To extend our reach and eliminate any barriers to service, we have partnered with our county school system to provide student accounts. Students can use their school account number as a library card, granting them access to print and online library materials. After a year and a half of virtual school, students are back to in-person learning. Do they have all the materials they need to succeed?
Category: Collaboration
Student Digital Library Cards: A School/Library Partnership
Now more than possibly ever before, folks are exploring the digital resources our libraries have to offer. Public librarians, now’s the time to think about partnering with your schools to offer digital library cards to students. As we enter Library Card Sign Up Month, it’s the perfect time to start this conversation. Many libraries offer this service and there are lots of ways to do it. Our program is a work is progress (more on that below) and I’m happy to share how we got it started and what we’ve learned.
Do What You Do Best: Advice from a Child Welfare Expert
I’ve spent the last few months trying to educate myself on Childhood Trauma, ACES, and how to become a trauma informed library. The task is daunting! The learning curve is steep, the information is abundant and there are so many children in need of care. I was beginning to despair. Then an old friend of mine from high school (shout out to the Shaler Area Titans!), Dr. Lisa Schelbe posted her new book, The Handbook on Child Welfare Practice, on Facebook. Dr. Schelbe is an associate professor in the College of Social Work at Florida State University. Her areas of expertise are child welfare and child maltreatment prevention, among others. I knew I had a resource that could help me focus; she literally wrote the book on the subject! I reached out to Dr. Schelbe, and we had an amazing conversation about what practical steps we can take as children’s…
Pandemic Connections: Being an ALSC Mentor/Mentee in 2021
The ALSC Mentoring program seeks to match individuals with an interest in library service to children together to learn from each other and support ALSC’s goals. Each person comes to the program with their own hopes, ideas and experiences and the program is well structured to support both mentor and mentee in connecting productively over a fairly short period of time, January- June.
Bookopolis, 2040
Combine architecture, urban planning, civic responsibility with career presentations … and what do you have? A month-long program called Bookopolis, 2040!
All About Me: The Thrill of recommending the perfect book!
I’m not sure if we can universally agree on this, but one of the best feelings for a librarian (if not THE best feeling) is finding that perfect book for someone. As a school librarian, I’m always chasing this feeling for my students…but I’m also chasing it for the classroom teachers in my school. A teacher will ask me, “Hey Laura, I’m teaching a unit on neighborhoods – do you have any books you’d recommend for me to share with my class?” Or they’ll ask if I can share the books myself during Library class to support the work they’re doing throughout the day. It never fails to make my heart race excitedly when I know I’ve found the best title to suit a lesson.
Demonstrating ALSC Core Values
I was really moved by Keary’s blog post earlier this week on what an ALSC membership means to her. It was personal and got to the heart of the value of ALSC. I think the main question I have tried to ask and answer this year is: How can we ensure our members will continue to lean on ALSC even during these challenging times? One answer I came up with is: Building trust and community. Follow-up question: So, how do we continue to build trust and community? Answer: Doing things, however big or small, which strongly affirm our core values. In case you didn’t know, ALSC’s core values are: collaboration, excellence, inclusiveness, innovation, integrity and respect, leadership, and responsiveness. I want to highlight some of my personal favorite things we’ve done this year, big and small, which affirm our core values. 1. Back in March (I think…
Sharing. #weareALSC
I recently recorded a quick Q&A video with Children & Libraries Journal Editor, Sharon Verbeten. Did you know she has been the CAL journal editor for 18 years?! I did not know that! But one of the other statements she made during our Q&A that really stuck with me was, “We like to share in ALSC,” and now more than ever I have found this to be true. This has been a time where so many of us have probably felt isolated at different levels, in different ways. For me, it’s been really heartwarming to see ALSC members continuing to share knowledge and offer support to each other in the ways they can. I’d like to highlight some of the ways I’ve seen members “share” with each other during the past few months: Sharing via the ALSC Blog: We’ve had so many posts during the past few months that share…