This week’s post comes to us from the past. We’ve been writing a column for YAACING, which is published by the Young Adult and Children’s Services (YAACS) arm of the British Columbia Library Association since the Fall and thought it was high time we shared it with those of you out-of-province! Especially because we might just have mentioned you! Read on for great ideas and tales of heroic youth services librarians…
Awesome People Doing Awesome Things
Following all the app chatter at the BCLA Conference this year the West Vancouver Memorial Library just launched their Recommended App tumblr, as well as their new website. Their tumblr highlights the best apps for children, making it easier for parents to find age appropriate, educational options. The best part is that patrons can try out these apps on one of the Youth Department’s technology petting zoo devices.
Speaking of apps, our Storytimer of the Fall is Anna Reynolds, Head of Youth Services for Annapolis Valley Regional Library in Nova Scotia. Her blog Valley Storytime features cool posts on app-like books and outlines her milk and cookie storytimes which she uses to experiment on (oops, with!) digital elements and the families in her community.
Next up is Steven from Beyond the Book Storytime. This summer Steven began posting YouTube videos with puppets, as well as larger than life storytelling ideas.
It’s easy to lose sight of professional development in the feverish days of the Summer Reading Club, which is why we liked this post by Abby the Librarian. She suggests some really neat ideas for out of the box training such as attending a session for parents on kindergarten readiness, going to seminars by local health authorities, or joining a class with musicians to brush up on knowledge and skills.
Finally this may have already made it’s way into your inbox but the recent article by Nell Coburn of Multnomah County Library in School Library Journal is an excellent collection of storytime tips which are well worth revisiting as we head into Fall.
Programming Resources
Before we delve into all the storytime goodies we’ve bookmarked for you, we can’t overlook these two outstanding examples of programs and resources for the middle years. Rachel Keeler, a Children’s Librarian at the Boston Public Library, introduced us to an app called Scribble My Story that allows kids to write, illustrate, and share their own ebooks. Among the sea of apps, this is a great one to recommend to parents looking for a blend between technology, literacy, storytelling, and creativity.
On the programming front, Miss Ingrid at The Magpie Librarian shared her secrets to throwing a Diary of a Wimpy Kid party! Check out her individualized marble composition books, her quiz, and all the games she organized.
On to storytime! Have you heard of the recently created Storytime Underground? It’s a group of Children’s Librarians dedicated to supporting each other and sharing resources. They were the ones who alerted us to this fabulous list of early literacy tips to share with caregivers of children ages 0-2 years. You can also check out Storytime Share for early literacy talking points matched with specific books, songs, flannel stories, and crafts.
With fall storytimes right around the corner, be sure to check out the Born Librarian’s Body Positive Self-Esteem storytime plan. What a great way to promote self worth and confidence in children! Future Librarian Superhero created a super neat way to sing Five Green and Speckled Frogs that reinforces the counting aspect. We’re always looking for little tricks like this that incorporate STEM activities into storytime. Which is why Falling Flannelboard’s count and clip cards caught our attention. Why not end storytime with a little caregiver-child counting!
And of course we always ask for ideas or suggestions at the end- so if there’s something that knocked your socks off we’d like to know! Here is the full issue of YAACING Fall 2013 if you’d like to read more.
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