by Leah Langby | Mar 5, 2020 | Keeping Up With Kids
I came across an amazing resource, created by librarians and reading specialists in Oregon. Fostering Readers is a website devoted to providing librarians with all sorts of great activities aimed at encouraging and developing emergent readers. You can find ideas for...
by Leah Langby | Mar 3, 2020 | Keeping Up With Kids
Oh, it is great to be back to regular posting to the blog! I go through stretches of being overwhelmed by other things and losing track of it, or feeling like I don’t have any content to share. Here’s a reminder that you can help with this! Please send...
by Leah Langby | Mar 2, 2020 | Keeping Up With Kids
You are probably hearing some questions about COVID19 from kids and parents alike. NPR’s Malaka Gharib created a really great comic about the Corona virus with lots of great information for kids (and adults) packaged in a non-threatening and entertaining...
by Leah Langby | Feb 28, 2020 | Keeping Up With Kids
I just read an article in SLJ about LGBTQIA+ authors who encounter “soft censorship” from school and public libraries. Their books aren’t banned. Their appearances aren’t picketed. They just aren’t asked to come in the first place, and...
by Leah Langby | Feb 25, 2020 | Keeping Up With Kids
My friend and colleague who works with Birth to Three providers in the region shared information about an upcoming free webinar from Zero to Three. It’s aimed at early childhood professionals, and it features…LIBRARIES! It takes place on March 4 at 1:00...
by Leah Langby | Feb 21, 2020 | Keeping Up With Kids
It has been a while since we had local gatherings for youth services librarians, and now I am wishing we could do them all the time. After spending time with four thoughtful, creative, and mutually-encouraging groups of librarian, I for one am feeling better about...
by Leah Langby | Jan 20, 2020 | Keeping Up With Kids
There were several people who told me that they found themselves feeling pretty weird and uncomfortable after hearing the 2019 WLA Conference keynote speaker Ijeoma Oluo (if you missed it, here is a recording of Oluo’s keynote–the speech starts about 17...
by Leah Langby | Jan 14, 2020 | Keeping Up With Kids
The Library of Congress has named Jason Reynolds as the National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature! I know I’m not the only hard-core Jason Reynolds fan to be excited about this! His theme? Grab the Mic: Tell Your Story. He is going to work to...
by Leah Langby | Nov 26, 2019 | Keeping Up With Kids
One of the things I recommend to people when I am giving presentations about self-care is that it can be helpful to re-frame your view of things. When you can take some time to recognize the good parts of a situation that might be difficult it can give you the...
by Leah Langby | Nov 20, 2019 | Keeping Up With Kids
The Association for Library Service to Children administers a Light the Way grant, donated by Candlewick Press. It is a $3000 grant to help a library create or continue services for underserved populations. We all know that this encompasses a wide range of people...
by Leah Langby | Nov 15, 2019 | Keeping Up With Kids
People start working on developing executive function skills from birth, and they don’t have that part of their brain fully developed until well into adulthood. What does executive functioning help with? Working memory, mental flexibility, and...
by Leah Langby | Nov 14, 2019 | Keeping Up With Kids
Several libraries have created useful brochures or bookmarks to help teens find materials about topics they may feel sensitive or shy about asking for help from library staff to find. Elise sent me the bookmarks they created in Ellsworth, which have the added benefit...
