by Leah Langby | Nov 30, 2017 | Keeping Up With Kids
Image from PixabayFor several years, the Youth Services Section of the Wisconsin Library Association has created a lovely Early Literacy Calendar, designed by YSS members to encourage families and caregivers to engage with their children in a variety of playful...
by Leah Langby | Nov 28, 2017 | Keeping Up With Kids
If you haven’t had a chance to peek at the new super awesome toolkit that is part of the Wisconsin Libraries Coding Initiative, I highly recommend taking some time to do that. Created by our inimitable statewide youth services consultant Tessa Michaelson...
by Leah Langby | Nov 21, 2017 | Keeping Up With Kids
Image by HafubotiWe had a workshop a couple of weeks ago (already?!) that included a presentation by Renee Grassi about making programs more inclusive, with a special nod to summer programs. She was so inspired about it, she wrote a blog post about the benefits...
by Leah Langby | Nov 20, 2017 | Keeping Up With Kids
I was talking with a youth services librarian I admire last week. She said something that really struck me, and I asked her if I could share it in my blog. She said yes, but demurred when I asked if I could give her credit, so you’ll just have to let...
by Leah Langby | Nov 17, 2017 | Keeping Up With Kids
With Thanksgiving coming up, it’s a great time to think about our collections and programs and how they may (or may not!) portray inaccurate stereotypes of First Nation people, or appropriate cultural practices inappropriately (for lack of a better word). ...
by Leah Langby | Oct 30, 2017 | Keeping Up With Kids
Here’s a frequent question that librarians receive: “What can I give my first grader to read if she is reading at a fourth grade level?”Sometimes kids still enjoy books even if they can read well beyond them (Harry Potter and Mr. Putter and...
by Leah Langby | Oct 27, 2017 | Keeping Up With Kids
Well, data is in that shows Wisconsin is still not doing so great in terms of making sure the children in our state have a fair shake at life–particularly children who are not white. The 2017 Race for Results report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation has...
by Leah Langby | Oct 25, 2017 | Keeping Up With Kids
There’s a group of early childhood professionals (librarians, teachers, family literacy providers, childcare consultants, and more) in the Chippewa Valley working on an initiative to address the 30 million word gap identified by researchers Hart and Risely in...
by Leah Langby | Oct 24, 2017 | Keeping Up With Kids
Many thanks to Eau Claire Memorial High School librarian Pam Gardow, who sent over the annotated list of this year’s Teens’ Top Ten list, courtesy of YALSA! Annotations written by Teens’ Top Ten Book Groups.2017 Teens’ Top Ten1. Dinan, Kurt....
by Leah Langby | Oct 23, 2017 | Keeping Up With Kids
Photo credit: Kris Adams Wendt (she says the magical hands were not intentional, but appropriate!)Last week, I had the experience of a lifetime, as I was honored as the WLA/Demco Wisconsin Librarian of the Year. The honor itself, plus the kind words of...
by Leah Langby | Oct 16, 2017 | Keeping Up With Kids
I love hearing from colleagues who have flown the coop, so to speak, and are working in libraries outside of our system. First of all, I love to hear from them because I like them, and love to hear what they are up to and what they are thinking about. ...
by Leah Langby | Oct 11, 2017 | Keeping Up With Kids
There are some public libraries that are doing great work with kids involved with the juvenile justice system. At ALA last summer, I attended a program about a library that lines up volunteer bedtime readers and author visits at the local juvenile detention...
