A Few Cool STEAM Activities

Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math Activities are all the rage, and I can see why!  They seem pretty darn fun!  I’ve collected a couple of activity ideas I wanted to share here.First from No Time for Flashcards, a math game that involves...

Grant funds for technology

Money to do cool technology stuff!  Here are 2 options:Best Buy Children’s Foundation Grants are designed to help non-profit agencies teens build 21st-Century technology skills through programs that address the digital divide, and also give teens the chance...

Digging Up Creative Ideas in Boyceville

Many thanks to Ginny Julson, director of the Boyceville Public Library, for this submission: Every year all the kids from the elementary school come over one class at a time and do a skit on our stage to gear up for the SRP–each year we choose volunteers from...

Eau Claire’s Out of This World Videos

The folks at the public library in Eau Claire have stepped up their game in promotion of the Summer Library Program.  They created two videos, one to promote their program for younger kids–complete with a sequence at the end featuring even the dignified...

The Three R’s Display in Hawkins

Arlene Mabie is not only the library director at Hawkins, she also is the clerk treasurer for the recycling/disposal unit in Kennan (as well as a volunteer fire fighter and miniature horse-raiser…can you say Superhero?).  She is motivated to encourage and...

Achieving Balance: two blog posts

Today, in just one day, I read two thoughtful, worthwhile and entertaining blog posts with advice for new librarians.  Interestingly, they have almost opposite messages, but both have value, and are worth reading and fitting into your worldview.  These...

SLP Promotion in Ellsworth is Golden

Julie (mean banker Mr. Bigglebottom, above) adapted the new book: The Gold Miner’s Daughter, A Melodramatic Fairy Tale written by Jackie Mims Hopkins into a play for the library staff (and a few volunteers) to perform for students to promote the Summer Library...

Summer Reading Gaps

I attended a meeting of system consultants trying to help their libraries serve traditionally underserved populations last week.  It’s always a treat to get together with other people who do your job, especially when those people are smart, thoughtful,...

Youth Services–managing your managers

Do you ever struggle, as a youth services librarian, to communicate the importance of youth services to your managers?  Most libraries in this reason do a terrific job of valuing their youth services (programs, collections, outreach and more) and the librarians...

Grant Proposal Writing Tips

One of the things that would make all of our jobs easier is a little extra cash, and people are looking for outside sources of funding for projects and day-to-day operations, particularly when local funding is is short supply.Grant-writing is one great way to...

The Parents Get It!

If you need to do some advocacy to support the importance of youth services programming, materials, and staff, a new study from the Pew Research Center gives you some great statistics to quote!  Here’s one:  Almost every parent (97%) feels it is...