Thinking Outside the Storytime Box - ALSC 2014

Sometimes the smallest seeds tossed out in a Twitter convo can blossom into a beautiful growing thing. This is the journey in planning a group of us found ourselves in over the past two years. It began with our question about whether it was reasonable to ask staff to create more/different programs when they already busy and stressed. We were also thinking about the rich content and ties to multiple literacies available for preschoolers and their caregivers that can happen in programs beyond storytime. The Twitter conversation moved over to a Google doc and we kept going and expanding.

While almost every library, no matter the size and location, offers a (or many) preschool storytime(s), far fewer offer content beyond that. Sometimes it's because of staffing issues, sometimes because a staffer is unaware of the possibilities, sometimes because there is very real pushback from management if something is suggested outside of the silo of comfort or expectation ("We've always just done storytimes; why rock the boat?").

We questioned whether encouraging staff to go outside those silos represented a bridge too far. We also noodled around with the fact that staff may be reluctant to try newer programming avenues because many thought the prep work/planning should mirror the intentionality of a storytime prep.

Over preparation for non-storytime programs is a huge problem at many libraries. We sketched out more thoughts on unprogramming. We explored ideas and solutions.... and then we started doing! The first Conversation Starter presentation at ALA 2013 on Unprogramming and subsequent presentations, webinars and blog posts evolved from this kismet meet-up.

And now we are presenting at the ALSC Institute in Oakland on doing easy, fun, multiple literacies, experiential programming for preschoolers. Our intrepid group of chatters: Amy Commers, Mel Depper, Amy Koester and I are exploring the rich content of programs that we have tried as well as hooking up attendees to other colleagues who have pushed the envelope with Parachute Playtimes, Toddler Dance Parties, Stuffed Animal Sleepovers, Toddler Drive-ins and much MUCH more.

We are including research links to help youth librarians make the case for the importance of these programs with management (or yourselves!). We've also created a Pinterest board with examples of many programs from many people to keep those creative juices flowing. And here is the conference handout for specific how-to posts about the programs presented and links here and here to their conference wrap-ups.

Whether you could be at the Institute or not, with these resources you can explore, experiment, build on your already successful outside-the-storytime-box ideas, and, you know, be mighty!

On the Road with Preschool Mojo Part 2

Three foot snow drift in Ashland WI in front of Lake Superior 4/24/14

Brooke and I are excited to be up in Ashland WI, on the shores of beautiful Lake Superior, to share some preschool know-how (and learn some too!) with our colleagues from the Northern Waters Library System. We are doing a workshop on starting a 1000 Books program, creating an inexpensive early literacy area and tips on doing effective early literacy storytimes.

We have a Pinterest board, All Things Preschool, full of links for you. If you don't use Pinterest, here are the highlights:

Growing Wisconsin Readers - a great blog to get insight into everything early literacy - including some great posts on early literacy centers developed in WI!

Hennepin County's slideshare with a ton of easy ideas to create inexpensive early literacy activities

1000 Books Before Kindergarten slideshare

All Things Preschool NWLS Morning Presentation 4/24/14 slideshare

1000 Books Before Kindergarten posts here (including a webinar), here, here, and here.

Both Brooke and I are blogging links for the workshop today, so please head over to Reading with Red for more insight into preschool power!

Evolving an Early Literacy Area - Part 1

It is great fun to launch an initiative - the planning, the grant-writing/funding piece, the gathering of material, the publicity, the roll-out and then the public's happy (we hope) reactions.  This was definitely the feeling when, three years ago, we debuted our Early Literacy Area - Play Learn Read (PLR).

Careful thought and preparation went into it. Despite that, we immediately began tinkering to make it better, solve problems and navigate unexpected challenges. Things we thought would work, didn't and things we were sure would fail, succeeded. Here's a glimpse into our process of change!

Challenge 1 - Tables
We had plenty of small tables in the area. Since this was the first area people saw when they walked into the library, the tables immediately became coat racks (you might glimpse a coat pile on the right of this photo). They also became homework tables - despite their small size. People would put the literacy activity on the floor and spread out their stuff.
Solution: we moved all the large tables out and purchased tot-sized tables that let kids sit on the floor. No more coats. Fewer non-tots using the area.

Challenge 2 - Chairs
We had a few comfy chairs that began to be heavily used by sleepy men. Again, since this was the first thing people saw when they came into the room, older caregivers sat and snoozed while the children they were with used the rest of the Children's area. It was not an inviting sight and discouraged use.
Solution: we kept just one comfy chair and moved it into the corner farthest from the door facing into the PLR area. We added stools for kids and parents to sit on. No more sleepers; fewer non-tot/parent pairs using the area.

Fewer tables and one chair

Challenge 3 - Magnetism!
Planners were delighted by the thought of using baking pans as magnetic boards for children to interact with and to contain the pieces of the story. Sadly, the pans purchased were far from magnetic and so the point of having them was...pointless.
Solution: In an "aha" moment, planners finally just purchased a magnetic white board, mounted it on the wall and voila, magnetism for all the story pieces.

Challenge 4 - Many Ages
Even though we changed out chairs and tables to preschool-friendly size, we still would get bigger kids taking over the area - and by their presence, discouraging preschool/parent use.  Much like in the Teen area that adults would camp-out in (and that we finally designated middle and high school kids only to stop that), we felt it was important to establish a space for the toddlers
Solution: For a year or so, until the area became clearly marked in people's minds as a toddler early literacy area, we added a sign that simple said "Parent Tot Spot". It did the trick.

Challenge 5 - Frequency of Activities Changing
While we started out with a bang, changing out activities became a real challenge. Some pieces stayed the same for months; some changed out monthly; some were fragile and needed replacing bi-weekly.
Solution: We made a commitment to change out activities monthly, varying the weeks. So new puppets went into the puppet theater in week 1; new magnetic board story in week 2; new pillar activity in week 3; new bathroom activity in week 4.

Challenge 5 - Fragility of Material
The story pieces - even when done of card stock and laminated - turned out to be too fragile for the use they were getting. The delicate cutting to get the cow's legs cut out was all for nothing when kids bit them off.
Solution: We began cutting the shapes with a big circle of white space - without arms, limbs, and slender shapes sticking out the pieces lasted far longer.

Being open to evolving and changing an area or service keeps it responsive to reactions from the public and staff. It's fun to solve those problems! Please stop by for Part 2 over on Brooke's blog Reading with Red where she tackles more solutions!

Happy Birthday 1000 Books!

This month marks our third year of doing 1000 Books Before Kindergarten in La Crosse!!

It has been an amazingly fun journey.

Over 850 children have joined the program (in our community of 51K) and 172 have reached the 1000 books goal.

So far over 257,200 books (yes...over a quarter of a million!!)  have been read to kids in our community as a result of this program. 

Our program was built so it could evolve to adapt to how parents and children react to the materials and incentives. Here is how we've changed:

Materials: Our first recording sheet asked parents to write down every title read. Then it morphed to bookmarks with 100 seeds to mark off. It has settled comfortably into a sheet with seeds, ten lines for favorite titles to be recorded and little literacy tips on each sheet.

Incentives: Stickers are king and queen for the kids and their most treasured part of each return visit. Kids still receive a nursery rhyme fingerpuppet at 500 and a book on completion. When we first started our focus group encouraged us to give out  logo-infused incentives to parents at 300 (lanyard), 500 (window cling), 800 (fridge magnet) and 1000 (book bag) levels. We soon realized the parents didn't care. So now, the book bag is given out at sign-up and that is the most prized parental possession (as well as great advertisement for the program around the community!)

Inclusiveness: The program was designed for 1-5 year olds because we wanted the kids to realize the excitement of what was happening. But what about the babies?!?! Our new early literacy librarian Brooke Rasche came on board a year ago and immediately developed and wrote a grant to fund Baby Book Bees to dovetail into our garden themed 1000 Books. With their first 100 books read, graduate Bees have a head start by the time they join 1000 Books. We have 44 babies in this new program!

We continue to talk the programs up, include them on our program flyers and distribute posters to daycares and schools to alert families to what's available. It has been a win-win program for our community and is one that more and more libraries are adding.

If you have added a 1000 Books Before Kindergarten program at your library, please let me know in the comments and I will make sure it gets pinned to my 1000 Books Pinterest board and get it on the google map. And if you are thinking of adding the program, please stop at this blog post for resources, history, research to support grant or funding requests and more!

2017 Update: Over 403.200 books have been read since the program's inception with 1,168 readers in 1000 Books and 194 readers in baby Book Bees. Moving towards half a million books. Go parents and kids!!

Guerrilla Storytime - the Real Meaning

When the idea for Guerrilla Storytime first started birthing in the late spring/early summer 2013,  part of the conversation was doing the storytimes in a public venue that showed people the importance of storytime work.  That's why the Networking Uncommons at ALA was booked. It put the storytime ninjas front and center among non-youth librarians. It was a huge success and created a buzz-worthy atmosphere at the conference.

Youth librarians gathered again at ALA Midwinter at the Networking Uncommons and again had a great turn-out and created a stir.  Probably my favorite write-up about the event is one that bystander Kate Kosturski just shared on INALJ.  It is a wonderful view of a non-youth librarian recognizing the magic of the Guerrilla Storytime moments.  She filmed a number of ninjas that day and shared those videos at ALA.

I got to know Kate a bit last year when discussions of feminism in librarianship started to pop up into conversation. She hosted a Circulating Ideas podcast panel with Coral Sheldon-Hess and me that addressed some of these issues. It was great for me to listen to these interesting people and to think outside my youth librarian bubble. I got more interested in LITA at ALA because of that conversation.

For me, this IS what librarianship is all about - each type of librarian sharing the power and joy of our passions with folks outside our more narrow library-interest tribe.  I think librarians are willing to hear from each other and discover. We just need to listen, to talk to them - not just at ALA or our state conferences but at our institutions. We learn, we create powerful connections and we strengthen ourselves.

I thank my deep-thinking pals Cory, Amy and Kendra for bringing our part of the conversation front and center to conferences where librarians of all types and stripes gather. And I thank my non-youth librarian colleagues for the warm embrace!

A Little Library-Linky Love

Since it was such a good morning of blog posts on my feeds, I wanted to share a little of it with all of you. Here's what woke me up this morning...plus a fun post from last week.

LJ's Digital Shift got me going with a fantastic list of apps and programs to help teach kids - well, and us!- coding mightiness. I can see some great programs growing at the library!

Cen Campbell of Little elit, along with colleagues Elizabeth Gray and Genesis Hansen, developed a list of core tech competencies in youth services. I think we need these kind of benchmarks to measure and plan for service to evolving communities of young, tech-savvy parents - and kids.

And since humor makes everything better, the ubiquitous xkcd comic posted some simple answers on what happens when new tech appears.

And speaking of competencies, with YALSA doing a soft launch of badges that teen librarians can earn as they practice competencies for librarians serving youth, Christie and Karen over at TLT (Teen Librarian Toolbox) , put the brakes on with some thoughtful questions on how those badges might- or might not - work.

Finally on the "service to our very youngest patrons"-front, two posts:

I love our La Crosse Public Library new staffer Brooke's story of how she saw a need to serve babies, came up with an initiative, wrote a grant and designed and pioneered Baby Book Bees at her blog Reading with Red.

I appreciate Rebecca's research, wise words and suggestions on Sturdy for Common Things on sharing great reads to "the bump" for expectant parents. Priceless!

Image courtesy of Pixabay

Flannel Friday Fiesta! A Civilian's View

Flannel Friday is fast approaching it's second anniversary. As the auspicious day approaches, participants in Flannel Friday are sharing what this movement has meant to them. Sharon over at her blog Rain Makes Applesauce is gathering the posts of participants. All are worth reading.

I myself am not a flannelist anymore. Or a prop-meister. Or a storytime provider. I once was and enjoyed that part of my work more than I can say. But even as a manager, I love and appreciate the efforts in the field of storytime and early literacy and the great places people are taking them. So, though I am not an active participant and really just an observer, let me still share with you what these intrepid folks and their blogs have meant to me and my professional life.

The blogs that participants are encouraged to start have often blossomed well beyond sharing flannel stories and patterns. Many of these new bloggers have expanded their content with thoughts about their work, programs, children's services and issues swirling around youth librarianship. When I celebrated the linkiness of my life a few weeks ago, it was also a homage to FF folks who have jumped into the blogosphere with both feet and enriched my thinking and work life so profoundly.

The FF community also led me fully into the world of Twitter. Many of these bloggers were the first tweeps I followed and chatted with. They have become a community of friends that I rely on and learn from.

I am in awe of the founders of (thank you, thank you) as well as the participants in this amazing grassroots effort. You have affected a sea change in youth librarianship and connectivity.

Big fireworks for you all!

Image: 'Fireworks 04'  http://www.flickr.com/photos/53139634@N00/472327992 Found on flickrcc.net

Toddler Drive-In Movie

Pinterest has often led us to a serendipitous program or idea.  One we tried last night to general delight and squealing "OMG, that is too cute!" is a Toddler Drive-in Movie.

We spotted the idea on Pinterest and our two early literacy librarians jumped right on it. Between them, they do all our storytimes for kids birth through 3 years old. During storytime breaks they usually cook-up an idea to bring the families back - whether it's a dance party or a stealth program introducing families to different parts of the collection.

This one is definitely a wowza!  With some leftover book boxes, paper plates for wheels and paper bowls for headlights, kids and parents worked on making little cars for the kids.  Once the cars were made there was time for a short 10  minute children's book movie and then kids took their cars home.

That's it. That simple.  And that darn delightful. A mom who came in the next day reported that her son watched Sesame St in his car that morning.  This is a program we will definitiely revisit!

Yeah, It's Not Just the Reading

I love this article brought to my attention by LIS News today. It talks about the importance of print knowledge in a preschooler's journey towards reading. It's not enough to just read to kids - it's important to involve them in the words and print experience.  The blog post cites a study published in the May-June issue of the Journal of Child Development as one example:  "Ohio State professor Shayne Piasta and her coauthors report that when preschool teachers drew students’ attention to print while reading to them, the children’s skills in reading, spelling and comprehension improved. These positive results were long-lasting, too, still showing up a full two years later."

This is an early literacy skill that librarians have been working with parents to develop for many years now. I am glad to see it receive more study and more ink and publicity. The reading parents do with their kids with print knowledge in mind can be so much more enriching. Articles like this inspire me to keep going!

Reading is Key Club

I have been writing over the past year about our approaches to programming.  We are balancing traditional staff-led programs with more participatory programs that allow kids and families to control the pace and level of involvement.  We call these types of programs "Stealth" programs but you may know them as passive programs.  The point of the initiatives, which require some pre-planning and set-up but then basically run themselves with little staff time needed, is to bring families into the library for frequent visits (think SLP here).

Our various programs have various goals. One encourages more check-out and program attendance at an under-used branch. One encourages visits and check-out in December and January, traditionally very slow months for our library. One asks parents to read widely to their preschoolers and keep track of their reading as they read towards 1000 books.  Many of them work well for school age kids and older preschoolers. But we wanted something for our very youngest babies and infants.

So our current Reading is Key Club was born.  Our early literacy librarian designed the program for children birth through age two.  She wanted to use it as a bridge between the end of spring storytimes and the beginning of our summer ones. The program encourages weekly use of the library. Her ultimate goal in the design, though, was to introduce parents of our youngest patrons to the wide variety of collections we have for that age.

A little mascot, Key-Key (my colleagues stopped me from naming it Little Keyster ;-> ) introduces tots and parents to seven areas of the collection - Cds, rhymes, board and baby books, easy non-fiction, fingerplays, paperbacks, concept books - and encourages parents to use these materials each week. If parents participate for at least four weeks their child receives a set of plastic key rattles or a book bag to color for older tots.  And they can pick up that prize during summer storytime registration.

We love these programs that run between storytimes and allow our staff to take vacation time while this effort rolls along. And we get to emphasize books, the library and reading. What could be better?

Doing the Summer Thing

Like the rest of our colleagues, we are about to launch into our summer busy season here at the library.  We are particularly excited  - and maybe a little anxious - to be premiering not one, not two, but three new re-vamped programs for our kids.  We totally redesigned our ages 3-10 program; have developed a brand new toddler/baby program and have re-invigorated our teen program.  Today let's look at the newest addition to our SLP family: The Rubber Ducky Club!

We have long invited our one and two year olds to be part of our summer reading club but the fit was always...uncomfortable.  Food coupons and geegaws didn't really fit the tiny tots' interests or needs. And most little prizes were definitely not recommended for under three year olds.  But we wanted to encourage parents reading to their children and using the six pre-literacy skills. What to do, what to do?

And then, like all good things in children's librarianship, we discovered that someone had an answer that would work for us!  We stumbled on the great idea of the Rubber Ducky Club when Karen Burke at the Naperville (IL) Library in Illinois shared their information on this club on ALSCConnect newsletter (another reason to be an ALA/ALSC member...great ideas are shared!). We were intrigued. A quick email exchange ensued and Karen generously shared their club materials.  And here is what we developed:

Our club is split into two months.  Each month features six simplified pre-literacy skills with activities to do often with 0-35 month old kids during that time.  After July 1, the June sheet can be returned, a rubber ducky is presented and the July sheet heads home with the family.  That sheet can be returned in August and redeemed for a brand new book.

Record keeping is minimal and the focus is on encouraging parents in their great work supporting early literacy at home. This completes a wonderful trio of early literacy activities we launched: 1000 Books Before Kindergarten; Play Learn Read centers and now our Rubber Ducky Club.

And to make it all even sweeter, staffers created this little promo video featuring our newest spokes-creatures: Babe and Todd (baby and toddler). Get outta town! This is fun!

Big Launch 2!!

During our planning for 1000 Books Before Kindergarten, we also challenged ourselves to develop Play Learn Read early literacy areas similar to what Hennepin County (MN) libraries did.  The idea is to create areas in the library that are print rich and use play to help encourage parents and children to discover the fun of literacy.

Our three early childhood specialists and storytime gurus on the Children's Department team took up the gauntlet thrown and began planning what they would develop in late summer of 2010. After a team meeting to look at what we could afford, they plunged ahead. They developed and prepared many activities including: a tabletop puppet theater for dramatic play; story boards to encourage kids to tell the story; and examples of print that show parents that their preschooler is already a reader. Also on tap is a growth chart and a "Letters in my Name" activity as well - even the bathrooms contain a color matching activity). The plan is for these activities to change often. We also decided to house the Early Childhood Resources (Parent/Teacher)collection in this area as well as a display of great picture books for families to share.

A logo was developed based on 1000 Books and the team developed identifying signs and bright big letters for the area.  Now when families enter the Children's area, they are greeted by an inviting area that encourages reading, quiet play and discovery.  We have simple encouraging statements and highlight the six pre-literacy skills in easy to understand language:

• I Like Books - Have fun reading together!
• I See Words -Share letters and words
• I Hear Words - Help children hear the sounds of words and letters
• I Know Letters - Help children identify letters and numbers
• I Know Words - Share books and stories to increase vocabulary
• I Can Tell a Story- Help children understand story structure

We rolled out the area at the same time that we launched 1000 Books B4K. We knew these were natural supports for each other.  For the past week, we have watched parents interact with their kids and use all the early literacy center areas.  It makes us feel really great to have encouraged a perfect use of our library and its spaces!

Re-Aligning the Ship of State

We have been undergoing some interesting changes lately.  One of our co-workers, The Hedgehog Librarian, went off to academic libraryland so we been dividing out desk times, selection responsibilities and the myriad little pieces that go into wrapping up a colleague's time with us.  Amidst all the good-byes and the funny feelings of not-quite-completeness, we are also looking at other changes that are keeping us big-eyed.

When I came on board (just two years ago), the place was like a ship on storm-tossed waters.  The atmosphere in the public areas felt like free-for-all-free-fall. There didn't seem to be alot of procedures or limits on what we were able to realistically offer to our public so we did alot of everything - but often without focus.  Over time, we used technology to ease our way; re-examined and re-thought our services and collections and began to shift our focus in a way that helps us manage the physical space to make it inviting and a little more sane. Changes big and small are now suggested all the time by our able crew and we make progress each month in making a great space better.

Lately I have asked my colleagues to step up the pace of change.  They have really gotten on board and we are creating some exciting changes on our ship.

What's ahead?

• Creating hands-on pre-literacy activity areas for preschoolers around the department
• Launching an initiative to encourage parents to read at least 1000 books to their preschoolers before kindergarten
• Reducing in-house programs for school-agers and doing more outreach programs to that age group.
• Increasing the number of outreach visits at literacy fairs, school parent nights and other venues where parents gather while reducing the frequency of preschool outreach visits slightly to accomodate offering services to a wider age range.
• Creating "field trip adventures" rather than tours that make a class trip to the library the best visit in town. The content is specially targeted to specific age levels of the kids.
• Networking and creating more partnerships with our schools and community organizations to create great programs and services
• Streamlining our workflow to create more opportunities for creative thinking and idea generation.
• Revamping our summer reading program to create a simpler experience and one that recognizes that libraries are more than just  reading - they are about checking out materials; attending free programs; and a place for support of writing and other literacy activities.
• Re-imaginging and remodeling our physical space to remove a much-beloved but non-ADA compliant and unsafe boat facade and replacing it with a homage to our beautiful Mississippi River and bluff country.

Some of these changes have been/are welcomed by our patrons, some less popular.  Navigating through the reactions to these changes is probably our toughest challenge as a staff.  It's hard to tell a teacher of one age group that we have to reduce a service in order to offer services to other ages as well; or that our new adventure field trips replace a provider's routine expectations of a traditional storytime; or that we are limiting the number of seasonal books so everyone has a chance to enjoy a winter book.  On the other hand, it's easy to accept the grins of kids who experience the new field trips; listen to the excitement of our school colleagues when they hear about our Dr. Seuss presentation or our gross-out book talk; or accept the praise of families who feel more welcomed in the calmer atmosphere of the room.

I am lucky to be working with willing colleagues who are brave enough to step up to a change (or twenty) in course.  It might be awhile before we hit calm water but the crew is ready to play.  I hope to blog a little more in-depth about some of our initiatives over the next few months - although I have been quiet lately and don't know if this is one of those empty promises!  And I'll share the reactions of our public as we sail between the shoals of change.  It is a good time to be aboard!

Image: 'Ship'  http://www.flickr.com/photos/31805905@N00/35838005

All She Wants to Do is Dance....

Today we had a Toddler Dance Party at the library between storytime sessions.  It was a very funny and fun huge success.  My fab colleagues Lucy and Debbie decorated  with ribbons curled and hung from the ceiling and some spring flowers.  Little cookies and juice were available for treats. DJ Jazzy Sherri picked a selection of fun kid CDs to spin.  Rhythm instruments and egg shakers were in evidence.  All kids were given a tissue paper flower corsage or boutonniere.

Then the kids danced to familiar tunes and nursery rhymes and fun CDs.  Lucy and Debbie shared favorite tunes from storytime and scarves, bubbles and lots of participation ensued. Besides rockin' babies and toddlers, my favorite part of the program was the adults who showed up in force with their tots: grandmas and great grandmas; dads and moms in business suits; babysitters who grooved with the music all along with the little ones.

This is an easy fun program for the very youngest with little prep but maximum fun and gave us a chance to give our storytime regulars something unique to enjoy bewtween storytimes!  


Image: 'Groovy Baby!!!'  http://www.flickr.com/photos/32585800@N00/467176036

Books Plus Theater = Literacy Excitement

The Almost Librarian (now at Cozy Up and Read) talks about story extensions as a way to enhance the literacy component of reading. One of my favorite extensions that has developed a life of its own is doing simple theater with kids based on kids books. With the librarian (or mom or teacher or dad) as narrator and the kids as the actors, children's books are brought to life in an immediate way that is fun, satisfying and enshrines the books in the players' hearts. At the same time, the kids learn basic stage craft and are empowered as actors on a stage.

The books we've chosen to present are all simple and have few lines but allow the kids to play parts. We've put on Chicka-Chicka-Boom-Boom; Where the Wild Things Are; Wise Monkey Tale; Anansi and the Moss Covered Rock; The Very Hungry Caterpillar as well as other plays over the years based on picture books. We read the book with the kids, then talk about what is happening: how the characters feel; what they might look like, and how the kids can play the part. We go over basic stage directions (how to face the audience; learning to use their faces to show emotions; staying quiet if they are off-stage; etc); rehearse a few times and off we go.

When I first started doing these "Preschool Players" programs, we would have the kids make costumes and have three weeks of rehearsals. Over the years we have streamlined and condensed. The costumes were actually more of a distraction for the kids so we don't use much. Kids can come as they are and become the characters. Scenery can be as simple as cut-outs pasted on the wall or crepe paper hung to simulate vines - or often, nothing at all. We can now have practice, put on the play and throw a cast party all in an hour.

There is always an improv element to the process and kids and parents (and grandparents and friends who make up the audience) love to see their kids as "stars". And in a very deep and satisfying way we extend the book into these children's lives. Break a leg!

Amen Brother!

My Wisconsin colleague Larry Nix - he of the Library History Buff blog - has stepped away from his history focus and posted a great essay up at LIS News touting the importance of putting money-muscle nationally and locally into services for children birth to three in libraries. Get inspired when you read his call to action. It's great to hear someone outside of the Youth Services choir singing this song. Rock on!

It's Raining Books

Not really. But Amy over at Literacy Launchpad had a great post this week encouraging families to "have books everywhere and watch the magic happen". Her tips and ideas to have books in rooms throughout the house; in the car; and wherever kids routinely are is right on target. When books are seen as part of their many routines, kids become comfortable with browsing and picking out a book to enjoy. Amy also encourages parents to trade out the books often to keep things fresh and alluring.

The library is the perfect place to find those books, books, books. The variety and breadth of our collections for kids will keep those baskets filled with a fresh goodies. And we at the front desks can lead parents to lots of amazing books to keep the stock rotating. Having books everywhere - especially when we include library books in the mix - is a more chaotic approach for parents ("We always keep our books on one shelf"), but one worth the extra hunting to provide kids with great reads. And I would add to this mix parents and other family members also seen reading often and everywhere and young kids - who we know are bodacious imitators - will be drawn into the fun.

Image: 'Detail' http://www.flickr.com/photos/37718678739@N01/9373413

TV & Teeny Kids

A study just published again emphasizes that TV for tots (under the age of two) has no brain-boosting power. Although the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no television viewing for children under age 2, it is surprising how much TV that researchers have found these little ones watch. Stop here for a Web MD article on the study results. Thanks to my co-worker Abigail (aka The Hedgehog Librarian) for the link!

The KISS Theory on Pre-Reading Skills

I don't know if others are as frustrated as I have been when using/explaining/talking about the six early literacy skills that serve as a foundation for preschoolers in their learning to read and write. You know:


Print Motivation
Vocabulary
Print Awareness
Narrative Skills
Phonological Awareness (puh-lease don't make me say that word!)
Letter Knowledge

It's not that I don't understand this stuff but parents, providers and I often glaze over at the titles of each skill. Isn't there an easier way to title these puppies?

Well, Amy over at Literacy Launchpad just did a great post citing a Calgary Herald list that simplifies the names and concepts beautifully. I'll take "I Hear Words" over "Phonological Awareness" any day of any week! As a busy public librarian, I appreciate that and I know the families and providers I share this information with will appreciate it too!

Thanks to Jen Robinson's Book Page and Scrub-a-Dub-Tub for the Children's literacy Round-up link!