Free Webinar on Early Readers

We’ve been talking a lot about pre-readers in the past few years, but what happens once kids enter school?  There’s an upcoming free webinar from the Multnomah County Library (Portland, OR) about supporting emerging and early readers (K-3rd graders)...

Thirty Million Word Initiative

Probably lots of turn-taking, tuning in, and talking happening during this Lego play session at the LEPMPL libraryThe University of Chicago Medical School is working with families to help them learn ways to talk with their kids that will help close the often-cited 30...

STEAM with Black Lights

In case you aren’t already following the Library As Incubator blog, there is a fun, practical post about a terrific STEAM program for teens (I think it would work for younger kids, too).  Black-light painting at the Eager Free Library in Evansville included...

Pepin Public Library Children’s Room

Over the course of the past few years, Christy from Pepin has been participating in grant projects, attending workshops and webinars, and generally paying attention to early literacy information.  This year, the children’s area underwent a bit of...

Author award speeches online

If you are a fan of book creators, which most book people are, you might find it thrilling to read the inspiring and important words of authors and illustrators who have won important, national awards.  The Association for Library Service to Children has posted the...

Media Mentor Learning Opportunities!

I urge you to take advantage of 4 opportunities for learning more about becoming Media Mentors to the families and caregivers in your community! White Paper coverThe Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC),  a division of the American Library...

Presenter Rave–Survival!

Learning to signal for help by catching light on a reflective surfaceThanks to Alisha from LEPMPL in Eau Claire for this guest post:When planning for my summer demonstration programs I wanted to find something new and different than what I’ve ever had before.  I...

Our Kids

Jacket cover–Our KidsDuring my travels last week, I whiled away quite a few hours in airports and airplanes reading Our Kids:  The American Dream in Crisis by Robert Putnam.  In it, he talks about the growing opportunity gap between economic...

ALA High Points

Tree of inspiration This year, I was extremely fortunate to be able to attend the American Library Association Annual Conference in San Francisco.  It was the first time in 10 years I’d been to this extravaganza of librarianship.  Apart from a few brief cases of...

All You Have to Do Is Ask

Kids in Prescott visit booths of local heroes to find out what they doMany thanks to Becky Arenivar, Programming Specialist in Prescott for this inspiring guest post:This year’s SLP theme, Every Hero Has a Story, has been a super enabler for collaboration at the...