Category: Programming Ideas

Blogger Jonathan Dolce

Summer READing Gazette – ideas, inspiration and news!

| Jonathan Dolce|Leave a comment
father and daughter reading a book together at the beach

Summer READing Gazette Issue 1 v.1 Summer READing is nigh! Here’s some great entertainment, book, and programming news and ideas to tantalize and inspire! If not just totally distract you from stress! ; )) All Things Comics A new Black Panther comics series is launching in August. What the WarnerMedia/Discovery merger might mean for DC Comics. Legendary Comics announces a new YA imprint, which will launch with five original comic series. The best new YA graphic novels to read right now. Graphic Novel About Freddie Mercury Coming This Fall — Queen frontman Freddie Mercury is getting a graphic novel this fall. The rock legend will be the subject of Freddie Mercury: Lover of Life, Singer of Songs, a graphic novel written by comic book author Tres Dean. Publisher Z2 Comics says in a press release posted on Queen’s official website: “For the first time in comics format, Freddie Mercury: Lover of Life, Singer of Songs will be a journey through Freddie’s life; from…

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Blogger Managing Children's Services Committee

Statewide Virtual Performer Showcase: Lessons Learned

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When school is dismissed for the summer, and excitement around library Summer Reading Programs (SRP) begin, library traffic increases dramatically. Here in Kansas that means staff at approximately 323 public libraries have been planning a schedule for months. This schedule includes challenges for a reading program, educational or entertaining performers, and crafts or hands-on activities. This winter, two regional youth consultants designed and offered a virtual showcase of performers to help meet social distancing guidelines and other changing needs librarians face, during the COVID-19 pandemic. The showcase is now available via the state’s regional library system webpage. This showcase helps staff make informed decisions when scheduling performers. The showcase used an existing Statewide Performer’s Directory to contact performers and gauge interest. Then, youth consultants divided the performers expressing interest into categories and scheduled recording dates and times. Reception from the performers was overwhelmingly positive. Consultants recorded ten minute segments using…

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Blogger Kary Henry

Picture Books + Homeschool Science = Win!

| Kary Henry|1 Comment

For my final homeschool program series of the school year, I found a winning combination in picture books and science. The homeschool parents we serve love when I offer STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) programming. I love to share picture books with the homeschool students, no matter the students’ ages! How to combine those two? Use picture book biographies as springboards for STEAM programs for homeschool students.

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Blogger Jonathan Dolce

Ultimate Summer Reading Programming Guide 2021

| Jonathan Dolce|4 Comments
cartoonish image of a computer keyboard with highlighted options button

Summer Reading 2021 So, it’s the ninth hour. Summer Reading 2021 is just about here. Things are changing rapidly, though. COVID safety guidelines are positively fluid. What’s a children’s librarian to do?! Fear not, fearless reader — you’ve got OPTIONS! A Spectrum of Five Options Five options…well, more like 5.2 Passive programming Hybrid programming Limited seating indoor programming Outdoor programming 100% digital programming Pre-recorded Live streaming Passive Programming I know you know what it is. However! There’s an awesome new reference and even a free webinar about this very topic that I want to direct you to. The webinar is a called “Passive Programming That Pulls Them In: Provocative Passive Programming Ideas”. You can find it on Niche Academy. As a matter of fact, they have an upcoming live webinar. Here’s the 10-4: PASSIVE PROGRAMMING THAT PULLS THEM IN: PROVOCATIVE PASSIVE PROGRAMMING IDEAS Wed May 12 at 2:00 pm US…

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Guest Blogger

Intergenerational Book Clubs: How to use reading to raise social justice awareness

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We are living in complicated times. There’s plenty we can reflect on about 2020 and its impacts on our families, our professions and our relationships. And with the arrival of 2021, the conversations have only become more complex. Explaining the world to our children and our students is no easy task. In order to set up our students for success, we need to seek out culturally and linguistically diverse viewpoints. 

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Blogger Jonathan Dolce

You STILL Can’t Beat Free

| Jonathan Dolce|Leave a comment

You STILL Can’t Beat FREE We live in an age of what economists call “perfect information“. This of course does not mean that the information we get is perfect, Instead, it means no hidden information. Perfect information more precisely means we all have access to instant information, understand its use as well as its plusses and minuses. But we also experience information overload, which is where we come in. And I’m here to help make your lives a wee bit easier, by finding all the free stuff! Ideas, downloads, and a touch of fun. I hope you enjoy and utilize these resources. And of course, I hope you enjoy all the fun stuff, too! Programming Ideas You Can Do! I will come over to your library if you say you can’t do any number of these…well…if you cover my expenses! ; )) When I was an Art major, we were…

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