Since this year’s summer reading slogan is “Libraries Rock,” I asked my rock musician friends how reading and libraries influenced their lives and careers.
Tag: Music
Fan Bands Provide Concerts for All Ages
When I first heard about The Shake Ups, I had no idea that “pony power pop” existed. I knew about fan bands from the Wizard Rock movement that came from Harry Potter, but didn’t know much about other fan bands. When given the opportunity to book The Shake Ups, a My Little Pony band, my staff and I jumped at it knowing they would be a hit with our patrons. We’ve now hosted two concerts with The Shake Ups and I can’t say enough great things about them! Even if you’re not that knowledgeable about My Little Pony (which sadly, I have to say, I am not), you can still find lots to love about their shows. The music is infectious and upbeat and the atmosphere of the concert is so warm and friendly it’s hard not to leave without a smile on your face. It’s so much fun…
My New Favorite Storytime Music
I love using music in storytime! I love to sing and dance with the kids and parents so I’m always on the lookout for new songs to use in storytime that I can get my families excited about. While we love old classics, I like to switch things up and introduce some new songs to promote our music collection and let them know we have lots of great kids music-no listening to annoying kids songs here!
Dance Parties are Fun-and Important!
Yesterday I hosted a Bibliobop Dance Party at my library. I started Bibliobop (our baby/toddler/preschooler dance party) about four years ago. The program includes lots of music and movement, reading books about dancing and music and lots of fun. We use shaker eggs, instruments, parachutes, and scarves. Biblibop is hosted on Saturday mornings once every few months. This Fall, I also started a program called Preschool Wiggleworms, which is another music and movement program. The weekly programs are a bit more themed (we talk about certain types of dance or themes each week) but the general idea is similar to Biblibop. We dance, move, and have fun. My mom is a music teacher, so I grew up surrounded by the arts. Singing and dancing were regular parts of my life. But the more I do these creative movement programs, the more I realize this is an aspect of early literacy that…
Supporting the Arts in Libraries
Summer Reading Club is winding down and as I look at the list of programs our branch libraries have hosted, I am impressed with the fantastic array of choices. For a rural library system, we’ve got the arts covered! From Musical Zoo (two musicians take a big box of instruments and let kids go wild), to marionette shows to photography and crafts, the arts are alive and well in our little libraries. This summer we hosted a touring marionette show. This stood out for a few reasons — one, this show was visiting from Quebec, and we’d never seen it in Nova Scotia. Two girls I spoke to at a show in our area had never been to a live puppet show before! I helped organize the tour, which went to pretty much every cove and cranny of our little province. The puppeteer stayed a couple of nights at our…
Music, Movement and Stories
A new highly interactive early literacy storytime featuring instrument exploration, songs, fingerplays, dance and books for ages 3 and up. Created by Community Librarians Sheila Grier and Chandra vanEijinsbergen, Music, Movement, and Stories (MnMS for short) is one of my favorite new children’s programs for ages 3-5 at Deschutes Public Library. The music cd’s, books, and musical instruments circulate between all six branches. The program includes two stories and lots of dancing, singing and playing musical instruments. I joined Sheila and Chandra in our Early Learning Space at the Downtown Bend Library and we made some noise! We talked about the most asked about questions and shared favorite books and ideas. How did MnMS start? “Music Movement and Stories started when I began to read about doing a music program at our library and wondered why most music programs at libraries do not include the great books we have about…
Jim Gill on Music Play with Purpose
I recently attended the California Kindergarten Association’s PK1 Conference, where Jim Gill was the keynote speaker/singer and presented a workshop on Music Play with Purpose. I attended because I think Jim’s work is remarkable. I love sharing his recorded music in preschool and school age storytimes at my library and recommend it wholeheartedly to parents and anyone working with young children. Jim’s songs are full of inventive word play, fresh and unexpected rhymes and playful prompts for children to join in the active fun. Both children and adults (including a legion of children’s librarians!) delight in Jim’s exuberantly silly songs. Jim is an early childhood specialist, with a graduate degree in child development with an emphasis on play. He has created 6 albums, many of which are ALA Notable Children’s Recordings, including his newest, Jim Gill Presents Music Play for Folks of All Stripes. He’s also written 2 delightful pictures…