Pursuing excellence for library service to children
Four times a year the library teams up with Moab Music Festival to present a special Musical Story Hour featuring a new musical artist(s). Musical Story Hour has been one of our library’s most consistent programs since 2018; it was one of our library’s first programs to transition to an online offering during the pandemic and last year was offered in city parks to a multigenerational audience.
Have you ever wanted to play the ukulele in storytime, but felt like you couldn’t possibly be good enough? There are many fantastic librarians who are expert ukulele players, but I often find learning from great players intimidating. If you’re overwhelmed, I (definitely a beginner) can help. A few years ago, I decided I was going to start playing the ukulele in storytime, despite the fact that I did not know how to play the ukulele and am generally unmusical. It has always been a little baffling to me that I am paid to sing to children, given that I was once told by a choir teacher to “maybe just mouth the words at the performance.” Despite all these obstacles, I actually do play the ukulele at storytime, and no one has ever complained. Let me reassure you that if I can do it, anyone can do it. Here are some…
The last education sessions just ended and what a way to wrap things up! Staff Sergeant Philip Espe’s “Wake Up Your Musicianship for More Inclusive Storytimes” was energizing and joyous. Philip had us all on our feet and singing in 3 languages (English, French, and Spanish). He noted that we can model positive musical practice for our community and that the opportunity to make music together is precious. He emphasized that every voice is beautiful (work against that negative American Idol effect) and music is better when it comes from a live person. Philip referenced the APALA rubric for evaluating AAPI literature (that I blogged about yesterday) and encouraged us to evaluate music in the same way that we evaluate literature. He shared criteria: melody, harmony, rhythm, dynamics and text. And he noted that cultural responsiveness is foundational: music is an expression of culture, and your communities deserve to hear…
“Music baby.” by cross-eyed doll is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0. How do you incorporate music into your story time programs? Has this gotten more difficult as more music has gone in the direction of streaming? This was a recent and interesting discussion on ALA Connect. In the past, we used CDs, but some of us moved on to streaming. This may be great for listening – but problematic for story time programs. What works best—Spotify? YouTube? Apple Music? Amazon? Dropbox? CDs? To pay or not to pay? We polled ALSC’s Childrens and Technology committee members to see how each of our systems tackle this issue. The solutions are varied and work for those of us who use them, but they may not work for all. With CDs, availability is the issue as they are neither being produced nor purchased as much. If you still have CDs, one option is…
Summer Reading 2019 No, it really is NEVER too early to be thinking about summer reading 2019! If you have the means, hire your performers super early. If it’s you, some volunteers and a great deal of cardboard, then this is the beginning of a great series of blogposts just for you! Summer reading 2019 is largely about outer space. Already ideas have been bouncing off the satellites. Here’s some to get your engines started! STARNet! STARNet was introduced to me at ALA when it hit Orlando. Since that time, I have never been let down in terms of all they have to offer, and the support they can give. Already STARNet has a whole portion of their site dedicated to – say it with me! – summer reading 2019! They’re calling it “A Universe of Stories”. And just to get your pulse running, they have a handy countdown clock…
Are you creating fall and winter programs at the library? Are you ready to make snow flakes, dance at a pumpkin party or swim like a fish in the ocean?
Planning programs around a theme can feel either limiting or liberating. The theme can either force superfluous programs or hopefully create inspiring programs that can hold up beyond the theme’s lifespan. As the primary planner for elementary programming at my library, I was challenged and inspired by this year’s “Libraries Rock!” reading theme. Thankfully, this theme produced the planning of programs that can live outside the summer reading theme, such as “Instrument Exploration,” and “Rock Buffet.” Instrument Exploration The goal of Instrument Exploration was for children to be able to handle, hear, and see instruments, as well as be able to create their own to take home. I began the program by reading 88 Instruments by Chris Barton and then we discussed how trying out many different instruments can sometimes lead us to an instrument we might want to play. After our discussion, the children had an opportunity to choose…
Are you learning how to play the tuba?