Leah Langby | IFLS Library System

Early Childhood Investigations Webinars

by Leah Langby | Mar 6, 2017 | Keeping Up With Kids

There are several Early Childhood Investigations webinars coming up that look great for librarians! These webinars are geared toward people who work in child care and other early childhood settings, but once in a while one comes along that is especially relevant...

Media Literacy Starts Early

by Leah Langby | Mar 3, 2017 | Keeping Up With Kids

(image from Pixabay) Teaching kids to look critically at the media that surrounds them (in the form of cereal boxes, advertisements, stories in books and movies, and more) helps to develop those muscles so that they are prepared for continuing to analyze the messages...

Trauma-Informed Care

by Leah Langby | Feb 23, 2017 | Keeping Up With Kids

It’s hard to find a photo to go with this topic. Snuggling cats just make me feel better.Many of us have learned about ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences) and how the toxic stress encountered in childhood can affect people mentally and physically for the rest...

Helping Guide Teens (and others!) to Difficult Topics

by Leah Langby | Feb 22, 2017 | Keeping Up With Kids

From the Loveland Public LibraryWe all know that it can be challenging to ask for help about sensitive issues, especially for teens. The zit on their forehead feels and like a strobe light to them, and calling extra attention to it by asking for books or...

New Data on Multicultural Publishing from the CCBC

by Leah Langby | Feb 17, 2017 | Keeping Up With Kids

For years, the Cooperative Children’s Book Center (a resource that Wisconsin is proud to claim) has been keeping track of the numbers of books published by or about people of color and American Indian/First Nations people. In the past few years, when...

Tips for Helping Kids Develop Language

by Leah Langby | Feb 16, 2017 | Keeping Up With Kids

Another Facebook goodie, this time from an IFLS librarian with an extensive and impressive early childhood background, Jenna Gilles-Turner. I found this article about how to support and develop kids’ vocabularies and abilities to express themselves in one...

Scaling the Walls of Social Isolation

by Leah Langby | Feb 15, 2017 | Uncategorized

image of someone climbing a wall from PixabaySometimes I end up spending more time on Facebook than I intend to, and often it leaves me feeling yuckier than before I started. BUT. Sometimes I find an article that sort of rocks my world, and today I found...

Talk, Sing, Read, Write, Play Never Looked So Good!

by Leah Langby | Feb 14, 2017 | Keeping Up With Kids

A preschooler develops fine-motor skills and self-expression at the same time in Menomonie!Hennepin County (MN) Library produced a 13-minute, beautiful video for parents to help them understand ways to support early literacy as they talk, sing, read, write, and play...

Media Mentor Course

by Leah Langby | Feb 13, 2017 | Keeping Up With Kids

Laughing Evolution. Flickr, Petras Gagilas You’ve probably read about it from another source, but sometimes I have to see things many times before I follow up, so I’m just making sure! Many librarians in IFLS-Land participated in a whole series of...

Everyday Diversity

by Leah Langby | Feb 10, 2017 | Keeping Up With Kids

I think most all of us would agree that it is crucial to share books with kids that reflect the diversity of our world. Even when we live in mostly homogeneous areas, it is vitally important to share books and materials that offer positive and regular images of...

Build a Better World Resource

by Leah Langby | Feb 9, 2017 | Keeping Up With Kids, Uncategorized

Cardboard. Cats optional.The other day Kim, the youth services librarian in Clear Lake, and I were chatting about programs using cardboard to build cool things. I was reminded of Caine’s Arcade, a charming film about a kid who made a whole arcade out...

Blogging Class Scholarships Available

by Leah Langby | Feb 1, 2017 | Keeping Up With Kids

Learning new things is exciting, and it is even more exciting when you know those things will help you provide better service to the folks in your community. And when you can get to do it for free? Even better! Check out the following opportunity:As...