The Worlds of Words Center Reading Ambassador program has sent alumni to Stanford, Columbia, Harvard, Northwestern and the brightest ones to the University of Arizona (U of A) – a fact that is not surprising when considering that most high school students with extracurricular collegiate experiences continue onto college.
Category: Outreach
Family STEAM Night
As School Outreach Coordinator, I love taking the library to the community. One great way to reach a lot of people is to get invited to school-wide events! When one elementary school asked us to participate in their annual Family STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) Night again, the answer was a resounding yes. Each year, we’ve done something a little different for STEAM Night, and this year, our tables featured a variety of popular activities.
I Heart Art!
Imagine heart hands or a heart emoji in the title above, and you’ll have my theme for this month’s early childhood outreach. I do indeed “heart” art, whether that’s looking at art, creating it, or even just thinking about colors. For my outreach storytimes, we did all three this month!
Engaging Grad Students in Community Work
New (and not so new) librarians often struggle with outreach and community engagement. Even when it’s taught in LIS programs, it does not always come with real, hands-on experience developing and maintaining partnerships. This isn’t surprising since building relationships in communities takes time and trust and can’t be rushed to fit a fifteen week semester. Through their own research and practice, LIS faculty can build a network of community connections for students to tap into during their time in graduate school. LIS faculty may have existing partnerships with schools, including day cares and Head Start programs, museums and cultural institutions, afterschool and recreation providers, and clinics and social services agencies, all possible sites for experiential learning. One way to help graduate LIS students engage with community-based library services is through an internship. For the fall 2024 semester, Queens College GSLIS student Gena Mizzi and her faculty mentor Dr. Vikki Terrile…
Teach the Teachers
A million years ago (okay, it just feels that way), I wrote a blog post about in-services for early childhood educators. I also have the good fortune to work with educators in our public schools. In an outreach visit, I get to teach the teachers about our databases.
School Outreach and Advocating for Staff Growth
Prior to the COVID-19 Pandemic, the Children’s Department at the North Platte Public Library had 4 staff members, two full-time and two part-time. Our library serves Lincoln County, Nebraska with a total service population of around 32,000. When I came on-board in late 2021 it had dwindled to just 2, a full-time librarian and a part-time assistant. Programs and participation were still slow to pick up after the height of the COVID-19 Pandemic, and at first regaining staff was not an immediate need when I came into my position. One of my primary goals in my first year at this library was to create partnerships with organizations serving children and caregivers. I began attending the High Plains Early Childhood Collaborative Action Team Meetings in 2022 to begin fostering these connections. It was in these meetings that I became connected with the Early Learning Coordinator for the North Platte Public School…
Add More Math to Storytime
Anyone who knew me in high school would be shocked to learn that I choose to incorporate math into storytime. (Especially my math teachers.) In order to add more math to my outreach visits, I’ve begun having the kids sort themselves into various groups. So far, sorting has been a fun, interactive, and easy way to add more math to storytime.
All the Feelings: Social-Emotional Books to Recommend
As School Outreach Coordinator, part of my job includes creating and providing teacher in-services for our early childhood community. I recently surveyed the directors of our early childhood organizations to get feedback on outreach services, including those workshops. The directors showed a desire for an in-service on social-emotional learning. Back-to-school time can definitely bring out a variety of emotions, in kids and adults! I’ll be using these five books in an upcoming in-service on social-emotional topics.