Now’s the time when many of us are thinking about the year past and the year ahead and making some goals for 2015. Your resolutions might include going to the gym, cleaning out your closets, or volunteering somewhere. But today, I want to know about your reading resolutions! Yes, today’s a great day to think about what goals you might set for yourself for reading in the new year. Making your goals measurable (i.e. “I will read two nonfiction books a month” instead of “I will read more nonfiction this year”) can help you finish your goals and be sure whether you completed them at the end of the year. Don’t feel like you have to set 50 resolutions – start small with something that’s important to you. Need some ideas? Your resolutions might include: Reading more diverse books. Check out the resources on the We Need Diverse Books website…
Month: December 2014
ALSC announces Building STEAM with Día booklists
The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association, has released new Building STEAM with Día book lists for children from birth to 8th grade. Intended to accompany El día de los niños/El día de los libros (Día) programming, the four book lists are comprised of multicultural titles that showcase STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) topics. The four Building STEAM with Día book lists are available for children from birth to Pre-K, kindergarten to 2nd grade, 3rd to 5th grade and 6th to 8th grade. PDFs of the reading lists are available online in full color and are free to download, copy and distribute. Book lists are available to download through the ALSC or Día website. The lists also feature simple and age appropriate STEAM activities to accompany one of the titles on the list. Each is designed to help librarians and…
Great Websites for Kids needs you!
Today I’m writing on behalf of the Great Websites for Kids Committee. In case you missed the December 5, 2014, press release, the following seven sites were added to Great Websites for Kids. App Inventor – http://www.appinventor.org Cyberchase – http://pbskids.org/cyberchase/ Duolingo – https://www.duolingo.com/ Code.org – http://code.org My Garbology – http://www.naturebridge.org/garbology.php Scratch – http://scratch.mit.edu/ U.S. EPA’s RadTown USA – http://www.epa.gov/radtown/index.html The committee works very hard to find and evaluate new sites, and ensure that previously chosen sites maintain their “great” status. If you’re unfamiliar with the site or the committee, here is a short primer from the press release: “Great Websites for Kids (GWS) features links to high-quality websites of interest to children 14 years of age and younger, organized into diverse subject headings from cultures of the world to games & entertainment to weather & environment, and many more. Each site entry includes a brief annotation and a grade-level…
Ideas for Downtime
The week between Christmas and New Years is a really quiet time at my branch. I know that’s not the case at every library, but in our community, most of the parents are working this week and kids are staying with family or in daycares, or families are taking vacations. We don’t have much in the way of regular programming, but there are a few kids who wander in looking for something to do. Unfortunately, we’re also short-staffed this week, so I’m looking for fun ways to serve my kid patrons and also keep all three of our desks staffed. I’m going to be pulling out all the fun do-it-yourself activities this week: Butcher Paper Art! So the younger kids are going to love this, but as the tweens and teens see how much fun it is just to go absolutely nuts with the crayons, you’ll have a crowd around those tables. And…
Host a Babymouse and Squish Program!
This past summer, my library hosted a Babymouse and Squish party, based on the graphic novels by Jennifer and Matthew Holm. It was incredibly fun to put together and a great way to not only highlight these two fabulous series, but to introduce young readers to other easy-to-read graphic novel options such as Toon Books and Lunch Lady. This program is great for any age that is reading from age 5 to 12. To come up with ideas, I read through every book in each series. The Holms grew up in a science household (their dad was a scientist and left petri dishes of cultures in their household fridge) and are both creative and artistic, and very funny to boot. They clearly read and watch film a lot — the books have so many “classic” and “cult classic” pop culture references. I had a blast spotting these elements in the…
Top 10 Ways to Get Involved with ALSC in 2015
If your 2015 resolution is to make a better future for children through libraries, it’s time to explore how you can become more involved in ALSC! Membership in ALSC makes your career and the profession richer! Fortunately for you, ALSC membership has many paths and opportunities! Here are 10 ways – there are many more – to participate in ALSC this year: Join a committee – this is a popular route, but it’s not always for everyone. Being on a committee means dedicating a lot of time and effort Apply for an ALSC award, scholarship or grant – did you know that ALSC gives away more than $100,000 in awards, scholarships and grants every year? It’s true and as a member, you’re eligible! Find one that’s right for you. Host a Día event – ALSC’s national recognized diversity initiative, El día de los niños/El día de los libros (Children’s Day/Book…
‘Tis the Tablet Season
You may have already noticed an influx of questions related to your library’s digital offerings within the past 48 hours. The holidays are an obvious time to increase exposure to the library’s eBook collection, the same way the pre-season calls for gift-giving guides and best books lists. Even while home for the holidays, I found myself pointing family to their local library’s Digital eLibrary. Similar to many patrons that we encounter, my family had no idea that the public library circulates eBooks. As librarians approaching this upcoming week, there are definitely ways to be in tune to the needs of new tablet owners. At our most recent Family Tech Night, an evening reserved for eReader assistance, most of the attendees were senior patrons. Having a children’s staff open to collaboration with other departments benefits patrons of all ages in the community. The post-holiday week might be just the right time to…
2014 Favorites
The majority of the 2014 “Best Books” lists are in (if you want a comprehensive coverage, look at Large Hearted Boy’s lists or Chicken Spaghetti’s children/YA lists). For my last post in 2014, I thought I would ask ALSC blog readers to mention their favorites, especially if you felt like they were overlooked among the lists from the major publications. Brown Girl Dreaming, The Family Romanov, etc were definitely among my favorite reads, but here are some that didn’t make many lists: (Please forgive the lack of book covers–I had trouble uploading pictures today, for some reason!) Annika Riz, Math Whiz by Claudia Mills Claudia Mills’s Franklin School Friends series about a group of friends with passionate interests (Kelsey Green, Reading Queen was the inaugural entry) continues to charm. Annika is a math champion, but her friends don’t share her love of math. Annika’s school year is packed with…