Got school outreach on your mind? You’re not alone. For 25 years, the Multnomah County Library School Corps team has helped students thrive in Oregon’s most populous county. Founded in 1997, School Corps began as a way to maintain the library’s connection with youth. According to the library’s website, “the team has reached more than 83,000 students with 131,000 books, saving 8,700 hours of educator time.” School Corps, which currently consists of a team of three staff, provides a menu of programs and services to K-12 schools. Many of these programs and services existed during its inception but have adapted with the times. Sample menu items include: Buckets of Books: 24-30 books on a topic plus a teacher’s guide Assignment alert: discover a new booklist, collection, or list of websites Presentations: covering a multitude of topics and library resources In honor of School Corps’ milestone and the start of a…
Category: Blogger School-Age Programs and Service Committee
Family Hikes with the Simsbury Land Trust
This summer, the Simsbury Public Library, CT successfully facilitated a Family Hike in partnership with the Simsbury Land Trust. Here’s how we did it, and why we think you should consider planning a family hike too. Health and wellness programs are always a good idea and outdoor programming has exploded in popularity since the pandemic. After 2+ years, we’ve fully mastered outdoor storytimes, outdoor music and movement, and outdoor art programs, but a hiking program was something relatively new to us. Simsbury, CT has an abundance of beautiful natural places, parks, and trails, but some are more visible and well-known than others. Enter the Simsbury Land Trust. We are fortunate that the Land Trust in our community is an active and thriving organization. Founded in 1976, the Simsbury Land Trust is a federally-recognized, not-for-profit 501(c)3 organization. Governed by a volunteer board of trustees elected by the membership, the Simsbury…
Introducing Dungeons and Dragons to School-Aged Children
“You wake up groggy for your turn at watch. The dream you had before you woke still plays within your mind. You can hear the rustling of leaves off to your left– it’s probably just a small animal hunting for food. Suddenly, the sounds of the forest around you go silent, unnaturally silent. You stand up to take a closer look when you hear it, the soft flapping of large wings getting closer and closer and closer. What do you do?” At this point, the player has to make a decision. They could ignore the sound of wings coming closer, they could wake up a friend and see if they hear the same thing, or they could even go investigate alone. (Or they could come up with some off the wall thing to do that completely surprises the Dungeon Master, you never know with kids.) The player makes their decision…
Summer Programming with the Library of Congress
Along with my colleagues at the University of South Carolina iSchool, I am part of the TPS (Teaching with Primary Sources) Consortium. TPS Consortium is a “professional network of universities, cultural institutions, library systems, school districts, and other educational organizations. Members work together to share information, devise new approaches, and offer collaborative programming focused on Library of Congress primary sources.” (https://www.loc.gov/programs/teachers/about-this-program/teaching-with-primary-sources-partner-program/tps-consortium/). We host professional development for K – 12 educators, sharing ways to use primary sources and The Library of Congress website in their teaching and work with students. I have become very familiar with the LOC website and have discovered some “hidden treasure” that you can use this summer in your library, especially if you are working with the “Oceans of Possibilities” theme. Ready? Use Free to Use and Reuse as inspiration for event flyers, decorating, social media posts and more. https://www.loc.gov/free-to-use/swimming-beaches/. I created this image of my daughter using one of…
Summer Reading Planning at Washington County Public Library System
It has been a long two years for libraries, and summer reading programs were no exception. We spent two summers creating passive programs in what felt like countless grab-and-go bags. This year, we are excited to host our first in-person summer reading program since 2019, but we also began our planning process feeling a little daunted: how could we best create a show-stopping 2022 program after two pared-down years?
Learning Beyond: 21 st Century Summer and Out-Of-School Time Toolkit
Long before COVID-19 upended what we know about informal youth learning in libraries, ALSC commissioned a Task Force to consider the shift in core activities that would mark learning in the 21st Century. From this planning task force, an Implementation Task Force was formed in 2019. The Summer and Out-of-School Time Task Force was charged with creating a national tool predicated upon evidence-based approaches for developing quality and impactful programs and services for children. Learning Beyond: 21st Century Summer and Out-of-School Time Toolkit is the culmination of the ensuing work. The Toolkit reveal happened at the 2021 Annual Conference of the National Summer Learning Association in Washington, DC, where ALSC President Lucia Gonzalez introduced the work as “an integral part of the roadmap we need to help our children move forward through public library service.”
Introducing the 21-Day Racial Equity Habit Building Challenge for ALSC Members
We are sure you’ve heard it said that it takes 21 days to form a habit. 21 days of consistent work to make a change. Maybe you’ve tried exercising for 21 days in a row or meditating for 21 days in a row to make it a habit…knowing that the more you exercise and meditate, the better you’ll feel. The same applies to learning and challenging yourself to be an ally and an advocate for change.
Near-Peer Connections for Literacy: NYPL’s Portal Magazine
NYPL After School is a free drop-in program for kids aged 6-12 that takes place after regular school hours, Monday through Thursday, from October-June, when school is in session. Teen Reading Ambassadors are employed in our After School program, acting as leaders and role models to younger kids, ambassadors for the Library’s mission to inspire a lifelong love of reading and learning, and writers and editors of their very own magazine. Rachel Roseberry is the Manager of Young Adult Literacy Programs at The New York Public Library and I caught up with her to learn more about the magazine project and how it came to be.