The perfect program. It’s an elusive library goal. Sometimes we get pretty darn close. But time, turnover, and transitions often mean losing details for those wonderful programs. How can we save and share our wins? Using our Family Place initiatives, I’m going to share the program documentation decisions that built our success.
Category: Competencies for Librarians Serving Children in Public Libraries
Class Visit Basics
School is back in session and the class visit requests are rolling in. School librarians are pros at managing class visits. But for many public librarians, class visits may feel a little less comfortable than our regular storytime jams and STEAM programs that happen in our own, well-known program rooms. If you’re new to class visits or if it’s simply been a little while, join me for Class Visits 101: how to prepare, books to share, and the magic of brain breaks.
To Theme or Not to Theme…
It’s the age old question, isn’t it? To use storytime themes or not. To me, themes make sense. Instead of feeling constricting, themes give me a safety net and let me soar freely above them. After, cough, many years of doing outreach storytime, though, I was in need of a new approach!
Storytime Safety Plans and Other Things I Didn’t Learn in Library School
In library school, I took a lot of children’s classes. A class about evaluating children’s literature. A class about planning programs. Even a class devoted entirely to storytelling. But there are some things I never learned in school. I never learned how to make safety plans to escort a performer out of a library event turned threatening. I never learned how to respond to online accusations about the supposed predatory nature of LGBTQIA+ books. As book challenges sky-rocket and board meetings become hostile, what does it look like for new library staff to be well-prepared for the profession?
Dog Days of Summer
You decide: Perhaps I was doing a display for my library on this theme and realized it could also make a fun blog post. Or perhaps I’m selfishly hoping you all will post photos of your dogs in the comments. Whichever you choose….here are a few new (and one not-so-new) dog books to add to your summer reading.
Smoke in the Summer: Supporting Families in Wildfire Season
The Canadian wildfires have brought a smoky summer to many of our communities. In some parts of North America, wildfire season is a yearly occurrence that is only getting worse. For others, this may be the first time you’ve had to deal with smoke and poor air quality. If a blanket of smoke has settled upon your community, simple programs and robust collections can help.
Internet Censorship and Libraries
In recent years, schools and libraries have been the target of extreme censorship attacks concerning the materials they house. Children and teens are primarily affected by these attacks, as it limits what information they can freely access at any given time. The problem we face in these battles is determining who has the authority to decide what is objectionable versus what isn’t. But what happens when these attacks occur beyond the scope of reading materials and start to affect other information access points? As librarians, we must inform ourselves regarding censorship in other forms, especially concerning our youngest patrons. Censorship and the Internet: Internet censorship is one of the more underhanded forms of censorship that happen on a day-to-day basis, often without people even knowing it exists. The internet is a vast communication and information network, and industries, organizations, and people work to control access to that information through various…
Remarkable Resources
After having attended my first full ALA Annual Conference, my head is still spinning from…