Your youth services staffers may already be doing this outreach. For instance, your library might bring storytimes to local day cares or crafts to after-school programs. But what about reaching the adults in your community as a means of reaching the kids? This outside-the-box approach to youth services outreach can reap results beyond what you … Continue reading Outside-the-Box Outreach
But while queens have proven their ability to turn the party with fantastic fashions and tales of individuality and acceptance, pockets of resistance remain. Some programs held in libraries still draw protests, as organized opposition groups insist that these storytimes aren’t appropriate for children. Lafayette (La.) Public Library (LPL) is currently facing protests of a … Continue reading Drag Storytimes Bring Fierceness—and Fierce Opposition
EverBlock EverBlock took the typical plastic brick toy and made it larger—almost the size of a cinderblock. The bricks fit together with lugs and can be used to build modular furniture, walls, and even small buildings. As a free-play tool, the possibilities are vast, limited mostly by the size of the play space and number … Continue reading Ready, Steady, Build!
Lytle presented new research that suggests there is no evidence of learning from screens for kids at an early age. This is true of infants as well as older toddlers. “If you want more robust learning, you have to have that social component,” she said. She also presented research on video chats such as Skype … Continue reading The Social Component
The first book of the seven-book series by J. K. Rowling was published on June 26, 1997, in the United Kingdom. That same year, Scholastic Corporation bought the US rights and published the book as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone a year later. The series has since been translated into 67 languages and sold more than 400 million copies worldwide, according to … Continue reading Happy Birthday, Harry Potter
It’s understandable. Summer is a busy time at the public library, and repeating a program saves work, even if it’s not the best thing for your youth participants or staff. Though your plans for summer reading are probably set, now is an opportune time to take inventory of what you’re doing, what is and isn’t … Continue reading Summer Reading Reboot
This is a climate in which we now all live. This is the climate in which my husband and I are raising our 3-year-old daughter, a Korean American, in a city that is 83% white and 8% Asian. Currently, 96% of Minnesota’s K–12 educators are white. Across the country, librarianship is 88% white. What do … Continue reading Diversify Everything
“She had a lot of fun,” Haleema says. “She got to help check out books, and she helped the librarians with shelving. When we got back home that night, I said, ‘Why not see if I can get her in the biggest library in the world?’” Haleema wrote to the Library of Congress, which invited … Continue reading Newsmaker: Daliyah Marie Arana
In recent years, there has been much discussion among children’s librarians about whether to provide—and how to execute—holiday programming. I think the answers to those questions depend on your community, and the first step is to stop and think objectively about what you’re offering and why. Start by reading “Librarians—Check Your Holidays at the Door,” … Continue reading ’Tis the Season …
DK Readers, new and improved Children are exposed to more images on a daily basis than at any time before. To help capture and hold their attention while assisting them with reading, illustrated reference publisher DK Readers has updated its beginner reading program. DK Readers develops reading programs for all ages. Earlier this July, DK … Continue reading Helping Young Readers
What made you want to write this book? Well, frankly, I didn’t want to write it—I wanted to read it! I wanted to pick up something in writing that I could point to and say, “Yes! Here are some real answers to the daily issues we keep bemoaning, such as how to entice nonusers, how … Continue reading A Conversation with Author Debra J. Knoll
This is an excerpt from Engaging Babies in the Library: Putting Theory Into Practice by Debra J. Knoll (ALA Editions, 2016). Librarians are now beginning to realize the impact they have on a baby’s development can influence his or her developing brain for a lifetime, and they are doing whatever it takes to make these … Continue reading Engaging Babies in the Library
