Elementary School Story Time!

  One thing I probably love most about my job is going to elementary schools and reading to classes.  It's a great way for the kids to relax and have some free time that is still stimulating and engaging.  They are usually a rapt audience, with the right books, and it's obvious how much they enjoy it.  At my library we have made a list of some of the 'needier' schools in our area- most are Title I schools.  Title I- Improving the Academic Achievement of the Disadvantaged was created with the purpose of ensuring that all children have fair and equal access to high-quality education.  You can read more the of the specifics at the U.S. Department of Education's website, or click here to be directed to the page.  Needless to say, the Title I schools have a large majority of their student body living at or below the poverty level.  These are often families that move around a lot, families with limited education, families with limited English, and many other worse situations.        While the state of Colorado does have some measures in place to help the children and families of these schools, it takes a village and the tireless effort of public servants like librarians to make sure these children don't slip through the cracks.  What matters most in keeping kids reading and thus boosting their mental and intellectual capabilities is: Keeping it Interesting!  Showing kids the fun we can have with books during a short story time is a great way to keep them excited about books and learning.  And no matter how old they are, kids love being read to!
  I usually try to form some rapport with a nearby elementary school LTE (Library Technology Educator) or librarian in plain speak.  She or he will put out the feelers to see if teachers are interested in having me come to read, and then we go from there.
  I like to keep it low-key and fun, so I'll usually start off by making myself look totally silly.  Putting on these glasses normally does the trick:  

  Most recently, I read to 2nd and 3rd graders, which is a really fun bunch to visit.  They're usually so excited and they love being read to!
  Here are some books I love for this age group:

2nd and 3rd grade books for story time:
Good Dog: Poems by Maya Gottfried
Tikki Tikki Tembo by Arlene Mosel
Bark, George by Jules Feiffer
The Long-Nosed Pig by Keith Faulkner
Actual Size by Steve Jenkins
Guess Again! by Mac Barnett
Tops and Bottoms by Janet Stevens
Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein
Two of Everything by Lily Toy Hong
Duck!  Rabbit! by Amy Krouse Rosenthal

Conference-ing

So, I just attended my first big, professional librarian conference!  The Colorado Association of Libraries holds a yearly conference event for library professionals in the state of Colorado.  This year the event kicked off on Thursday evening and goes through this Saturday.  There were lots of vendors hawking their wares: books, circulation systems, self checkouts, you name it.  I got lots of business cards, handed out lots of business cards.

I understand how important these types of things can be for networking with other professionals, but honestly I got more out of the breakout sessions.  Each session was an hour long, and presented by library professionals from all over the state.  I attended three sessions on Friday and all were inspirational and thought-provoking in their own way.  First, I attended a session about an outdoor learning adventure program sponsored by the public library in Mancos, Colorado.  I've always wanted to incorporate outdoor activity with learning.  This type of program would be for those "tween" kids (oh how I hate that term!) from around 9-12 years of age.  Mancos had the benefit of being a teensy tiny town with only one library, one school, etc.  Not to mention that their library is right beside a river and lots of open outdoor space.  While applying this type of program to an urban environment could be rather challenging, I'm all about encouraging a kid-centered community in the outdoors.  Here in Colorado Springs we are always in view of the mountain range, but a lot of the urban space is concrete and pavement.  Without the economic means to get to the mountains a lot of children are robbed of the incredible experiences they could be having in our natural playground.  We may have to tweak the program a bit to meet our location's needs, but the foundations of community, citizenship and leadership can easily remain.  A lot of their ideas were so wonderful: Putting up bird feeders in the winter, walking to the same area each time to watch how things change with the seasons, putting out bird seed in patterns, making art out of natural found materials, flying Frustrationless Kites!  This is a program in the making!

The next breakout session was about using technology more in regular library programming and staff development.  Our library district is pretty tech savvy and usually on the forefront of the library technology trends, i.e. Ereaders, Playways, downloadable audiobooks, so we are already doing things like virtual all staff meetings.  But this session did make me think about how we could incorporate the use of some of the library's technological offerings to teach patrons about them.  One idea I've been playing with is in regards to our Summer Reading Program.  We usually have a bonus round, where kids read more in order to enter their names for different raffle prizes.  For 2012 it might be fun to have the bonus round be a little more interactive and task oriented: Listen to one book or story in audio format; Play a game from the KidsWeb; answer bonus questions...  I am still thinking about it but I think it could be a great way to get patrons to use some of our other resources!

The final session examined self-assessment and tools for assessing ourselves at our jobs.  Two librarians from the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, Tabatha Farney and Beth Kumar, have created a guide for self-assessment of library work.  It can be found here: http://libguides.uccs.edu/selfassessment.
I'm looking forward to playing around with the tools found on the website, as this is an area that I often overlook but is actually really important.  By assessing our performance we not only justify our place, but we continually acknowledge what we are doing and how successful we are at it.  This isn't meant to be a self-criticism but merely a holistic view of how we spend our time- and how we might spend it more effectively.

All in all, a success!  To learn more about CAL, go here: http://www.cal-webs.org/.  My only gripe was that there were very few sessions related to children's services, and apparently that is because for some reason or another the members on the committee didn't think it was important?  Hopefully such a grave oversight isn't repeated next year.  The 2012 conference is in Keystone...so if next year's ski season is anything like this year's I'll be able to ski too!

Keeping Up- Creating a Story Time

My, my, my I can't believe it has been a year since I last created a post for this blog!  It has also been just over a year since I moved to Colorado and started my first "real world" job as a librarian.  It has been a great year of discovery and adaptation.  I've been learning like crazy, meeting tons of new people and trying to form some new relationships and partnerships within my new community.  All while still having a life and exploring the amazing and beautiful place I live. 

As a recap, I am currently a Children's Services Librarian with the Pikes Peak Library District in Colorado Springs.  We have 13 libraries in our district, including mobile library services- the bookmobile, in other words.  I'm always fascinated to see how the planning takes place on such a grand scale.  Coming from a small library system with two libraries, things were so much different in terms of programming, collection, circulation...ay yay yay!

I originally started this blog with the intention of providing some insight and lots of resources for others working with children to use.  I find myself perusing the web and collecting millions of useful things for story times, research-based information, etc.  Instead of charging myself with the overwhelming task of trying to document everything that's going on in my library, I thought I would instead choose themes based on current things I'm working on.

In the spirit of fun, this post is dedicated to creating a story time!  I am currently working on a story time for the month of October, and while the go-to idea would probably include something about Halloween or fall, I'm not the only one doing story time in my district and therefore there will definitely be some fall and Halloween related story times done by others!  I did a fall-themed story time last October, and will post those ideas here as well.  Eventually.  

October's theme will be...drum-roll please.... ART!  I love art and creativity, so I always try to encourage young learners to be creative and think outside of the box.  For this story time I decided to incorporate some books about color, primary and secondary colors as well as just general creativity.  I also want children to learn and understand that art doesn't just have to be visual.  We all express our creative selves differently and dancing, singing and telling stories are just as creative and artistic as making something visual to admire and hang on a wall.

Instead of publishing a synopsis of how the story time will go down (since I haven't done it yet, I don't know which books I'll read and in what order), I will just put the components that will make up this story time.

First things first, the books.  Keep in mind, I won't use all of these, but I like to have LOTS of options to satisfy a variety of moods and energy levels.  You never know what you're going to get on any given morning!  These are all books that fit my theme and would go over well in a group setting, (I think.)

Book Suggestions:
I Ain't Gonna Paint No More! by Karen Beaumont
Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me by Eric Carle
Dog's Colorful Day by Emma Dodd
Go Away, Big Green Monster! by Ed Emberley
Little Blue and Little Yellow by Leo Lionni
Bear's Picture by Daniel Pinkwater
First the Egg by Laura Vaccaro Seeger
Lemons Are Not Red by Laura Vaccar Seeger
My Many Colored Days by Dr. Seuss
Look!  Look!  Look!  by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace
Lines that Wiggle by Candace Whitman
Art & Max by David Wiesner
Hilda Must Be Dancing by Karma Wilson

Action Rymes/Songs:

Action Song: "Driving Round in My Car" (Tune: Ten Little Indians)
Driving round in my little red car
Driving round in my little red car
Driving round in my little red car
Zoom zoom zoom zoom zoom
Credit: storytime katie

Let the kids choose which color the car will be next!

Action Rhyme: "When I See"
When I see red I put my hand on my head.
When I see blue I touch my shoe.
When I see green I wash my face real clean.
When I see yellow I wave to the fellows.
When orange is found I put my hand on the ground.
When I see pink I think, think, think.
Credit: everythingpreschool.com 

Action Rhyme: "Red, Red"
Red, red is the color I see
If you're wearing red, then show it to me.
Stand up, take a bow, turn around
Show me your red and sit back on the ground.
Credit: everythingpreschool.com- Colors


And since no story time would be complete without flannel boards, here are two that I made:

Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson
Source: storytime katie
This was so much fun!  I've always loved this story, but the format is a little small for story time.  Clever librarian Katie thought of a great way to share this in another way!

I omitted some parts of the story that would just be too difficult to tell, i.e. the cityscape, the mountain, the sidewalk.  I can't wait to see how this goes!

Mouse Paint by Ellen Stoll Walsh
Source: storytime katie

This is a great story for teaching about primary and secondary colors.  Three mischievous mice have fun with some jars of paint while the cat is sleeping.

I had so much fun creating this story time.  I will be sure to come back and post any suggestions, warnings, comments about how this went with the kids.  And I'll also show some photos of the lovely art-related crafts they create! 

 

New Beginnings, New Inspiration

Time to dust off this blog and start posting again!  The blog originally began as a means of recording my experience as a library intern during graduate school.  I included my own musings as well as abstracts of articles I found in related literature.  The fact that internship participants were required to keep a journal with the number of entries dependent upon the credit hours is neither here nor there.  I had a lot of fun with it, and with blogging in general, so I have decided to continue.

I graduated from the Indiana University School of Library and Information Science in May 2010.  My experience and interests lie with the public sector of libraries.  I love libraries in general, but I am most drawn to the public library and its use as a public space for community-building and learning.  Maybe it is the anthropologist in me, but I love talking to and meeting new people from a variety of backgrounds.  The chance to engage others and possibly offer tidbits of information or transform a life only ups the ante for serious career fulfillment.  So after working with the wonderfully dedicated staff at the Monroe County Public Library in Bloomington, Indiana as an intern for a year I was hooked.

After the term of my job ended I started the job search.  I had a bit of wiggle room so I decided to only apply for jobs in places that I really wanted to live.  That meant becoming an avid user of the Pacific Northwest Library Association Joblist along with LibraryJobline.org sponsored by the Colorado State Library.  Anyone who has ever devoted all or even some of their time to applying for jobs knows how time-consuming it is.  Some applications can take days to complete if you are thinking things through, and some require additional essays and projects for completion in order to be considered.  After rejections from some prospective employers and utter silence from others I began to apply for jobs outside of libraries as a safety net.

The hard work spent preparing an application packet paid off and I obtained a job interview with the Pikes Peak Library District in Colorado Springs, Colorado.  I visit Colorado frequently but seeing as there aren't any ski mountains in the Springs I hadn't been here yet!  Despite comments I had heard about the conservatism of the city, I really liked the first 24 or so hours I spent here.  The mountains are beautiful and the city is a city without being huge.  It is definitely smaller than my hometown of Indianapolis, but I rather like the small-town feel and the cozy neighborhoods.  When I was offered the job I deliberated over the distance from my family and friends and essentially decided that you only live once so you should live where you want to!  And now I'm a Children's Librarian.  Full-fledged, nametag and everything.       
        
This is my journey.  I've traveled so far, and yet have so far to go.  I would like to offer up this blog as proof that librarians and libraries are an important part of society.  The library as an institution is something that we should all be proud and willing to contribute to.  With the help of librarians and other child educators we can work to close the achievement gap that seems to be widening at an increasing rate.  Despite that depressing fact, I am more than excited about my job working with children in the library.  Finally I will be able to use my Spanish!  Like, a lot!  Maybe my experience as a budding children's librarian living in a new city, new state, can bolster the spirits and experiences of other librarians and bibliophiles alike.  Maybe this will just be a sounding board to keep track of ideas and projects.  Regardless, I will use this space to write about my experiences, successes, failures, suggestions, and anything else that seems pertinent to the world of children's librarians or others that work with children.  I will try to continually update with blogs and other information I find that I think is particularly interesting.  I encourage sharing and collaboration.  We are all in this together.  

Summer Highlights

It's hard to believe that tomorrow is the last day of my internship! This week is already setting up to be a whirlwind and I still feel like I have unfinished business. I don't though. Maybe I just feel that way because I don't want to leave! I am really looking forward to a couple of weeks of relaxation before school starts up again so the timing is perfect. Nothing sounds finer than curling up on the couch with some good books to read!

I just wanted to put up a couple of pictures from some of the summer activities that went on here at the branch.

This is me and a couple young library regulars. These girls made fast friends and had a lot of fun building this huge tower. The tower was taller than me! Though that's not saying much...

Here I am at the Flatwoods Park Family Picnic. I had the tough job of 'meet and greet,' which meant I got to meet lots of families and tell them about all of the great things going on at the picnic!

As you can tell there was lot of hands-on, social interaction going on and the job pretty much demanded it. It is almost unheard of to have nothing to do at/for the library! All in all this was the best part of the job, or at least the most rewarding one. It was also great to see a community come together on more than one occasion for the children. I hope they had as much fun as I did!

Musings

Well, today is one of my last days working as an intern at the Ellettsville branch. Next Tuesday is my last day and I will be sad to leave. It has been kind of taxing driving out here three times a week but it has been well worth it. I feel like I have really gained valuable professional experience that I could only have gotten from working at a library. It is really easy to sit in class and discuss theory and hypothetical situations, but it is much more of a task to answer the phone, answer patron questions, help with computers, make copies, etc, etc. I like learning about the theory though, because I think that's what you draw from when you're trying to put things into practice. The theory doesn't always work, because it's a theory, but it's often better than starting from scratch.

The face of the library will definitely be changing in the next few years. Many staff members that were thinking about retirement will instead work a little longer. Many libraries that could really use extra staff and materials will go without due to budget cuts and tightening fiscal belts. However, at a time of high unemployment and financial strain the public counts on resources like the library more than ever. It will become increasingly difficult to serve the growing number of patrons with a small budget. But with the help of the Friends of the Library, the Community Foundation, and other groups I know that Monroe County libraries and libraries all over will make it work. Some libraries may have to close their doors, but I don't doubt that in times of greater economic progress we will see those same libraries open for business once again.

It's a rocky road, and rather daunting as I think about graduating, finding a job, paying back student loans, etc. I'm choosing not to freak out about anything just yet, and adopting the 'wait and see' attitude that the U.S. has perfected over the last 10 years. I digress, libraries certainly have a future but the structure of that future I think will continue to develop as the role of the library develops and changes. We will survive. There's no denying that people love the library and wouldn't want it to go away. Sadly the same people that believe it is their right to enjoy public services like the library are often the same ones who don't want to pay anything for it. It's got to come from somewhere, and it's time to start being patriotic about something other than the war. Why not libraries?

Slow Trickle

Today at the library has been very quiet. The computers are all filled, with several reservations made, but I still don't hear the normal 'buzz' that seems to be prevalent around here.

I have had a few questions today about when the construction of the new addition will be done, and I'm wondering the same thing! Apparently the meeting room kitchen has a mold problem and something has to be done about that before they will be able to open the whole area up. It's looking really great from the outside though! I will definitely make it a point to attend the grand opening they will have some time in the fall.

These kinds of projects are so exciting. It will be great for the kids to have a new and improved area to explore and learn in, but this addition will also be great in providing space for the existing adult collections. I have heard talk that the information desk will be moved to a more centralized location, which would be great, to provide more of a 360 degree view of the library from the desk.

This just goes to show the community that even in times of economic hardship that the library is still dedicated to improving its services. Kudos MCPL.