Commitment to Client Group Archives

For the second post in our series highlighting best practices in assistive technology, we’re focusing on the Ohio Library for the Blind and Physically Disabled (OLBPD). OLBPD partners with the State Library of Ohio Talking Book Program to serve as a Regional Library for the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped of the Library of Congress. Through this partnership, eligible Ohio borrowers may receive braille and audio materials via postage-free mail. Their collection includes audio and Braille books and magazines, described DVDs and Blu-Rays, and Playaway pre-loaded digital products. Today’s interview is with Will Reed, OLBPD Manager, who shares more information about OLBPD’s resources and community impacts. What is your library’s role within the disability community? Will Reed: OLBPD serves as the regional library for the State of Ohio as part of the National Library Service (NLS) for the Blind and Print Disabled, providing free audio and braille library materials…

Blogger Children and Technology Committee

Assistive Technologies: Spotlight On Carrie Banks

October 12, 2019October 11, 2019| ALSC Children and Technology committee|Leave a comment

Carrie Banks holds a bird puppet and looks at it.

To kick things off for our series highlighting best practices in assistive technology, we reached out to a few specialists in the field. Carrie Banks has been the Supervising Librarian for Inclusive Services at Brooklyn Public Library in New York since 1997. She’s taught Including Youth with Disabilities at Pratt Institute (2013-2015) and is active in ALSC as well as ASGCLA where she is serving as the president elect. In 2014, she substantially revised Including Families of Children with Special Needs: A How to Do It Manual for Librarians. She also published Libraries and Garden: Growing Together, written with Cynthia Mediavilla in the Spring of 2019. What recommendations do you have for libraries hoping to add or expand assistive technologies? Work with the individuals you hope to serve, their families and the agencies that work with them to determine what is needed and what would work. This will also help…

Commitment to Client Group

Bringing elements of sensory programming into all programs

October 2, 2019September 29, 2019| Guest Contributor|Leave a comment

In 2009-2010, I oversaw a regularly well-attended sensory storytime program in Matthews, NC and since have trained many library staff on this specialized library service. One theme that repeats for those who have initiated the program: a well-attended program is hit or miss.

Blogger Kaitlin Frick

The Librarian Listened: Helping Children and Caregivers Handle Mental Health Conditions

September 24, 2019September 24, 2019| Kaitlin Frick|Leave a comment

According to the Child Mind Institute’s 2018 Children’s Mental Health Report, anxiety affects 30% of children and adolescents, but 80% never get help. Untreated anxiety disorders, which typically manifest between ages 11-14, increase the risk for depression, school failure, substance abuse and suicide. What can we, as librarians, do to assist young people and their caregivers in recognizing and dealing with mental health conditions?

Blogger Building Partnerships committee

Saturday Stories and Songs- Expanding Programming Through Partnerships

September 20, 2019September 19, 2019| ALSC Building Partnerships|Leave a comment

Many public libraries can identify with the challenge of providing weekend programming to their patrons. We know that weekends are an ideal time to provide programs for patrons who are unable to attend programming during the traditional weekday storytime sessions, yet we are often so leanly staffed on the weekends that adding the responsibility of presenting programs to our staff workload is next to impossible. Through grant funding and partnerships with a wide range of talented presenters my library system is now able to provide Saturday family programming through our “Saturday Stories & Songs” series in order to meet this critical need. What is Saturday Stories & Songs? Saturday Stories & Songs is a special library series presented nine months out of the year (no programs are scheduled during the months of May, August, and December when attendance for all library storytimes typically declines). The programs presented as part of…

Blogger Public Awareness Committee

Check out the Interracial Books for Children Bulletin Archive!

September 9, 2019September 3, 2019| Public Awareness Committee|1 Comment

Appalled by the inaccurate representation of marginalized groups, educators from the Mississippi Freedom Schools sought to inform educators, parents, and publishers about the use and selection of children’s books and textbooks. They came together to name and call out the racism, sexism, and injustice that is present in children’s literature and textbooks. They founded The Council on Interracial Books for Children (CIBC) in 1965 on the heels of the Civil Rights Movement. In 1966, CIBC published the first issue of the Interracial Books for Children Bulletin (IBCB) Bulletins provide critical, honest reviews written by educators from the specific group in question. CIBC made a point to advocate and uplift marginalized communities, including African Americans, Latinx, and Indigenous peoples through their journal. Filled with information that allows us to chart not only how far children’s literature has come but also parallels the push for representation today. Other topics include A study…

ALSC Board

Noteworthy ALSC Booklist Committees!

September 3, 2019| Cecilia McGowan|Leave a comment

Today I would like to highlight the work of several committees whose work is used on a daily basis by ALSC members, parents, teachers, librarians, and many others looking for excellent book recommendations. ALSC booklists help fulfill our commitment to Equity, Diversity and Inclusion by highlighting books that feature children in our communities and our lives.