September 17, 2013

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ALA Urges FCC to Accelerate E-Rate Goals

By on September 17, 2013 Leave a Comment
broadband

The American Library Association on Monday asked the Federal Communications Commission to accelerate the goals of E-rate, the program that provides discounted Internet access and telecommunications services to U.S. schools and libraries. ALA’s statement specifically calls for faster deployment of high-capacity broadband and new strategic investments in infrastructure, as well as program changes to save costs and streamline the process so that more schools and libraries can participate in the program.

Filed Under: American Library Association (ALA), Budgets & Funding, Featured, Legislation, Public Libraries Tagged With: ,

Queens (NY) Librarian Reads to Alligator to Reward Summer Reading

By on September 13, 2013 2 Comments
Wild Librarian Reads to Gator

New York City children’s librarian Susan Scatena of Queens Library at Whitestone this week has fulfilled the promise she made to her young patrons at the start of the summer by reading a story aloud to a live alligator. The unusual storytime fulfilled Scatena’s half of the pact she made with the children that at least 300 of them would register in her summer reading program and read at least 4,000 books. In fact, they exceeded their goal; 344 children registered and read 4,595 books.

Filed Under: Featured, Public Libraries, Public Services Tagged With: ,

SLJ/LJ Resources for September 11

By on September 11, 2013 Leave a Comment
HeroesMarvel

September 11 marks a difficult anniversary. To help children’s and young adult librarians navigate the challenging teachable moments that the day might raise and to guide those librarians working in universities and public libraries to address the potential research needs of their patrons, our editors have compiled these resources.

Filed Under: Featured, Public Libraries, Resources, Schools & Districts, SLJ Archives Tagged With: , ,

Round Rock Library (TX) Gets $49.5K Grant to Create After-School Maker Program

By on September 9, 2013 Leave a Comment
RoundRockTxLibrary

The Texas State Library and Archives Commission (TSLAC) has awarded the Round Rock Public Library System a grant of $49,500 to build Innovation Station, an after-school maker space and program that aims to engage middle schoolers in project-based science, technology, engineering, mathematics, art and design activities. The grant is part of a total $1.6 million in awards that TSLAC is distributing in fiscal 2014 to Texas library programs.

Filed Under: Budgets & Funding, Featured, Public Libraries, Public Services Tagged With: , , , ,

Detroit Public Library Partners to Feed Kids After School

By on September 9, 2013 Leave a Comment
SLJ_EH_9_10_13_Detroit

The Detroit Public Library (DPL), Forgotten Harvest, and the Chrysler Foundation have partnered to provide free nutritious snacks to school-aged children who attend after school reading programs at 20 DPL branches throughout the city. The snack packs—typically fruit, a drink, and a nutritious item such as yogurt—also are available to children on days when Detroit Public Schools are closed and during special DPL-sponsored programs.

Filed Under: Featured, Public Libraries Tagged With:

Indianapolis Public Library Shared Catalog System Adds Local School Partners

By on September 6, 2013
IndianapolisMarionCountyPublicLibrary

Nearly 10,000 students at 20 local schools now have access to the Indianapolis Public Library’s collection of nearly two million items as part of the library’s growing Shared System, an inter-library collaboration that provides online circulation services and joint access to the catalogs and collections of member institutions.

Filed Under: Featured, Industry News, Public Libraries, Schools & Districts Tagged With: , , ,

Powerful Partnerships, Pi, and Python Behind the Success of Teen Tech Camp

By Autumn Winters, Teen Services Manager, Southwest Regional Library, Durham County (NC) Library System on August 30, 2013 Leave a Comment
Teen Tech Camp

Imagine a day in your library devoted to the basics of coding in Python and sending a roomful of teens home with computers they can keep. Now imagine doing this for about $30! It’s completely possible, because it happened at Southwest Regional Library, a regional branch of the Durham County Library system in Durham, North Carolina.

Filed Under: Featured, Programs & Programming, Public Libraries, Technology, Teens & YA, Video Games Tagged With: , , ,

Chicago’s New Public/School Library Hybrid Opens Doors

By on August 27, 2013 2 Comments
Chicago's new Back of the Yards Library, a public/school library hybrid.

Can a public library serve both school children and its other patrons at the same time? That question is being put to the test in Chicago this week as the Back of the Yards Library—a public branch meant to serve as a school library for the 9–12 grade students attending the new Back of the Yards High School next door—opens its doors.

Filed Under: Budgets & Funding, Public Libraries, Schools & Districts Tagged With:

Queens Library (NY) Starts Work on Cambria Heights Teen Center

By on August 22, 2013 Leave a Comment
Cambria Heights Wallbreaking

The Queens Library branch in Cambria Heights, NY, celebrated the start of work on its new 4,000-square-foot Teen Center with a ceremonial wall-breaking last week. The library hopes to open the space—which will include a Cyber Center, a lounge and gaming area, a sound recording booth, a meeting room, and a reading room—by next spring.

Filed Under: Public Libraries, Public Services, Teens & YA Tagged With: , ,

Buzz, Brainstorming Mark KidLibCamp 2013

By on August 13, 2013 1 Comment
Kidlib13sign

Nearly 50 children’s and teen librarians met last week at Darien Library (CT) for the fifth annual KidLibCamp, a free “unconference” in which the discussion topics, panels, and workshops are voted on by the participants. Attendees explored best practices in 12 interactive breakout sessions with several common takeaways: that innovative programming can be achieved at little start-up cost; librarians need to better market existing programs to their patrons; and partnering with schools and communities is critical to the future of our libraries.

Filed Under: Careers, Librarians & Media Specialists, Programs & Programming, Public Libraries, Public Services Tagged With: ,

Pictures of the Week: KidLib Unconference at Darien (CT) Library

By on August 9, 2013 Leave a Comment
Kidlib13 sign

Youth services librarians from the NYC metropolitan area gathered for the fifth annual KidLib Unconference at Darien Public Library on August 7.

Filed Under: Events, Librarians & Media Specialists, Public Libraries Tagged With: , , , ,

Are Learning Apps Good for Babies?

By Rachel G. Payne on August 9, 2013 9 Comments
BklynPubLib2-TB

Rachel G. Payne, coordinator of early childhood services at Brooklyn Public Library, offers advice for parents.

Filed Under: Apps, Early Learning, Public Libraries Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Secrets of Storytime: 10 Tips for Great Sessions from a 40-year Pro

By Nell Colburn on August 8, 2013 1 Comment
SLJ1308w_FT_Storytime3

Storytime is the premium service for children in public libraries across the country. For many youth librarians, it’s the most treasured part of their job. A storytime veteran shares her best practices.

Filed Under: Early Learning, Featured, Literacy, Public Libraries Tagged With: , , , , , ,

ALA Hosts First ‘Declaration for the Right to Libraries’ Signing

By on August 6, 2013 1 Comment
declaration

American Library Association (ALA) President Barbara Stripling unveiled the “Declaration for the Right to Libraries” on Monday during a signing ceremony at Nashville Public Library, the first in a series of signing events the ALA plans to host across the country in the coming months.

Filed Under: American Library Association (ALA), Featured, Industry News, Public Libraries, Schools & Districts Tagged With:

Miami’s Public Library Cuts Detrimental to Students

By on August 2, 2013 2 Comments
Miami_Bus

Draconian cuts to Miami public libraries—nearly 45 percent of its branches shuttered and more than 250 staff positions—lost stand to impact the community. The intended cuts pose a monumental loss of service to Miami’s K–12 students, as some of the public libraries slotted to shut down are close to Miami-Dade County public schools.

Filed Under: Budgets & Funding, Future of Libraries, Public Libraries Tagged With: , ,

Design to Learn By: Dynamic Early Learning Spaces in Public Libraries

By on August 1, 2013 3 Comments
Roger Mastroianni Photography

A design revolution is reinventing the children’s room in public libraries and changing the way young children learn. This new breed of literacy-packed play spaces in libraries is inspired by children’s museums and the developmental theories that drive them.

Filed Under: Buildings & Design, Early Learning, Featured, Public Libraries Tagged With: , , ,

Pictures of the Week: Ashley Bryan Celebrates 90th Birthday; Santa Clarita Summer Reading Program

By on July 25, 2013 Leave a Comment
Ashley Bryan and Friends

Acclaimed author/illustrator Ashley Bryan celebrated his 90th birthday at the Simon & Schuster Children’s fall preview on July 25. The winner of the Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal, and the Coretta Scott King–Virginia Hamilton and Coretta Scott King Awards was joined by librarians, publishing professionals, and fellow children’s books artists.

Filed Under: Authors & Illustrators, Programs & Programming, Public Libraries Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

In the Swing of Summer, Planning for Winter | Fresh Paint

By on July 19, 2013 Leave a Comment
Tween crafts

It’s official. Gum Spring Library is no longer the new kid in town. And now the realization that tweens are the most frequent Teen Center users has forced staff to look more closely at upcoming programs.

Filed Under: Programs & Programming, Public Libraries, Teens & YA Tagged With:

Vive la France: A Visit to the Bibliothèque Nationale

By on July 11, 2013 Leave a Comment
France Book Store

During his “busman’s holiday” in France, SLJ’s contributing editor Rocco Staino was invited to Paris to tour the Bibliothèque nationale de France and the National Center for Children’s Literature. In this dispatch, he shares what he learned about the business of kids’ books in France—notably, American authors are very popular—plus highlights of his visits to other library branches and bookstores.

Filed Under: Books & Media, Featured, Librarians & Media Specialists, Programs & Programming, Public Libraries Tagged With:
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