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At my library we have a monthly guessing game in a display case near the Children’s Services desk. Last month’s theme was guessing the number of drops of water in a bottle. This month’s game has lots of puppets stuffed in the case. In the winter it was about snowflakes. The library has been doing this since before I started working there, and I can see the positive effects of the game.

To participate in the month’s game, a library visitor must fill out a guessing form at the Children’s desk. A child doesn’t have to be able to write to participate; family members can help make sure the guess itself is legible. There is generally an employee working at the desk, and having the forms and pencils near us encourages interaction between the families and staff. Sure, we greet people as they enter the Children’s Library, but the guessing game allows for more meaningful interactions. Anyone can guess – it’s not just for children, so we have memorable conversations with caregivers too. The guessing game is a conversation starter, a recurring activity that children can look forward to every visit to our library, and builds upon skills like observation, counting and estimation in addition to incorporating several of the Every Child Ready to Read practices. The prize, generally a donated book in near new condition, is awarded on the first day of the following month, and the name of the person with the closest guess is posted near the display case.

On special days we also have scavenger hunts and the related sheets and prizes are at the desk. This is another way for us to show that we are not scary librarians, but rather nice and fun. This summer we are celebrating Beatrix Potter’s 150th birthday on July 28 with her character hidden around the room.

Does your library have passive programming like this? Do you have a way to encourage children and families to approach the Children’s service desk? Share your successes in the comments.

The post Guessing Games appeared first on ALSC Blog.

I did a fair amount of live-blogging for PLA this month, so all my serious thoughts were all dried up – except to say that PLA is incredible and I learned a ton.

So, to wrap-up Poetry Month, I wanted to share a display my coworker Krishna put together:

We had slots for children to write their own pocket poems, and some of them are too good not to illustrate (no grammar or spelling altered).

Poem #1: dope

My interpretation:

Poem #2: My Zootch

Here’s what Shel Silverstein had to say about that:

Poem #3: untitled

My interpretation:

To all budding poets, I salute you!

All illustrations copyright Lisa Nowlain, 2016.

Lisa Nowlain is the Harold W. McGraw Jr. Fellow and Children’s Librarian at Darien Library in Darien, CT. She is also an artist-type (see more at lisanowlain.com).

The post Poetry Month Wrap-Up Illustrated appeared first on ALSC Blog.

Rochester (MN) Public Library’s core values focus on being a welcoming and inclusive environment. A few years ago we started to hear from adults and teens in the community that there were not a lot of safe spaces for LGBTQIA teens to hang out, so in our 2015 Action Plans we included “Develop programming to specifically meet the needs of Rainbow Families and LGBTQIA teens” and got started.

Before we share our ideas for serving LGBTQIA kids and families, let’s talk about “LGBTQIA”. LGBTQIA stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer or Questioning, Intersex, and Asexual or Ally. Without including the word “queer”, this alphabet soup is not inclusive of the entire spectrum of sexual and gender identities out there. But as you can imagine, when we use the word queer in our program descriptions or trainings, people have a lot of questions.

Queer is a word with a terrible history, a confusing present, and a bright future. It was used negatively for many years, but over the last 30 years or so has had a comeback as a word that is embraced by many people as an identity, and is used regularly as a positive umbrella term for the LGBTQIA community (think: “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy”).

Like any word, it can still be used negatively. It is all in how it is used and delivered. We would not label someone as queer who had not self-identified, nor would we refer to someone as “a queer” – those would be negative and inappropriate uses of the word. Our use is to be inclusive of the many teens and grown-ups in our community who self-identify as queer or under the queer umbrella. Embracing their choice of word further proves our commitment to creating a safe space for them. If you would like to read more try this website, this article, or this.

Why are we focusing on serving LGBTQIA kids & families?

Youth Services at RPL started undergoing changes in 2011 that included things as small as purchasing and displaying more books with LGBTQIA content. Once these books were on display and available in the library catalog, we started to hear from customers who appreciated having access to them. We also started regularly printing and keeping on display a Booklist for Rainbow Families which received a lot of positive attention. The conversations that we had around the books and booklists brought to light a need in the community: LGBTQIA kids and families needed safe spaces, they needed to see themselves represented in the library collection, and they needed to feel welcomed!

We also have bigger reasons for wanting to provide a safe space for LGBTQIA youth and families.  The Human Rights Campaign study “Growing up LGBT in America”  reports that 4 in 10 LGBTQIA youth say the community in which they live is not accepting of LGBT people, and and only 21% say there is a place where LGBTQIA youth can go in their community and get help or be accepted.  LGBTQIA youth face higher rates of bullying, homelessness, substance abuse and suicide, but teens who have supportive families and friends or safe spaces in their community are better equipped to deal with these additional challenges.

So what can libraries do to serve LGBTQIA kids & families?

Create a Safe Space

The most important step a library can take to create a safe space for LGBTQIA patrons is to train staff to be LGBTQIA allies and hold staff accountable. It is important that you have buy-in from the library administration, and that the people at the top understand why safe spaces are important, but it isn’t necessary to start there. Start with yourself and the staff around you, sometimes change has to trickle upwards. If you don’t have resources in your community such as an LGBTQ Community Center or a local college Gay/Straight Alliance which can provide you with training, there are plenty of options online to get started:

• GLSEN provides free toolkits and webinars
• ALA offers online training
• Safe Schools has a free recorded webinar

There are easy things you or your staff can start today to be good allies.  Being inclusive with your language doesn’t hurt anything, and can go a long way to making everyone feel more comfortable.  For example, when talking to kids about their parents, use “grown-ups” or “adults” or another neutral term that feels natural to you. Not every kid has a “mom” and/or a “dad”.  You can also choose to use gender neutral terms to refer to individual kids or groups of kids. Use “people” or “friend(s)” instead of “guys” or “ladies”.

Another easy change is to wear a pronoun name badge. Even if you have never been mis-gendered, wearing a name badge with your pronouns on it sends a message to everyone who sees you that you accepting and welcome conversations about pronouns. It also opens up opportunities to talk about how and why your library is a safe space or the LGBTQIA programs you offer.

Once your staff is better equipped to be allies, you’ll need to make sure you have policies in place to protect your LGBTQIA kids and families, and train staff on how to handle issues that may arise.  For example, does your written code of conduct include a statement about harassment? Are staff ready to step in with words connecting back to your code of conduct if they overhear teens saying, “That’s so gay!” or “No homo.”? For example: “The library doesn’t allow abusive language and your words are not inclusive or nice.”

All staff should pay attention to what is happening in your space (bullying). Some bullying can be subtle; watch the way teens are interacting in your teen space. When a certain group arrives, does another group always leave? Talk to your teens and make sure you know what is going on. Some bullying that starts at school may continue at the library after school.

Your library may also have business practices and procedures that need to be updated in order to be inclusive to your LGBTQIA community.  Does your library card application ask for a person’s gender?  Does it need to? Do you allow a patron to use a preferred name on their library card in addition to or instead of their legal name?  What about your bathrooms – do you have single stall restrooms that you could convert to gender neutral spaces?

The next step is to start the safe space conversation with the rest of the community. Meet with other youth workers in your community to talk about LGBTQIA services and creating safe spaces. The library can be a great neutral ground for offering training that is open to community youth workers.

Create LGBTQIA Inclusive Collections & Displays

It’s important for LGBTQIA youth to see themselves reflected in the books they read.  According to GLSEN’s 2013 National School Climate Survey, only 19% of LGBTQIA students report that positive representations of LGBTQIA people are included in their school curriculum.

There are a lot of really great books (fiction and nonfiction) available with LGBTQIA content, with more and more books coming out (get it?) every year.  Not all of them are published by big houses, and not all get picked up for reviews, but it’s worth the time to seek out the titles to make sure your collection is representative of the full spectrum of gender/sexual identities.  To get started, check out the ALA GLBT Round Table’s Rainbow Booklist.  The Rainbow Booklist Committee reads hundreds of books with LGBTQIA content and publishes its best-of list for kids and teens annually.  In addition, ALA’s Stonewall Award and the LAMBDA Literary Awards  both have categories honoring Children’s and Young Adult Literature.

Once you’ve got the books in your collection, you want your patrons to know they are there!   While special displays highlighting LGBTQIA materials are great, it’s important to include LGBTQIA materials in all of your displays and booklists.

Offer LGBTQIA Programs

Once you have created a safe space and opened dialogues with LGBTQIA customers and community members, you will start to hear about programs and resources that people would like to see in your community.

Our first program focusing on LGBTQIA teens was q club. q club began in September 2014 with just one teen; it now boasts regular attendance of over twenty at each meeting, and is hands down our highest attended teen program. Like all of our teen programs, we let the teens decide what activities we plan and what topics we discuss.  Last summer, in partnership with Gay/Lesbian Community Services of Southeast Minnesota (http://www.glcsmn.org/), we hosted the first ever Pride Prom “Smells Like Pride Spirit” in Rochester. Forty-four teens attended and afterwards some called it the best night of their lives! We are currently in the early planning stages of our 2^nd Annual Pride Prom.

q club teens are interested having the chance to just hang out and be themselves, and they are also embrace opportunities to have their voices heard in the larger community.  They have created zines to celebrate Pride, National Coming Out Day, and Transgender Day of Remembrance which they distributed at the library and at local businesses.  q club teens were a large voice in our October National Coming Out Day celebration, and will soon be participating in a community health needs assessment.

In addition to q club and in response to community requests we currently offer:

• Parents Empower Pride: a meet up for parents of LGBTQIA kids to talk about how to support their kids on their journey.
• Pride Prom: An annual a safe & welcoming after-hours party for LGBTQIA teens and allies in grades 7-12 held during Rochester’s Pride Fest.
• Rainbow Family Storytime: During Rochester Pride we offer Rainbow Family Storytimes for preschool children and families.

Just in the last month we have received two more requests: one to offer a q club for tweens and the other to offer a meet-up group for kids of LGBTQIA parents. As staffing and space allows, we will make these programs happen. Even without special programming just for LGBTQIA youth, you can ge started by integrating inclusive LGBTQIA materials into your regular programs, such as storytime or book clubs. The possibilities for inclusion are endless. We would love to hear what you are doing to serve LGBTQIA kids and families at your library!

Heather Acerro is Head of Youth Services at Rochester (MN) Public Library.

Sarah Joynt is Teen Librarian at Rochester (MN) Public Library.

Heather and Sarah use the pronouns she/her/hers, but they are okay with they/them too, even when you are just talking about one of them.

**YALSA just released research on Teens, Libraries, and LGBT issues.**

The post An Invisible Minority: Serving LGBTQIA Kids and Families appeared first on ALSC Blog.

Picture courtesy of Allen Public Library

It’s the time of the year for brackets – and we are hosting our own tournament to determine which picture book series is the favorite in our community. Our informal competition was organized by Sarah Davis, one of the Youth Service Librarians here at the Allen Public Library.

We started with the top popular children’s picture books according to circulation stats and didn’t allow for multiple books from the same series. The 16 books that came to the top were: Barbie & the Secret Door, Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes, We are in a Book (Elephant and Piggie), Thomas the Tank Engine, Berenstain Bears and Too Much Junk Food, Ella Bella Ballerina, If You Give a Cat a Cupcake, Everything Goes on Land, Hug Machine, Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog!, Dora Saves the Crystal Kingdom, Pinkalicious, A Sister More Like Me (Disney’s Frozen), and Happy to be Healthy (Doc McStuffins).

Picture courtesy of Allen Public Library

Sarah created a large bracket on the large bulletin board in our Children’s Library. Any library patrons can vote by picking up a slip and circling the book they prefer. See the cream colored envelopes on the bulletin board? The kids would pick up the slips of paper out of those envelopes, cast their votes, and then put them in a voting box.

At the end of the first week, 489 people had voted and eight titles were eliminated from the board. Goodbye, Thomas! Good effort, Hug Machine! After the second week, there were four titles remaining: Elephant and Piggie, Pinkalicious, Pete the Cat and the Pigeon.

It’s the final week of our competition and can you guess which books are pitted against each other? We predicted this would happen: it’s Mo vs. Mo, Elephant and Piggie vs. the Pigeon. Which book will win? We’ll find out on Monday, March 28!

Picture courtesy of
Allen Public Library

Which Mo Willems book would you vote for in our final competition?

The post Picture Book Brackets at the Library appeared first on ALSC Blog.

In last month’s post I shared my library’s experiences during the planning phases of our 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten reading initiative for preschoolers. This month we launched the program, and I have some updates to share with you.

Our 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten program launched the day we started our first 2016   session. Since last Monday we have been registering children in person and on our website. If caregivers sign up online, we e-mail them the reading log for the first 100 books. To receive prizes and subsequent logs, they must visit the library in person.

Photo courtesy of the author. Bulletin board created by Melody Perez.  Yes, the leaves on the tree are books!

We publicized the start of our new program in several ways:  we inserted a PowerPoint slide at the beginning of every story time presentation, our bulletin board artist, created a colorful display showing a tree with books for leaves, and we included a blurb about it in our January youth events flyer.

In the past nine days, 141 children have registered for 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten and one child already even returned the first reading log and has moved on to their next 100 books!

We are still preparing the prize pack that we will distribute for children who reach the half-way point (500 books) and complete the program. Allison Chao, the Youth Services Librarian who has been overseeing this project, has been creating the Apples and Ants booklets (originally created by Nancy Stewart) and the felt-piece sets. We’ve found that children might be half-way done sooner than we anticipated!

I will keep you updated on when our first young patron reaches 500 and 1,000 books. So far thing are going very well!

The post 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten Update appeared first on ALSC Blog.

Silent books exhibit, photo by A. R

Librarians usually call them “wordless books”;  recently I visited the Halifax Central Library to see the traveling IBBY exhibit of Silent Books. This is a collection of around 100 books, from all over the world, that anyone, no matter their native tongue, can read. In fact, that’s the whole idea of the exhibit—a collection of books accessible to newcomers – immigrants and refugees who arrive in a land where their native tongue is not the lingua franca. The collection was created, according to the IBBY website, in response to the waves of refugees from Africa and the Middle East arriving in the Italian island, Lampedusa. The collection created the first library on the island to be used by local and immigrant children.

Here in Nova Scotia, there are already Syrian refugee families arriving, even in our rural area, and we expect there to be more. What a wonderful idea that we can offer books for families to share, no matter their language. We all have wordless books in our collections, and I am working on creating a booklist so that it is easy to find them, both for the public and for our staff.

“La caca magica” photo by A. Reynolds

Now on to the books in the exhibit. The complete catalogue of the books is available here. Take a look: the books truly are from all over the world. I saw books from Portugal, Spain, Russia, Thailand, France, Germany, Pakistan, and many other countries. And the thing is, I could read all of these books. I may not have understood the title, as it was in language I do not know, but I certainly understood the stories. That’s the beauty of a picture book – a short story that often makes one think about life. I read a book about an urban couple who went out to pick blackberries, only to find the neighbor’s dog peeing on the bushes. So they grew their own. I read a book about a Congolese deli with an International clientele. I read about three pigs who tricked a wolf and then made a nice rug for their home.

Some of these books made me sigh at the beauty and design, such as Loup Noir, from France. Illustrated in black and white, all angles and starkness, this story cleverly tricked the reader into thinking the wolf was bad, but in the end, the wolf saved the day. It reminds us that appearances are not what they seem, and our first impressions need deeper thought before we jump to conclusions. I laughed out loud at La Caca Magica from Spain. My inner five year old chortled at the graphic-novel style story of a bird who poops on a rabbit, but gets a big surprise in the end.

“Loup Noir” cover, photo by A. Reynolds

These books were funny. They were endearing. They were absurd, beautiful works of art. I felt like I was on a world tour where I got a little insight into stories from other cultures, stories that felt very familiar. Look again at your wordless books. They are silent in one way, but then again, they speak volumes. And if you are lucky enough to be near this exhibit as it tours the world, go see it!

The post Silent books appeared first on ALSC Blog.

The weather outside may not be this frightful, but circ is still down!
courtesy of Flickr user Phil Roeder/CC

December is a traditionally slow month for circulation in our library. Though the library itself is usually packed with patrons on their school breaks attending our annual Stuffed Animal Sleepover and Winter Crafts programs, something about the combination of visiting relatives bringing children to the library and the lack of projects and homework over the break make our circulation dip. I recently pulled our monthly print book circulation for the past five years for a project I’m working on and was surprised to note that each year; December is our lowest-circulating month. The drop from November to December is not drastic, but it is significant, and it remains consistent no matter the weather, break schedule, or staffing of the children’s library.

With nowhere to go but up, this December we decided to play with different types of displays in an effort to see if we can raise circulation. Was December circulation destined to remain lower than the rest of the year?

I will always circulate!

Our motto was “Give the people what they want.” Instead of putting new books on display, we put popular books on display. We brought all the extra copies of older Diary of a Wimpy Kid and the original Percy Jackson series up from their homes in storage. We turned display space traditionally reserved for a broad array of holiday-themed books into a display of Dora, Daniel Tiger, and classic animated Holiday DVDs. Our themed displays, which traditionally circulate well (except in December!) came down in favor of “We Love Wimpy!” “We Love Harry!” and “We Love Percy!” displays centered on, respectively Wimpy Kid, Percy Jackson, and Harry Potter, plus close read-alikes that we knew kids would take out.  Our Non-Fiction display area became home to a wide variety of fact-based books, like Guinness World Records and This or That?

The results were encouraging. While circulation didn’t climb to the heights of summer reading, it did outstrip ever December for the past five years! Th experiment raised interesting questions. Are we doing our patrons a disservice if we only highlight new, well-reviewed books by authors they may not know? Is it elitist to keep books like Wimpy Kid off display because you know children will ask for them anyway? What matters more – keeping circulation high or giving the people what they want?

January is witnessing a transition back to our traiditonal types of displays, which truly drive circulation during other months of the year. But I wonder if we should be mixing more populist displays in with our regular displays on a monthly basis. How do you decide what goes on display in your library?

The post Displays, Circulation, and the Power of Wimpy Kid appeared first on ALSC Blog.

Sometimes it can be simple! I already did a comic this month, so here’s a recent easy project I created in our library: The Darien Alphabet!

For a while now, I’ve been wanting to do a project that brings together early literacy, open-ended art activities, community-building, and library created book-making. I had a million complicated ideas and then one simple one. And simple ideas can work too!

I put out an accordion folder with an alphabet on it, sheets of paper that said “A is for…” etc that had blank spaces on them for drawing, a map of the town, colored pencils, directions, and pictures from around town. We left the table up in the corner of the Children’s Library for a couple months, and then I scanned in the responses we got back and created Photoshop mosaics of the work.

An example of a filled out sheet

I got some great responses (and some really funny ones – R is for Rat?)! See below. And now, we’re printing up a book (photo books from Staples or Shutterfly are around $30) for the collection, helping foster the idea that kids can be authors too!

The post Keeping it simple appeared first on ALSC Blog.

It happens to the best of us: you’re going about your business, running programs as usual, when all of a sudden you hear about a library holiday or observance that you didn’t even have on your radar. How could you have missed National Something-Something Day?!? There are so many observance-worthy months and days each year, but it can be hard to keep track of them all, especially with enough lead time to plan something for your library. Never fear! We at the Public Awareness Committee want you to be aware of all the celebrations and commemorative dates coming in 2016. So bookmark this calendar, check out some of the links for information and ideas, and get prepared for your most festive year yet.

January

International Creativity Month
• Visit the National Gallery’s NGAkids Art Zone at http://tinyurl.com/ngakidz
• http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/creativity-month-classroom-activities.shtml

National Soup Month
•http://www.campbellskitchen.com/recipecollections/featured%20recipes/its%20national%20soup%20month
• http://healthymeals.nal.usda.gov/features-month/january/national-soup-month

Get Organized Month
• Use the Dewey Decimal Spinner (http://tinyurl.com/q8zunt4) to review the Dewey Decimal System

January Observances
• January 18 – Martin Luther King Day
• January 24 – Belly Laugh Day
• January 28 – Fun at Work Day

February

Library Lovers’ Month
• http://www.librarysupport.net/librarylovers/

Black History Month
• http://asalh100.org/future-themes/

American Heart Month
• http://www.cdc.gov/features/heartmonth/
• http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/
• http://healthfinder.gov/NHO/FebruaryToolkit.aspx

National Bird Feeding Month
• http://www.birdschoice.com/backyard-birding/february-national-bird-feeding-month

February Observances
• February 1-7 – Children’s Authors and Illustrators Week
• February 7 – Give Kids a Smile Day
• February 8 – Chinese New Year
• February 8-12 – Random Acts of Kindness Week
• February 15 – Presidents Day
• February 17 – Digital Learning Day
• February 24 – World Read Aloud Day

March

American Red Cross Month
• http://www.redcross.org/

Irish-American Heritage Month
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish-American_Heritage_Month

National Women’s History Month
• http://womenshistorymonth.gov/

Youth Art Month
• http://www.arteducators.org/news/yam

March Observances
• March 2 – Read Across America Day
• March 9 – No Smoking Day
• March 13 – Daylight Savings Time Begins
• March 16 – Freedom of Information Day
• March 23-29 – Arthritis Awareness Week

April

D.E.A.R. Drop Everything and Read Month
• A national month-long celebration of reading designed to remind folks of all ages to make reading a priority activity in their lives. Programs have been held nationwide on April 12. http://www.dropeverythingandread.com/

El día de los niños/El día de los libros
• (Children’s Day/Book Day), commonly known as Día, is a nationally recognized initiative that emphasizes the importance of literacy for all children from all backgrounds. It is a daily commitment to linking children and their families to diverse books, languages and cultures. Visit http://dia.ala.org for more information on celebrating this day. The celebration is intended to be year-round, culminating on April 30.

Math Awareness Month
• http://www.ams.org/samplings/math-awareness-month/mam

National Humor Month
• http://www.humormonth.com/

National Library Week – April 10-16, 2016
• http://www.ala.org/conferencesevents/celebrationweeks/natlibraryweek

National Poetry Month
• https://www.poets.org/national-poetry-month/home

School Library Month
• Visit www.ala.org./aasl/slm for ideas to celebrate and promote school libraries.

April Observances
• April 10-16 – National Library Week
• April 12 – National Library Workers Day
• April 13 – National Bookmobile Day
• April 21 – Poem in Your Pocket Day
• April 23-30 – Money Smart Week

May

Jewish American Heritage Month
• http://www.jewishheritagemonth.gov/

Asian Pacific American Heritage Month
• http://www.asian-nation.org/heritage.shtml

Mental Health Awareness Month
• http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/may
• http://www.nimh.nih.gov/index.shtml

National Foster Care Month
• https://www.childwelfare.gov/fostercaremonth/

Children’s Book Week – May 2-8, 2016
• http://www.bookweekonline.com/
• http://www.cbcbooks.org/

May Observances
• May 1-7 – Choose Privacy Week
• May 2-3 – National Library Legislative Day
• May 8 – Mother’s Day
• May 30 – Memorial Day

June

National GLBT Book Month
• http://www.ala.org/glbtrt/glbt-book-month

Audiobook Month
• Display award-winning and favorite children’s audiobooks.
• Get the list of ALA’s Odyssey award winners at http://www.ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/odysseyaward

June Observances
• June 5 – World Environment Day
• June 14 – Flag Day
• June 19 – Father’s Day
• June 19 – Juneteenth

July

National Parks & Recreation Month
• http://www.nrpa.org/july/

Family Golf Month
• Take a swing at STEM to find out why golf balls have dimples:
• http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/sports/golf/basics/question37.htm

July Observances
• July 4 – Independence Day
• July 30 – World Friendship Day

August

National Inventor’s Month
• Set up a tinkering station to encourage your young inventors: http://amomwithalessonplan.com/tinkering-station

National Back to School Month
• https://healthymeals.nal.usda.gov/features-month/august/national-back-school-month

August Observances
• August 7 – National Kids Day
• August 9 – World Indigenous Peoples’ Day
• August 12 – International Youth Day
• August 26 – Women’s Equality Day

September

Library Card Sign-up Month
• http://www.ala.org/news/mediapresscenter/factsheets/librarycardsign

Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15–October 15)
• http://www.hispanicheritagemonth.gov/

September Observances
• September 5 – Labor Day
• September 6 – Read a Book Day
• September 11 – National Grandparents Day
• September 15 – International Dot Day
• September 21 – International Day of Peace
• September 25 – Comic Book Day
• September 26-October 1 – Banned Books Week

October

Computer Learning Month
• Visit PBS Kids “Get Your Web License” at http://pbskids.org/old_license an online game that teaches Internet safety.

Arts and Humanities Month
• http://www.americansforthearts.org/events/national-arts-and-humanities-month

Go on a Field Trip Month
• Take a panoramic virtual tour of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History at www.mnh.si.edu/panoramas

October Observances
• October 4 – World Animal Day
• October 16 – World Food Day
• October 22 – Make a Difference Day
• October 29 – Cat Day

November

Picture Book Month
• Check http://picturebookmonth.com every morning to read inspiring essays about why picture books are important

National Adoption Month
• https://www.childwelfare.gov/topics/adoption/nam/

Aviation History Month
• Visit the National Museum of the US Air Force at www.nationalmuseum.af.mil

Families Stories Month
• http://www.nationaldaycalendar.com/family-stories-month-november/

Native American Heritage Month
• The Library of Congress created a Pinterest board to share resources from their collection. http://tinyurl.com/pfuvqbk

November Observances
• November 8 – Election Day
• November 11 – Origami Day
• November 19 – International Games Day

December

Safe Toys and Gifts Month
• https://www.healthtradition.com/december-is-safe-toys-and-gifts-month/

December Observances
• December 5 – International Volunteer Day
• December 5-12 – Computer Science Education Week
• December 10 – Human Rights Day

Debbie Bond is a Children’s Librarian at the Norwood Branch Library of the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County in Ohio, and she is writing this post for the Public Awareness Committee. You can reach her at [email protected].

The post Bookmark this Calendar! 2016 in Library Observances appeared first on ALSC Blog.

With this post and $5 to $40, you can encourage your community to create a glorious piece of collaborative art as part of a self-directed or outreach program.

Supplies:

• Chalk (we like this brand)
• White and/or black construction paper cut into 4″ x 4″ squares
• A sign (optional)

Set up: This is a fun and easy art project for an outreach event or self-directed tabletop activity. Just put up the sign, put out the paper and chalk and let kids and their grown ups create. If you wanted to make it a program, just set up some tables and chairs.

We used this as our outreach art activity for the summer. Staff at the booth would invite community members to decorate a square to add to the collage at the library. Our collage grew as the summer progressed.

The post Program in a Post: Squart! appeared first on ALSC Blog.

One of the activities we’re encouraging kids to do this summer is add to our Kids’ Choice book display.

Photo by Abby Johnson

Not only is this a fun way to get kids involved with the library, but it’s a great way to show kids that we value THEIR choices for summer reading.

Last week, Sarah Bean Thompson of the blog Green Bean Teen Queen posted about one of the toughest parts of the Summer Reading Club: seeing patrons devaluing the reading choices their kids are making this summer. Summer is a great time for kids to read what’s FUN for them, and it’s hard to see some adults telling kids that they need to read “at their level” or to put down the graphic novel and pick up “a real book”.

If you see this at your library, you may want to keep some elevator pitches in your back pocket. Let adults know that reading books that are on the easy side is a great way to increase fluency in reading. Graphic novels can be great for struggling readers since they have lots of illustrations to support the text. And when kids have FUN reading, they will want to KEEP READING, which is the best way for kids to become great readers.

Photo by Abby Johnson

Here’s a close-up of our display signage and the bookmark we made for kids to fill out when they want to add to our display by recommending a book. We’re starting out slowly – I filled up the display with our state book award winners and books that I know are popular with our kids so that we’d have something up on the display. As kids I know are coming in or as kids interact with me at the reference desk, I’m asking them to recommend a book if they would like to. Kids love to help and they love to share great books they have enjoyed, so I hope this will be a popular activity at our library all summer long!

— Abby Johnson, Children’s Services Manager
New Albany-Floyd County Public Library
New Albany, IN
http://www.abbythelibrarian.com

The post Valuing Choice This Summer appeared first on ALSC Blog.

In May, my library holds a huge annual pet fair. Technically, it’s a program run by our Reference Department and they cover all aspects of the program. But we love to help promote awesome programs our library is doing, especially family-friendly programs like the pet fair.

One way we help promote the pet fair is by putting up a display of pet books starting a couple of weeks before the program. Not only does this help spread the word, but we know that families who attend the program are likely going to stop in the library… where they’ll see a display of books on a subject they’re sure to be interested in. Circ stats for the win!

Photo by Abby Johnson

We’ve also put up a big display of art books when our local schools hold a reception at the library for their best art students (the art is displayed in the library for several weeks prior). It’s not a program that the Children’s Room is in charge of or has anything to do with, but we capitalize on these events that we know capture the interest of our community.

Do you do any book displays that tie into programming at your library or community events?

— Abby Johnson, Children’s Services Manager
New Albany-Floyd County Public Library
New Albany, IN
http://www.abbythelibrarian.com

The post Make Displays Work for You appeared first on ALSC Blog.

Urban Dictionary’s definition of Shelfie.

In our library we have a bulletin board just to the right as folks walk through the door.  We’ve always kept it looking “nice”.  Some timely book displays…occasionally some student work (our second graders’ tall tale characters are a favorite) graced the construction paper background.  But honestly?  I was getting bored looking at it all the time.

So I did what any good librarian would do and I headed to Pinterest for some ideas.  Sure there were lovely book ad type of displays, but this is exactly what I wanted to get away from.  And I realized, what I wanted was for our students to have an interactive experience.

We started with gratitude.  Modeled off the Gratitude Graffiti Project we seeded our bulletin board with post-its featuring things we are grateful for. Every time anyone (teacher, parent, student) walked through our doors they were invited to add something.  In no time our board filled up with positivity.

Next, I found this fabulous first lines interactive board on Pinterest. Intriguing first lines have always been of interest to me, and I knew some titles that would have to be included.  It’s super easy to switch out the titles after a little while to freshen the board up, and I have to say, circulation of the titles featured has gone up as well!  Bonus!

Our next venture helps our students see that not just our fabulous team of librarians are readers, but all the folks in our school.  We put out a call for staff and faculty to send us a selfie AND a shelfie.  We will ask our students to see if they can pair up the person with their shelf!  The next month we will put out a call to the students, and feature their selfie/shelfie combos.

Our bulletin board is quickly becoming a talked about, interacted with and exciting part of our space.

The post Making the Bulletin Board Your Patrons’ First Stop appeared first on ALSC Blog.

The Lava Pit from the Superhero Training Academy at Denver Public Library. Photo courtesy of Kahla Gubanich.

Earlier this year my colleagues and I decided to boldly step into the world of passive programming in order to serve our busy patrons. Passive programming encompasses a variety of types of programs that allow patrons to participate with minimal to no staff direction. Often they allow for varying amounts of patron involvement and/or time commitment. On the spectrum of passive programming you can have something as simple as a jigsaw left out on a table for communal puzzling or as complex as a forensic science program with clues, activity stations, and prizes for participants who figure out the culprit. We’ve found that passive programming not only increases participation, but also caregiver-child interaction and exploration.

Thinking of trying passive programming? Here are some of the pros:

Clue Sheet from Animal-ology at Denver Public Library. Photo courtesy of Amy Seto Musser.

• Less staffing at the time of the program.
• Flexible length (a day/week/month) allows you to serve a large number of patrons
• Easy to save, reuse, modify
• Can draw in people who don’t necessarily like to be in a group setting
• Customizable to the individual – self paced, self guided

On the other hand, there are some cons to keep in mind:

• Often requires more prep time
• Younger kids who cannot read may need an adult to help them
• Difficult for groups with lots of kids and few adults (One way to work around this is to put multiple activities in the same space)
• Some people are hesitant to do the program because it’s not what they’re used to, but this can be overcome by a friendly and welcoming explanation.

As you plan your program, here are a few elements to consider:

Quidditch Practice at Harry Potter Day at the Denver Public Library. Photo courtesy of Kahla Gubanich.

• Keep your coworkers in the loop so they can help patrons
• Make the space welcoming (signage, music)
• Think about your target age range
• Provide modifications for age levels if possible/appropriate
• It’s ok to step away and let patrons figure things out
• Signage and instructions -Enough that patrons can complete and reset activities, but not so much that they feel overwhelmed by text Check in during the program to clean up, check supplies, etc.
• Having a “prize” for completion gives you a chance to interact with participants and glean feedback

If you can think it, you can probably figure out a way to make it a passive program. Here are a few of our favorites:

Monster Habitat Card from the Monster Hunt at Denver Public Library. Photo courtesy of Kahla Gubanich.

• Staff Recommendation Bookmarks
• Question of the Week: Posted in the foyer each week, kids get a prize for guessing the answer at the info desk
• Who Stole the Cookies?: Forensic Science
• In Your Own Words Display: Our big glass display case is divided into sections, each one showing a scene from a well-known children’s story, such as The Three Little Pigs or The Tortoise and the Hare. Signage encourages caregivers and children to retell the story with one another
• Superhero Training Day (Recycled as The Batman Academy)
• Animal Obstacle Course
• Monster Hunt
• Harry Potter (Recycled in December and called Holidays at Hogwarts)
• A Day in Wonderland
• Animal-ology: Animal Science
• Art Heist
• Mission: Spy Secrets
• Out of This World: Outer Space Science

For more information, check out the Prezi from a recent passive programming training my colleague Kahla Gubanich and I presented.

I hope this post has given you some new ideas and encouraged you to explore passive programming. What kind of passive programming do you do at your library? Anything you’ve been hoping to try?

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Our guest blogger today is Amy Seto Musser. Amy has her MLS from Texas Woman’s University and is a children’s librarian at the Denver Public Library. She is always on the look out for creative ways to incorporate the arts into children’s services and programming to extend books beyond the page. Check out Amy’s blogs: http://picturebookaday.blogspot.com/ & http://chapterbookexplorer.blogspot.com/
Please note that as a guest post, the views expressed here do not represent the official position of ALA or ALSC.

If you’d like to write a guest post for the ALSC Blog, please contact Mary Voors, ALSC Blog manager, at [email protected].

In October, I had the pleasure of taking a continuing education class on youth services management that got me thinking about small (and not-so-small) changes I’ve made to our Children’s Room to make the space more effective. I wanted to share a few things I’ve done over the past few years to make our collection easier to use.

Photo by Abby Johnson

1. I made board books accessible to their target audience. Previously, our board books were shelved spine-out on low shelves near the entrance to the department. I purchased bins, which we placed in our picture book area. Don’t have funds to order bins? Try a child’s plastic sandbox!

Photo by Abby Johnson

2. I expanded shelving for our overfull holiday section by taking the doors off these cabinets. About half our holiday books were in storage for most of the year and it was a giant pain to switch them in and out when holidays came and went. Plus, we all know some kids will check out a Christmas or Halloween book any time of year. Now these books are out and available year-round.

Photo by Abby Johnson

3. I put graphic novels front and center. We have had graphic novels pulled out into their own section for a long time, but previously they were shelved in the middle of the fiction section, under the G’s (for “Graphic”). We were constantly getting questions about them because they were practically hidden.

I weeded our print reference section, moved the Parent/Teacher shelves across the aisle, and then put the graphic novels at the front of the fiction section. Bonus: it makes more sense for the Reference books to be adjacent to the Parent/Teacher shelves and that area has a table, which gets lots of use from homeschoolers, tutors, and teachers.

Photo by Abby Johnson

4. This is our most recent (and most expensive!) change. I was lucky to have some money from a library trust and I ordered two mobile display units. Previously, our “display” spaces were shelving bays in the stacks that were designated by us as “display” space, but most probably looked to our patrons just like any other shelf. By ordering these display units, we can make displays that really stand out and highlight our collection.

What changes (small or large) have you made to your space to make your collection work better for your patrons?

— Abby Johnson, Children’s Services Manager
New Albany-Floyd County Public Library
New Albany, IN
http://www.abbythelibrarian.com

The National Program Registry opens for Día on November 1st, so make sure to mark your calendars! The registry serves two purposes. First, your library will be recognized as participating in the El día de los niños/El día de los libros events on April 30, 2015. Additionally, by joining the registry, your library’s program will be part of a national searchable database in which other librarians can peruse your program ideas, get inspired, and hopefully design their own programs around diversity in literature. As a bonus, the registry also increases your library’s publicity and gives you some bragging rights.

I regularly check ALA’s Día website for program ideas, book lists, book club kit ideas, and free downloads. It’s where you can register your 2015 program and become part of the growing Día community. The Día booklist this year will have a STEAM focus, providing enticing possibilities of integrating STEAM content into your programs, displays, or book clubs. The booklist will be out in December, and I’m already anticipating it. I have in mind several STEAM-related programs or displays, including a scientist display honoring minorities in the field; a program on using technology to discover your own unique background and heritage (genealogy); and a program using blown-up prints of various engineering feats for children to guess which counties or persons designed them. The possibilities are endless!

Build STEAM with Día Mini-Grants (image courtesy ALSC)

Don’t forget that there are mini-grants available this year. You can check out more information on how to apply for one, and the approaching deadline, via the Día website or the Día Facebook Page. In previous years, libraries across the country have hosted everything from poetry readings, border dances, festivals and food tastings as Día events. We can’t wait to see what you all come up with for 2015! Start thinking about Día now. Remember to put your program in the database so we can all be amazed at what you’re doing for your diverse and dynamic communities!

Reminder! ALSC is now accepting mini-grant applications for libraries through the Día initiative. Mini-grants will be used to initiate a Building STEAM with Día program in libraries. Up to 20 mini-grants will be awarded at $1,500 each. Applications are due Friday, October 17 at 5pm Central.

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Emily Scherrer is the Library Administrator for Sierra Vista Public Library, Arizona and is writing this post for the Public Awareness Committee. As a librarian living and working in a “border town,” she is a big advocate for diverse programming and collections.  You can contact her at [email protected]

Returning from the ALA Conference, I was inspired by the notable tags used by the vendors on the exhibit floor.  I didn’t want to print up tags because with our library’s circulation, the books on display are constantly changing.  I needed a tag that was easy to see, but also adaptable to whatever book it was placed in.  Thankfully, I have a really creative staff at my branch and by brainstorming with my branch head and afterschool leader, we were able to create some fun and useful book tags.  To begin, I found some speech bubble post-it notes and laminated them.  (Moment of honesty:  These were a giveaway by Sam Hain Publishing at ALA this year.  There are so many benefits of going to conference beyond the great programming!)  When I cut them out, I kept a tail of laminated plastic on the end: 

It’s a little hard to see in the picture, but I cut a slit into the tail so it would slide over a page in the book.  Now that it’s laminated, it can be written on with a dry erase marker.  (My after school leader told me about this and it’s revolutionized my life!)  Here is a picture of some of the books:

I added a security tag to the back of each post-it, so they won’t accidentally walk out the door inside the book. Because the security tag is white, you really don’t notice it.  Here is a group of books on display:

The picture is a bit dark, but they look great in person.  If we lose any, we’re only out a post-it and some lamination paper.  When I make more, I’m going to make the tails a little longer.  I was able to make 9 tags out of one lamination sheet, but I think 6 would be better.  This will allow the tail to be a little longer and fit more securely in the book.  I’m using them in my picture book area currently, but I think the possibilities are endless. 

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Photo courtesy of Christopher Brown

Our guest blogger today is Christopher Brown. Chris is a librarian for the Wadsworth Branch of the Free Library of Philadelphia.  He received is MLIS from the University of Pittsburgh in 2005 and his MA from Memorial University of Newfoundland in 2013.  His current books obsessions are The Sittin’ Up by Shelia P. Moses, the Green Knowe series by Lucy M. Boston, and Leah Wilcox’s Waking Beauty.  He’s probably book talking at least one of these titles right now.

Please note that as a guest post, the views expressed here do not represent the official position of ALA or ALSC.

If you’d like to write a guest post for the ALSC Blog, please contact Mary Voors, ALSC Blog manager, at [email protected].

Ah, Summer Reading is upon us. One thing I like to do each summer is find a way to highlight the fact that we don’t expect kids to be the only ones reading this summer – your children’s librarians are reading, too! We’ve tried several iterations of “librarian reading logs”: individual reading logs and group reading logs. I think this year’s is the best yet!

Photo by Abby Johnson

We know that book covers are much more eye-catching than a list of titles, so this year I’m asking my staff to add book covers to a group “reading log” that’s posted on the most visible side of our Children’s reference desk. I used bulletin board paper to make a big poster and the sign says “Check out what your librarians are reading this summer!” Get it? “Check out”? :)

As we read this summer, our poster will grow and grow. Hopefully some of the book covers will catch somebody’s eye and encourage him or her to engage with us about the books we’re reading this summer. I’m hoping it’ll be an opener to some great readers’ advisory transactions.

We also put up a book display near our fiction section where we can actually place some of the books we’ve been reading for kids to browse or check out:

Photo by Abby Johnson

The sign affixed to the shelf says “Hey! A librarian picked me up and read me… I think you should, too!” Each book has a bookmark inside that indicates a genre or readalike. We’ve already had great success with this display and we’ve been refilling it often!

How do you show your kids that you’re reading?

– Abby Johnson, Children’s Services Manager
New Albany-Floyd County Public Library
New Albany, IN
http://www.abbythelibrarian.com

As a child, there was nothing quite so thrilling as running downstairs on the first day of Summer Reading Club to find the children’s department transformed into a medieval castle, the snowy Arctic, or even outer space. As an adult, I find myself on the other side of the desk and responsible for orchestrating this transformation. As summer approaches, you may find yourself in a similar position. While I am not exactly Martha Stewart, I am a Martha who knows a thing or two about decorating a department for Summer Reading Club and I have a few strategies for making this project a little easier.

Divide and Conquer

Rather than thinking of your space as one big box, separate that box into different compartments. How do you want each compartment to work with your club’s theme? Are there any particular structural or physical considerations that will help or hinder your decorations? For example, we turned our fiction section into the Forest of Fiction because it had a pillar that was perfect for dressing up like a tree.

Our big tree in the Forest of Fiction

You can make your sections as simple or as complex as you want, depending on your space and resources. I usually assign a different subtheme or idea to each of my sections. For “Have Book, Will Travel,” each section was a different travel destination, such as the Picture Book Jungle, Computer Cove, and the Audiobook Arctic, among others.

To DIY or Not to DIY?

Handcrafted decorations are a double-edged sword. In many cases, I’ve been able to save money and stretch my budget using a cheaper DIY option from Pinterest. However, saving money can come at the expense of time spent laboring over a glue gun. Even relatively simple projects—like our paper bag trees from last year—can require a lot of planning, coordination, and help from other staff members. Before you commit to additional supplies or staff time, make sure you have a good understanding of what the project requires. Do a trial run if possible, and don’t be afraid to make modifications to expedite the process.

Reuse

When you’re taking down decorations at the conclusion of the club, you may think, “When on earth am I going to use these inflatable monkeys again?” The answer may surprise you. Some of the supplies we bought last year will be making another appearance this year, which gave me a little more room in the budget. If you have the storage space, try to hang on to any reusable supplies for a future program. Your future self will thank you.

Repeat: It’s All Worth It

One of my favorite reactions to our decorations came from a little girl who asked if the penguins that had been in our audiobook section would be flying back for Winter Reading Club. I like to think about this story whenever things start getting hectic on the decoration front. Would it be easier to slap a poster on the wall and call it a day? Sure—you wouldn’t need a glue gun or a ladder, either. Does it transform your space in the same way? Not by a long shot.

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Our guest blogger today is Martha Cordeniz O’Hara. Martha is a Children’s Services Associate at the Glencoe Public Library in Glencoe, Illinois. When she is not at the Glencoe Public Library, you can sometimes find her working at the Lake Bluff Public Library or attending class through the LEEP Program at the University of Illinois. She lives in Highland Park with her husband and two opinionated cats. You can follow her on Twitter at @marthacohara, especially if you are interested in pictures of the aforementioned cats.

Please note that as a guest post, the views expressed here do not represent the official position of ALA or ALSC.

If you’d like to write a guest post for the ALSC Blog, please contact Mary Voors, ALSC Blog manager, at [email protected].

It’s a sad but well-known fact that when school budgets are tight, art is one of the subjects that’s first to go. Fortunately, there’s nonprofit organizations like Art in Action, who bring high-quality, curriculum-based art education into schools that need it most. Students in the program learn about great works by masters and then produce their own artwork inspired by their studies. How can libraries get involved in this wonderful program? By turning the library into an art gallery!

In our town, Half Moon Bay, the library is one of the communitysites that display works by Art in Action participants. Each month, parent volunteers come to the library armed with bundles of nicely mounted and labeled artwork. They eye the walls in our children’s area then climb tall ladders and expertly mount the work.

The effect is immediate and visceral: the young artists’ creativity is boundless, surprising, and sometimes literally jumps off the canvas (in some cases, art is a full-on multimedia experience). In the Half Moon Bay Library, the majority of art is displayed above our picture books, which contributes to the building’s lovely, vibrant atmosphere. While I’m all for READ posters,  decorating our space with works by  young artists in our very own community is immensely satisfying. Needless to say, visitors both familiar with the young artists or simple art lovers marvel at the ever changing displays.

The library has connected Art in Action with our homeschooling community by offering a daytime class suited to their schedule, age range, and focus of study. The program is offered nationwide and may be a suitable resource for homeschooling groups interested in art education curriculums.

At the end of each school year, we partner with Art in Action to celebrate the end of a creative year. A public reception is hosted at the library, where artists are presented with certificates and are free to enjoy light refreshments and mingle with guests–fellow students, friends, and family. The audience is made up of both library users and infrequent users, making it a perfect time to highlight art books and do sign ups for the summer reading program, which always features arts and crafts activities. Families are delighted with the knowledge that they can continue their art exploration during summer months, while looking forward to the next round of Art in Action in the fall. It’s a win-win partnership, and an easy way to inject a bit more STEAM into your library programming.

Karen Choy is a member of the School Age Programs & Services Committee. She works as the Youth Services Librarian at the Half Moon Bay Library in California. She blogs for kids, teens, and adults at the San Mateo County Library Web site.

We all have something. There’s some little, unimportant thing that drives you crazy in your Children’s Room or your school library. And I want to know what it is.

I will confess that I have a few things. The chairs need to be in the right places, the displays needs to be filled with face-outs, and then there’s this display:

Photo by Abby Johnson, NAFC Library.

I think it may have once been used for (or intended for) big books, but we couldn’t ever get them to look nice, so we repurposed this weird little shelving unit. It stands in the entrance to our department and usually features popular series of books.

The thing that drives me crazy is that each pocket is a different depth, meaning that different size books look nice in different pockets. I am somewhat obsessive about picking out the series to feature in the size-appropriate rows. The middle row where you can’t really see the last couple of books? Driving me crazy right now.

Does it matter? NO!
Does it bug me so much that I make a HUGE DEAL out of everyone putting the “right” size books in there? NO!

But if I’m on my own, I will definitely rearrange or pull different books so that it looks “right” to me.

I know I’m not the only one (RIGHT?!), so out with it! What are the little, unimportant things in your library space that drive you crazy?

– Abby Johnson, Children’s Services Manager
New Albany-Floyd County Public Library
New Albany, IN
http://www.abbythelibrarian.com

Photos courtesy of ALSC

Show off your creativity! We’re giving you a reminder about the ALSC Blog Photo Contest. Send us your great photos related to children’s librarianship. We’ll even give you some ideas:

• Library spaces
• Programs
• Displays
• Crafts
• Books
• Children’s technology
• Reading

May the best photo win!

Participants must be ALSC members to enter. Anyone, members and non-members, can vote in the final round. Be sure to visit the ALSC Blog to vote for your favorite library photo beginning April 25, 2014.

Prizes include tickets to the Newbery-Caldecott Banquet and $50 gift certificates to Barnes & Noble. Entries must be submitted by 8 am Central Time, Wednesday, April 23, 2014. For rules and entry form, see the ALSC Blog Photo Contest site.

There are kids who walk into the Children’s Library, walk right up to the desk, and tell you exactly what they’re looking for. There are kids with definite opinions and kids whose taste is harder to suss out. All these kids are a part of the joy of Reader’s Advisory – the easy ones make you feel like you’re aces at your job, while the difficult ones make you feel like a superhero when you find the perfect book for them to read.

But there is another group of kids that we noticed we were not reaching – the ones who won’t approach the librarian for suggestions, even when coaxed. At the same time, we noted our new fiction displays were not emptying out as quickly as they once had. In an effort to reach those children who don’t like to come to the librarian for RA and to help kids realize that there were worthy options among the new fiction, we started adding a simple and effective bit of hands-off RA to our displays.

Sneaky RA!
photo provided by the author

What we did was simple and not groundbreaking, but it has amped up our new fiction turnaround to the point where are there are days that we run out of new books in the library! I used the die-cut machine to punch out roughly 1 zillion (a real number) bright yellow medallions, on which we wrote “For Kids Who Love….” and then inserted the title of a similar book that kids will know. The thing that makes this so effective is we exclusively link the new books to massively popular titles and authors. This lets both kids and parents who might not be familiar with popular but mid-list titles recognize books they may want to read. Does the book have family issues or emotional plot beats? For kids who love Wonder. Are there animals who talk/have feelings? For kids who love The One and Only Ivan. Is there any magic? For kids who love Harry Potter.

What’s your favorite book’s soulmate?
photo provided by the author

We started applying this to our themed fiction displays as well. For example, in February, we had a Book Soulmates display. We invited kids to discover the soulmate to their favorite book and then linked massively popular titles to older books that need an new audience. This allowed me to FINALLY convince a child to check out Good Night, Mr. Tom, a book with some of the worst cover art I have ever seen, but which I love so much I wrote about it here. I advertised it’s soulmate as Number the Stars, since they’re both about children’s experiences during WWII. And Mr. Tom hasn’t been checked in since!

The author’s favorite tiara and everyone’s favorite song.
photo provided by the author

We plan to keep this up for as long as it’s effective. Patron feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. Both parents and kids have remarked that they love the new displays, and our only questions have been about whether or not it’s ok to disturb the display and/or take a book with a medallion on it.

Now I just need to figure out how to tie together princesses, RA, and like titles for this display, and I’ll be golden!

Photo taken by Abby Johnson, NAFCPL

My library is offering its first Winter Reading Club for teens and kids this winter! We borrowed heavily from Angie Manfredi’s Winter Reading program at the Los Alamos County Library System and we’re really excited to try it out!

For us, Winter Reading differs significantly from the Summer Reading Club because, where in summer we’re truly trying to REACH ALL THE CHILDREN! and GET EVERYONE TO READ!, in winter our goal is to get people to visit the library and discover the resources we have for them here. In summer, we’re trying to help bridge that gap and help kids keep up their reading skills. In winter, they’ll be in school most of the time our program is going on, so we’re trying to give them something interesting to do during those cold winter months, and we’re inviting them to explore their library.

What we really liked about the program Angie developed is that it helps us showcase some of the wonderful books that patrons may not know we have. Picture book biographies! Award winners! And on each BINGO card, they can fill a square by getting a suggestion from a librarian (come use us for reader’s advisory!).

We are really keeping it simple this first year. Kids get a BINGO sheet (like in Angie’s program – really, go check it out). For their first BINGO, they get their choice of scratch and sniff bookmark (we have candy canes, popcorn, and cookies) and they get to put their name on a mitten and add it to our bulletin board. If they want to keep going, they can earn another bookmark by filling in all the squares. Kids and teens can also earn “fine bucks” for participating in the Winter Reading Club so they can unblock cards if they’ve not been able to use them because of fines.

I really want to emphasize to families that the actual “prize” is having something to do and getting to know your library. We’ll see how it goes. If we feel that we need to add additional incentives next year, we can. Our teen program (developed by our teen librarian) is also a BINGO sheet, but has some additional prize drawings to help get those busy teens in the door.

Photo taken by Abby Johnson, NAFCPL

To help folks find some of the categories on our BINGO sheet, we’ve created some displays like the shelves under our bulletin board, which feature Coretta Scott King winners and honor books and Pura Belpré winners and honor books.

Do you offer a Winter Reading Club? Any tips for this Winter Reading newbie?

– Abby Johnson, Children’s Manager
New Albany-Floyd County Public Library
New Albany, IN
http://www.abbythelibrarian.com

In November, we celebrate National Adoption Month.  Why not put together a display of books featuring the themes of adoption and family love?  Here are a few titles to get you started…

The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown

Sweet Moon Baby by Karen Henry Clark

Tell Me Again About the Night I Was Born by Jamie Lee Curtis

A Mother for Choco by Keiko Kasza

Mover the Moon: An Adoption Tale by Karen Katz

Horace by Holly Keller

Bringing Asha Home by Uma Krishnaswami

I Love You Like Crazy Cakes by Rose A. Lewis

The Red Thread: An Adoption Fairy Tale by Grace Lin

Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney

Journey Home by Lawrence McKay, Jr.

The Family Book by Todd Parr

We Belong Together: A Book About Adoption and Families by Todd Parr

On the Night You Were Born by Nancy Tillman

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Amanda Moss Struckmeyer is the Head of Youth Services at the Middleton Public Library in Middleton, Wisconsin, where she has developed an ever-evolving buffet of programs for tweens. Amanda is serves on the committee, Library Services to Special Populations and Their Caregivers.