At a time when Rochester Public Library (MN) has limited ability to provide direct services to children, teens, and families, our custom collection service has helped us stay connected. Since mid-March, RPL staff have been heavily engaged in city-wide pandemic response work, including setting up and staffing a day center for people experiencing homelessness and running a COVID-19 call center. We also provide library services through our digital library, Curbside pickup, Bookmobile services, Deposit & Homebound services, phone reference, and Internet access by appointment. This work has required our library to collaborate as a large team, with staff from multiple divisions sharing ideas and responsibilities on the various projects. As a result, our Youth Services team hasn’t had many opportunities to work together. During this time, two YS programs have allowed us to provide direct service to our kids, teens, and families. In June, we launched our Pen Pal program which has been…
Storytime-to-Go!
Like so many libraries back in March, we pivoted to provide virtual programming, including live and pre-recorded storytimes. As the months wore on, though, we wanted to offer something something new AND empower our families to read, sing, play, talk, and write together without waiting for the next video or Zoom session. Thus, Storytime-to-Go was born!
The Intersection of Information Literacy and Elections for Kids
Educating children to be knowledgeable and excited about taking part in elections and governing is an important first step toward an informed electorate. The information literacy required to make crucial decisions is an essential element of intellectual freedom, and libraries have an important role to play.
Batchelder Award – Call for Suggestions
Books are arriving and the 2021 Batchelder Award committee is busily reading, but we need your help in ensuring we are identifying the very best in children’s literature published in 2020. Please consider suggesting a title to the committee for consideration. Visit the Batchelder Award page, log into your ALA account, and fill out the suggestion form. It’s that easy! The Batchelder Award is awarded to a United States publisher for a children’s book considered to be the most outstanding of those books originating in a country other than the United States and in a language other than English and subsequently translated into English for publication in the United States during the preceding year. More information can be found on the Submission Process page and FAQ’s about ALSC’s Book & Media Awards pages. Hurry – suggestions close on October 31, 2020! Today’s guest blogger is Suzanne Harold , 2021 Batchelder Award Committee Chair. This…
Storytime Starters: New Pandemic Skills Coming to a Website Near You
One of the things I miss most in quarantine is Storytime. I love storytime so much! It is an opportunity to create a whole bodied experience for families. I get a rush from presenting it. I love thinking about what themes I am going to do, what stories would be just right, what songs would work, what flannels. I even make playlists to go with my theme to entertain the parents and kids during the playtime afterwards. We have been doing storytime virtually since the pandemic started, so I have been getting my fix in a diluted way. As we all know, it’s just not the same. I was trying to think of other ways to deliver the storytime experience to families after our summer session ended when I happened upon Syossett Library’s Storytime Starters on their Instagram feed. What a brilliant idea! They posted books, flannels and some videos…
An #alsc20 Highlight by Samantha Mairson
Curiosity Kitchen Promoting Healthy Living through Programming and Partnerships at #alsc20 This session interested me because my library launched a “Cooking with Kids” virtual cooking class program during COVID and it has been incredibly successful. Unfortunately, I went on lunch break at the time this session aired live during the conference. I desperately needed the break so I watched the archived video recording of this session instead of attending live. I easily navigated to the archived recording via the ALSC Institute conference webpage. The recording is hosted on Vimeo. It is captioned and shows as being posted to Vimeo on Tuesday, September 29, 2020 at 6:37 PM EST… but the session wasn’t hosted until October 2 at 2pm so I must be reading placeholder metadata. The ALSC Institute team has also provided a session chat transcript in the WordPress conference attendee portal. Unfortunately, the chat transcript for this session is…
Spine-Chilling Reads for Scary Season
Pumpkins on stoops? Leaves littering the sidewalks? Candy and costumes sitting front-and-center in all your favorite shops? These signs can only add up to one thing: It’s October, the best month of the entire year in this humble librarian’s opinion!
Relief Renewals for BIPOC Members
If you’re a reader of this blog, you read about the amazing work that ALSC members are doing all the time. You hear about innovative programs and services, you get to virtually meet library workers from across the nation, and you hear about the work ALSC members are doing for our organization. Your ALSC Membership Committee posts monthly and often highlights ways that being a member of ALSC has enhanced our professional lives. Now, Friends of ALSC wants to help some of our engaged members stay engaged with relief renewals for BIPOC members. We know that many ALSC members have been laid off, furloughed, or otherwise find themselves unemployed due to the COVID-19 pandemic which has disproportionately affected people who identify as BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, or People of Color). Friends of ALSC will fund 50 ALA and ALSC membership renewals to BIPOC members who find themselves in this position and…