Monthly, we will profile current ALSC Board members. We hope to offer information about the people who work to guide the organization so that you can feel more comfortable in reaching out to them with your concerns, questions, or comments. This month, we invite you to meet ALSC Board member, Allison Knight.
To Theme or Not to Theme…
It’s the age old question, isn’t it? To use storytime themes or not. To me, themes make sense. Instead of feeling constricting, themes give me a safety net and let me soar freely above them. After, cough, many years of doing outreach storytime, though, I was in need of a new approach!
What Does Your Volunteer Form Say About You?
As we kick off the ALSC year, and the school year, it’s time to fill out the all important volunteer form.
Early Literacy Program Ideas for Your Library!
Storytime is an essential part of children’s librarianship; it is the first time children are in a more “formal” environment to learn and develop school-readiness skills, and parents and caregivers learn more about early literacy skills. While we try to touch upon the five early literacy practices in our storytimes, there are other engaging early literacy programs that hit these skills! In this post, I will highlight some early literacy program ideas that you can create for your library. Playdough Playtime Who doesn’t love playdough? With this program, your patrons will be able to cover all five early literacy practices! The key to this program is having the right playdough mats for the children to work with. I have been conducting this program for over a year now and it continues to grow because it is fun and educational. Some playmats that I have provided include the alphabet, numbers, nursery…
Strengthening Underserved Communities through Collaboration Between Librarians and Media Specialists.
In today’s fast-paced digital world, access to knowledge and information is crucial for the growth and development of every individual, especially our underserved populations. Librarians in public libraries and media specialists in schools play significant roles in fostering the love for learning, promoting literacy, and empowering communities. When these professionals collaborate, their partnerships can become a force for positive change, extending informative and educational opportunities to those who need it most. In this blog post, we will explore what synergy between librarians and media specialists in supporting underserved communities may look like. Before delving into a partnership, you should understand the uniqueness of both Librarians in public libraries and Media Specialists in schools. This is vital because it allows for targeted support and resource allocation in their respective environments. Recognizing their distinct roles enables the development of specialized programs and services that cater to the diverse needs of their…
Get Ready for International Dot Day!
Every time September rolls around, I remember one of my most successful programs—a celebration of International Dot Day, held annually on September 15(ish).
Too Many Toys: Recovering Library Programming and Play Spaces
Have you ever looked around the library and wondered where all the toys came from? Or who was going to clean them up? Did it make you want to cry? Or maybe kick and scream and have a bit of tantrum? I’ve been there, and I’m guessing you have, too. Whether you’re looking at a public floor play space or programming toys, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. Supporting play in libraries often means giving children and caregivers access to many toys and activities. Open-ended toys provide more learning opportunities, but often means more loose parts. If you’re like me, you’ve probably seen something that would be just perfect for your program or space and purchased it. But when does it become too many toys? Can you recover? Let me tell you what my library did.
Using PBS as a Resource
I recently had the amazing experience of being a member of the PBS kids community learning cohort through PBS Wisconsin and I want to share some of the amazing resources they have available. PBS Kids PBS Kids has online games, videos, shows, and even apps that are all free to access. They are educational, simple, fun, and great for kids. I recommend this app to any parent who asks me for a good recommendation. PBS Parents PBS Parents has articles, access to all of the shows, coloring sheets, activities that have been planned that they can do with their kids, and more. They can answer some questions like what age their child is, what show they like, and what they are looking for, and PBS will present them with a list of activities! They also have a newsletter which I subscribed to because they are always sending out new and…