn the very…
ABCs and 123s
There’s never a shortage of new alphabet and counting books. When I order new alphabet and counting books (or any concept book), I look for unique presentations of very common concepts. Alphabet and counting books range from the very simple to complex and creative story lines. My recent favorites include the following: (image from Simon & Schuster website) Baby Bear Counts One (and its predecessor, Baby Bear Sees Blue) stars an endearing and realistically illustrated cub who counts his fellow creatures preparing for winter. If a hibernation/migration story time or display is in your near future, make sure you include this one. Both Baby Bear books are rarely on our shelves for very long! (image from Chronicle Books website) I’ve read enough “A is for” alphabet books that new ones really need to offer something different in order for us to add it to our collection. Backseat A-B-See offers…
Tips for ALSC online education courses
After recently taking the ALSC Online Education course, “Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) Programs Made Easy,” with Angela Young of Reed Memorial Library, my initial thought was to write a post extolling the virtues of ALSC’s Online Education, but then I remembered, I’ve already done that. (see earlier post) Instead, as a veteran of five or more ALSC online classes, I have these few tips to help you make the most of your next class. Plan ahead. Remember to add your professional development needs to your annual budget requests. Think ahead. Don’t attempt to take a course during a season or time that you know you’ll be busy. There is homework. 😉 Folders, folders, folders. Whether the class is more instructional, e.g. Children with Disabilities in the Library, or more collaborative, e.g. Stem Programs made Easy, you will receive a lot of information in a short amount of time. Use your hard drive, thumb…
Día in Iowa!
Over the past two years, Iowa Library Services/State Library of Iowa has incorporated the recognition of Día in its annual strategic plan. Our efforts have resulted in a greater level of awareness among staff in many of Iowa’s 544 public libraries of the importance in recognizing the multiple cultures present in Iowa’s towns and cities, and of providing programming and collections that reflect those cultures. Iowa’s population is currently just over 3 million people, with significant populations of many cultural groups. Among these are the following: 5.5% of the state’s population is Latino, with a projected increase by 2040 to 12.4%; African Americans at 3.2%; Asian-Pacific Americans at 2.3%; Native Americans at under .5% and recent immigrants from Eastern Europe and Africa. Information at these links from the Iowa Data Center and the PowerPoint presentation by Dr. Mark Grey of the University of Northern Iowa detail the specific cultural groups…
Sensory Storytime Tips
I’ve been doing my Sensory Storytime for 3 years now. I posted a brief “how-to” guide here a few years ago, and still get contacted frequently by people who are looking to start a storytime and want some help. I am so happy that librarians continue to want to reach this audience and serve these families in their communities. In the interest of providing more useful advice to people looking to get started, I’m going to list out some of my “top tips” here, stuff I’ve learned during my 3 years doing this program. You’ll see that the prep that goes into a Sensory Storytime is really similar in many ways to the prep you’d do for a “typical” storytime. (For even more great tips, check out Renee Grassi’s recent post. It is full of helpful info for those getting started or those who have tried and want to change…
Hooray to Simon & Schuster for dropping the “Buy It Now” requirement on their ebooks!
In June, when Simon & Schuster made their ebooks available only to libraries who agreed to add a “Buy It Now” option to their catalog, I was torn between two important promises libraries make to kids and families: we will do everything we can to get you the books you want, and everything we offer is free. My library holds the line on keeping things free in many ways, even to the point of refusing to offer summer reading coupons that require an additional purchase to get that free ice cream cone. Parents value libraries as places where they know they can escape the relentless pressure to buy stuff, and our commitment to keep it so extends online. But what happens when the trade-off is keeping popular titles out of our ebook collection? I was stumped. I spent the past few months not taking a stand, simply delaying. Looking askance…