Before it was a Newbery/Coretta Scott King winner, Jerry Craft’s graphic novel New Kid was our book club pick (I’m not smug about this at all). Graphic novels have always been the biggest hits at my tween book clubs, so I was ready for this to be an unanimous favorite among my kids. I was … More Tween Book Club: New Kid
Oh no, STEAM Lab is tomorrow. For whatever reason, STEAM Lab is one of those programs that sneaks up on me. Other programs, I can devote months of meticulous planning to, but STEAM Lab often involves me wandering into our program supplies closet and going, “Welp, what can we make out of this crap?” For … More Recipe for a STEAM Lab: Boats!
Although I live and work in California’s Bay Area, where we only have three seasons (Rainy Season, Fire Season, and Everything Else Season), I love snow and winter, and I always feel a pull to incorporate some seasonal programming into the calendar at the library. However, I’m a big believer in No Religious Programming (yes, … More Recipe for a STEAM Lab: friction with sleds!
It’s been one of my dreams since I first started working with kids in libraries to throw a Mo Willems party, and although I love the Pigeon, I’ve been working on expanding our offerings for the school-age crowd and so I was excited to put on a Piggie & Gerald party this fall. I was … More This Program Is (Surprisingly Not) Bananas: Piggie and Gerald Edition
You don’t need me to tell you that tweens are nuts for graphic novels. And who can blame them? Graphic novels are currently some of the funniest, most innovative, and most authentic middle grade books being published today. If you need to reinvigorate your Tween Book Club, try a graphic novel. Why use graphic novels … More Tween Book Club: Graphic Novel edition
My favorite STEAM Labs are one that require only the smallest of set-ups, and almost no instructions. The fewer instructions you have to give, the freer the kids are to experiment and design without the structure of my preconceived ideas of how a project should go or what it should look like. A great example … More Recipe for a STEAM Lab: Parachutes!
When I started my new job, I knew that I wanted to continue running a Tween Book Club like I had in my old position. It took me almost a year and a half, but this fall I finally got it up and running! Our first book: Aru Shah and the End of Time, by … More Tween Book Club: Aru Shah and the End of Time
When I went to ALSC’s 2018 Institute, I was lucky enough to catch the amazing “Grown-Ups Are People Too” presentation by Anythink Library’s Julie Crabb (@StorytimeCrabb on twitter). Julie presented a programming idea that blew my mind and immediately made me say: Yes. I have to do this. As soon as humanly possible. That amazing … More This Program Is Bananas: Baby-Wearing Dance Edition
I’ve noticed that while lots of children’s librarians love to do preschool and toddler storytime, for many folks baby storytime can be a bit intimidating. That’s totally natural – babies are fragile, they can’t laugh at your jokes, and they don’t understand what’s happening in We’re Going on a Bear Hunt. But baby storytime is … More Baby Bounce for Beginners
Everybody has their go-to lay-out for a Big Kid storytime. Here’s an example of mine! Tigers in the Jungle Storytime Advertised age range: 2-5 Age range of actual attendees: 9 mo. – 6 years (plus grown-ups, of course!) Attendance: 120 Length: 30 minutes, give or take A word on themes: This particular storytime, I did … More Preschool Storytime: Tigers in the Jungle
Chelsey In The Stacks 