One of the best parts of my job as a Children’s Programming Librarian is getting to explore technology with the kids in the form of a library program. They learn (and so do I), they have a positive experience with the library and its staff, we always end up talking about what they are into including books, and we always have fun! Tech and\/or maker programs are a win all around and not as intimidating as you might think. <\/p>\n
As a programming librarian I’m continually trying programs and activities that scare me a little bit. It’s easier to be confident about a program when I know the subject thoroughly. I do lots of programs like this. But I still make room in my program schedule for a little something new as time and resources allow. This keeps me stretching and building my skills as a librarian and it keeps new patrons walking through our doors! <\/p>\n
So this is me saying, “go ahead and try it! That super rad program you have been thinking about that you just know your community would love. As a librarian, you are a professional, lifelong learner and you can learn whatever you need to put on an awesome program!” <\/p>\n
For some great program ideas, check out the following resources I’ve found helpful as I plan programs. There are so many other wonderful ideas out there. Please share more in the comments. <\/p>\n
Coding resources from The Digital Shift: http:\/\/www.thedigitalshift.com\/2013\/07\/k-12\/daisy-the-dinosaur-and-hopscotch-coding-apps-for-kids-and-teens-screencast-tutorial\/ Art Bots and <\/p>\n
Squishy Circuits from Evanston PL via the Tinker Group: http:\/\/tinkergroup.wordpress.com\/2013\/09\/16\/squishy-circuits-and-artbots\/ <\/p>\n
Storytelling with Little Bits (http:\/\/littlebits.cc) at the Brooklyn Public Library: http:\/\/littlebits.cc\/transforming-libraries-through-technology <\/p>\n
Everything at www.makeitatyourlibrary.org. <\/p>\n
A bunch of great programs at Barrington Area Library including stop motion animation: http:\/\/www.barringtonarealibrary.org\/tech <\/p>\n
Light painting, Lego robotics and more from Liz Fraser: http:\/\/gettinggiggles.wordpress.com\/category\/library-programs\/maker-programs\/ <\/p>\n
Andrea Vernola is the Children\u2019s Programming Librarian at Kalamazoo Public Library. She is a member of the ALSC Children and Technology Committee. She can be found on twitter as @librarianandi. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
One of the best parts of my job as a Children’s Programming Librarian is getting to explore technology with the kids in the form of a library program. They learn (and so do I), they have a positive experience with the library and its staff, we always end up talking about what they are into including books, and we always have fun! Tech and\/or maker programs are a win all around and not as intimidating as you might think. As a programming librarian I’m continually trying programs and activities that scare me a little bit. It’s easier to be confident about a program when I know the subject thoroughly. I do lots of programs like this. But I still make room in my program schedule for a little something new as time and resources allow. This keeps me stretching and building my skills as a librarian and it keeps new…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":171,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[155,141,38,414,211],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8098","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blogger-children-and-technology-committee","category-children-technology","category-programming-ideas","category-stemsteam","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8098","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/171"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8098"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8098\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8098"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8098"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8098"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}