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The weather outside may be frightful (or it may not, depending on where you live!), but it’s always a great time to cozy up for storytime. There are TONS of great ideas for winter storytime and here are some of my favorites:
Books:
- Bear Snores On by Karma Wilson, illustrated by Jane Chapman (Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2002). This is a great rhyming book about hibernation.
- Blizzard by John Rocco (Disney-Hyperion, 2014). I use this one for slightly older kids and they love the idea of school being closed for days (and the fold-out map through the snow).
- Froggy Gets Dressed by Jonathan London (Puffin Books, 1992). The pattern and humor in this book lend themselves well to storytelling, so this makes a great felt story, too!
- A Hat for Minerva Louise by Janet Morgan Stoeke (Dutton Children’s Books, 1994). Silly Minerva Louise wanders out into the snow and gets everything mixed up! This one is sure to get children laughing.
- Red Sled by Lita Judge (Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2011). This wordless book shows what happens to a red sled left out at night. There’s plenty of opportunity to encourage talking in your storytime as you discover what happens together.
- Red Sled by Patricia Thomas (Boyds Mills Press, 2008). This story-poem is almost completely made up of rhyming words, making this a great choice for developing phonemic awareness.
- Snow by Uri Schulevitz (Farrar, Strauss & Giroux, 1998). This book perfectly captures what it feels like to wait for and hope for and finally get SNOW!
- Snow Rabbit, Spring Rabbit by Il Sung Na (Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2011). This book talks about what many different animals do in winter. There are some great STEM connections to make here.
- Snowballs by Lois Ehlert (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1995). This book lends itself really well to a cheap, creative craft: decorate your own snowmen with leftover bits and pieces from your craft cabinets or cupboards.
- Snowmen at Night by Caralyn Buehner, illustrated by Mark Buehner (Dial Books, 2002). Bouncy rhyming text answers the question: What DO snowmen do at night?
- The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats (Puffin Books, 1962). This book is a classic for a reason. That experience of exploring a snow-covered world and Keats’s gorgeous artwork continue to captivate young audiences.
- Soup Day by Melissa Iwai (Henry Holt BYR, 2010). On a winter’s day, a girl and her mother buy the ingredients and make soup. This is a cozy, yummy book.
- Supertruck by Stephen Savage (Roaring Brook Press, 2015). When a terrible blizzard hits the city, one truck comes to the rescue. This will pull in all your littles who love things that go.
Thanks to the following Twitter librarians who helped me compile this list!: @annavalley, @hollystorckpost, @itsmissmeg, @lizinthelibrary, @lizpatanders, @lmulvenna, @MelissaZD, @misskubelik, @MrsHendReads, @mytweendom, @rockinlibrarian, @SharonGrover2, @storytimekatie
Flannel Stories/Rhymes/Activities:
Build a Snowman. There are infinite variations of this that you could try with felt OR with your imagination. Get kids talking by asking them for suggestions of what your snowman needs. Ideas: eyes, nose, mouth, arms, buttons, scarf, hat… what else could you put on a snowman? (Answer: anything! Everything!)
Photo by Abby Johnson
Matching Mittens. We adapted this prop from Miss Mary Liberry’s Sorting Socks game. This is a great activity to talk about colors & same/different.
Photo by Abby Johnson
Snowman Colors. We adapted this felt from Melissa Depper’s Red, White, and Blue felt. We have used this structure for several enjoyable felts!
Songs:
- If You’re Happy When it Snows, Clap Your Hands
- Jbrary has an AWESOME Winter Storytime playlist of songs and rhymes.
- “Saw a Snowflake” – adapted from the song “Saw a Leaf” from Jean Warren’s page. I use this one with scarves and we float and twirl our scarves like flying snowflakes.
- “Toss Your Scarves” by Jean Warren. This song to the tune of “Jingle Bells” is a fun way to incorporate scarves into your storytime and practice gross motor skills.
More resources!
You can find more Winter Storytime plans on the following sites:
What are YOUR favorite books, songs, and activities to use for winter storytimes?
— Abby Johnson, Youth Services Manager
New Albany-Floyd County Public Library
New Albany, IN
http://www.abbythelibrarian.com
The post Bundle Up for Storytime appeared first on ALSC Blog.
Photo by Bernard Goldbach, used under a Creative Commons license.
It’s been quite a year in the Children’s Room, and this is normally something I’d post on my personal blog, BUT I think it’s something we all need to hear from time to time.
Sometimes things are overwhelming.
- This year, my director suddenly resigned in March. We still do not have a replacement.
- Our budget was frozen from May to August (yup, right during the Summer Reading Club – fun!).
- In June, we moved the teen area downstairs and combined Children’s and Teen into the Youth Services Department, which I am supervising (more staff to supervise!).
- I bought a house with my fiance in August (and yes, I’m planning a wedding, too).
- In, I don’t know, September or something we shifted the pages from being supervised by Circulation staff to being supervised by Reference and Youth Services (more staff to supervise!).
And throughout all of this, of course we’re keeping up with our regular, intense schedule of programs. We’re having monthly department meetings and reader’s advisory training. And December is the month to do employee evaluations, an end-of-year report for the Board, and start thinking about stats for the annual report to the state.
I don’t say all this to make you feel sorry for me or to complain about my job – I love my job! But it gets overwhelming sometimes. And we ALL feel that way sometimes. When I am feeling stressed out, here are the blog posts I turn to so I know I’m not alone:
- Kendra Jones’s Self Care Sundays posts remind me that I need to take time for myself and do non-library things that I enjoy.
- Rebecca’s posts about when things have gotten crazy at her library remind me that 1) this happens to everyone sometimes and 2) this, too, shall pass.
- Melissa Depper’s posts about saying no remind me that I can take steps to manage future stress by saying no, even when opportunities sound like so much fun or great professional steps. Opportunities will come around again (unless you overextend yourself and do a terrible job).
- Bryce’s post about feelings being valid, even if they’re not positive feelings. Even if summer (or whatever) is stressed you out and someone tells you it should not stress you out.
I thank the blogosphere and Twitter and ALSC and ALA for helping me create an awesome Personal Learning Network, which also sometimes becomes a Personal Leaning Network as I lean on my librarian friends for support during these times.
What do you do when you’re feeling overwhelmed? How do you manage stress from a job you LOVE (but that is also definitely stressful sometimes)?
— Abby Johnson, Youth Services Manager
New Albany-Floyd County Public Library
New Albany, IN
http://www.abbythelibrarian.com
The post On Feeling Overwhelmed appeared first on ALSC Blog.
Last month during our students’ Fall Break, I offered a STEM program that was easy to prep, easy to staff, and cost us nothing! We held a drop-in Science Playground where I put out all kinds of science materials and allowed families to explore at their own pace.
Setup for Science Playground. Photo by Abby Johnson.
** This is the caveat where I tell you that the reason that this program was absolutely free to us is that we have been collecting science tools and kits for several years for our summer Science Explorer table. Worry not, I have some ideas in case you do NOT have science tools at the ready!**
I scheduled the program for an afternoon during Fall Break. It was drop-in and open to all ages, although the materials we had were mostly geared towards the early elementary crowd (and that’s the audience we ended up attracting). I set up tables in our meeting room and placed our science kits and activities out, as well as a large display of science books that families could check out. I put on some background music and opened the doors. As families came in, I let them know that they were welcome to explore all our stations and check out any books they liked. I kept a tally for attendance and the program pretty much ran itself.
Science Viewers. Photo by Abby Johnson.
I set out the following stations:
- Student microscopes with slides
- Science Discovery Kits on magnets, motion, and magnification
- Magnet wands with pipe cleaner “hair”
- Color paddles and materials to draw
- Bug sorting set
- Science viewers
- Wooden blocks
- Plastic jungle animal toys
- Soft vinyl shape toys
Toys on the carpet for little learners. Photo by Abby Johnson.
We’ve purchased most of these materials from Lakeshore Learning.
Families explored most of the stations I set out. The microscopes were a little difficult because they really needed more one-on-one instruction on how to use them. If we do this program again, I would probably forgo the microscopes and put out more different materials to look at under magnifying glasses.
Magnification station. Photo by Abby Johnson.
Although most of our crowd was in that early elementary age, older kids were eager to show the tricks they knew to younger kids or to the adults in the room. They knew how to make the magnets do cool things or how to mix the colors with the color paddles and showed that to the other kids. Grownups browsed the display books (especially if I mentioned the display to them directly), but not many kids did browsing on their own.
The station materials did NOT stay neatly where I placed them, but that was no big deal. If a station had a quiet moment, I would go over and quietly group things back into their proper kits. I could have probably utilized a teen volunteer or two to help keep things organized and for set-up and clean-up, but it wasn’t a big deal for me to do these things myself.
We were in a fairly small room, so it did get pretty loud in there occasionally with all the great conversations going on, kids making animal sounds, etc. I knew this would probably happen, so I avoided stations that had to do with sound since I knew it would be difficult to hear.
Now, if you don’t happen to have all this great science stuff laying around, you could still totally do this program (and you could keep it pretty cheap, as well). Here are some ideas (which I might use next time!):
- Building with cardboard boxes instead of blocks (ask your coworkers to save boxes of all types: cake mixes, cereal boxes, egg cartons all make great, free building material).
- Challenge kids to construct a boat that will float or a tower that reaches so many inches using whatever materials you have handy (aluminum foil, popsicle sticks, yarn, spaghetti, etc.).
- Sensory bins using dry beans and containers made of different materials to pour them with.
- Put out realia to explore. You could put out leaves and/or rocks and accompanying field guides to try to identify them or just collect sticks, seeds, grasses, flowers, etc. and let kids explore them.
- Sink and float station. Put out a tub of water and various materials. Encourage kids to guess beforehand and then test their hypothesis to see if they were right.
- Any of these shadow activities that Amy Koester posted about on the ALSC Blog.
What other fun science activities would make good stations for a self-directed program like this?
— Abby Johnson, Youth Services Manager
New Albany-Floyd County Public Library
New Albany, IN
http://www.abbythelibrarian.com
The post Visit the Science Playground appeared first on ALSC Blog.
If you live in a place where you have deciduous trees, you are probably experiencing (or starting to experience) that brilliant foliage color change that happens this time of year. Which means that it is a GREAT time for making leaf rubbings with your kids at the library. (Also: even if you do not live in a place where the leaves change in the fall, as long as you have leaves you can do leaf rubbings!)
Photo by Abby Johnson
This may seem like a very basic and boring activity. I thought so, too. But our kids go crazy for it every year (even though we do it with our Afterschool outreach storytimes every single year). And it is extremely cheap and easy to do. Which makes it a perfect craft, in my opinion.
Here’s what you do:
Step 1: Gather leaves. I do not have deciduous trees in my yard, so I take a nice walk at our local park and I’m careful to only gather a few leaves from each tree so it doesn’t make a noticeable difference.
Photo by Abby Johnson
Step 1B: I have found that if you gather leaves from the ground, it’s hard to find leaves that are not dried out and those aren’t going to last you very long. I pick leaves from the trees (preferably leaves that have already changed color since they are so beautiful), and I am always careful to knock any bugs off and to choose leaves that don’t have spiderwebs and things on them.
** Make sure that you know what you are picking are non-harmful leaves! If you’re not sure, skip that tree or bush.
Step 2: Put the leaves in a plastic ziplock bag. This will keep them fresh if you want to use them for a few days. When we take this activity to our Afterschool groups, we use the same leaves for three or four visits. They will last nicely for 4-5 days, after which we compost them and I pick fresh leaves for the next week.
Step 3: To make the leaf rubbings, put a leaf or leaves on the table with the veiny side (the “bumpy side”) facing up. Place a blank piece of paper over the leaves (thinner paper is better – regular printer paper is what we use). Then use a crayon to GENTLY color the paper over where the leaves are placed. You should see the outline of the leaf appearing on the paper.
Photo by Abby Johnson.
Step 3B: When kids have problems with this activity, it is usually because they are coloring too hard on the paper. To make it easier, you can peel the wrapping off the crayons and have them color with the side of the crayon.
And that’s it!
Every year, I expect kids to be bored with this activity, but it hasn’t happened yet. We encourage the older kids who have done it before to help the younger kids. And kids always ask “Are these REAL leaves?!” Yes, yes they are. We’re bringing a little bit of nature to the kids. One nice thing about this activity is that kids can repeat it pretty much anywhere. If they have trees on their school grounds or in their neighborhoods, they can gather leaves and repeat this on their own very easily.
What if you DON’T have access to leaves (or have concerns about allergies – this has never been a problem for us, but I could see it happening?)? You can try this activity with anything that has a texture. Tree bark, concrete, the bottom of your shoe.
Have you done leaf rubbings with your kids?
— Abby Johnson, Youth Services Manager
New Albany-Floyd County Public Library
New Albany, IN
http://www.abbythelibrarian.com
The post Ruminating on Leaf Rubbing appeared first on ALSC Blog.
When our library created its strategic plan, many of the goals concerning the Children’s Room fell under the category of “Create Young Readers”, so we’re always looking for ways to engage our youngest patrons and the adults who work with them.
I’ve posted before about our School Collection program where we circulate boxes of books to teachers for classroom use. This year, we have debuted another facet of our School Collection program: circulating felt stories.
We had gotten requests for circulating felt stories from teachers over the years, and this year we decided to go for it. I have a particularly crafty staff person and I made this one of her goals this year to create felt stories to add to this collection.
Photo by Abby Johnson
Each felt story/rhyme is housed in a simple ziplock bag. A piece of cardboard in the bag helps give them shape.
Photo by Abby Johnson
On one side of the cardboard we print the words to the rhyme or story, the contents of the bag, and we place the barcode for checkout.
The felt stories are a special perk for teachers, so only teachers with a School Collection card may check them out. We have tried to provide a good selection and have made multiples of felts that fit popular themes (seasonal, etc.).
As the felt stories circulate and come back, our staff check the bags to make sure all the pieces have been returned. If we’re missing something, we can contact the teacher to see if it’ll turn up or we can pretty easily make a new piece.
We’re still growing our collection, but hoping that this will entice more early childhood teachers to check out School Collections and use them with their students!
Do you have any special circulating collections that are popular with your patrons?
— Abby Johnson, Youth Services Manager
New Albany-Floyd County Public Library
New Albany, IN
http://www.abbythelibrarian.com
The post Check Out our Felt Stories appeared first on ALSC Blog.
Maybe you are lucky like me and your Summer Reading Club is finished or winding down, or maybe you still have some weeks to go. Either way, let’s talk about debriefing after the Summer Reading Club is over.
I always dedicate our early August/late July department meeting to discussing the Summer Reading Club. We talk about what worked and what didn’t. We make notes for what we should change or keep for next year. We go ahead and pencil in dates so that we’re all clear about our schedule.
Here are some things we did this summer that we had discussed last summer:
Photo by Abby Johnson
Our prize cart was decorated and we always pushed it out on one side of our desk (the side without shelving carts) because last year we had some confusion about which books were prize books. This worked really well for us this summer and having a special, decorated cart got the kids even more excited about choosing a free book.
Last year, we had a huge issue with registration for programs. We decided to try out having NO REGISTERED PROGRAMS this summer and it went smashingly. The only programs we had capacity issues with were our large performers where we give out tickets to ensure we’re staying within the fire code. And it was amazing the amount of work it saved us in not having to sign up kids for all those programs. That was a benefit we hadn’t even really considered, but it was huge.
And here are some things we discussed this year and that you should consider as you’re winding down your program and making notes for next year:
- Is the registration and/or logging process easy for patrons and staff? If not, how can we make it easier?
- Do the prizes given out encourage kids to read and are they easy for staff to manage?
- How was your program attendance? If it was low, how could you bolster it? If it was unmanageable, how can you make it easier for staff to handle?
- What great programs did you offer that you might like to repeat? What programs would be good to repeat with some changes?
- How did you feel at the end of the summer? If you felt like you wanted to die, what made the summer so hard? Is there anything you can change to make it easier?
- How did your Summer Reading Club affect other departments? Is there anything you can change to make it easier for Circulation, Pages, IT, Marketing, etc.?
Do you meet to debrief about the Summer Reading Club? What items do you make sure to discuss?
— Abby Johnson, Youth Services Manager
New Albany-Floyd County Public Library
New Albany, IN
http://www.abbythelibrarian.com
The post On Debriefing the Summer Reading Club appeared first on ALSC Blog.
Here at my library, we are just about halfway through the summer (hooray!), so I thought it might be a good time to check in and see how Summer Reading is going for everyone.
Our reading program is going like gangbusters with about 1500 kids (plus about 300 in the Daycare Summer Reading Club) registered and lots of finishers coming in (we typically end up with about 2000 kids signed up by the end of the summer). This year, we’re able to give out a FREE BOOK to every finisher, which feels awesome (we typically have about 1000 finishers).
Another big hit has been the Fine Bucks we’re giving out to children and teens. Each SRC finisher gets 10 fine bucks, which can be used to pay fines on late or lost books on children’s or teen cards. I really love any way we can get kids’ cards clear and allow them to check out books. Parents love that our Fine Bucks don’t expire, so they can save them for when they might need them.
Photo by Abby Johnson
My staff and I have been reading, too! We’re slowly filling up our staff “reading log”, which is posted at our Children’s Reference Desk to (we hope!) inspire families to join us in reading all summer long.
Our programs have been going strong, with huge turnouts for our large performers this summer. Because we had such a HUGE increase in our outreach to schools this past school year, we took a little step back from summer programming. Families are still coming in and using their library and checking out tons of books!
It’s almost time to begin the countdown to the new school year. Our schools are changing to more of a year-round schedule and most of our schools start back on July 29!
How’s summer at YOUR library?
— Abby Johnson, Youth Services Manager
New Albany-Floyd County Public Library
New Albany, IN
http://www.abbythelibrarian.com
The post Summer Reading Club Check In appeared first on ALSC Blog.
I write this blog post as I’m sitting in the San Francisco Airport, waiting to depart for home. My shuttle got me here about 3 hours before my flight is scheduled to leave. Luckily, I have some great books to occupy my time while waiting and while on the plane.
Photo by Abby Johnson
Here are a few of the great books I picked up at the Exhibit Hall and at publisher events during the conference. These are some of the books that I’m looking the most forward to and make sure to pack in my carry-on for airport/plane reading.
Fellow conference-goers, what books are making it into your carry-ons for the trip home? I would love to know!
— Abby Johnson, Youth Services Manager
New Albany-Floyd County Public Library
New Albany, IN
The post Winging My Way Back from #alaac15 appeared first on ALSC Blog.
We all want great staff at our libraries, yet many of us have found ourselves in frustrating situations with administration at our libraries. How do we, as managers, support youth services innovators, folks who embrace change and want to bring new, innovative programs and services to our libraries? How can innovators make their needs heard with their managers?
I had the pleasure of speaking on a panel of amazing youth services librarians, addressing these very issues. Managing the Future: Supporting Your Youth Services Innovators took place on Saturday morning and we had a great discussion about how managers can support youth services staff and what youth services staff can do to make their needs know when they feel like they’re not being supported.
You can follow the conversations we had at the Twitter hashtag #futureYS, and here are MY takeaways from the session (yes, I’m learning even from the session I’m presenting on…!):
For youth services employees seeking a change or new project:
- When meeting with your boss about implementing a change or starting a new project, come prepared with a bullet-pointed list of how it will work, a clear idea of what budget you need, and examples of successes (if it’s something that’s been tried at other places). All of this goes a LONG WAY towards getting a yes.
- Be open-minded about brainstorming. Your boss has more experience than you (or at least different experience than you!). And when your boss comes to you with a new idea, be open-minded about that, too.
- Don’t be discouraged if RIGHT NOW is not the time for your new idea. Play the long game. You have a long career ahead of you and plenty of time to do all the things you want to do. Hold on to your good ideas.
For youth services managers seeking to motivate and support staff:
- THINK YES. Get in the mindset of saying yes. If you cannot say yes immediately, don’t say no right away, but say you’ll think about it. (But then actually think about it and follow up!)
- Give your staff credit for their good work. Give them genuine praise to their faces, but also praise them to your director, your Board, your community. Don’t take credit for ideas that aren’t yours, but bask in the glow of having supported staff in achieving great things.
- Invite your staff to speak to the Board, the Rotary Club, other community stakeholders about the great work they are doing.
- Give employees a budget to manage, even if it’s a small one (for programming, any collection they are developing, a project they are doing). This gives them more ownership over their department.
- Have regular scheduled meetings to discuss ongoing projects, new ideas, etc. with your staff. Don’t just expect to manage them off the cuff. Show them you value their time by regularly giving them some of your time.
You can read more about the panel by checking out the Twitter hashtag #futureYS.
— Abby Johnson, Children’s Services Manager
New Albany-Floyd County Public Library
New Albany, IN
The post Managing Youth Services Innovators at #alaac15 appeared first on ALSC Blog.
This afternoon, I got the chance to do something I have long wanted to do at an ALA Conference: I sat in on the Children’s Notable Recordings Committee meeting. Anyone is welcome to sit in and listen to the meetings as this committee discuss the nominated children’s recordings.
The entire list of titles that the Committee will be discussing during the Annual Conference can be found online.
Like Notable Books, the Notable Recordings discussion follows the CCBC Discussion Guidelines by introducing the book first, sharking positive comments, and then sharing concerns and criticisms. As the introduction, a committee member had determined a clip from the recording to be played for the entire committee. This might be part of a track on a music CD or a portion of an audiobook. It seems like committee members tried to choose a portion that would reflect strengths of the book (i.e. a particular song they liked, a section of the audiobook that shows off the narrator’s skills at voicing characters, etc.). As an observed, I appreciated the clips as samples of some of the audiobooks being published this year. I want to seek out some of these recordings to listen to the whole thing!
In addition to the story, committee members must consider:
- Narration, including the skills of the narrator and any flaws (such as audible breath sounds)
- Sound effects and music included on audiobooks – are they the appropriate volume? Do they match the tone and illustrations of the book?
- Page turning signals (on picture book audiobooks) – do they leave enough time for a child to take in what’s on the page? Do they leave too much time?
- Liner notes – do they include lyrics? Do they include background information about music from around the world?
These are all items I gleaned from about an hour of sitting in on the discussion. I know there is much more that goes into their consideration of children’s recordings. This is a really meaningful discussion to tune into, especially since many committee members have listened to these recordings multiple times and made copious notes for items to discuss.
If you have any interest in improving your skills at evaluating recordings or want to keep up with what’s new in children’s music and audiobooks, stop in at a Children’s Notable Recordings Committee meeting!
— Abby Johnson, Youth Services Manager
New Albany-Floyd County Public Library
New Albany, IN
The post Listening in at Notable Recordings at #alaac15 appeared first on ALSC Blog.
This conference is all about the parties!
See, having served on the 2015 Newbery Committee, the past few conferences have been all about work. At the 2015 Midwinter Meeting, my committee was locked in a room together most of the time and many of us departed for home soon after the award announcements were made.
At this Annual Conference, we get the chance to come together again to celebrate all the hard work we did this past year. And it has been a blast (with more to come!).
Photo by Abby Johnson
Last night, Penguin (publisher of Jacqueline Woodson’s Brown Girl Dreaming) and Abrams (publisher of Cece Bell’s El Deafo) invited the 2015 Newbery Committee for a celebration of our Newbery Honor winners. As you can see above, they provided copies of the winning books for us and we had the opportunity for the authors to sign them. We were given a fabulous meal and the chance to chat with many of the folks – authors, editors, marketers – who are involved in the lives of these books.
The celebrations will go on for the rest of the weekend! Tonight, the Committee has been invited to a dinner celebrating 2015 Newbery Medal winner Kwame Alexander and, of course, the Newbery/Caldecott/Wilder Banquet will take place on Sunday.
As it was said last night, “We are all part of these books’ stories.” It’s been such an honor for me to serve on the Newbery Committee. It’s time to celebrate.
— Abby Johnson, Youth Services Manager
New Albany-Floyd County Public Library
New Albany, IN
The post Celebrating at #alaac15 appeared first on ALSC Blog.
Literacy is not a luxury and that’s just what children’s librarians at the Guerrilla Storytime events are trying to profess when we gather to share ideas and learn from each other. The first Guerrilla Storytime of the 2015 Annual Conference happened this afternoon and I wanted to share a little taste of what it’s like:
(Video taken by Abby Johnson at the Guerrilla Storytime event)
Children’s librarians from all over the country gathered at the ALA Networking Uncommons to demonstrate storytime skill and activities, to share tips on managing storytimes, and to learn from each other at this grassroots event.
While Guerrilla Storytimes happen at the ALA Annual and Midwinter Conferences, lots of librarians are making them happen at their state library conferences, too. The folks at Storytime Underground have created a Guerrilla Storytime toolkit that can help you bring this awesome training opportunity to wherever YOU happen to be!
There will be additional Guerrilla Storytimes held on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, and you can follow the hashtag #guerrillastorytime to follow along at home (and add your expertise!).
— Abby Johnson, Youth Services Manager
New Albany-Floyd County Public Library
New Albany, IN
The post #guerrillastorytime at #alaac15 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.
We are constantly analyzing and tweaking our Summer Reading Club to make it easier and more fun for both patrons and staff. Last year, I talked about how we went “prizeless” and this year we’re taking it a step farther and giving out a free book to every child who finishes the Summer Reading Club (instead of plastic prizes or raffles). Having just one prize to hand out simplifies things immensely for my staff and a book is a great prize to encourage further reading.
But then the question remains: what about those kids who want to do more? Certainly we will have some children who complete the Summer Reading requirements in June and look to us for more to do. Without handing out prizes all summer, what can we offer them to keep them occupied (and keep them reading!)?
This summer, we’re going to try a card with additional “achievements to unlock” once they complete the Summer Reading Club and collect their coupons and free book. This won’t be for additional prizes (although some of our “achievements” will be connected to prize drawings), but just for the pride in unlocking achievements and the fun of having something else to do.
We’re going to include five achievements on our card and kids can try to unlock all of them or just do the ones that interest them. They are:
1. Dollars and Sense – one of our local banks has sponsored this program with us for the past several years. They donate a couple of Visa gift cards and every child who reads a book about money or finances over the summer can enter to win. The idea is to increase financial literacy in our children.
2. Bedtime Math – we provided this program last summer along with our Summer Reading Club, but we did not really succeed in promoting it, so participation was really low. I’m hoping that by making it one of our achievements, we can drum up more interest.
3. Super Reader – read an additional amount and then come in and decorate your own superhero that we’ll hang from the ceiling. I’m excited to have a visual for how much kids are reading this summer!
4. Read Around the World – we are bringing back the map bulletin board to encourage kids to read a book set in another country and write a short review for us to post.
5. Add to our Kids’ Choice display – we’re dedicating one of our displays to feature kids’ favorite books. To unlock this challenge, kids will choose a book and write a short recommendation on a bookmark that’ll go in the book.
You can download a non-spiffy, very basic draft of our achievement card here. (We will size them down when we run off copies.)
We’ll include the achievement cards at the front of our coupon packets that go out to every child who completed the Summer Reading Club. The card will direct families to ask for additional instructions at the Children’s Desk since some of the activities are not self-explanatory or they may have to pick up a form or log from us. As achievements are completed, we’ll stamp their card.
I’m not sure how this will go this year, but I’m hopeful that it will give kids something fun to do while still being fairly easy on staff to maintain.
What do you do to encourage your kids to keep reading and/or engaging with the 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 Unlocking Achievements in Summer Reading appeared first on ALSC Blog.
Photo from ALSC Stock Photos
Baby, it’s cold outside (at least it is in Indiana), but we’ve got summer on our minds.
If you, too, are thinking about your Summer Reading Club, make sure that you hop on over to Marge Loch-Waters’s blog Tiny Tips for Library Fun and check out her series on shaking up your Summer Library Program.
The question that’s been on my mind as we’ve started planning our summer programs is whether we need to have registration for programs. I’ve been back and forth and back and forth.
When I first started at this library six years ago, I found that asking folks to register in advance really helped our attendance. We were able to do reminder calls and I think that really helped bring people in.
For the past two summers, our program registration has been a disaster. I’m not sure what switch has flipped, but what we’ve found for the past two summers is that our programs filled up really quickly. We were turning folks away for days or weeks before our programs and then on the day of the program (even with reminder calls AND emails), less than half of the registered attendees would show up. This left us with small groups, leftover supplies, and sometimes dozens of people we had turned away, believing the program would be full.
So this year, I challenged my staff to come up with programs that could be done as drop-in programs. Not only will this be easier on my staff (no program registration!), I’m hoping it will improve attendance and our relationship with our patrons (no having to turn people away!).
What does that mean for our programming?
- We’re moving more towards “unprogramming” and focusing on creative and experiential programs instead of crafts with lots of prepared pieces. Please read Amy Koester’s and Marge Loch-Waters’s series on Unprogramming for a complete guide.
- Instead of crafts, we might play a game or do an activity or do an open-ended art project.
- We’re going easy on theme this summer. We always do. I’d rather have excellent, fun programs that staff are REALLY EXCITED about than “meh” programs that fit a certain theme.
- We’re actually going easy on programming this summer, too. We’ll have all our regular weekly programs and we’ll have several large performers, but we’ve been so very active in our outreach to schools this year that I don’t want to overdo it over the summer. (Guess what? It’s going to be fine!)
I’m hoping that this is going to make a big difference this summer, for both our patrons and our staff.
What are you revamping or rethinking about your summer programs?
— Abby Johnson, Children’s Services Manager
New Albany-Floyd County Public Library
New Albany, IN
http://www.abbythelibrarian.com
The post Do Drop In? appeared first on ALSC Blog.
Now’s the time when many of us are thinking about the year past and the year ahead and making some goals for 2015. Your resolutions might include going to the gym, cleaning out your closets, or volunteering somewhere. But today, I want to know about your reading resolutions!
ALSC Stock Photo
Yes, today’s a great day to think about what goals you might set for yourself for reading in the new year. Making your goals measurable (i.e. “I will read two nonfiction books a month” instead of “I will read more nonfiction this year”) can help you finish your goals and be sure whether you completed them at the end of the year. Don’t feel like you have to set 50 resolutions – start small with something that’s important to you.
Need some ideas? Your resolutions might include:
- Reading more diverse books. Check out the resources on the We Need Diverse Books website for ideas.
- Reading more of a certain genre. Where do you feel weak? Which reader’s advisory questions do you dread?
- Reading more for a certain age group. Are you up on tween books, but unfamiliar with early chapter books?
- Reading all of the ALA Youth Media Award-winners or your state book award nominees.
- Getting out of your children’s literature comfort zone and reading some adult books.
- Adding audiobooks to your reading routine (they’re great company on a walk or while cleaning your kitchen!).
- Reading more professional development books.
Myself, I am finishing up my Newbery year in February, so I am resolving to be easy on myself about setting reading goals in 2015. 
But I would love to hear about YOUR goals!
What are your reading resolutions this year?
— Abby Johnson, Children’s Services Manager
New Albany-Floyd County Public Library
New Albany, IN
http://www.abbythelibrarian.com
The post What are your Reading Resolutions? appeared first on ALSC Blog.
Last year, I posted about my library’s first Winter Reading Club. We had a lot of fun with it (and kept it SIMPLE!) and now we’re gearing up for Year 2, so I wanted to revisit that post and talk about how we’ve tweaked the club this year.
Photo by Abby Johnson
Our goals have shifted a little bit this year. Last year, we were all about getting families in the library and introducing them to library resources. We still want to do that this year, but the additional time we’ve spent working with students in our schools has really highlighted the need to help kids get their blocked cards cleared up. This year, we’ve tried to make it easier for kids to visit the library and read books to earn Fine Bucks to clear up their cards (more on that later!).
We’re again using the BINGO sheet format, inspired by Angie Manfredi, but this year we’re keeping it simple by having one BINGO sheet for all ages (Pre-K through 5th grade; our teen librarian runs a Winter Reading Club for grades 6-12). Instead of requiring folks to choose five boxes in a row, they may choose any five boxes to complete the program. Last year, we found that it was more complicated to suss out which game board (picture book or chapter book) kids needed and then it sometimes got complicated finding them, say, easy chapter book award winners. This year, everyone has the same boxes to choose from and anyone can read anything that fits in the boxes.
Last year, we offered a prize for a BINGO and a second prize for completing all the rest of the boxes. This year, we have one prize for checking off any five boxes on their sheet and then they may continue to read to earn more Fine Bucks. They can complete their sheet, read any number of books on their sheet, they can pick up a new sheet and read the same boxes again, whatever they want to do.
Last year, we really had success with offering Fine Bucks as a prize. Fine Bucks can be redeemed to pay off fines (or, this year, lost books) on Children’s or Young Adult cards. It costs us very little, if anything. We might lose out on a little revenue from the fines, but our Circulation Manager and Administration agreed that it was worth it to get kids using their cards again.
Children must read at least five books to be eligible for Fine Bucks and they earn one fine buck per book. They don’t expire, so even kids who don’t have a fine right NOW can save them for later or use them to keep a DVD a little longer at some point. We had Fine Bucks coming back throughout the year, so we know families are using them!
This year, we are also allowing children and teens to use fine bucks to pay for lost items. We didn’t do that last year because we wanted to encourage them to find and return those items! But we came to the realization that we may never see those items and we’d rather get the kids involved with the library again.
Children will also receive an activity pack when they have read five books. We’re repeating some of the activity packs that we offered over the summer. Again, the point is that we want to offer kids and families something interesting to do during these cold winter months.
And, of course, we’re putting up displays to help kids find books that fit the squares on our game board. This is a great way to highlight different areas of our collection!
Photo by Abby Johnson
We’ve also simplified it on the staff side. Because the only real statistic that we need is how many children actually participated and completed the program, we’re not registering patrons when they pick up their game board. We’re setting out the game boards and we’ll register them when they return a completed game board.
Do you offer a Winter Reading Club at your library? What do you do for yours? I would love to get some more ideas!
— Abby Johnson, Children’s Services Manager
New Albany-Floyd County Public Library
New Albany, IN
http://www.abbythelibrarian.com
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
You guys. It is October. ALREADY. Which means you’re probably inundated with requests for fall-themed books and storytimes. I’m here to help. There are tons of resources for Fall Storytime available on the internet, whether you’re a storytime newbie or a seasoned storytimer looking to shake things up a bit. Here are some of my favorites:
Books:
- Bear Has a Story to Tell by Phillip C. Stead, illustrated by Erin E. Stead (Roaring Brook Press, 2012) – Animals are preparing for winter and Bear has a story to tell before he settles down to sleep.
- The Busy Little Squirrel by Nancy Tafuri (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2006) – How does a squirrel get ready for winter? This could be a great STEM conversation starter!
- Fall is Not Easy by Marty Kelley (Zino Press Children’s Books, 1998) – This hilarious book will get kids laughing as a tree tries its hardest to put on proper fall colors.
- I See Fall by Charles Ghigna, illustrated by Ag Jatkowska (Picture Window Books, 2011) – Make sure you include books featuring diverse children in your fall storytimes!
- Kitten’s Autumn by Eugenie Fernandes (Kids Can Press, 2010) – Mixed media art and simple rhyming text make this one a great one for sharing.
- Leaf Jumpers by Carole Gerber, illustrated by Leslie Evans (Charlesbridge, 2004) – Rhyming text describes the different colored leaves we see on different trees in the fall.
- Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert (HMH Books for Young Readers, 2005) – Illustrations made of fall leaves make this a great one for talking about leaves changing with older preschoolers or early elementary kids.
- Mouse’s First Fall by Lauren Thompson (Simon & Schuster Books for Children, 2006) – Simple text makes this a winner for sharing with very young children.
- Poppleton in Fall by Cynthia Rylant, illustrated by Mark Teague (Blue Sky Press, 1999) – I love to read the story “The Geese” with older preschoolers and early elementary kids.
- Pumpkins by Ken Robbins (Square Fish, 2006) – The photo illustrations make this a great nonfiction choice for adding some STEM content to your storytime. Don’t be afraid to paraphrase.
- That Pup! by Lindsay Barrett George (Greenwillow Books, 2011) – A spunky puppy has been digging and finding treasures all over the yard – acorns!
- Too Many Pumpkins by Linda White, illustrated by Megan Lloyd (Holiday House, 1993) – After a pumpkin went SPLAT! in the garden, Rebecca Estelle has too many pumpkins!
- We’re Going on a Leaf Hunt by Steve Metzger, illustrated by Miki Sakamoto (Cartwheel Books, 2005) – Using the familiar cadence of “We’re Going on a Bear Hunt”, this trio is off to find some colorful fall leaves.
(Thanks to the following awesome Twitter librarians for suggesting titles for this list: @Jbrary, @MelissaZD, @misskubelik, @pussreboots, @taletrekker)
Flannel Stories/Rhymes/Activities:
Photo by Abby Johnson
The Perfect Pumpkin. A felt pumpkin and a lot of black felt shapes lead to experimenting with jack-o-lantern creation. Use different shapes to create different faces – some scary, sad, or funny – and ask the kids what shapes you should use to create the perfect pumpkin!
Build a Pumpkin Patch. Pass out felt pumpkins and call kids up to put their pumpkins in the patch based on what color they’re wearing (e.g. “If you’re wearing red today, red today, red today, If you’re wearing red today, please bring up your pumpkin!”). An alternative if you have a large crowd would be to make felt pumpkins of different shapes and sizes (large, small, flat, skinny, triangular) and build a pumpkin patch together, asking for the kids’ help in describing the different shapes and colors they see.
Photo by Abby Johnson
Fall is Not Easy. The trim size of the above-mentioned book by Marty Kelley is a bit small for sharing with a big group. We’ve turned it into a felt story for hilarious fun!
Photo by Abby Johnson
Fall Leaves Felt. You can do a lot with some felt leaf shapes. We hand them out to the kids and call colors to bring up to the board. You can also talk about what colors they are, use them with the above-mentioned story We’re Going on a Leaf Hunt by Steve Metzger, or use them with a “five little leaves” rhyme or song (try Five Little Leaves).
Bring in some real fall leaves to explore! You can make leaf rubbings, arrange the leaves to make pictures (a la Leaf Man), let kids sort by color or size, or put out some magnifying glasses to let kids take a closer look.
Songs:
More resources!
You can find more Fall Storytime plans at the following sites:
What are your favorite readalouds and activities for Fall Storytime?
— Abby Johnson, Children’s Services Manager
New Albany-Floyd County Public Library
New Albany, IN
http://www.abbythelibrarian.com
Photo by US Army, Cpl. Hwang Joon-hyun, Yongsan Public Affairs
Why do you offer storytime at your library?
Is it just for entertainment? Is it to give kids and parents something to do? Is it to get them to step inside the library? Is it just because you’ve always offered storytime? Is it because storytime is what libraries have?
I really try to remain nonjudgmental about everyone’s library offerings for youth. Every community is different and libraries need to be doing what’s right for their community. It means that not every library will or should offer the same programs and services.
But the purposefulness of storytime is where I draw the line.
Every community with young children needs programs to help them succeed in school. And that’s exactly what storytime brings to the table.
I cringe when I hear a librarian say that his or her storytimes are for entertainment.
Yes, storytimes are entertaining. Yes, they give kids and parents something to do. Yes, they are generally something public libraries are expected to offer. But storytimes are so much more. And we need to be saying that at every opportunity to everyone who asks.
As I have educated myself and my staff about early literacy and child development, it’s become imperative that every early childhood program we’re offering at the library is based on developing early literacy and school readiness skills. Every activity we include is there for a reason and if a parent asked why we chose that activity, we could tell him or her what skill we’re learning or practicing.
We are professionals. You are a professional. Don’t sell yourself short.
And the best thing? The very best thing?? You’re already providing these skill-building activities in your storytimes. I guarantee it.
Singing? You’re developing phonological awareness – helping children hear that words are made up of smaller sounds. Teaching rhythm helps children learn to think spatially (math skills!).
Reading stories? You’re encouraging print motivation – getting kids excited to read by sharing fun stories with them. You’re demonstrating how a book works: how you open it, how you turn the pages.
Doing a craft? You’re helping young children practice fine motor skills that they will use when they learn to write. Maybe they’re practicing following directions. Maybe they’re unleashing their creativity.
Bringing out some toys for play time? Play is a wonderful learning activity for children. Playing with children encourages oral communication, which leads to children hearing and learning more and more words.
You’re already doing all these beneficial activities naturally in your early childhood programs. But many people (parents, community stakeholders, maybe your director, maybe your trustees) don’t know that having fun in storytime is actually an essential learning experience. It’s our job to tell them that. And that’s how we get to keep our jobs.
“Entertainment” can easily be found elsewhere. But free programs that build early literacy and school readiness skills don’t grow on trees.
We know we have the most fun in the library. But we’re not doing storytime just for the fun of it.
Not sure how to explain the cognitive benefits of your storytime program? Check out some of the following resources to get started:
What do you say when someone asks you why you provide storytime? How do you spread the good word about early literacy and school readiness in your library?
– Abby Johnson, Children’s Services Manager
New Albany-Floyd County Public Library
New Albany, IN
http://www.abbythelibrarian.com
My fellow librarians, we (finally) ditched the cheap plastic Summer Reading Club prizes this year and we are NEVER GOING BACK!!!
Behold, a Science Activity Pack! Photo by Abby Johnson
Everyone’s serving a different community and you have to decide for yourself what is right for your library and your patrons. But make sure you’re thinking about the program that you’re offering and you know why you’re running it the way you’re running it.
Summer Reading Club is HARD to plan and can get overwhelming. It’s easy to take what you’ve done in previous years, tweak, and repeat. But you need to take a step back and take stock every now and then.
Is your Summer Reading Club creating lifelong readers by encouraging intrinsic motivation for reading (i.e. reading for the love and satisfaction of reading)? Or are kids reading just enough to earn that toy/coupon/entry slip and then stopping?
Many libraries have come up with different ways to address this issue, ditch cheap prizes, and create a program that staff and patrons feel great about.
Check out the following posts for some ideas:
Library Bonanza: Summer LIBRARY Club
This librarian speaks about how her library got rid of reading requirements in favor of a Summer Library Club, encouraging families to visit the library frequently over the summer.
Tiny Tips for Library Fun: Summer Prizes – Goodbye!
Marge Loch-Waters shares the ways her library rewarded readers with experiential activities, like helping to build a community robot, instead of plastic toys this year.
Hafuboti: Summer Reading Booklets
Rebecca ditched cheap prizes in favor of a booklet with creative activities and coupons kids can earn throughout the summer.
Abby the Librarian: Those Summer Reading Club Prizes
Yes, I said that we ditched the cheap prizes and here I share information about the Science Activity Packs we offered instead.
What, No Tchotskes? Creating an Experience-Based Summer Program
In this program at the ALA Annual Conference, librarians from several different libraries shared their experiences with choosing experiential programs over incentive-based programs.
Having taken the plunge this year and offered activity-based prizes and free books instead of our normal toys and grand prize drawings, I can tell you that it went over better than I thought it would. I had prepped my staff extensively on what to tell patrons who complained about the prizes, but I didn’t hear one complaint all summer. This was especially shocking and delightful because I have had at least one complaint every year when we were offering much more elaborate prizes.
Has anyone else gone “prizeless”? How did it work and what do you do for your Summer Reading Club?
– Abby Johnson, Children’s Services Manager
New Albany-Floyd County Public Library
New Albany, IN
http://www.abbythelibrarian.com
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
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
Children’s librarians offer tons of awesome and successful programs every day. But what about the programs that are not so successful? When is it time to make changes or pull the cord on something?
A “successful” program means something different to every librarian. It might be a program that has a large draw, bringing many families into your library to check out materials and use library resources. It may be a program that results in a few kids or parents gaining valuable skills. The first step to figuring out whether your programs are succeeding is to think about what you want them to do.
And then be honest with yourself. Is this program doing what you want? Is preparing and implementing this program a valuable use of your staff time and programming funds? Are there ways that the program could be changed to maximize impact?
If you’re not getting what you want out of your programs, it’s time to rethink! This is okay. This is not a failure on anyone’s part, but it’s an opportunity to grow and change and serve your population and staff better.
Some ideas?
* Is attendance down in storytime? Miss Julie had success with changing up her marketing. Try calling it a “class” instead of “storytime”. Maybe it’s time to try out digital elements in storytime or STEM storytimes. Or take a break from storytimes and try some different types of preschool programs.
* Are your large programs taking up more staff time than they’re really worth? Give unprogramming a try.
* Did a program you were excited about turn out to have low attendance or unanticipated problems? Librarians get free do-overs. Try it again and tweak what didn’t work.
* Is an annual or recurring program getting out of control? Angie explains how she saved her program by throwing out everything she thought she knew and starting over.
* Having trouble attracting the afterschool crowd (or any other population you’re trying to reach)? Start with some outreach. Take the library to them and make valuable connections.
* Is your Summer Reading Program driving you crazy? Find ways to make it easier for staff and patrons. Not everyone is in love with Summer Reading, I promise.
It’s part of our jobs to take stock of what we’re doing and make sure that it’s working. What experiences have you had with revamping programs that were not working?
– Abby Johnson, Children’s Services Manager
New Albany-Floyd County Public Library
New Albany, IN
http://www.abbythelibrarian.com
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