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Between 1986 and 1988, the jazz musician and experimental music pioneer George Lewis created the first version of Voyager. After spending some time making work that involved compositional programmes in Paris, Lewis returned to the US and began work on Voyager. His aspiration was not simply to use computers as a tool or raw material, but to create software that could take an equal improvisational role to the other (human) musicians in the performance.

The post Art in the age of digital production appeared first on OUPblog.

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ALSC is now accepting proposals for innovative programs for the 2017 ALA Annual Conference. Be part of this exciting professional development opportunity by submitting your program today!

To submit a program proposal for the 2017 Annual Conference, please visit the ALSC website. for the submission form and instructions. The 2017 ALA Annual Conference is scheduled for June 22-27, 2017 in Chicago, Illinois. All proposals must be submitted by Thursday, June 2, 2016.

Submit a proposal

Need help getting started? In January, the Program Coordinating Committee put out a call for ideas and asked for your feedback. We offered thirteen topic areas and asked members to rank their favorites. Here are all thirteen topic areas we suggested ranked in order of ALSC members’ choices:

1. Diversity in children’s lit
2. Partnerships and outreach
3. Age specific programming
4. STEM/STEAM
5. Summer learning
6. Difficult conversations
7. Media mentorship
8. Recent immigrant communities
9. Collection development
10. Diversity in the profession
11. Advocacy
12. Gender diversity
13. Networking

Need more inspiration? Below you’ll find additional ideas suggested by ALSC members in response to the survey. These are not ranked and appear in the order in which they were received. Additional Program Ideas:

• Continuing Education after the MLIS
• Working with difficult coworkers/directors/city agencies– best practices, stress relief, etc.
• Programming for Children with Special Needs
• Localized networking- how to bring back info from ALA, etc, and share with people who can’t afford time/money for conference
• Poetry, poetry programs, apps, National Poetry Month
• Social services: ie. Food programs at the library to serve hungry families, homelessness, libraries as a safe environment etc
• Child development and how it relates to library services, the mechanics of reading ( to help with readers advisory for emerging readers)
• The impact on tech on families
• Recent youth space upgrades/renovations. Slide shows etc
• Early Literacy/Babies Need Words
• Preschool Programming outside of storytime
• Becoming a youth services manager
• Statistics, budgeting
• I would love to see a diversity track that covers diversity in the profession, networking with others that are from a more diverse culture, diversity in children’s lit, gender diversity, also how to encourage diversity in publishing and other areas related to libraries.
• Creating a culture of reading in our community
• Time/workload management; librarian lifehacks
• Leadership and management chops
• Homeschooling
• Serving low-income kids and families
• Parent involvement
• Advancing early literacy best practices based on research- screens and reality

Please note that participants attending ALSC programs are seeking valuable educational experiences; the Program Coordinating Committee will not select a program session that suggests commercial sales or self-promotion. Presentations should provide a valuable learning experience and avoid being too limited in scope.

Please contact the chair of the ALSC Program Coordinating Committee, Amy Martin with questions.

Submit a proposal

Image courtesy of ALSC.

The post Submit a #alaac17 Program Proposal appeared first on ALSC Blog.

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Over the past few years, there has been a growing awareness in public libraries that children within their service areas may not be getting enough to eat during the summer months when school breakfasts and lunches are unavailable. Many libraries have partnered with state and local organizations to address this “food insecurity” by offering summer food programs, but this may seem like a daunting enterprise for small, rural, and/or understaffed libraries.

Caroline County Public Library, one of eight rural Maryland libraries that my organization serves, began offering a summer food program last year. I decided to interview Amanda Courie, Youth Services Manager, to find out how this kind of program can work on a smaller scale.

Amanda, I understand that Caroline County Public Library is a small system. How many full time staff members are there? How many of them work in youth services?

“We are a small system!  We serve a county of about 33,000 people on Maryland’s rural Eastern Shore.  We operate a Central Library and two small branches.  There are 15 FT employees and 8 PT.  I am the only one who works full time in Youth Services.  I have one FT employee who is our Early Childhood Unit Manager; about 50% of her time is in Youth Services, and 50% is spent staffing the branches and the Information Desk.  Then there are three PT employees who contribute to Youth Services along with staffing our public service points.”

How does your summer food program work, and what made you decide to launch it?

“Our decision to launch the summer food program grew from a growing awareness nationwide and in our county of the number of families facing food insecurity. According to the MD Food System Map, produced by Johns Hopkins University, 40.2% of children in our county qualify for free lunch, and 11.1% of the total population is considered food insecure

We know that children rely on school meals throughout the school year, and that summertime is a big challenge for families who are food insecure.  Our local Parks and Recreation Department runs summer camps throughout the county for five weeks out of the summer, and these sites double as Summer Meals Sites.  Our concept was to help fill in the gaps not covered by this program, both for the other five weeks of summer vacation, and for the children who weren’t enrolled in the summer camps and couldn’t make it to those sites.

Looking at our resources, especially as far as having a small staff, we decided to serve an afternoon snack at our Central Library, Monday-Friday at 2PM, for 10 weeks in the summer.” 

Which organization(s) do you partner with to make this program possible? Has this program led to any new partnerships?

“We partner with our local school system, Caroline County Public Schools.  They make all of the registration and reimbursement arrangements with MSDE (Maryland State Department of Education), who in turn participates in the USDA’s Summer Food Service Program We received training from our school system’s food service program to ensure that we were following USDA guidelines.  They also prepared the menus for us, making sure that we were meeting the federal nutrition guidelines.  Once a week I picked up food and drinks from the food service workers at an elementary school about a mile from the library.  The school system handled all financial aspects of the program; there was no cost to the library and very little paperwork. 

We have partnered with our school system on many projects before, and we even share an ILS with them, so I can’t say that this program led to new partnerships.  But it certainly enriched the partnership we do have with them, and they were happy to assist us in our efforts to serve nutritious snacks to children over the summer.”

What have been the benefits and drawbacks of the program? Have there been any surprises?

“When we went into the program, we assumed that the biggest benefit would be that kids who otherwise wouldn’t have access to a healthy snack over the summer would be able to come to the library and get it.  That certainly has proven to be true.  However, the biggest surprise, and another big benefit, has been the enhanced connections that we have formed with the kids who eat snack daily.  In most cases, these are library “regulars” who spend a large part of their summer at the library.  In past years, inevitably they grow restless by early afternoon are were often asked to leave for the day due to behavior issues—being too loud; running; fighting with each other.  However, when we started serving snack every day, we noticed a drop in behavior issues.  Early on, we made a practice of sitting with the kids while they ate, chatting and getting to know them.  These connections proved to be invaluable in providing a positive library experience for them over the summer.  Now, whenever I’ve seen these kids in the library during the school year—even last fall—they ask if we are serving snack again this summer.

I will be honest about the drawbacks of the program.  Since we do partner with the USDA Summer Meals program, we must follow their very stringent guidelines on both what to serve and how to serve it.  There is no flexibility to offer kids a variety of choices, or to give hungrier kids “seconds”.  All participating children must receive one of each item offered to make a nutritionally complete snack.  If they don’t eat it, it can go on the “share table”, but after that if no one takes it by the end of snack time, it must be discarded.  While we understand these guidelines, it was still difficult to get used to this procedure.  However, we decided that partnering with this program was the only sensible way for us to serve safe, approved, subsidized snacks to children.”

Do you have any advice for libraries who are interested in starting summer food programs (especially other small and rural libraries)?

“I would encourage libraries, particularly small, rural libraries, to look into partnering with an agency who is familiar with USDA guidelines and enthusiastic about extending Summer Meals services to more sites.  I would also recommend planning to offer a summer food program that is realistic with the staffing levels available.  Summer is already an extremely busy time of year for library staff, so offer a program on scale with your resources.  Having said that, we have found that our summer meal program is extremely rewarding and helps fill the summertime gap for children in our community facing food insecurity.”

To find out more about offering a summer food program in your library, contact your local school system, or reach out to your statewide USDA School Meals liaison.

Rachael Stein is the Information Services Manager at Eastern Shore Regional Library in Salisbury, MD.

The post Food in the Library? An interview with Amanda Courie about Summer Food Programs appeared first on ALSC Blog.

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Many librarians that I have talked to are reluctant to start a sensory story time. Familiar refrains that I’ve heard go something like this:  I don’t know the first thing about children with special abilities; I don’t have specialized training; I don’t want to do the wrong thing and upset a child who already has special needs; I didn’t go to library school to do sensory storytimes; don’t I need a really big grant in order to secure materials for something like this?

Much has been written about how to begin a sensory storytime. We won’t cover that here.  There’s plenty of stuff out there for you research, plus we’ve included some references below.  However, you should know that you’re probably already equipped to do a sensory storytime right now!  Joshua Farnum, the play, and active learning specialist at Chicago Public Library has started a string of successful sensory storytimes across the city and is expanding to more branches.  Joshua states, “sensory storytime is a storytime that works for you.  It’s a lot like traditional storytime, but it puts a particular emphasis on repetition, interactive activities, and sensory play. The best way to discover what sensory storytime is all about is to experience it yourself.”  Indeed, a sensory storytime is, after all, just a storytime, with the special touch being the care you take to have things like a schedule, and manipulates  (just to name a couple). With a very basic understanding of the abilities that your patrons exhibit, you will go a long way to making your storytime one in which a child or children with developmental differences can thrive in.

If you’ve ever wondered what people of special abilities need to feel comfortable? Then just ask!  There are plenty of parent groups, cohorts, and organizations who host fairs for children and families who have developmental differences.  Most parents would be happy to talk to you about their kids and what works or doesn’t work for them.  If you have play manipulatives, already in your library, then you probably have a some essential items for some children with special abilities.  You may not have gone to library school to be a sensory storytime librarian, but let’s face it, children with special abilities are on the rise in this country. Many parents of these children don’t feel comfortable in the library because of negative experiences with insensitive staff and or fear of being ostracized by other parents.  By starting a sensory storytime for this group, you fulfill a need and help to serve an already underserved population. Sensory storytimes also foster literacy, engage the senses, and it’s a ton of fun!

Remember it’s for everyone!

Storytime for the Spectrum

http://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/2016/03/01/sensory-storytime-spectrum-libraries-add-services-for-children-with-autism/

Libraries and Autism

http://librariesandautism.org/

ALSC Sensory Storytime Pinterest Board

https://www.pinterest.com/alsclibraries/sensory-storytime/

Sensory Storytime: A (brief) How-To Guide

http://www.alsc.ala.org/blog/2012/03/sensory-storytime-a-brief-how-to-guide/

SPD Foundation

http://www.spdfoundation.net/about-sensory-processing-disorder/

 

The post Begin Your Sensory Storytime Today! appeared first on ALSC Blog.

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Programming for tweens can be difficult; we all know this. The kids in this age group are constantly in flux and their needs change a lot. Figuring out what exactly they need and how best to serve them is a challenge that many librarians are familiar with. Today I’m talking to librarian Amy Diegelman, Young Adult Librarian at the Vineyard Haven Public Library in Vineyard Haven, MA, about how she’s meeting the needs of the tweens in her community.

 

ALLY: What were the needs that you were seeing from teens in your library that weren’t being met?

AMY: We found ourselves with a group of kids coming into the library to hang out after school (awesome!), instead of going home or to one of the two or three other local after school options. What we ended up with was predictable- hungry, energetic tweens bouncing off the walls. More than anything, they just needed a place to goof around with their friends – but our children’s area doesn’t accommodate them and our YA area is near the quiet study tables.

ALLY: How did you adapt your programming for this age group to better serve the tween patrons coming into your library?

AMY: Our program room provides space and seclusion from other patrons, but the tweens were uninterested in the activities we’d been offering (Wii, Legos, etc). But I did have one thing they were totally interest in: snacks. So on one day that  they commonly come in, I had a simple snack ready for them (baby carrots and cheese crackers), had them come sit with me, and asked what they wanted. The answer was easy enough to come up with – a snack, an unstructured activity, and permission to play. Now those program timess include a snack and a very light activity like coloring, simple origami, or magazine collage making. The activity is not mandatory, though, and the tweens are free to chat, play, or make videos on their phones.

ALLY: How is this working for you and how might you continue to change your programming to meet the needs of your kids?

AMY: The results have been great! The tweens, staff, and adult patrons are happier and we are now drawing more kids to these programs because they can make the time their own. The big lesson for me has been flexibility. I’ll be checking in with the tweens often and using this new structure to respond more quickly to their interests and build on their feedback. I’ve already had several program ideas just watching what they choose to do when left to their own devices!

Thanks, Amy!  You can find Amy on twitter at @amydieg.

How do y’all best serve the tweens in your library? Sound off in the comments!

*
Our cross-poster from YALSA today is Ally Watkins (@aswatki1). Ally is a library consultant at the Mississippi Library Commission.

The post On Tween Programming appeared first on ALSC Blog.

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As in past years, the ReedPOP staff was kind enough to make the entire C2E2 programing list available in a handy text format. You can use their own site to set up a schedule, but this is easy to search. And many great panels, from John Cusack to cosplay how tos to Women of Marvel to the future of Hellboy.

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Did you offer a Caldecott art program at your library?  As soon as the winner was announced, I started thinking about outreach art programs.  Yellow paper! Bears!  Zoo maps! Diamond shapes! So many possibilities.

Whether you have five minutes or 45 minutes, below are a few ideas and resources to get you started.

A pop-up school outreach Caldecott program with Finding Winnie. Place the book on display, create a huge bear picture on yellow poster paper or keep the yellow paper blank and have each child draw their own bear.  If you have 15-20 minutes, read Finding Winnie by Sophie Blackall and ask questions about the drawings.  For example: What kinds of materials did Sophie Blackall use in her illustrations?

Imagination time!  What if you had a pet bear?  What would you name your bear?  Favorite food? What would you teach your bear?  Favorite game to play with your bear?  Draw out each answer on yellow poster paper for display.  For a longer visit, 30-45 minutes, use the resources below to add history, black and white photographs, science, art and more!

Supplies: photographs of bears, yellow, white and black paper, pencils, black markers, crayons (watercolor paints if available), bear puppet, tablet to share youtube and audio, one big piece of yellow poster paper.

Resources:

• Lindsay Mattick
  “Learn more about Lindsay’s new book, Finding Winnie, and view images of Harry & Winnie from the Colebourn family archive.” Remember the real Winnie through photos, videos, and exhibits.

• Sophie Blackall
  Discover the research Blackall did and how she made the illustrations for Finding Winnie from her blog “The Making of Finding Winnie-Part 1-4.”

• Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World’s Most Famous Bear
  A short video of Lindsay Mattick sharing how she created Finding Winnie. Created by Little Brown Books for Young Readers.

• Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast: One Picture-Book Roundtable Discussion Before Breakfast #4: Featuring the Women of Finding Women
  Julie Danielson’s post discusses the process of creating Finding Winnie, the research, the stories and more.

• Finding Winnie on NPR
  Listen to the true story of Winnie the Pooh and her pal, Christopher Robin.

• Educator’s Guide Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World’s Most Famous Bear
  Little Brown Books for Young Readers created an amazing and detailed teacher’s guide for sharing, learning and discovering more about Finding Winnie. Includes a biography and sections on Social Studies, Language Arts, Art, Science, and Math.

• The Guardian: The Story of How Winnie the Pooh was inspired by a real bear-in pictures
  Explore the diary, real photos and more that inspired Finding Winnie by Lindsay Mattick.

• The Horn Book: Calling Caldecott-A tale of two Winnies 
  Explore the Calling Caldecott posts including “A tale of two Winnies” and various other blogs about Finding Winnie by Lolly Robinson.

• Review of the Day: Finding Winnie by Lindsay Mattick
  A Fuse #8 Production writer, Elizabeth Bird reviews Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World’s Most Famous Bear by Lindsay Mattock illustrator Sophie Blackall

“Some of the best stories are true stories.” Lindsay Mattick.

The post Caldecott Library Programs with Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World’s Most Famous Bear by Lindsay Mattick, illustrated by Sophie Blackall appeared first on ALSC Blog.

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Because I've shown an interest in coding in the past, No Starch Press was kind enough to offer me a review copy of The Official ScratchJr Book by Marina Umaschi Bers and Mitchel Resnick. (2015)



Sadly, I don't have an iPad or Android-based tablet, so I was unable to download the ScratchJr app to test it, but judging by the book and my experience with Scratch, I'm sure it's a wonderful tool for inspiring creativity and logical thinking.

Here's what I like about The Official ScratchJr. Book:

• It targets a very young audience - ages 5 and up
• It can be useful for parents and teachers and librarians - especially those who might find coding to be intimidating
• Unlike the Hour of Code (which I love and have used as a resource for library programming), The Official ScratchJr Book focuses more on inspiring creativity than learning the nuts and bolts of logical thinking
• The above statement notwithstanding, it still can be used to learn the nuts and bolts of simple coding and logical thinking

If at first there was a great rush to teach kids to code, there is now a push in the opposite direction. Just Google "Should kids learn to code?" and you will find a wealth of opinion on either side. Personally, I liken the "argument" to car repair.  In days gone by, many people knew how to do most repairs on their automobiles.  Now, cars' systems are so intricate, that most people have trouble doing anything other than the simplest of repairs.  Most people have cars.  Should we know how to repair them?  No, I don't think so.  There will also be a need for an auto mechanic. But, knowing how to change a flat tire sure comes in handy!  If working on cars appeals to you, become a mechanic.  The same is true of coding.  Give it a try.  If your kids are looking for a follow up to the Frozen Hour of Code project, "Code with Anna and Elsa," The Official ScratchJr Book is probably a good place to start (if you have a tablet that can run the ScratchJr app).



I'm going to pass my copy along to my school district's media specialist.  The kids have Chromebooks and should be able to make good use of it.

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Pablo Picasso was prolific – creating art for over 75 years.  Imagine his divergent styles in painting to sculpture. While teachers, parents or librarians might focus on Picasso’s “Cubism” style, his sculptures are also the perfect medium to share with children.  I felt joy seeing his works at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). “Picasso Sculpture” is now on view with over 100 of his sculptures until February 7, 2016.

My quick 48-hour trip to New York City included author events, a High Line garden walk, Whitney, poetry projects, The Author’s Voice and Vocabulary in Picture Books at the Society of Illustrators and more.

The city was filled with energy and surprising warmth for November.  When I arrived at MoMA, I smiled and thought of Seen Art? by Jon Scieszka.  I loved walking through the museum.  I visited a few old friends (favorite paintings by Magritte and Monet).  But most of my time was spent really seeing each of Picasso’s sculptures up close and discovering what materials he used.  What an amazing exhibit! Every time I walk through a museum, I start planning, creating and picturing art programs in the library.

My favorite Picasso book to share is Oooh Picasso by Mil Nielpold.  Ready? Everyone together say, Oooh.  Each page has a photograph of one part of a sculpture with the question, “What is this?”  Then I add, What do you see? After going through each part everyone guesses what it is says at the same time, “Oooh! I am a bull” I also talk about what found objects Picasso might have used.

More Picasso books on rifflebooks.

Pablo Picasso program ideas to do at your library:

• Picasso used found objects to create his sculptures. Bring in a huge box of assorted items made from different materials-junk.  Have children create something new.
• Clay figures:  Use colorful clay or blue, to remember Picasso’s blue period, and make a collection of clay animals.  Name each animal.  If you have a clay Pop-Up program by the end of the day, your clay might look like this.
  

  Goat with clay. photo by Paige Bentley-Flannery. Book: Pablo Picasso by Darice Bailer

• Art postcards -Using card stock or blank postcards, write a letter to Pablo Picasso.  What would you ask Picasso today?  Tell him about your favorite sculpture or draw a picture of your favorite sculpture.
• Guitar-Play guitar music and discuss Picasso’s guitar sculptures. Watch or listen to MoMA video.
• Did you know Picasso’s Bull’s Head is made from a bicycle seat and handle
  bars? Discuss what other materials you might use to make Bull’s Head.
• Build a huge goat or any animal out of recycled cereal boxes, paper towel roll
  and other cardboard materials.

Pablo Picasso Resources:
Check out and print out the MoMA Activity Cards.

Picasso Guitars and a selection of Picasso information videos.

MoMA educational and family resources.

New York Historical Society Children’s Museum

Picasso Museum

Picasso Art Projects for Kids by Deep Space Sparkle on Pinterest

Winter break is right around the corner.  What programs are you offering at your library?

Paige Bentley-Flannery is a Community Librarian at Deschutes Public Library. For over fifteen years–from Seattle Art Museum to the New York Public Library to the Deschutes Public Library-Paige’s passion and creative style for art, poetry and literature have been combined with instructing, planning, and providing information. Paige is currently serving on the ALSC Notable Children’s Book Committee, 2015 – 2017. She is a former Chair of the ALSC Digital Content Task Force and member of the ALSC Great Websites Committee.

The post Surrounded by Art appeared first on ALSC Blog.

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In light of the current political and social landscape around the world, there has been an increase of refugees abroad and here at home. With the imminent arrival of more refugee children and families from Syria and other war-torn regions, how can we assist these families in assimilating to their new home? How do we find out what their needs are so we can provide them with critical information about literacy, social services, jobs and other resources?

Libraries have long been a champion of freedom of access to materials for all walks of life. How do we leverage our commitment to equitable access to meet the needs of refugees, many of whom are vulnerable children?

Certainly the efforts of REFORMA have been well documented in promoting library services to Latinos and Spanish-speaking refugees. It has provided children from El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala backpacks of books and other resources when they arrive in the United States.  The Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) and Libraries Without Borders are other examples of organizations that aid refugees. CILIP, in the U.K., has outlined a welcome statement framing the types of services they feel are valuable to immigrants.  Libraries without Borders has partnered with the United Nations to create a portable toolkit to assist refugees with information, literacy, and digital connectivity.

The Rogers Park and Albany Park communities in Chicago are two of the most diverse Neighborhoods in the entire country.   There are over 40 different languages spoken in each of these communities. Several community organizations connect immigrants and refugees to the local libraries to access services, including story times for children.  The Howard Area Community Center, Albany Park Community Center, and World Relief Chicago are a few of the community organizations that bring families to the Rogers Park and Albany Park Branch libraries for family story times, Summer Learning Challenge activities and to use the vast wealth of resources available at the Chicago Public Library.

We owe a sense of responsibility not only to the individuals who we can see, those who beckon our library doors and make our patron counts tick- but also to those we cannot see, but have the potential to reach. These people are the most vulnerable and marginalized members of our society, whether they be U.S. citizens or not, so let’s take the lead in designing programs and policies that aid in their general welfare.

A recent study by the Pew Center sites that many Americans say they want libraries to serve special constituents like immigrants. In fact, 59 percent of the study respondents reported they would like to see libraries create services or programs for immigrants and first generation Americans.  I say we should all answer the call!

Notable Programs

Library in a Box

http://www.librarieswithoutborders.org/index.php/news-and-events/lwb-news/item/291-the-ideas-box-a-portable-multi-media-kit-for-emergency-humanitarian-situations

REFORMA

http://refugeechildren.wix.com/refugee-children

CLIP

http://www.cilip.org.uk/blog/welcoming-refugees-uk-libraries

Resources

http://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/blogs/the-scoop/children-in-crisis/

http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/09/15/libraries-at-the-crossroads/

http://www.wbez.org/series/curious-city/who-settles-refugees-chicagos-north-side-104781

http://www.refugeeone.org/

http://www.apccchgo.org/

http://howardarea.org/who-we-serve/

http://worldreliefchicago.org/

 

The post Library Service to Refugees and Immigrants appeared first on ALSC Blog.

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Over the past few months, my library has partnered with a local resource center that provides early intervention and lifelong support to individuals with a variety of developmental disabilities, including cerebral palsy and autism spectrum disorders.  The resource center originally reached out to us looking for a librarian to read a few stories to their clients. I knew a sensory storytime would be a great fit, but in their experience, visits to offsite locations were rarely successful.  Any activity we planned would have to take place at their location.  So I took my sensory storytime on the road, and got a chance to really put my skills to the test.

I’m fairly new to sensory storytimes.  Before this, I had incorporated concepts into my regular programming, and made real efforts to make those programs universally designed, but I certainly wasn’t actively promoting this. Partnering with the resource center gave me the opportunity to refine my skills and try new activities.  My first visit wasn’t without hiccups. For example, sign-up sheets and library card applications became problematic due to HIPAA and patient privacy concerns.  We also ended up with a lot more kids in attendance than we were expecting. But in the end, like Pete the Cat taught us in our story that day, “it’s all good.”

In taking these special programs out into the community, we’ve found that children and their caregivers can have a library experience in an environment that is comfortable for them, surrounded by people they trust. Plus, our partner organization has developed a better understanding of what we can offer.  It has inspired other collaborations, with new programs and training for children’s librarians in the works.

There is a lot of information on the ALSC Blog to help you prepare sensory and special needs storytimes. I found Ashley’s Waring’s Sensory Storytime Tips and Jill Hutchison’s overview of Renee Grassi’s Beyond Sensory Storytime presentation to be particularly useful posts for providing information and talking points for communicating with the center’s directors and staff.  In addition, an ALSC course I took this spring taught by Kate Todd, Children with Disabilities in the Library, was an amazing resource, and I recommend it for anyone interested in creating more inclusive library programs, or reaching out to children with disabilities in clinical settings.

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Brooke Sheets is a Children’s Librarian at Los Angeles Public Library’s Children’s Literature Department and is writing this post for the Early Childhood Programs and Services Committee.

The post Sensory Storytime On the Road appeared first on ALSC Blog.

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Digital citizenship. It’s a complex subject that I’ve thought a lot about in recent years- and one that I’ve been figuring out how best to address in my role as a public librarian. For our kids to be contributing participants in the Digital Age, they need to be informed about a whole host of issues such as internet safety, privacy and security, cyber bullying, digital footprints, information literacy, copyright and creative credit, and more!

So when Mariah Cheng, one of my regular patrons who also happens to be an elementary school teacher, approached me about teaching a series of digital citizenship workshops at the library for children and parents I jumped at the opportunity to partner with her. Mariah had recently become a Certified Educator through Common Sense Media’s Digital Citizenship Initiative which offers training and curriculum for free to K-12 educators so that they can teach their students and families how to be smart, safe and responsible online. 

During our planning stages I reached out to the Vice Principal of one of my local schools to see what topics she thought were most important for her students to learn and what ages would be best to target the classes towards. She and I had previously discussed how difficult it was for her teachers to find the time to address digital literacy with their students and how the library might be able to partner with the school to teach these topics. Unfortunately, whether she was overwhelmed with the start of a new school year or otherwise, I never heard back from her and moved forward with planning the classes along with Mariah and my Children’s Department staff.

Mariah and I decided to hold a series of three classes: one for parents, one for kindergarteners through 2^nd graders, and one for 3^rd through 5^th graders. We capped registration at 16 attendees for each class, the capacity of the library’s computer lab. Ultimately we ended up cancelling K-2 session due to low interest, and we expanded the 3^rd-5^th Grades session to include older students after many inquiries by parents. For the Parents session Mariah addressed how to help their children use social media responsibly, how to address cyber bullying, and how to talk to their kids about their online activities. I especially loved that Mariah’s lessons were pragmatic. It’s a fact of life that adolescents are online and using social media already. Instead of being alarmist or didactic Mariah gave parents the tools they need to set reasonable limits on their children’s screen time and to help their kids be safe and healthy while doing so. She introduced parents to a variety of tools they could use to limit or monitor computer time and gave them some great resources for evaluating websites, apps and other media. For the Student session, Mariah talked with kids about their online activities and what to do if you see or are the target of cyber bullying. She also talked about “digital footprints” and reminded participants that and nothing is truly “private” or “erasable” online. The kids wrapped up the session by playing Common Sense Media’s Digital Passport, a collection of free computer games that teach kids about respect, safety and community online.

These programs were a great way to start the conversation about digital citizenship with kids and parents and we definitely plan to hold more to address subjects like information literacy, copyright and creative credit. I would encourage anyone who is interested in holding digital citizenship programs to take a look at the wealth of resources available from Common Sense Media’s Digital Citizenship Curriculum. There are ready made lesson plans, toolkits, online games and assessments, activities, videos and downloadable materials all free for librarians and teachers to use with students. There is even a list of Certified Educators on the website. You may have one working in your school or district already!

Have you offered digital literacy classes at your library? Did you work with local teachers or have you used Common Sense Media’s resources? Share your experiences and let’s continue the conversation in the comments below!

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Diana Garcia is the Children’s Librarian at the Monterey Park Bruggemeyer Library in California where she has the privilege of serving a diverse community through storytimes, creative programming and tutoring. Her afterschool literacy program for English Language Learners won the PLA Innovations in Literacy award in 2013. Diana is currently serving on the ALSC Liaison to National Organizations Committee. She is also a member of the Board of Directors for the Children’s Literature Council of Southern California and serves on their Awards Committee. 

The post Taking the Lead in Helping Kids Become Good Digital Citizens appeared first on ALSC Blog.

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This article will focus on using Google Hangouts on Air.

We’d all love to have our favorite author fly out and visit us in person, but the cost and logistics can be daunting. Streaming visits allow authors to connect with more readers and are easier on your budget- sometimes your author will even speak for free! Here are a few tips that will help ensure your event is a success.

Why Google Hangouts on Air?
Setting up a YouTube channel to associate your Hangout with will automatically archive your event to YouTube.  No problem that you weren’t able to get all the kids in one room at a time, they can watch later. See the King County Library System’s Hangout page for examples of past events.  Creating a new YouTube channel will automatically create your Google+ page for you. Alternatively, if you have a channel you can associate it with a Google+ page. You will need to verify your channel through SMS.

Technical Run Through
Set up a practice session with you author at least a week prior. Send them the link to Google Hangouts so they have the most current version installed. This also gives you a chance to chat with the author and figure out the flow of your event.

Equipment Set Up
You’ll need a webcam so the author can see who they are talking to, possibly a tripod to set it up on, a microphone for questions, and speakers so everyone can hear. For streaming events this is where you may incur some costs, but you only need to purchase these items once!

Hangout Settings
Hover at the top of the page to access your settings. Check that your microphone and speakers are selected and test your sound. You may need to change your main preferences through your Control Panel.

Inviting Participants
We’ve found the least stressful method is to click the person + icon at the top of the page.

Copy the permanent link and email the link to your author. Please note that if you send the invite through email your author will need to login to Gmail or Hangouts to see the invitation.

Starting the Hangout
After you invite your participants you aren’t broadcasting yet. To get your archived video you need to click the Start Broadcast button. When you are finished (yay!) click End Broadcast. YouTube will need to finish processing your event, but it should be finished in a few hours.

Final Tips
Don’t panic if people look reversed during the Hangout. During the processing everything will be flipped and anyone watching remotely will see everything correctly.

Concerned about recording student faces? Make your videos Unlisted and only share the URL with staff and parents.

Help Resources
How to Dominate Google+ Hangouts on Air
Hangouts On Air common questions

The post Best Practices for a Streaming Author Visit appeared first on ALSC Blog.

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Last month, I started an anime club at my branch library because anime is still, and always be, popular. In fact, we had six teens show up to the very first meeting and, needless to say, they are super excited to be a part of this program. During our first meeting, I asked the teens what they want to see in anime club and the first thing they asked me was: “Can we do more than just watch anime? I literally screamed “YES!” because I have every intention of diversifying this program and I will definitely need the teens’ help in making this club thrive.

During our discussion about the club, the teens asked for a variety of programs that would include a cosplay event, a history of manga presentation, a Japanese food program, an anime inspired craft workshop, and other programs that celebrate the Japanese culture. Not only are these ingenious ideas, these will transform an already popular program into something else even more awesome. By taking a different approach to anime club, and asking teens what they want from a program, we, as teen services librarians, are demonstrating what it is to be innovative. According to the Core Professional Values for the Teen Services Profession, innovation “approaches projects and challenges with a creative, innovative mindset. ¹” By changing the concept of anime club (aka. sitting around and watching anime), we are adding elements that have the potential to not only bring in more teens, but help us re-evaluate our approach to programming in general. For example, when starting a new service or program, it is absolutely essential to consult our teens; by going straight to the source, we establish the outcomes we want to reach, which will shape how we plan and implement a successful program. Once we get a consensus of what teens want from programs and services, we need to figure out the best ways to get teens into the library, which is why we need to get innovative with our outreach.

Although many of us use social media and other marketing methods, the one method that we can always rely on is reaching out to our community. Whether it’s a concert venue, a teen center, a school event, or even a college fair, we need to meet teens face-to-face and tell them what services are available. If we don’t have the means, or the opportunities to go out into the community, we can easily apply that idea to every teen that walks into our library. In other words, we need to be vigilant in making sure that every teen is welcome and that we are available to serve them to the best of our ability. Furthermore, we need to do everything in our power to establish some sort of contact with them, which can easily start with “Hi! I am the Teen Services Librarian. What’s your name?” By initiating, and creating an ongoing dialogue with teens, they will realize that there are actual adults who are dedicated to serving them, which is not only great for us, but incredibly beneficial for those who need a safe environment to be who they are and for those who feel the need to be a part of something. With this new anime club, my hope is to not only involve the teens in the planning process, but give them the chance to be involved in the implementation. Whether it’s passing out flyers, using their massive social network to promote the program, or setting up the program, teens will experience all the necessary steps to finish what they started. Anything is possible with teens so let’s give them the chance to show the community their passion and dedication to providing something unique and fun!

Along with consulting teens, their involvement is essential. By working with our teens, we are not just encouraging youth participation, which is defined in The Future of Library Services For and with Teens: A Call to Action report, we are getting the feedback we need to get in touch with our teen community to ensure that we are supporting their interests and needs ². By hosting a variety of events that celebrate anime, manga, and Japanese culture, teens will not only be able to interact with their fellow anime and manga enthusiasts, their excitement will lead to other programs and services. In other words, the teens who built the anime club will want the library to provide other programs that relate to their interests, so why not create an art program? What about a Sushi making class? How about an animation workshop? Another great aspect about transforming the traditional anime club is that teens will learn how to communicate, and work, with teen services staff and one another.

With every program we plan, it is imperative we implement a component that prepares teens for adulthood. In this case, teens will learn the importance of working as a group, the need to respect each other’s ideas, the need for positive relationships, and the benefits of being organized and thorough. Moreover, teens will have the opportunity to interact with us, which is not only rewarding, but necessary for teens as they develop. According to The Future of Library Services For and with Teens: A Call to Action report, teen services librarians are being asked to build relationships with teens to support academic, career, and civic engagement and growth². By developing programs with teens, it is imperative that we help our teens develop the skills they will need as adults, which is why programming can be a great teaching moment. More importantly, we need to help our teens build the confidence to follow through with their goals, which is why it’s important that we work alongside them instead of telling them what to do. By giving teens the opportunity, and the tools, to change our services, we are not only telling them that they matter, but their interests and well-being matter as well.

With all of the ideas that the anime club members came up with, I am very excited to see how our anime club will develop. More importantly, I am more excited about getting to know these teens, which will help me help them become civic minded adults who are confident and willing to take on the challenges of this world and are ready to do what they have to do to become successful.

References:

1. http://www.ala.org/yalsa/sites/ala.org.yalsa/files/content/YALSA_CoreProfessionalValues.pdf
2. http://www.ala.org/yaforum/sites/ala.org.yaforum/files/content/YALSA_nationalforum_Final_web_0.pdf

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Building a Mystery (not the Sarah McLachlan song)

Have you ever attended one of those murder mystery programs for adults? Now you can make one for your tweens and teens at the library.

To run a good murder mystery program at your library you need to put your creative librarian hat on and let your imagination run wild. It is easy to spend money on a pre made mystery kit, but if you have the time, make your own. Create the mystery setting in your library, have a librarian go missing and set the crime scene. Caution tape and a duct tape outline of the body make for great props. Perhaps the librarian was found under a crack in the floor, or downstairs under a stack of books. Make sure evidence is planted and there is an estimate time of death. Identify what staff member will be the victim and the culprit and then the fun starts. Come up with a motive for each staff member involved. Write a short paragraph for each staff member including where they were the night of the crime and an alibi. Here is an example:

“I left work around 2:30pm that day, I had a doctor’s appointment right in town and then I went home to make dinner and go to my kid’s school pageant. I would never do anything like that to Mary; she was one of my favorite people to work with. I really hope you figure out who did this”

 Write alibi’s for as many staff members as you can get to participate. Use these alibis to identify their time and location when the crime happened. These alibis will be recorded on video (use a video camera or your cell phone). Have each staff member read their alibi on camera, have some staff members look right into the camera, others not looking at all, tapping their feet and so on. When you show kids these videos have them look for different behavior that might make them look guilty or innocent.

Matching up with the times noted in each staff members alibi, make a fake schedule for all staff members, this will be used as a piece of evidence. Next write an email that has some back and forth between the victim and a potential suspect. Create fingerprints, using photos from online or dip your fingertips in pencil led and rub it on a piece of paper. Create writing samples of a note that was found with the victim. This is always the last clue, as the older kids will easily identify the matching handwriting.

It is always best to start with examining the crime scene, if you have the money in your budget go to the dollar store and purchase the mini composition notebooks that come in a pack of three. Kids will write their thoughts in here and feel like a real detective. After examining the crime scene, hand out the schedules to each kid, once the kids have those, show the videos and explain what an alibi is and what interrogation tactics are. Pass out the remaining clues one at a time and discuss. It always helps to have a large piece of paper with notes for each suspect hung up on the wall. Take a screenshot of the alibi movies and use that as the mugshot for each suspect. After kids have pieced all the evidence together and agree on a culprit, go ahead and make the arrest!

This program not only raises critical thinking skills, but also increases vocabulary and introduces children to careers.

Have fun!

Meredith Levine is Head of Youth Services at the Chattanooga Public Library in Tennessee. She is a member of the School Age Programs and Services Committee of ALSC. If you have any questions, email her at [email protected] and follow on Twitter @schmoopie517

 

Grossed-out and fractured Halloween

Several years ago, I attended an excellent children’s librarian skill share on using how to add props to story time. One of my colleagues introduced me to Bone Soup by Cambria Evans, a Halloween fractured fairy tale based on the “clever man” fable, Stone Soup. My colleague poignantly noted that most kids love to be grossed out and recommended Bone Soup as the perfect grossed-out fairy tale.

Finnigin, a wandering ghoul, is shunned by the local townspeople due to his infamous appetite.  Through his wits and a little kindness from a tiny werewolf, he manages to trick the others into contributing their ingredients to soup made from a “magic” bone, as well as gooey eyeballs, leathery bat wings and all. Bone Soup is guaranteed to delight a wide range of children but if you want to gild the lily a tad, the story is even more outrageous and fun when accompanied by a theatrical production of making the bone soup along with the story. I went to my local witches’ supply store, also known as the dollar store, to purchase the ingredients: mouse droppings
(brown rice), spider eggs (cotton balls painted with black dots), fake centipedes, plastic eyeballs, glow-in-the-dark bat wings, fingernails (fake nails), a large cauldron, and of course, a magic (plastic) bone.

I usually make the soup as I tell the story, stirring the mixture along with Finnigin and his reluctant friends; though, if I have a very patient group willing to share duties, I let the children concoct the magic soup themselves. Of course, I pretend to slurp the soup at the very end and the kids always demand to see the final product. Many of the young patrons at my old library branch did not celebrate Halloween officially, but they always demanded Bone Soup when All Hallows Eve rolled around.

“Interactive” Bone Soup is a great and an easy, if not foul, way to add props to your Halloween storytelling! Pairing this version of the story with another version of Stone Soup (I recommend Jon Muth’s retelling) should invoke an interesting comparative folklore discussion!
Kate Eckert is a member of the School Age Programs & Services Committee and is a Children’s Librarian at the Free Library of Philadelphia. She tweets @8bitstate and may also be contacted at [email protected].

The post Fall programming for kindergarteners to tweens! appeared first on ALSC Blog.

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Here is a summary (in comic form) of the Center for Childhood Creativity’s Report: Inspiring a Generation to Create: Critical Components of Creativity in Children. I highly recommend giving it a read. It’s got a lot of information that apply to our work as children’s librarians, and lots of interesting frameworks for thinking about creativity!

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A brief look at 'grams of interest to engage teens and librarians navigating this social media platform.

The week of Sunday, October 18 through Saturday, October 24 marked YALSA's 2015 Teen Read Week. With a "Get Away @ your library" theme, libraries were encouraged to showcase resources and activities to the teen community and support reading for fun. This year's theme was selected to "help teens escape from the day to day grind of school, homework, family responsibilities, part time jobs and so on by picking up something to read." Started in 1998, Teen Read Week is held every October to encourage teen reading and library use.

From author visits and in-house or social media contests to book giveaways and food, libraries spotlighted a number of creative ways to bring teens into the library. Maintaining connections with current teen library users and reaching out to new, potential users through both physical and digital library channels is important in light of comparisons provided in The Future of Library Services for and with Teens report. Whereas youth participation in libraries was previously a formal library-driven activity to gain feedback on collections or space, the envisioned future of youth participation is much more flexible and informal, with all teens in both the physical and digital library space receiving an opportunity to develop, implement, and evaluate programs and services. Encouraging teens to engage in the library events such as Teen Read Week may be the perfect way to gain insight from those hard to reach teens!

Did you celebrate Teen Read Week at your library? We want to hear from you! Share with us in the comments section below.

For more information on Teen Read Week, please visit the Teen Read Week website.

More information on the envisioned future of youth participation in libraries, please see The Future of Library Services for and with Teens report.

[View the story "Instagram of the Week - October 26" on Storify]

 

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Located in an urban area, my library has a large population of people experiencing homelessness. All of the schools in the area are Title 1 funded schools, which also indicates a high level of need for transitional housing and other services for families.   Although we regularly see homeless populations in the library, I wondered why we don’t see more and what we could do to make these potential patrons feel welcome and aware of not only our warm building in winter months but also our wealth of resources and programming for families.

I developed a loose plan to visit the shelters and homes that serve families, provide a storytime, talk about resources and distribute library cards. I honestly thought it would be a cinch to get the shelters on board. But I was setting myself up for difficulties. I had an elevator pitch that largely skipped why this might be a useful service. When it comes to populations that need food and shelter, the library may be pretty low on the priority list. Honing our elevator pitch to include the ‘why’ is especially important when developing new partnerships.

It was very difficult getting a hold of anyone at any of the handful of organizations I contacted.

I didn’t take it to heart and continued to call and leave messages.  What I neglected to do in those messages was to also offer myself up for whatever they might need.  Maybe they did not have the time or space for a storytime. Maybe parents really wanted information about our drop-in job hunting courses. Maybe they needed something else.   Instead of asking them what they need from the library, I unloaded my assumption of what I thought they needed.

After a few months of calls and email exchanges, one temporary housing organization said they did not have enough staff for my program and they were concerned about their populations’ privacy. That was eye opening because I had approached the partnership entirely from my perspective rather than theirs.   

Another transitional housing organization said yes and we were able to schedule visits.  Although it was wonderful to provide a storytime, I felt I had much more impact after the storytime when I talked casually with parents and children about the different things the library offers while distributing library cards.  In the end the partnership has been successful and we will continue to offer this service once a month at multiple homes.

What have you learned from difficult to cement partnerships?

Arwen Ungar is the Early Learning Librarian at the Vancouver Community Library in the beautiful Pacific Northwest.  She is passionate about puppies and early literacy, not necessarily in that order.  You can reach her at [email protected].

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In 2000, the world’s leaders joined together to establish the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. They selected 8 issues that impacted the world, and set a deadline of 2015 to address. In 15 years humanity joined together to reach most of the goals.

Now they have set new goals  for us to reach by 2030. They may seem huge, but humanity can be amazing! Everyone will need to reach beyond themselves to help reach these goals, but as providers of service to young adults we can help inspire and encourage everyone to think about these issues that impact the whole world.

To help promote awareness of these issues Global Goals has created resources and lesson plans  for educators to use to engage youth in discussions about these issues and inspire them to become active in helping to reach these goals.

At the heart of libraries we already work hard to address several of these issues every day, but like the video said, let us not stop halfway.

For example Good Jobs and Economic Growth is an area I see libraries all over addressing. Some are partnering to offer technology and other workforce training to the public. Others are out in the community helping to support small businesses. Lastly libraries have resources and materials like Test Prep books, Wifi, and computer printing will help support job seekers.

I recently met Elaine Harger, a middle school librarian, who was incorporating the life cycle of technology into her digital literacy lessons with students. She showed images of children mining for the minerals in cellphones, and computer recycling centers in India. This helps teens understand the true cost of throwing away outdated technology and meets the goal of Responsible Consumption.

Libraries are open welcoming places for everyone. We help reduce inequalities by exposing people to new ideas, solutions, and experiences. In some communities the library can be the only place that minorities feel welcomed and accepted. We encourage people to read, watch, and do things just outside of their comfort level, especially teens. At the heart that is why we fight for intellectual freedom and Banned Books Week.

So we know that libraries are already doing great things, but we need to be more deliberate about making the things we do more visible. Even if you focus on one goal, you can help make a difference in the lives of everyone on the planet by being a role model and advocate for global citizenry.

So as you think about your school year, displays, collection development, or the future libraries, try to incorporate the global goals into your libraries’ services or your vocabulary.

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Makerspaces are popping up everywhere and the definition of makerspaces is constantly evolving like the spaces themselves. Makerspaces, sometimes also referred to as hackerspaces, hackspaces, and fablabs are creative, DIY spaces where people can gather to create, invent, and learn. The focus, actually, is on the type of learning that goes on, not the stuff.  Making is about learning that is: interest-driven and hands-on and often supported by peer-to-peer learning.  This is often referred to as connected learning.  Also, you don't need a set space to facilitate this type of learning.  You can have pop up makerspaces at various library branches, afterschool programs, community centers, etc.  Or you can set up a 'maker cart' that can travel anywhere in the library.  Perhaps what your teens need most are maker backpacks that are stuffed with resources and activities they can do at home.

Why focus on maker programs and spaces in your library?  These types of activities help teens explore their interests and build skills that they need for college and careers.  The Institute of Museum and Library Services has a great two page informational sheet (.pdf) that talks about making and libraries. Share this with your supervisor to help them understand why these types of learning activities are important.

If you are thinking about ways to bring in some maker programs into your library, begin with  identifying what kind of  learning activities your teens want/need the most.  Digital, craft, technology, a mix?   Maybe your teens want you to work with them to create activities to do a little  bit of the above.  What do you need to get started?  First, build your knowledge of connected learning.  Your one stop shop for that is the Connected Learning Alliance.  Be sure to check out their free webinar archive.  Another very good connected learning resource to explore is remakelearning.org

Here are some other resources and ideas to help get you started.  

YALSA's 2014 Makerspace Resources Taskforce put together this awesome (and free) Making in the Library Toolkit

YALSA's wiki on Maker and DIY Programs has resources, funding opportunities, program ideas and more.

The Makerspace Lab has a good starting list of websites of hackerspaces, list of starting supplies/resources/costs as well as videos so you can get a sense of what some of the spaces look like and what they do.  

Tech Activity Ideas

Makey Makeys are an invention kit for the 21st century. Turn everyday objects into touchpads and combine them with the internet. It's a simple Invention Kit for Beginners and Experts doing art, engineering, and everything inbetween.  Kits start at $49.95

Little Bits DIY electronics for prototyping and learning.  Kits begin at $99.  The Little Bits site has a forum for people to share, lessons that you can download and you too can share your work and get ideas for programs.  Lots of great stuff and a community of people!

Raspberry Pis are a capable little device that enables people of all ages to explore computing, and to learn how to program in languages like Scratch and Python. It’s capable of doing everything you’d expect a desktop computer to do, from browsing the internet and playing high-definition video, to making spreadsheets, word-processing, and playing games.  The Raspberry Pi website has a lot of helpful videos and resources you can explore to help you and your teens get started.  The Pi’s are $30 a piece.  Youtube has lots of videos to see them in action and get adept at what you can do with them.  Recommended to play with them before breaking out for makerspace.

Squishy Circuits The goal of the project is to design tools and activities which allow kids of all ages to create circuits and explore electronics using play dough.  

What about low tech or tech maker ideas?

The Instructables website has lots of maker programs that are craft based, low tech, no tech and more.  Each of the projects are complete with pictures and instructions.

The Make it @ Your Library website Make it @ Your Library came together in association with ALA in 2012 as part of ILEAD USA, an IMLS grant funded library program, with the intention of helping librarians realize makerspace projects in their communities.

Some free stuff

Code Club World is a worldwide network of coding clubs for youth, they have some great resources and curriculum that can be used for your own code clubs.

Scratch is a free programming language and online community where you can create your own interactive stories, games, and animations. Scratch can be used with Makey Makeys, Raspberry Pis on its own and more.

Check out the YALSA Blog post in September that shared a bunch of free sites and resources.

 

What about finding funds to help support your maker activities?  

Here’s an article that can help get you started from Edutopia 

Here’s a list of makerspaces, resources, funding ideas, hashtags and more

IMLS (Institute of Museum and Library Services) has a lot of grant information for small and large grants 

LSTA (Library Services and Technology Act) is the only federal program for libraries and is administered through the IMLS.  These funds are distributed to libraries through their state library agency.

State library associations and state library systems will have grant resources available as well, look at your state resources.

YALSA has awards, grants and stipends and you could apply for to help with your maker programs for Teen Tech Week or a Summer Learning Grant 

How are you supposed to learn how to do all this making stuff?

YALSA has some free archived webinars to help get you started, but don't forget that you don't have to be the expert on everything!  Be sure to identify teens who can help you plan and carry out maker programs, as well as experts out there in the community who could be retirees, business owners, artists, teachers, hobbyists and more.  Use the Map My Community Tool to find other youth serving organizations in your area and connect with them.

 

 

 

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In our last Teen Programming post, we outlined the importance of outreach and how to integrate it into your programming arsenal. Since “outreach” can translate to a wide range of ideas and actions, narrowing it down will help you take your next step towards effective methods of community engagement. This is where partnerships come in! This, however, opens a whole new can of worms. How does one establish positive community partnerships? How do you ensure that your goals aren’t lost in translation? How do I secure beneficial opportunities for teens through partnerships?

When I first began working in my position, I was immediately overwhelmed by the need my community has for the library and its community organizations. During my first few months, I had grand plans to “do it all” and open up so many more opportunity and learning experiences for my community’s teens. What actually happened was that I got burned out and became discouraged. I realized very quickly that I was not going to be able to accomplish many of my goals alone. I needed support from others who were positioned in the community to help me achieve what needed to be done.

So let’s break it down. YALSA’s Future of Library Services report states that today’s teens need libraries to connect them to other community agencies, but how do you establish these connections? Network, network, network! This may sound simple, but community leaders need to know who you are. Start by attending committee and board meetings to get a sense of the issues and climate of your community. PTO (Parent Teacher Organization) meetings are another community body that is important to engage with as they are directly connected to the teens that your services will affect. Are there task forces or coalitions that are specifically directed at alleviating a specific need? Don’t be hesitant to insert yourself into the community conversation because you have your library’s resources to back you up. As a library representative in the community, you are an integral voice in the larger network of organizations that are committed to improving the lives of teens. Pinpoint individuals whose resources are in line with your goals and begin a dialogue with them.

When starting this dialogue, how do you make sure that your goals don’t get lost in translation? Communication is so important when you are making efforts to partner with an outside agency. Before any communication begins, make sure that you have your goals and plans clearly defined. What is it that you want to accomplish? What role do you see this partnering organization offering? Additionally, offer your resources and begin a dialogue about how this partnership would benefit both organizations mutually.

How do you make sure that your partnerships bring beneficial opportunities to teens? Last month we discussed ways to discover your community through outreach. During this discovery process, locate areas that your community needs more from your library. Is there a group that’s being under-served? Who can help you bridge that gap? A few months ago, I recognized a gap in the services that we were offering. At the time, we had reached out to just about every group of teens to make sure that our programs and services were reaching our diverse teens’ needs. However, we hadn’t reached out to teen survivors of domestic violence. I made a connection with the director of a local organization that acts as a transitional agency for teens and families who are leaving abusive situations. They offer temporary housing, counseling, and resources to help them take control of their futures and I wanted the library to be a part of this transition. My goal in partnering with this organization was to bring enriching programs to the teens at this facility, as they might not have access to these opportunities during this transitional period of their lives. Upon meeting with the director, my goals were clearly defined and I listened as she described how our organization could benefit these teens. We agreed upon a plan and programs were implemented at their location. We also offered books from our collection that we had discarded. We wanted to give the teens that she serves the opportunity to continue reading since many of them were temporarily not in school. This partnership was a simple way of offering integral library services to a new demographic while still connecting to the larger community.

Ultimately, libraries must work with partners to alleviate their community’s needs. Start small, make connections, and be diligent about following through. YALSA’s Futures Report pinpoints the shift that libraries are experiencing in the 21st century. We have gone from quiet, solitary locations that provided relatively uniform services to spaces, both physical and virtual, that offer a broad range of resources that empower teens and grow their skills, interests, and goals. Partnerships are integral to meeting this standard because they allow us to continue to broaden the services we offer, bridge gaps in your community, and build a better future for teens.

What are your partnership success stories? How do you bridge the gap in your community with partnerships?

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My staff and I love doing programming around geeky fandoms and pop culture. Whatever our kids and teens are talking about, we love to program around it. We have so much fun with our fandom programs and they are always well attended. But it makes me wonder what we can do to make sure all library programs have the same draw.

When we put a character name or popular brand to something, people come. Pete the Cat costume character event? 600 people. Star Wars Reads Day? 200 people. Harry Potter Trivia Event? 75 people. Doc McStuffins Stuffie Clinic? 120 people. Halloween Storytime and Trick-or-Treat Parade in the Library-366 people. My average program attendance this summer? 31.

Yes, 31 is still a great number and attendance. Yes these big name programs are fun and bring people into the library. But looking at what we plan for these programs compared to what we plan for programs that aren’t based on a specific character or brand, (art programs, science programs, dance parties, building programs) our set up, program plan and implementation is very similar. The only thing that’s really different is that the activities and crafts have a specific character instead of something general. Just having a superhero program isn’t enough, yet an Big Hero 6 program was huge. Storytime is well attended, but make it about Pete the Cat or Elephant and Piggie and I have huge crowds.

I know that these programs are all very creative and fun. And my regular library patrons always say how much they love library programs and how creative our staff is-no matter the theme. But how do we market library programs in general to the public without having to attach a popular character, theme or brand on top of it? How can we get people excitied about library programs without needing to attach a name to it? How can we get people to come to a Community Helpers program instead of a Paw Patrol program? Or a space program instead of a Star Wars Day? Why isn’t the library name enough?

I believe there is absolutely a place in the library for fandoms and pop culture and I love programming for it. But I would love to figure out how to advertise the all library programs to everyone in our community. I want to let people know that we have these fun pop culture based programs for the entire family. And while they are at the library, I want to promote all the other amazing resources the library has to offer. I want them to think about library programs and think they are all awesome and fun, not just the ones that are about a character or theme they know.

I don’t have all the answers and I’m still trying to figure out how best to program for our patrons. I’ve found a few things I’ve that help though:

-Don’t just have the program isolated to one room. Scavenger hunts are our best friend! They are easy to put together, kids love them, and they sneakily teach people about the library. Hide scavenger hunt items in all departments of the library and get people to explore all that you have to offer.

-Announce events at other programs. Advertise to everyone and spread the word. Having a storytime? Promote an upcoming program. I’ve found the best attendance I get at a Saturday program is when I announce in every storytime the week leading up to it. Also word of mouth is the best marketing tool you will ever have.

-Promote all the library offers. We noticed that at our annual Halloween Storytime and Trick-Or-Treat Parade we had lots of families attending that we didn’t see regularly attending storytimes. So we take advantage of this an along with stickers, candy, and finger puppets, kids also get our Storytime Brochure with all of our storytimes listed and fliers advertising upcoming library programs in their goodie bags.

I’d love to know other ideas on how to get people excited about all library programs.  How do we get people talking about all library programs and not just ones based on a brand or name? How do we make the library an exciting brand all of it’s own?

The post Branding the Library appeared first on ALSC Blog.

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Autumn has arrived here in Northeastern Ohio, bringing with it crisp weather, all things pumpkin, and beautiful fall foliage. The trees are only starting to reveal their brilliant hues of orange, yellow, gold and red here, but soon I’ll awaken to a glowing landscape that seemingly exploded overnight. As this season traditionally brings many requests for fall themed library materials, as well as special fall programming, I was inspired to think of ways that technology may add further enjoyment and educational opportunities to this time.

The best way to experience the beauty of fall is to strap on your hiking shoes and venture to the nearest wooded park (or your backyard!). Bringing along your smartphone or tablet, loaded with fall foliage apps, can enhance your exploration of autumn’s beauty. Children of a variety of ages will enjoy learning more about our natural environment with these  apps and websites highlighted below, although most young users not yet in elementary school may need some parent or caregiver help.

• Yankee Leaf Peepr– This free app by Yankee Publishing Inc., available for Apple and Android devices, provides you with a very handy color-coded map that indicates where the leaves are changing anywhere in the United States. Users contribute to the map by posting photos and ratings of the foliage, making this app not only useful, but
  
  

  Image from https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ypi.leafpeepr&hl=en.

  
  interactive. The current foliage color is determined by averaging user ratings in a geographic area.
• Chimani apps- These apps, offered as free downloads on all major mobile platforms,  are a really fun way to explore various National Parks. They help you with planning your trip, letting you know when Ranger-led trips occur, and more. These apps work with or without WiFi or a data signal, which is especially helpful when you are out on the trail.
• LeafSnap– Once you’ve found some beautiful leaves, you may be left wondering what kind of tree they’re a part of. Make this a great learning opportunity with LeafSnap! Developed by researchers at Columbia University, the University of Maryland, and the Smithsonian Institute, LeafSnap helps users identify trees by allowing users to take a picture of a leaf from the tree and then providing them with the species. The app is free for iPhone and iPad, and also has a website displaying tree species. The only negative is that this is only usable for species found in the Northeastern United States and Canada.
• U.S. Forest Service website and Yonder app–  The U.S. Forest Service has partnered with Yonder, a free app, to help nature lovers share their adventures. The website also provides a map of fall color based on eyewitness accounts and allows users to choose their state or local forest to see specific fall foliage information. You can find weekly color updates in your state using this tool!
• Foliage Network – The fall foliage prediction map on this website helps users visual the changing leaves around the United States and plan when to see the most beautiful colors in your neighborhood.

You can pair these fun apps and websites with traditional activities for a great autumn library program. How about leaf rubbing (which was recently discussed here on the blog), sharing a classic fall read-aloud such as Ehlert’s “Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf” and then using LeafSnap to identify the tree outside the storytime window? There are many possibilities to incorporate technology and nature into library programs and family time. What are some of your favorite hi- or low-tech autumn extension activities? ___________________________________________________________

Nicole Lee Martin is a Children’s Librarian at the Rocky River Public Library in Rocky River, OH and is writing this post for the Children and Technology Committee. You can reach her at [email protected].

The post Exploring Autumn with Apps and Websites appeared first on ALSC Blog.

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Want to offer more hands-on learning opportunities for and with the teens in your community?  3D Systems Corp., in partnership with YALSA, is giving away up to 250 3D printers to members of YALSA.  Learn more and apply online by Oct. 30^th.  Are you not a YALSA/ALA member yet?  Membership starts at $60 per year.  Contact Letitia Smith at lsmith at ala dot org, or 312.280.4390, to get the best rate and to learn about paying in installments.  And don't forget to check out all of the great maker and connected learning resources on YALSA's wiki!

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Are you planning a family painting day, an art scandal mystery event or turning your children’s room into an ancient Egyptian maze? Finding new ways for creative kid programs are just clicks away at your favorite museum.

You might be surprised by a new update, an added blog, or an interactive art activity.

I recently followed an alien through the MoMA, popped yellow and red balloons through the Met and discovered William the blue hippo from Egypt is not very friendly.  (All of this online.)  Be part of art history through interactive museum websites.  The Smithsonian, J. Paul Getty Museum, Museum of Modern Art, and the National Gallery of Art are just a few amazing art websites filled with kids, family and teacher resources.

My new favorite art museum website to explore is #metkids at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.  MET Kids is a new feature launched in September with multi-media content aimed at 7 to 12 year olds.  The Met says kids from New York City and around the world “helped to shape the content, design, and user experience of the website. It is truly “Made for, with, and by kids.”

Walk around the museum online with the Map, get in a Time Machine and travel to different centuries or watch a new art video made by kids today.

• Map: touch a yellow or red balloon to learn about different art pieces.  (The directions say yellow or red pin but every time I see them I think of the balloons from You Can’t Take a Balloon into the Metropolitan Museum by Jacqueline Preiss Weitzman.) Learn about a sculpture, a new artist or a room by Frank Lloyd Wright.  Have you seen the “Celestial Globe with Clock Work” from 1579?
• Time Machine: Push the red “push” button to explore different time periods all around the world.  “Program your destination to explore worlds of art.”  From 8000-2000 BC to 1900-present, get in the time machine and discover, learn and create.  Listen to an art curator talk about the selected piece or discover a “fun fact.”   The time machine is filled with ideas and questions for children to think about.
• Video: The videos are separated into four different sections-Create, Made by Kids, Q&A and Celebrate.  Watch an original animation film about Degas’ dancer in “Made by Kids” and go behind the scenes in the animation lab.  “Jumping into the Met” is filled with great ideas-connecting famous paintings with stories and film.  Click on the “Create” section and follow step by step instructions to learn how to make scratch art, symmetrical prints, collage and more.

What amazing art resources! For more art websites, check out the ALSC Great Websites for Kids-The Arts

Please share your favorite museum website in the comments below.

For a selection of fun art books to use in your next museum program, explore my art shelf on shelfari.

Paige Bentley-Flannery is a Community Librarian at Deschutes Public Library. For over fifteen years–from Seattle Art Museum to the New York Public Library to the Deschutes Public Library-Paige’s passion and creative style for art, poetry and literature have been combined with instructing, planning, and providing information. Paige is currently serving on the ALSC Notable Children’s Book Committee, 2015 – 2017. She is a former Chair of the ALSC Digital Content Task Force and member of the ALSC Great Websites Committee.  

 

 

 

The post Create a Kids Art Program with Inspiration from Museum Websites appeared first on ALSC Blog.

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