What luck when a friend asked me for picture books tips for family readings with two different aged children. With no child in sight and very few guidelines, I had a realization.
Category: Storytime
Fall Harvest Stories – These Books Look Good Enough to Eat!
September is a perfect time to start celebrating the bounty of Fall. Here are some delicious reads that you can feature in a fun food themed storytime perfect for young readers ages two to five years old. If possible, invite a local farmer or grower to bring some of their crops in for a demonstration so little ones can explore and experience Fall’s bounty for themselves. If that is not available, see about picking up some of the featured fruits and veggies at your local stores or farm stand. For an easy to share snack serve small cups of store bought unsweetened applesauce. Keep the container handy in case of any questions about food allergies and make sure to advertise that food will be served.
Translating Books and Songs for Bilingual Family Story Time
I recently took a 3-month break from hosting story time, due to life, travel, and the fact that my normal Thursday morning slot was being used for another program. It has been three years since I started hosting bilingual family story time (BFST) at my branch. My program is in English and Spanish. Some of our other branches have story time exclusively in other languages (Spanish and Mandarin) that are hosted by contracted story tellers. Here are things that I do that have helped me find success in my story times.
Beyond Lap Sits: Movement for Babies
Baby storytimes are a unique joy! In addition to sharing the best board books on offer, these storytimes are where we first meet families and set their expectations for what library programs look like. So why do they so often look like the version of storytime that plagues libraries, where children sit in their caregiver’s lap and stare forward at library staff as they read? Obviously, some of this is a necessity of baby development. Babies aren’t ready to jump up on their feet like toddlers, but caregivers are ready to help babies move. By incorporating more movement, we support caregivers in working towards developmental milestones and learning what a more active and engaged storytime looks like.
Bilingual programs beyond storytime
When an #alaac26 session starts with all attendees waving colorful scarves to a welcome song, you know you will leave more energized than you walked in. As one of the last sessions of this 4-day conference, this was key for myself and over 40 other attendees to stay until the very end.
Science of Reading in the Library: Building Print Awareness to Support Comprehension
Building print awareness, or knowledge of print concepts, is something that those serving children in libraries already do. Building print awareness even more intentionally better positions children to understand texts when they enter school. (Today’s post is yet another installment in an unofficial series on the science of reading in the library.*)
Curious Kids: A Program for the Children We Were Losing After Storytime
If you run a public library children’s program, you probably know the drop-off. Kids age out of storytime and a good chunk of your regulars just… disappear. They’re not tweens yet. They’re not ready for independent reading clubs. They’re somewhere in the middle, and for a while, we weren’t serving them well.
The Storytime Speech: Setting Expectations for Adults
When it comes to storytime, who is your target audience? Oftentimes we focus so much on the children in front of us that we might forget to engage with the adults bringing them to our programs. Storytime is a performative experience for librarians in which we create a fun and exciting environment that encourages early literacy, but the greater overarching purpose is to teach caregivers by modeling behavior that they can practice at home with the children that they care for. Regardless of whether a caregiver is an immediate family member, a nanny, or some other relation, it’s important that they all leave storytime with thoughts reminiscent of, “Hey, I can do this with my child, too!” There are a few ALSC Blog posts that provide helpful tips for engaging adults in storytime, and there are some I’ve learned over the years as well. Here’s a list of some recommended…