Every library has its superusers. You know them—the people and families you see weekly, exchanging one pile of books for another, or attending every program that piques their interests.
Tag: research
Child development knowledge: What do we know?
We know that children’s librarians develop and deliver services that encourage and support children’s overall development. How do we learn how to do this well? New research about child development knowledge in our field I just read an article called “Child development knowledge among new children’s librarians in US public libraries” that was published in the Journal of Education for Library and Information Science written by Jennifer Rice Sullivan. Sullivan reports on a survey of 61 children’s librarians with MLIS degrees completed within the past five years. Participants responded to a series of questions about perceived knowledge across these six domains of child development: Language Cognition Gross motor Fine motor Emotional Social Most respondents reported having moderate to high levels of knowledge about these domains. Next, Sullivan asked more specific questions about participants’ knowledge of these topics. Behavior management Early literacy skills Object permanence Attachment Separation anxiety Self-regulation Executive functions…
Reimagining School Readiness
This past month, I fortunately attended a training on Reimagining School Readiness that focused on Growth Mindset. The Bay Area Discovery Museum (BADM) and Center for Childhood Creativity developed a position paper after performing a comprehensive review of current psychology literature. The purpose? To draw out how research can be used by educators and families to give children the skills and the learning experiences that matter most for later success in school and in life.
Brain Exhausted? Streaming Media to the Rescue!
While I am not having quite as much difficulty concentrating as I did early on in the pandemic, delving deep into research articles has not gotten any easier. As part of my work on the Early and Family Literacy Committee, I have Google Scholar alerts for articles on the topics “early literacy” and “family literacy”. I receive a digest semi-weekly and skim through looking for articles relevant to our charge.
“Children & Libraries” … and YOU!
Children and Libraries (CAL) is the journal of the Association for Library Services to Children. “[I]t primarily serves as a vehicle for continuing education for librarians working with children, and showcases current scholarly research and practice in library service to children and significant activities and initiatives of the Association” (http://www.ala.org/alsc/publications-resources/cal).
So you think you want to volunteer for YALSA…
If you think YALSA as opposed to ALA is a softer option for volunteering your professional, think again! These people are dedicated. Youth services is a calling and so is throwing your hat in the proverbial ring. It’s a ring not of doom, but a multi-ring circus, and your committee chair is the ringmaster. But wait! Don’t walk away yet! There is hope for the more casual contributor. And indeed some of the smaller, less time-consuming contributions may in fact lead to bigger and better things.
Applications open for 2016 Bechtel Fellowship
ALSC and the Special Collections and Bechtel Fellowship Committee are now accepting online applications for the 2015 Louise Seaman Bechtel Fellowship. The Bechtel Fellowship is designed to allow qualified children’s librarians to spend a total of four weeks or more reading and studying at the Baldwin Library of Historical Children’s Literature, a part of the George A. Smathers Libraries at the University of Florida, Gainesville. The Baldwin Library contains a special collection of 130,000 volumes of children’s literature published mostly before 1950. The fellowship is endowed in memory of Louise Seaman Bechtel and Ruth M. Baldwin and provides a stipend of $4,000. Each applicant will be judge on the following: the description of the topic of study for the fellowship period; the applicants’ demonstration of ongoing commitment to motivating children to read; the applicants’ willingness to spend a total of four weeks in Gainesville. The time spent does not have…
Apply for the 2015 Bechtel Fellowship
ALSC and Bechtel Fellowship Committee are now accepting online applications for the 2015 Louise Seaman Bechtel Fellowship. The Bechtel Fellowship is designed to allow qualified children’s librarians to spend a total of four weeks or more reading and studying at the Baldwin Library of Historical Children’s Literature, a part of the George A. Smathers Libraries at the University of Florida, Gainesville. The Baldwin Library contains a special collection of 130,000 volumes of children’s literature published mostly before 1950. The fellowship is endowed in memory of Louise Seaman Bechtel and Ruth M. Baldwin and provides a stipend of $4,000. Applicants must be personal members of ALSC, as well as ALA members to apply. Deadline for submissions is Wednesday, October 1, 2014. For more information about the requirements of the fellowship and submitting the online application please visit: http://www.ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants/profawards/bechtel