When planning programs and services, a good starting point is knowing when people are using the library. Door counts, circulation statistics, and program attendance can give you part of the picture, but they leave a lot of questions unanswered: What age groups are coming in at which times? How long do they stay? What do they do while they are at the library? Mapping is a simple but useful tool for getting a more complete picture. And even if you have a good sense of who is using the library, when they are using it, and what they are using it for, mapping that information will give you hard data to use when requesting funding or scheduling staff. First, print out or sketch the floor plan of your library. Because you are only using this as an informal tool for data collection, it doesn’t have to be attractive or done…
Category: Students
Reimagining Book Fairs that Align with ALSC’s Core Values
I’ve loved books for as long as I can remember. But I can remember only one book fair experience as a child: pacing a fluorescently lit room and asking the cashier, “How much is this with tax?” to see what I could afford with my lunch money. This eraser? This bookmark? Certainly not a book. Later, as a classroom teacher at a Title I school, I would witness many of my students experiencing much the same thing.
Unlocking Literacy: Developing a Science of Reading Kit for Your Library
Teaching a child to read is a rewarding, but difficult, task. When patrons ask me for help at the reference desk, the requests vary from patron to patron. Some patrons simply want to know where we keep our beginning readers. Other patrons want to know everything that we have: books for parents, workbooks for kids, beginning readers, and any other resources I can give them. With this in mind, my library created a circulating Science of Reading Kit that our patrons can check out to help their child learn to read.
Register Parents and Caregivers to Vote at Story Time
I used to think story time was all about the kids- engaging them by having fun and promoting early literacy and book love. And while that is core to our mission, parent engagement is also vital. But what are the forces that really impact families in communities? And what can parents do in their communities to make sure their children thrive in every area of life? Encouraging parents to register to vote and knowledgeably vote in the election is one, vital way we can support families. Fellow ALSC member and Mother Goose on the Loose founder, Betsy Diamant-Cohen, and I recently wrote about this topic in a School Library Journal “First Steps” column. Please check it out for tips and ideas to create Voter registration storytimes. While I won’t repeat those points here, I do want to underline the importance of encouraging voting in storytime and reminding parents and caregivers…
Digital Storytelling and Content Creation with Children
Stories are powerful expressions and conveyors of culture that build empathy, understanding, and help children explore their places in the world. How do we support children to become responsible creators of digital stories? This was the subject of a We Are ALSC Chat on May 20, 2024. Members of the ALSC Children and Technology Committee and other ALSC members met for an hour online to dig into strategies library staff in schools and public libraries can use to ensure we are helping kids grow in the area of digital storytelling. By incorporating digital content creation into the curriculum, we are seizing an opportunity to teach our students how to create responsibly, and act as ethical digital citizens. One way we can accomplish this is through modeling. Teaching kids to protect their own copyrights can help them begin to understand the rights of others. Student work is theirs and though many…
“Shake It Off” Taylor Swift themed karaoke at the library
Taylor Swift has captivated the hearts and minds of people around the world, and this ALSC blogger! It makes sense that she would find her way into libraries. In celebration of her new album, I threw a Swiftie karaoke program at the library! In the past, the Swift events have been more geared towards teenagers and that has left a lot of younger patrons out of the fun, so I wanted to correct that. I opened it up to all ages, and it was super popular with the under nine year old patrons and teens.
Unveiling the Science of Reading: Empowering ESL Students through Wordless Books
Over the next few months, the Early and Family Literacy Committee will write about one of the ECRR early literacy practices and discuss the science of reading research that supports the development of that practice and the skills it engenders. Today’s practice is reading! Since the topic is so broad, we are focusing on how wordless books support ESL students. We also include a reminder that many of the strategies that work for ESL students also support young children acquiring foundational language skills along with some tips on how you can use them in library programming.
What does it mean to be an ALSC student member?
Being an ALSC student member means embarking on an adventure! Being an ALSC student member means opening unknown doors while holding trustworthy hands! I started my library career as a page at the Boise Public Library in 2009. During this time, I convinced myself that I wanted to be a children’s librarian because of the wonderful experiences I had with the children’s department and children’s librarians. But what did I know about being a children’s librarian? English is not my first language. I didn’t grow up in the U.S. with access to classic children’s authors like Eric Carle, Roald Dahl, Beverly Cleary, Judy Blume, or even Dr. Seuss. Could I even be a children’s librarian here? Despite my lack (I thought) of qualifications, I was determined to pursue librarianship. After taking the TOEFL and GRE twice and then receiving rejection letters from two schools, I was able to start a…