#ala12: Designing Library Spaces for Children

Sunday morning started with a program titled "Where the Wild Things Are: Children's Learning and Discovery Spaces." The program featured Kimberly Bolan Cullin of Kimberly Bolan and Associates, LLC; Kathleen Deerr of Family Place Libraries; Terri Raymond of Norfolk Public Library; and Kim van der Veen of Burgeon Group, LLC. All these ladies are basically rock stars of library design.

Think about the community where you live. How many spaces are there in the community for adults? Starbucks, shopping centers, restaurants, theaters... Now think about how many spaces there are specifically for children. Maybe the YMCA, the play place at McDonald's, a park or two. How awful is that, that kids don't have more spaces in which they can play? Why not make the library one such destination?

It's true that not all libraries can afford to completely revamp their children's spaces. Luckily, there are some simpler, cost-effective strategies for redesigning the kids area right now. Tips I'm taking to heart:

• You already have space in your library for toys and interactives. Can't find it? WEED! Weed everything that doesn't circ, everything that's gross, everything that doesn't fit the collection... If you weed discriminately and deliberately, you'll end up with space for play and a more customer-friendly collection.
• Make sure to include seating options for kids and adults. Without adult seating, parents don't engage with their kids. They also feel like they can drop their kids off and go elsewhere in the library when there is no obvious place for them to share the space.
• The simpler the toy, the more complex the learning. Bring out the blocks or play food, which can be used in a myriad of ways by all ages of children. More complex toys often take up more space and only have one mode of use, thus promoting more limited learning outcomes.
• Observe your children's space from a child's perspective. Kneel or sit on the ground and see what a two- or three-year-old would see when interacting at the library. Put age appropriate things at an age appropriate level. Add color and interest where they'll see it.

I learned a lot more in this session, and I'll be spending some time in the next few days processing all of my thoughts about how I can enhance the children's space I currently have at my branch. What works for engaging children's spaces at your library?

#ala12: Science in the Stacks!

Have you seen all the amazing photos and articles about the Discovery Center in Queens, NY? It's a library that is all science, all the time. Amazing! I agree that cultural institutions like libraries do children a service when they offer science programming and activities, and it's a personal goal to make science a fundamental part of kids' experiences at my branch. And while we're not all lucky enough to have a space like the Queens Discovery Center, that doesn't mean we can't mix science into the bunch! A few ideas from today's session:

• Connect hands-on science stations or science activity sheets in the branch with the Dewey stacks. For example, with a butterfly activity, have a sign leading to the 595s. Similarly, have a sign by the butterfly books suggesting the activity.
• Focus on doing science with the kids as opposed to instructing them. It's not school! Be hands-on.
• Reinforce skills associated with science: observation, measuring, estimation, etc. For example, have kids describe or draw the development of a growing plant over the summer.
• Get teens to help--children are excited by young people who enthusiastically share science with them.
• Need ideas? Look to educational standards for topics and the internet for hands-on activities.

My library has an airplane science program coming up later this summer, and in the meantime I intend to think of informal ways to add science activities in the branch. What are some of your successes and/or ideas?

#ala12: Toys in the Library

Saturday morning I attended an ALSC-sponsored program entitled "You Want Me to Circ WHAT?! or How to Best Utilize Toys as a Literacy Tool in Programs and as a Fun Part of Your Lending Collection."

Mr. Rogers is credited with the phrase "Play is the work of childhood." A grand statement, and one libraries can use to inform programs and collections--especially in light of the revised Every Child Ready to Read, which includes play as one of the five practices to promote early literacy. Toys are a great, child-approved way to integrate play into the library, and this session had quite a few ideas for making that happen:

• No space is too small for incorporating toys into the library. Whether you have a room, a playhouse, a closet, a table, or just a bit of room under some shelves, you can add toys successfully. Wall panels work, too.
• A small selection of toys is just as beneficial as a huge variety. A child engages with one toy at a time, so a box of puzzles is just as satisfying to a child as a roomful of different items.
  
• Have programs that highlight play and give plenty of opportunities for kids to play with the library's toys. Start off with a short book and a song, then spend the rest of the program letting kids and caregivers go to play stations. Ideas include playdoh, blocks, letters, etc., all with brief instructions for interacting with the toys.
• Adapt activities for older children, too; they also benefit cognitively from play, and making play a family affair does more to ensure play will continue outside of the library. Supporting play outside of the library is another great reason to have toys in the library, as families can take home new things they might not get to play with otherwise.

How does your library bring toys and play into the library?

#ala12: Boys and Reading

Friday evening I attended a Booklist session titled "Men at Work: Guy Writers Talk Guy Readers." A panel of speakers shared some of their thoughts on getting boys reading.

Boys read. As librarians, we know that's a fact. Research does indicate, however, that boys typically don't read as much or as well as girls the same age, and as a result they can start to fall behind in competency. Some great male writers, whom readers of both genders love, gave their perspectives on why getting more boys reading is necessary and how we might accomplish that goal. Here are the highlights of what Jon Scieszka, Michael Grant, Andrew Smith, and Daniel Handler had to say.

• Start by asking boys what they want to read. Listen to what they say, and note what are the heavy circ-ing titles.
• Escapism has value in encouraging reading. Is the book one they'd be willing to spend time with?
• There are a few dirty words when it comes to encouraging reading: "appropriate," which casts judgment; and "for," which excludes potential readers (e.g., books FOR boys, books FOR teens).
• Speaking of dirty words, teen boys in particular like their books to have racy and dirty bits. To the young male reader, these parts are value-added, but censorship-happy adults view even short instances of language and sex as rendering the whole book objectionable.
• Some boys don't read, but there are plenty of clandestine male readers, too. The prevalence of readers who hide their enjoyment of reading suggests there's something fundamentally wrong with our reading culture. This fact could shed light on the whole issue of boys and reading.

How do you engage young male readers at your library?

#ala12: Intellectual Freedom, and how it impacts children's librarianship

My first session of the 2012 ALA Annual Conference was Intellectual Freedom 101, an informational program put on by ALA's Office of Intellectual Freedom. The program hit the highlights of what the OIF does to support the fundamental freedom for folks to read, view, think, and express whatever they want: there's the annual Banned Books Week, an annual Choose Privacy Week, a database on book challenges, policy and procedure best practices... All sorts of initiatives and information to support libraries who support customers' library rights.

 
In my experience, the biggest intellectual freedom issue when working with children is censorship, or the potential for censorship. It can take many forms: the parent or teacher who won't let a child read a particular book because they deem it inappropriate or unsuitable for some reason, sometimes without having read the book themselves; a person who wants particular items removed entirely from the collection so that no child has access to them, again sometimes without having read said items; from library staff who may hesitate to recommend or check out a particular item to a young library customer because of their personal views or experience with the item; and even from library materials selectors who refrain from purchasing certain materials in order to preemptively avoid potential challenges. Hopefully your library has policies in place to deal with formal materials challenges and to inform staff behaviors with regards to library materials and young readers--but what about those parents who voice their "is this appropriate?" concerns in the library? How do you preserve intellectual freedom on the spot?
 
I'm interested to know how you respond to these situations, and I'll go ahead and share my most common responses. First and foremost, I come right out and say that I believe a child has the same freedom to read as any other library user--if a kid wants to read it and we have access to it in the library, I will give it to the kid. I state this without judgment, as it is the parent's position, not mine, to monitor a child's reading. Then I give the parent the power to decide how they want to support the child and his or her interests:

• Does the parent think the material is too thematically mature? Violence, relationships, language, etc.? I cite that stories with elements that challenge children have been found to benefit them and develop their understanding of the world, but not promote the behaviors themselves. Is the parent concerned the child can't work through the elements on his or her own? Then read the book together! So many families have come back to tell me that, after reading a book together that they had thought would be inappropriate, they had great family discussions and strengthened both their relationships and their love of reading.
  
• Does the parent think the material is too scary? I point out that research shows encountering frightening situations within the boundaries of a story helps children to work through their fears in a safe, non-threatening setting. And again, discussion after reading a story can do wonders for ensuring that story leaves a positive impact.
• Does the parent have concerns because of what they've heard about an item from friends, religious groups, television, etc.? In these situations, I have found that my opinion doesn't count for much--why should a parent trust me, a relatively unknown person, over a voice whom they trust? Instead I provide some options for finding out what people in the know have to say. What age range does School Library Journal recommend as the readers? Has Booklist cited any potential red zones? I am careful to use only reputable library resources--the same ones we use when deciding what materials to purchase for the collection. A critical opinion can do wonders for putting a parent's mind at ease.

How do you repond to parent concerns? How have intellectual freedom and serving children overlapped in your library?

Looking Forward to #ala12

I'm heading out to Anaheim today for the 2012 ALA Annual Conference. When I attended in New Orleans last year, I was actively looking for a job. As a result, I spread out the types of sessions I attended to make myself more marketable (some kids, some teen, some adult), and I went to quite a few networking events and resume/interview workshops. I loved ALA last year--LOVED it. So many interesting people, so many great ideas, so many fabulous authors and events... This year, though, I'm very excited to be experiencing #ala12 from my position of a children's librarian who is in charge of all things children's at a branch.

In no particular order, here are the top five things I'm looking forward to at this year's conference:

• The sessions and workshops -- I have already gotten lots of enjoyment out of perusing the session and workshop offerings for the conference. So far I've scheduled myself to attend a handful of science programming sessions, an Every Child Ready to Read program, and a session on maximizing volunteer contributions. I am ready to learn a LOT, and I plan to bring tons of ideas back to my branch and my colleagues.
• Live blogging the conference on the ALSC Blog -- I'm going to be one of the folks live blogging the conference this year! Once or twice a day, I'll post some shorter pieces on the ALSC blog that mention highlights of the conference and the sessions I attend, etc. I love following live blog postings for conferences I can't attend, and I'm very excited to contribute to the live blogging this year.
• The Newbery/Caldecott Banquet and the Printz Reception -- I love the whole idea of award-winning books; I read tons of Newbery winners when I first got into chapter books, and those shiny medals really draw a lot of young readers to some great titles. I'll be attending the Newbery/Caldecott Banquet, where Jack Gantos and Chris Raschka will speak, as well as the Printz Reception, where the 2012 Printz Award and Honor winners will share some words of wisdom and humor. These events are like the Oscars of the conference for children's and YA librarians, and I am psyched to attend.
• Meeting authors -- Lots of authors are at the conference to promote their work, do signings, and participate in panels and sessions. I am most looking forward to meeting Daniel Handler (a.k.a. Lemony Snicket) and saying "hi" to Peter Brown, who did an author event at my library last September.
• The exhibit hall -- The exhibit hall at this conference is beyond crazy, folks. Crazy in a very, very good way. There are exhibits of publishers, library vendors, furniture folks, and everything you could possibly imagine as related to libraries. It's fun to get some of the advance reader copies (ARCs) of forthcoming books from publishers, but I also look forward to exploring some of the furniture and supply options that I could add in my branch. Also, I'm on the hunt for a really great animal puppet. Fingers crossed I'll be successful.

It's going to be a great conference, I can feel it! I hope you're looking forward to following along.

Jump Into the Sky

Jump Into the Sky, an historical fiction novel for middle-grade readers by Shelley Pearsall, tells the story of the summer that everything in Levi's life changes.

Levi's mother left the family when he was young, and with his father enlisted in the military during World War II, Levi has been living with his aunt in a small apartment in Chicago. After his aunt gets a feeling about the end of the war nearing, she sends Levi on a train to the South to meet up with his father on his military base. The rural South is a much different place than urban Chicago, and Levi comes face to face with the harsh realities of racial prejudice. While he does not find his father at the base, his does meet up with one of his father's fellow soldiers--and Levi learns that his father's claims of jumping out of airplanes are in fact true. His father is one of the Tuskegee Airmen.

Throughout this thoughtful, moving historical novel, Levi travels the country, becomes acquainted with the kind and not-so-kind characters in the world, and learns the true meaning of honor. Levi's young, developing voice makes for compelling and interesting narration, and the reader really gets a feel for what Levi goes through emotionally during the summer his life entirely changes course. Readers of historical and military fiction will love the rich detail of the novel, but all young readers who enjoy developing a relationship with a character will find this a captivating read.

Jump Into the Sky will be released by Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Random House Children's Books, on August 14, 2012.