There\u2019s always that little pocket of mellow time during the last week or two of December, after the end-of-year deadlines but before things rev up after New Year\u2019s Day, when one can think ahead to the coming year with pleasant anticipation (rather than heart-racing anxiety).<\/p>\n
Here are my roll-up-the-shirt-sleeves-and-get-to-work topics for 2013:<\/p>\n
Common Core!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Ooh, I practically salivate when I hear those words. \u00a0Never before have I been filled with so much hope for new public library\/school relationships and partnerships.\u00a0 Super nonfiction for kids?\u00a0 Thoughtful reading and interpretation of different texts and formats?\u00a0 We children\u2019s librarians have got that covered and we\u2019ll be letting our schools know about all the ways we can support students, teachers and library media specialists. \u00a0There are so many juicy possibilities for collaboration this year.<\/p>\n STE(A)M!<\/strong><\/p>\n Are you as excited as I am about adding Art to the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math mix?* \u00a0It\u2019s true that we don\u2019t have oodles of Librarian\/Scientist\/Artists on our staff.\u00a0 Luckily, there are plenty of folks around who are experts and are willing and able to support our efforts to offer STEAM programming to our communities.\u00a0 Museums (art, science, natural history), high school robotics clubs, Maker clubs\/spaces, colleges and universities; tech-savvy library staff; these are just some of your potential partners.\u00a0 Not only can they provide interactive, meaningful out-of-school-time learning experiences for library kids, but they can provide training for your children\u2019s librarians.\u00a0 We\u2019re never too old to learn new tricks \u2014 especially if they\u2019re super-fun. Lego robotics, anyone? (*interesting NEA study<\/a> on the importance of arts education)<\/p>\n