One of the major goals for El día de los niños/El día de los libros is to expand the celebration of languages and literacy to include the many languages and cultures of our diverse country and to highlight the importance of literacy for children of all linguistic and cultural backgrounds. Recently I’ve noticed a number of efforts recently to to do just that and one comes with a little money! The Center for the Study of Multicultural Children’s Literature will award $500 grants in selected multicultural children’s books for your library for 2013 Día library programs with an African American focus. Email Dr. Claudette S. McLinn, Executive Director, cmclinn@aol.com, for an application if you are interested. The application deadline is March 15, 2013 so there is still plenty of time to apply. The winning recipient or recipients will be notified on or about March 30, 2013. The 2012 winner was Rudisill…
Author: Jeanette Larson
I am the former youth services manager for Austin Public Library. My experience with continuing education includes serving as the Continuing Education manager for the Texas State Library for six years. In January 2006 I "took my pension" in order to pursue freelance work. As an independent consultant and trainer, I teach for the library school at Texas Woman's University and present workshops for libraries around Texas and, increasingly, around the country.
I live outside of Austin, Texas with my husband and our cats and two schipperke dogs.
Are you listening?
I have been an avid consumer of audiobooks since I started my professional career. Secret: I never took children’s literature in library school. It was never offered at the times when I could attend classes 45 miles and a 90 minute (each way) commute away from the library where I worked. So when I started my first job as a children’s librarian, I had to catch up quickly. Not having learned my lesson about long commutes, I listened to books on cassette to familiarize myself with wonderful books like The Planet of Junior Brown by Virginia Hamilton and Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George while driving from one side of Dallas to the other every day. Based on my experience with self-education through audiobooks, I was privileged to join the Notable Recordings committee a few years later (where I also picked up the multitasking talent of crafting while…
What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?
I admit that I’m not much for Christmas songs and carols but one of my favorite tunes for this time of the year is “What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?,”especially if it is sung by Harry Connick, Jr. I love new beginnings and fresh starts. I enjoy reflecting on what has gone by and thinking about the blessings of the previous year and the ones to come. These tidbits of personal information really have nothing to do with youth services in libraries. Except that the question raises the idea: Whose new year? When do the people in our communities celebrate the new year? Does everyone celebrate only on December 31 and January 1? New year’s provides some great opportunities for multi-cultural and multi-language programming and, since not everyone recognizes January 1 as the start of the new year (or the only start), diversity offers on-going possibilities for more fresh…
Storytime Gangnam Style
It’s hard to avoid the latest viral video that has spawned a ton of parodies and comical dance moves. A few weeks ago I was on a cruise ship and Gangnam was the hit of the karaoke club. The original song, “Gangnam Style” was written by South Korean singer and rapper PSY and is a lively, dare I say addictive, pop tune that encourages movement. Much like the “Macarana” or the “Cha Cha Slide” it is popular with children and adults even when they don’t understand a word being said (either because some words are not in English or because the lyrics are sung very quickly and are overpowered by the beat). So what does this have to do with children’s literature or library services? Based on the popularity of Gangnam Style, I started looking for books that included words in Korean to use in storytime. During a School Library…
Dear Teen Jeanette
On October 30th, Dear Teen Me: Authors Write Letters to Their Teen Selves edited by Miranda Kenneally and E. Kristin Anderson, was published. It is a book of letters from 70 different authors to their teenage selves. The publisher offered an opportunity to bloggers to write their own letters to their teen selves. My letter, abridged and modified slight here, was originally posted to the Dear Teen Me blog, which continues to regularly add new letters from even more authors and illustrators. Each letter helps reader’s realize that every teen has good days and bad days, sorrows and successes. Some had really bad days and a lot of sorrow before realizing the success and the good days. Think about it. What advice and insights would you offer to your teen self? Today you will find a variety of posts from different ALSC Bloggers writing to themselves as teens. We hope they make you think…
Poetry Fridays
Many teachers and librarians use poetry as a means to teach and encourage reading and over the years I’ve seen a lot of creative and interesting ways to include poetry in the classroom and library. Some methods strive to make it easy for kids to pick up a poem and read, taking a poetry break. We also know that many kids love poetry when it is not being forced on them and dissected. Poetry is important enough that it is included in the Common Core State Standards and Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS). Of course, that importance also may mean that students are hit over the head with poetry and forced to consider “meaning” and “structure” instead of simply enjoying the beauty of the words. Poetry Friday started in 2006 and, much like “casual Fridays” is intended to casually imbue students with poetry. To help the cause, poet Janet…
National Hispanic Heritage Month and Dia
I’ve always been a little more attuned to Mexico’s Independence Day than might be expected because it is also my birthday. But I recently found out that September 16, along with the independence days for six other Latin American countries, is the reason that we celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month from September 15 through October 15. (Originally the celebration was limited to the week that included September 15 and 16 but was expanded to a month in 1988.) I have also lived all of my adult life in states with large populations of Hispanics so I have the opportunity to enjoy a lot of Hispanic culture and have a BIG celebration on my birthday–okay, the dancing and celebrating wasn’t really for me but I still enjoyed it. There doesn’t appear to be a single organization that coordinates this heritage month, perhaps appropriately since Hispanic culture is extremely varied. According to…
Polyglot Books
For years librarians have sought out bilingual books–books that included both English and another language. We continue to do so and, in fact, several recent posts on listservs have asked for potential sources for these bilingual books. They are seen as important tools in the development of literacy and are aides in learning a second language. Reading skills transfer across languages and if you can read in one language you can read in another as you learn another language. What I’m finding interesting now is the increasing availability of polyglot, or trilingual, books. Yes, we’ve had a few books in the past that include rhymes, phrases, or songs in multiple languages, but each entry has usually been in English and one other language. I’m curious whether the increase in polyglot books is a trend that will continue and I’m also interested in how the books are being used in storytimes…