Pursuing excellence for library service to children
This May, Soman Chainani returns to the scene with his first original novel in over ten years. Young World, published by Penguin Random House, is a political thriller set in the not too distant future where countries around the globe are on the brink of collapse. Chainani blurs the lines between fact and fiction on and off the page to make us all think: Wait, is this really happening?
International Screen-Free Week (May 6 – 12, 2024) is wrapping up tomorrow and it seems like a good opportunity to talk about ways libraries and library workers can support children and their parents and caregivers in this very important aspect of media literacy – developing habits around media use that support healthy development and wellbeing. Screen-Free Week is an annual celebration in May that encourages children to turn off screens in order to connect with family, friends, nature, and their own creativity. The organizing nonprofit, Fairplay has a wealth of resources for libraries, schools and communities who wish to participate, including organizing kids, pledges, handouts, and a list of fun screen-free activity ideas (I shared these at storytime this week). Conversations around screen time can be fraught with worry and judgment, so I love any opportunity to celebrate the joy of unplugging and share resources without shaming parents and caregivers….
To use technology or not to use technology? I feel it is no longer a matter of “not” to use. The pandemic has shown us that technology is a part of everyone’s daily life, and we need to be there for our young patrons and their caregivers to guide them, just as we do when helping patrons find the right information and books. As with any media, we are here for our patrons to advise, program, and curate. “student_ipad_school – 038” by flickingerbrad is licensed under CC BY 2.0. Training takeaways Recently, I attended a virtual training session on Media Mentorship where youth librarians from Maryland and Indiana learned about the use of digital media and our roles as digital media mentors. Prior to the training, attendees read A Guide to Media Mentorship by Lisa Guernsey of New America. During the morning session, presenters examined the basics of media mentorship—old…
The ALSC Board of Directors and 2017 ALSC President Nina Lindsay will be co-hosting an ALSC/AASL Collaborative Community Forum live chat on the topic of Digital Literacy, Digital Citizenship for Children in Libraries. The forum will be held on Thursday, March 23, 2017 at: 1 pm Eastern 12 pm Central 11 am Mountain 10 am Pacific With library and education funding and policy in question, who is teaching children information literacy–where and how? From “fake news” to new privacy concerns, from government “data rescue” to the threat to intellectual freedom with loss of data and access to broadband, what on-the-ground strategies can library staff in public and school libraries employ to prepare children to be digitally literate citizens? This ALSC Community Forum will be jointly hosted by ALSC’s Intellectual Freedom Committee and American Association of School Librarians (AASL) Directors. We are delighted to open this forum to both divisions’ members. Helpful Resources…
Yipes! Does it seem like “fake news” is getting more prevalent? Are you feeling frustrated, overwhelmed, confused about how to help your patrons navigate this unstable landscape?