After battling the elements to get to the branch (snow, snow, and more snow), I spent several days last week changing my seasonal displays. I am lucky to work (and live) in a truly diverse community that has for a long time featured large Catholic and Jewish populations and now boasts a growing African American community along with immigrant groups from Turkey and southern India. I’m always excited to feature diverse books, and offering mirrors and windows to a diversifying neighborhood always seems very worthwhile. Nothing makes this clearer than my holiday displays. I recently dismantled my Lunar New Year, Valentine’s Day, and Presidents’ Day books, plumped up my Black History Display, and looked ahead to upcoming holidays…and what a plethora are approaching! Not to forget: February 26th: Purim March 14th: Pi Day March 17th: St. Patrick’s Day March 20th: Norwuz March 27th: First day of Passover March 28th: Holi…
Tag: holidays
Small but mighty: Conquering February Library Events
For me, February is one of the most exciting but most overwhelming months in library-land. It’s the shortest month of the year and SO much is happening! Here is a small sampling of some February Library events and program ideas to go with them. I know I missed many, so please add ideas in the comments! February- African American History Month An important theme every month of the year, African American History Month is another opportunity to highlight amazing materials about past and current notable African Americans. Scavenger hunts are a simple, but fun and educational way to share knowledge with school-aged kids. I have also been pleased to find a growing amount of diverse and educational picture books for story times. February- National Library Lovers Month National Library lovers month is a great way to do shameless self-promotion for the best place ever- the library! One activity I did…
Early Literacy Gift Ideas on a Budget
Do you want a child to have the gift of reading, singing, playing, writing and talking over the holidays? Of course the given is for a librarian to give books around the holidays, but you can take that a step farther. Here are some fun and cost efficient early literacy gift ideas.
It’s the Great Edible Halloween Craft, Charlie Brown!
I have been itching to do an afternoon craft program at my new branch, which schedule wise, is not as easy as it sounds.
Not SCARY Scary (again)
Last year, I wrote a post about books for kids that have creep appeal but aren’t downright terrifying. I’ll make my shameful confession again: I’m a wuss. And because of that, Halloween isn’t really my jam. I hate being scared!! I DO, however, enjoy some good creepiness or eeriness, and some good suspense. So here are some more titles (all of these are out in 2015) for you to share with your patrons. Good luck with your Halloween/Fall Festival/Harvest programs, librarians! Happy October! Pram can see ghosts. She’s always been able to. And it’s never mattered much that she doesn’t have many friends that are actually alive, but then her aunts put her in school and she makes a friend who has lost a parent and is looking for answers. This adventure takes them from spiritualists to haunted houses and they definitely land in more trouble than they bargained for….
Speaking out about Holiday Programming at the Library
A few weeks ago, I wrote a rant about holiday programming in the library for Storytime Underground. We’ve been posting rants about things that we are super passionate about since October 2013 when Cory wrote about privilege and imposter syndrome. It became obvious that there are big issues our audience is riled up about, just like we are, but that not everyone is willing or able speaking up. So, we felt we should share our opinions in the hopes that perhaps others would feel comfortable to do the same, or that their point of view might be reflected in our writings. Additionally, we hoped to get people thinking more deeply (and dare I say, intentionally!) about what they are doing and why. To not blindly follow those who speak the most or loudest, or the majority, because that is sometimes easier than blazing your own trail. So, after a discussion…
Not SCARY Scary
Halloween is this week. Isn’t that nuts? I’ve had kids in my department for weeks, asking for Halloween books, for ghost stories, for scary stories. And then there are the kids that want something maybe creepy, maybe suspenseful but “not SCARY scary.” I love these kids. These kids are my kindred spirits because I hate being scared. I can’t watch a horror movie and I never read a Goosebumps book when i was younger. But I do enjoy suspense and a little gloom. Take a look at these books for your kids who want to have some Halloween reading but want to be able to sleep at night: The Theodosia Throckmorton series by R.L. LaFevers: Theodosia can see curses and get rid of them. This comes in handy as her parents work in a museum and there are artifacts with curses everywhere. This is a fantasy adventure and though there are…
Celebrating Mothers and Diversity
Happy Mother’s Day! Did you enjoy celebrating Día ? Don’t forget to share any pictures that you might have taken. I hope that you had a wonderful time observing Día at your library with local families and friends. Now that April 30th has come and gone, don’t think your opportunity to incorporate diversity into your programming and collection has passed! Día celebrates children and books while also encouraging families and children to connect with multicultural books, cultures and languages. To honor the special ladies we all treasure today, I’ve put together some of my favorite books about mothers that can expose children to different cultures and languages. Mama, Do You Love Me? by Barbara Joosse (Chronicle Books, 1998) is a great choice for a multicultural Mother’s Day read. This story tells of an Inuit mother and daughter and is set in the majestic wilderness of Alaska. The child seeks to…