Summer is upon us, friends! How’s everyone holding up?
In anticipation of an increased work load and an increase in social activities outside of work, I’ll likely take the summer off blogging. In the meantime, here are some things to bookmark and read over the next few months.
YAACING Newsletter
Yes, I still write a quarterly column for the Young Adults and Children’s Section (YAACS) of my provincial library organization. I haven’t share my column here in a long time, but you can read them all for free. Here are some of my recent favourites:
- Writing Early Literacy Messages
- Recent Library Research for Youth Services
- Top Teen Librarian Resources
- Indigenous Resources to Support the Early Years
Summer Reading Reflections
Jessica at Storytime in the Stacks wrote an excellent reflection on Summer Reading and School Contests where she talks about taking an ENTIRE YEAR off. Jen at Adventures in Storytime (And Beyond) wrote about reinventing the summer and going rogue. Both of these writers deserve lots and lots of comments on their posts!
Programming Inspo
One of my all-time favourite bloggers is back after a 7-year hiatus, kicking it off with a “We are Gonna Have a Cat Party.” This program reminded me so much of an early readers book club program where we pretended to be dogs and the kids had a BLAST. Welcome back, Erin!
Over the past few months I kept seeing article after article about lullabies. First Tess Prendergast wrote a fantastic article called Lullabies in the Library on the ALSC blog chalk full of research, resources, and suggestions. Then I came upon an NPR podcast on the power of lullabies. Both were motivation to think about ways I can include these in babytime programs and communicate the reasoning to caregivers.
There is a new Spring Bunny Scavenger Hunt landing page! You all keep sending me new bunny designs and extension activities that I decided to create one place for everything. You have GOT to check out the contributions from Gail Borden Public Library (thanks, Carrie Rzezza!) who took it to a whole new level.
Book Recommendations
Lastly, here are some books I hope to read this summer. It’s a mix of professional development and pleasure reading.
- We Will Not Cancel Us: And Other Dreams of Transformative Justice by Adrienne Maree Brown
- Foundations of Intellectual Freedom by Emily J.M. Knox
- True Reconciliation by Jody Wilson-Raybould
- Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
- Yellowface by R.F. Kuang
Anything I should add to my TBR pile?
Thanks for posting all of the bloggers sites! That was so helpful, as I am always looking for other early literacy librarians. Have a relaxing summer.
You too, Debra! I’ve been meaning to write another post all about youth service bloggers who are still active. A September goal 🙂
Thanks again for the mention! We’ve had a 30% increase in summer reading registration this year; now waiting to see if the percentage of those that complete the summer reading challenge is higher than last year, too.
That is incredible! I am eagerly waiting your end of the summer report back 🙂
So glad to see folks coming back to blogging! Instagram is lovely, but there’s something special about long-form writing, and I’ve learned so much from fellow children’s librarians’ blogs over the years!
Me too! And I’ve pretty much given up on using Instagram. I do still find some inspirational ideas when I check in every once in awhile, but also so many ads now!
The lullaby links are so timely! I have been incorporating a lullaby that I play with my ukulele with my Book Babies program, and change it up every two months. I’ve run out of ones that I know offhand so ready for some new material! I’m also considering asking the group what lullabies they know and love, and seeing if I can learn from my patrons as well.
That’s a great idea! I would love to see your list of favourites 🙂
I started simple with Twinkle, Twinkle, then did Yo te amo, I See the Moon, and Rockabye You. It’s been great to pull out the ukulele for these, as it really settles everyone and gets them in a calmer mood. It’s how I transition from a more energetic bounce or tickle into some individual reading time. 🙂