I’m back! How was everyone’s summer? Did you get all your professional development reading done? lolsob. I did watch a webinar called The Myth of School Readiness by Ida Rose Florez. She’s an excellent presenter and well qualified to speak on this topic. She delves into models of thinking in order to help us understand… Continue reading The Myth of School Readiness
Opinion Pieces
I’m Not the Center of Storytime and That’s Okay
Raise your hand if you’ve ever felt emotionally invested in storytime? *Raises Hand* I’ve been reflecting the past few months on the special place storytime holds in my heart. This reflection has coincided with my journey to have a healthier balance between work and home life. I don’t think there’s anything inherently wrong with being… Continue reading I’m Not the Center of Storytime and That’s Okay
Deep Work and Children’s Librarianship
Sometimes when I talk to my academic librarian friends about the institutional support for professional development and research-related work they are guaranteed as part of their jobs I get a little green with envy. The paid flights and hotels! The time off teaching! The expectation to continuously learn and grow! The access to research locked… Continue reading Deep Work and Children’s Librarianship
Early Literacy Research is Not Neutral: A Critique of Every Child Ready to Read
We’re going long form today, folks. At our Winter 2019 Library Services for Children Journal Club meeting we read an article by my friend and former colleague Tess Prendergast where she cites a 2011 article by Stooke and McKenzie called “Under Our Own Umbrella: Mobilizing Research Evidence for Early Literacy Programs in Public Libraries.” I… Continue reading Early Literacy Research is Not Neutral: A Critique of Every Child Ready to Read
Community Outreach and the Devaluation of Children’s Librarians
I’m one of those people who excitedly awaits their copy of the American Libraries magazine every two months so I can read up on all the cool stuff people are doing in our field. In the May 2018 issue there is an excellent article by Meredith Farkas called Get Out of the Library: Embedding Librarians… Continue reading Community Outreach and the Devaluation of Children’s Librarians
Talking to Kids about Race
About a year ago I read a book called NurtureShock: New Thinking About Children by Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman. It’s a thought-provoking book. Many of the chapters hit home but none quite as much as the one called “Why White Parents Don’t Talk About Race.” It had a concrete impact on the way I… Continue reading Talking to Kids about Race
Community-Led Children’s Librarians
We’ve had some pretty powerful posts in the past which have touched on the idea of community-led library service and I wanted to kick off a series of posts which allow me to explore this philosophy in a little more depth. So here goes: an introduction to community-led work, Children’s Librarians style! A quick definition… Continue reading Community-Led Children’s Librarians
Jumping Off the Holiday Ban-Wagon
Disagreement, while uncomfortable, is a normal and needed part of librarianship. I know going into this that people will disagree with me. And many of those people are librarians I deeply admire which in a way makes this post even harder to write. But I truly believe that disagreement is healthy and can be done… Continue reading Jumping Off the Holiday Ban-Wagon