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Want to Save Libraries?
I think every library, be it public, school, academic, or special, can learn a lot about survival from the children’s departments of public libraries–because we’re not going anywhere. Even if the rest...
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The Cockroach Approach: Outreach
Part One of a four part series. Read the introduction here. Children’s librarians have cornered the market on outreach. We go out to schools, preschools, daycares and present book talks, storytimes and...
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The Cockroach Approach: Doughnuts, an interlude
I posted this quote by John Green on my facebook timeline the other day: “Adult librarians are like lazy bakers: their patrons want a jelly doughnut, so they give them a jelly doughnut. Children’s...
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you know what this is about. or you don’t.
You know, some librarians think the ARC issue is a waste of time, and others don’t. For my part, I don’t care to know much about cataloging beyond the surface basics, but I do appreciate the cataloging...
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Play @ your library: Playdough Party
Want to have one of the most successful library programs ever? Make playdough. We did this program with 3-8 year olds, but I can see this working with even older kids, up through middle school–it’s all...
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Eat or Be Eaten: A Disturbing Storytime for the Older Child
I’m reading aloud to a group of fifth graders soon, and I knew I wanted to start off with one of my sure fire hits, Gobble Gobble Slip Slop by Meilo So. I’ve read this book with all ages and the...
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welcome, Illinois Library Association/Wee Be Jammin’ friends!
Wow, this year’s ILA conference knocked it out of the park. I’ll be exploring some of the things I learned in more detail later on, but I did want to say hello to anyone who finds my blog...
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let’s stop worrying and love the common core
You’ll live to be read another day, sweet Catcher in the Rye. Beautiful illustration by naomi yamada. Dear sweet baby Jane. So if you want a rage stroke, read the articles I’ve listed below. If you...
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ego, thy name is librarianship
cc license photo by flickr use r zoonabar Anyone who knows me will tell you that I have a bit of an attention problem. No, not attention deficit– I have a need to be, if not the center of attention, at...
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say hi to Miss Sarah
the teen librarian you wish you had (or were) I met Sarah Jones (Teen Librarian) via twitter, and I’m happy to say that via the gloriousness of the internet we’ve become real life friends. I’ve been...
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Make It So
As she so often does, Marge Loch-Wouters hit the nail on the head with her post Everything Old is New Again. I wonder, how many libraries with MAKERSPACES consulted their youth departments before...
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Storytime Opera
even cats can sing! illustration by Kyle Harter http://www.kyleharterart.com Singing is one of those things that every human can do, but many avoid doing because they think they’re not good at it or...
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Book Talkin’
(You need to sing the title of this post to the tune of “Jive Talkin’”) via the new york city public library’s flickr page As the school year draws rapidly to a close (seriously, where did it go?) I’ve...
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Making A Difference
photo by Matt Perich http://www.flickr.com/photos/mperich/ In college, I had a lot of loser mentality left-over from high school, but I struggled against it and actually made many good friends and a...
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Making Common Core Commonplace: On the Front Lines 2013
Hi OTFL friends! Thank you so much for attending my presentation, and for the great conversation. Please don’t hesitate to get in touch with me if you want to talk more– I’d love to help. Just a...
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common core presentation at the Illinois Library Association 2013
Hello Illinois Library friends! Some of you were interested in our Common Core slide show, so here it is: Commoncoreinferno
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author, author!
The past couple of conferences I went to, there was some chatter about author visits at libraries—namely, how do you get anyone to care about and come to your author event? (I’m assuming here you’ve...
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egotism vs self worth
In January 2013 I wrote a post that touched a raw, exposed nerve for many in the library world. One year later, I’m still amazed at the outpouring of reactions to that piece, and the variety of...
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Programming for Preschoolers: Take a Tip from Preschool Centers
photo from Alternative Heat (http://www.flickr.com/photos/alternative_heat/) via http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/ When I was still teaching preschool (oh how I love to talk about when I...
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See You Later, Alligator
I’ve just started a new “stop the summer slide” session of Beginning Reader Storytime, the first time I’ve presented this program at my new library (it’s still new to me, really, even after almost two...
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