Over the last summer EasyJet unveiled their “flybraries” or flying libraries, hoping to encourage young passengers to read more. According to an article by Nicola Irwin in The Irish Independent independent.ie, EasyJet “started the flybraries after research found a decline in reading among young children.” After polling 2,000 British parents with children aged eight to 12, EasyJet found that 83 percent of them thought that their children are reading less than they did at that age. Children can start the books while on board then download that title or a sample of another selection on a device while away. The next passenger can then pick up the book. Some 7,000 books are available across the airline’s 147 planes flying to European destinations.

The airline didn’t have to look far to find someone to choose the titles for their EasyJet Children’s Book Club. Best-selling British children’s book author and former children’s laureate Dame Jacqueline Wilson unveiled her choices at the Book Club launch at Gatwick Airport in England. With Puffin Classics providing the titles, Wilson hoped the summer would provide an ideal time for young fliers to get stuck in great stories. She told the UK Huffington Post, “Books stimulate a child’s imagination and development. Reading soothes, entertains, grows vocabulary and exercises the mind and a flight is the perfect place to escape into a literary adventure. That’s why I think this campaign is such a clever match.” 

So what titles made it into this ‘Library in the Sky’? On the EasyJet Children’s Book Club website, Wilson states, “Because the very word ‘classic’ generally makes most children roll their eyes and go, ‘Boring!’ so I wanted to have books the children might not have read but are familiar with the story, like Alice in Wonderland or Wizard of Oz, or Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, because they’ve probably seen a video of it. And then I wanted books that appealed to both boys and girls, and I think nearly all of the choices will fit whatever sex you are. As well as really well-known classics, I wanted some modern classics too.”

If American children who aren’t lucky enough to visit Europe aren’t familiar with Wilson’s books, they should be able to get hold of her flybrary selections.

Wilson’s Top 5 Puffin Classics:

Barrie, J.M. Peter Pan

Baum, L. Frank. The Wizard of Oz

Carroll, Lewis. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

Kipling, Rudyard. Just So Stories

Nesbit, E. The Railway Children

Wilson’s Modern Classics:

Dahl, Roald. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Ibbotson, Eva. Journey to the River Sea

Jansson, Tove. Finn Family Moomintroll

Norton, Mary. The Borrowers

Serraillier, Ian. The Silver Sword

The post EasyJet Brings Children’s Books to the Sky first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

What is special about the award is that the winner is decided by the children themselves. Because many of the participants can’t even walk or talk yet, the voting process can get pretty interesting. “The voting process can be determined by each participating location,” explains Suzanne Walker, director of the Indiana Center for the Book. “One library gave each child a large circle of construction paper. The books were laid out on the floor and the children each had to put their ‘dot’ on one of the books; their favorite. The librarian then just had to tally all the votes for books”[1] tells Walker. Those dots, along with lots of other votes from fifty-one counties across the state, made Won’s Hooray for Hat! the big winner. Hooray for Hat!, in addition to winning the Firefly Award, has also been named a NPR Best Book and Huffington Post’s Best Read-Aloud of 2014. Readers might also recognize Won’s work as the featured art on this year’s Children’s Book Week poster.

(L) Brian Won (R) Hooray for Hat!

With a young child of his own, Brian Won understands the challenges of creating a book that appeals to a young audience. “If the story doesn’t grab my six year old by the third spread, he’s ready to move to the next book. On the other hand, young readers can also be die-hard fans of a book. My wife and I have read Peggy Rathmann’s GOODNIGHT GORILLA so many times the visuals are etched in my brain. We are grateful that the book has only ten words.”[2]

Hooray for Hat! has a similar appeal of joyful simplicity. Walker says of Hooray for Hat!, “It’s fun and it showcases the idea that if you wake up grumpy, you don’t HAVE to stay grumpy all day. Also, the pictures and layout are clean, enjoyable, and well proportioned.”[3] In addition to being lots of silly fun, the story includes Every Child Ready to Read practices throughout, a requirement for nomination. Every Child Ready to Read emphasizes the important role parents play in helping their children the early literacy skills essential to reading success. Walker explains how Hooray for Hat! can make learning those skills a good time:

Talking: “Children can talk to their parents about ways to deal with feeling grumpy. They can talk about how the hats in the book affect each of the characters mood and what it’s like to get a surprise.”

Singing: “This book has some great repetition of the phrase ‘Hooray for Hat’ which can be chanted by the children, inviting them to play with language.”

Reading: “It’s a great story to read aloud with a group or one on one.”

Writing: “Writing with children as it relates to Every Child Ready to Read can also be thought of as practicing fine motor skills. As with any book, a child could practice turning pages, pointing to the animals, and it would be easy to make crafts based on this book, giving children even more opportunities to practice their fine motor skills.”

Playing: “Children are encouraged to play dress up or with their stuffed animals after reading this book. This would be a great book for a simple readers theatre [sic] as well.”

Even if you don’t live in Indiana, Hooray for Hat! would be a great addition to your library collection! Be sure to also look out for Brian Won’s new releases, including Secret Agent Man Goes Shopping for Shoes (Candlewick Press) written by Tim Wynne-Jones (to be released June 14) and Hooray for Today! (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), the sequel to Hooray for Hat!(to be released in September 2016).

Resources

Hooray for Today! Animated Trailer

Ladybug Award

Brian Won

Every Child Ready to Read

TeachingBooks.net

Indiana State Library

References

[1] Suzanne Walker, director of the Indiana Center for the Book, in an e-mail interview with the author, May 23, 2016.

[2] Brian Won, children’s author, in an e-mail interview with the author, June 2, 2016.

[3] Suzanne Walker, director of the Indiana Center for the Book, in an e-mail interview with the author, May 23, 2016.

The post And the Winner Is… first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

Guest contributor NICOLE OVERTON is a team member at We Need Diverse Books, and also a freelance writer and copy editor. Contact Nicole at nicoleoverton@gmail.com. Nicole is currently reading The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls.

As much as I love my local library, it has become predictable in its timing and placement of diverse books. In February, I can always count on seeing a large selection of books promoting Black History Month. Many of these titles I’ve never seen throughout the year, but because it’s Black History Month, there they all are, standing proud, front and center. The same is true for National Hispanic Month from mid-September to mid-October, Asian Pacific American month in May, and American Indian Heritage month in November. For the other eight months of the year, the displays are filled with the usual books featuring white characters or happy-friendly animals.

My question, which I admit I have never asked my local librarian, is why are the diverse books only publicized during their respected heritage month? Why not all year round? I wonder if librarians are setting out these particular books during these specific months without thought, because that’s the way it’s always been done. Maybe, but I’m also curious if they see the word “diversity” as taboo, and subconsciously believe that these diverse books are unappealing to the particular community in which they serve.

The word “diversity” encompasses acceptance and respect. Diversity is understanding that each individual is unique and recognizing our individual differences in regards to race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, age, physical abilities, religion, and political beliefs. It’s about moving past just being tolerant and actually embracing and celebrating the richness of each individual. The library has long been recognized as the most trusted environment in which discovery and exploration of these differences should take place.

When patrons walk into the library, they should immediately see and be able to connect to the larger world around them. Books, materials, resources, and programs that introduce cultural exploration, foster global understanding, and facilitate language learning should be showcased throughout. Libraries should not confine this sharing of rich culture to just specific heritage months; it should always be on display.

Displaying diverse books throughout the year helps children discover who they are and where they fit in the world. It is crucial that children gain an understanding of their own culture and the cultures of other people, in order to create a global respect for each other’s differences. The library is the main source in helping patrons make cross-cultural connections and develop the tools and skills necessary to function in a diverse society.

If a Caucasian child sees a book display featuring an African American character, alongside a book highlighting an Asian character, that child may develop a sense of familiarity with diversity, whereas featuring diversity only at certain times promotes the idea of “the other.”

In the same regard, if an African American, Asian, or Hispanic child only sees their particular culture highlighted once a year, then they will form the notion that perhaps they aren’t good enough to be studied or talked about throughout the year. This invisibility can be harmful to self-image. A child’s self-esteem is heavily influenced by the way the child and society views the cultural group in which the child belongs. All children want to see images that reflect them and engage in stories that resonate with them personally. Diverse books allow children to appreciate the beauty of their culture and the cultures of others. Children need to see and hear more than one story once a year about a particular cultural group.

Seeing diverse books on display every day, all year long, prompts discussions about race and ethnicity. Diverse books can help dismiss stereotypes and prejudice, foster compassion and empathy, and inspire children to imagine even more—especially when they see that they can be the face of their own story.

Children’s books should serve two purposes: to act as (1) a mirror reflecting a child’s own life and culture; and (2) a window allowing children to see into the lives of others and recognize the diversity of their world. For that reason, the library is, and should be, filled with mirrors and windows.

The library was designed to enhance patrons’ quality of life by providing opportunities for lifelong learning; connecting and engaging individuals in a space that is welcoming and respectful; and fostering a love for reading. The fundamental goal and mission of the library is to provide quality materials and services that fulfill educational, informational, cultural, and recreational needs of the community in which it serves.

So regardless of whether a community is predominately one race, the fundamental goal and mission should not change based upon the month. It’s problematic if a library doesn’t promote a book that features a minority protagonist simply on the basis that there aren’t many readers of that minority group who use that particular library. All diverse books should be represented throughout the year, no matter how small the percentage of the minority race is within that community. Librarians should not decide against displaying certain books throughout the year in fear that they won’t circulate or be well-received by the majority simply because they feature a character of a different race. For a librarian to entertain or act on that very thought is bias, bordering on censorship.

If library patrons don’t want to read a particular book, then that’s their choice, but they should definitely be presented with the option. To say, for example, that Jacqueline Woodson’s Brown Girl Dreaming or Kwame Alexander’s The Crossover are only for the black youth or that Matt de la Peña’s Last Stop on Market Street can only be understood by poor urban people who rely on soup kitchens and public transportation is absurd.

To not encourage a young reader to be inspired by Malala Yousafzai’s memoir I Am Malala because she divulges so much about her Pashtun/Muslim customs, culture, and history or, worst of all, because it mentions the Taliban is short-sighted. This type of thinking implies that diverse books are essentially less-than and that the experiences of other races have no relevance or meaning to any other race.

Librarians who proudly showcase diverse books throughout the year are saying that they trust the readers they serve. They believe that their patrons, both young and old, are able to handle, relate to, and understand experiences that don’t mirror their own. Choosing to display and promote diverse books reveals that the librarian has dismissed his or her own bias and is allowing the reader to freely choose these stories.

Library staff should always cultivate an environment in which adults and children can achieve a global understanding and respect for other people from diverse backgrounds. If children in particular are exposed to the lives and cultures of others around the world, they will enjoy the opportunity to learn how to adapt and function in a diverse world.

A library that is fully engaged in promoting cultural awareness provides countless opportunities for children and adults to learn about new cultures. Displaying books daily that highlight different languages and traditions, and feature diverse characters, give children and adults the opportunity to develop a bridge of understanding. It also emphasizes the library’s commitment to serving everyone no matter their backgrounds.

Diverse books should be welcomed, displayed, and encouraged at the library. It is the primary job of a librarian to, in a sense, sell any great diverse book to any reader. To say that a book featuring a diverse protagonist just doesn’t circulate or only circulates during their respected heritage month, offers an even better reason for the librarian to promote it. Librarians are the champions of all books, regardless of who’s featured on the cover. A great book is a great book and the librarian should be able to sell the story and not the character’s skin color or orientation.

If a patron is interested in poetry, Brown Girl Dreaming is an excellent memoir-in-verse that’s graceful and rhythmic. If a child is interested in sports, Crossover is vivid, energetic, and easily relatable to a teen’s life. Last Stop on Market Street, while it does take place in an urban environment, embraces the fullness of the word “diversity” itself. I Am Malala can easily be recommended to inspire any woman or young girl on what it means to have fierce determination and bravery.

Librarians have been given the honor to influence not only what their patrons read but also what they have access to in the first place. Have faith in your patrons and aid them in the process of learning and stepping outside their comfort zones. Librarians, I implore you to not just promote, but really celebrate and encourage diverse books. Allow your library to empower patrons to read and explore and achieve all they can to understand the world we live in.

The post Libraries Need Diverse Books first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

The Karen are the ethnic and language groups of people living in Myanmar (formerly Burma) and on the borders of Thailand.[1] Many Karen people fled their home due to government persecution and settled in Minnesota after living in refugee camps. There are approximately 6,500 Karen language residents currently living in Minnesota, according to the St. Paul government website. An article by the Lillie News reports that the growing community of Karen people has many avid library users.[2]

In a press release for the book launch, St. Paul Public Library Director Jane Eastwood said, “We produced these books with the goal of creating an environment of learning and discovery for all residents that access our libraries.”[3] She said their city lacked early literacy resources in the Karen language. The Lillie News, which serves the St. Paul suburban area, reported that the library already had offered storytimes in eight different languages including Hmong and Somali, but were stumped when coming up with materials to use for the a Karen storytime.[4]

Local authors Win World and Saw Powder wrote the books, Elephant Huggy and The Hen and the Badger respectively, in both Karen and English. Once the illustrations were created by Betsy LePlatt and Jingo de la Rosa, the library Friends group along with local community leaders teamed up to produce and distribute the books. Both books feature colors and details important to the Karen culture.

The twincities.com website reported that Andrew Powder used the pen name “Saw” for his book because it means “mister” in Karen. Powder said his wife told him about a writing contest sponsored by the St. Paul libraries so he entered his first book – The Hen and the Badger.[5] According to the Lillie News, author Win World lived in Myanmar and then a refugee camp before moving to St. Paul.[6] He is studying to become a teacher at Hamline University.

Pang Yang, the Community Services Coordinator for the Saint Paul Public Library, said the books have been well received by the Karen community.  The Library also distributed over four hundred copies at a Karen New Year celebration.  Said Yang, “People young and old were extremely excited to see that these books were created.”[7]

The Lillie News said the books would be distributed at another event for the Karen population, and also be available for print and digital checkout through the library.[8] They will also eventually be sold through an Amazon publisher.

References:

[1] “Karen languages,” Encyclopedia Britannica, accessed March 10, 2016.

[2] Patrick Larkin, “St. Paul publishes Karen/English children’s books,” Lillienews.com, January 3, 2016.

[3] Jane Eastman, “Mayor Coleman announces Library’s publishing of two children’s books in Karen language,” Saint Paul, Minnesota press release, December 16, 2015.

[4] Patrick Larkin, “St. Paul publishes Karen/English children’s books,” Lillienews.com, January 3, 2016.

[5] “St. Paul Library publishes 2 Karen children’s books,” twincities.com, December 16, 2015.

[6] Patrick Larkin, “St. Paul publishes Karen/English children’s books,” Lillienews.com, January 3, 2016.

[7] Pang Yang, e-mail interview with Eileen Washburn, January 28, 2016.

[8] Patrick Larkin, “St. Paul publishes Karen/English children’s books,” Lillienews.com, January 3, 2016.

The post St. Paul Public Library Publishes Picture Books first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

Public Libraries: How did you start writing and illustrating children’s books?

Duncan Tonatiuh: Well, it wasn’t something I necessarily planned. I always liked writing and drawing. When I was a kid. I made my own comic books, I was into Japanese anime, and I would make up my own characters. So it was always something I liked. And I’ve always liked books; since I was a kid I’ve liked reading a lot. In high school and college I took a lot of different art classes and I went to a design school. I studied illustration and writing, but I always thought more of doing stuff for adults or for a gallery.

For my senior thesis, I decided to make this short comic book about a friend of mine named Sergio, who was an undocumented worker. He’s Mixtec, which is an indigenous group from the south of Mexico. I created a project about him and that’s how I came up with my art style, by looking at Mixtec artwork. There’s all this great Mixtec codex from the fifteenth century, so I decided to do a modern day codex of Sergio.

One day a professor at Parsons came to critique our work, a woman named Julia Gorton. She had illustrated some books for Abrams and was good friends with this man named Howard Reeves, who’s an editor there. She asked me if she could show him my work and I said, “Sure, please!” I gave her some copies of my art. Howard liked them and said, “If we receive a manuscript that suits your style, we’d like to do a picture book with you.” I told him I liked writing too and he said, “Well if you write something send it to me.” He told me a few very basic things about picture books and some time later, I wrote my first manuscript.

I had an idea for my first book about two cousins—one who lives in a rural community in Mexico and one who lives in an urban center in the U.S. I wrote it and sent it to him. My first draft rhymed—and I’m really bad at rhyming—but he was really nice about it. He said, “I really like this concept, I want to publish this book, but no rhyming, please.”

I reworked the manuscript and that eventually became my first book. Since then I’ve done five books with Abrams. I have a sixth one coming out and they’ve all been edited by Howard.

I feel so lucky that writing is something I get to do, that the door opened to that whole world. I just really enjoy it. I get to talk about subjects that interest me and I think it’s a very creative field.

PL: Your books have tackled complex issues, like immigration and segregation, what are the challenges of communicating those issues into a children’s book?

DT: With Separate is Never Equal—which is about the civil rights case that desegregated schools in California, Mendez v. Westminster—the main challenge was to have enough information there. I think it was important to have dates, to have certain names, to have certain concepts like a trial. Things that might be a tiny bit complicated, that might not be exciting so to speak to a very young reader. But I thought it was important to have enough of those without making it too overwhelming—just finding the right balance of what to explain enough, what needed to be explained more, what to include, what not to include.

With that book, kids have been super-responsive, I think because it’s set in a school environment. Also because kids are very into what’s right and what’s wrong. I think they immediately connect to the story and don’t get discouraged by the fact that it has dates and names and things like that.

PL: You also capture the feelings she experienced. You interviewed Sylvia Mendez, correct?

DT: I definitely think making Sylvia the protagonist makes it more relatable to kids. I had a chance to meet her and hear her speak and do several informal interviews with her. It was great to hear her talk about that time, and that allowed me to try to capture some of the emotions and thoughts she had as a young girl.

PL: Posada is a fascinating artist because many people might be aware of his work and his style without necessarily knowing who is. How did you first learn about Posada?

I grew up in Mexico so I saw his images around all the time. There are thousands and thousands of reproductions of his work during the Day of the Dead, they’re just part of the pop culture. Posada is an unsung hero where people, like you said, have oftentimes seen his work and images but don’t know that much about his life. I just wanted to learn more about him.

A few years ago the hundredth anniversary of his death was celebrated. There were a couple of good books written about him in Mexico and there were some exhibits about him, so that also helped me find more information and more material. I visited the library at the University of Texas in Austin, which has an incredible collection of Latin American books, and they had a lot of information about him.

I didn’t know that much about him. I wanted to learn more. In the book I decided to include questions, because there were a lot of things I couldn’t quite find out because he wasn’t famous during his lifetime.

If you look up Diego Rivera or Pablo Picasso, a lot of people were writing about them while they were alive. There’s a lot of information about the paintings and art they were doing at a specific times of their lives. With Posada, he was unknown during his lifetime. People knew his images but he wasn’t famous by any means. So that’s why I decided to include a lot of questions, to try to give some context to things that I imagine may have happened.

PL: I really liked the questions, because it seems like you’re giving the reader the tools to think critically about art.

DT: I think the wonderful thing about Posada’s work—especially his calaveras—is that they’re so timeless. There are just a lot of interpretations one can make about them. A hundred years later we can look at his artwork and it’s still so relevant, even though it was done in a different time period.

PL: You’ve talked before about how you’ve been influenced by Ancient Mexican art, particularly the Mixtec codex. How did you first discover the Mixtec codex?

DT: I grew up in Mexico so often the cover of a textbook in elementary school will be a piece of Pre-Columbian art. Or in San Miguel where I grew up there’s a craft market where sometimes you’ll find crafts that have a Pre-Columbian vibe, but that wasn’t what interested me as a kid or what got me interested in art. It was years later after I had lived in the U.S. and was interested in different types of art that I came back to that.

When it really clicked is when I did that project about my friend Sergio. There’s a large Mixtec community in New York and I just thought it was so interesting that he speaks his indigenous Mixtec dialect with his cousins and friends. I was blown away by that. Here he was, thousands and thousands of miles away from his native village, but still retaining some of his traditions and language in this totally foreign city. So I decided to do a project about that. One of the first things I did was look up Mixtec artwork at the library at Parsons. I saw these great reproductions of codex from the fifteenth century that are some of the few codex that were not destroyed during the Spanish conquest

I decided to draw in that style. I do my characters in profile, their ears look very stylized, a little bit like the number three. I started to adopt the same aesthetic. I tried to make it a little more relevant to kids and to people nowadays by using digital collage, where I use different textures and photographic elements. So hopefully it’s an interesting combination where it looks kind of ancient but also kind of contemporary

PL: One of the cool parts of Calaveras is you go through the mechanics of Posada’s process, where you explain how etching, lithography, and engraving work. Why was it important for you to include how Posada created his drawings in this book?

DT: It was an interest of mine. I had taken a few introductory courses in college, so I was a little bit familiar with those processes. It’s just so different from painting, the fact that he had to draw his images backward. I thought it would be interesting to kids nowadays, where we’re just so used to printing things on a printer. But a hundred years ago, things had to be done totally differently so you could have multiple copies of the same image.

I think that’s one thing that’s very important about Posada’s work is that his art was popular and for the masses. It was produced lots and lots of times. In order to do that he had to use these techniques. If he had done a painting, there’d just be one painting, but since he did lithographs and etchings and engravings, there were these copies. I think that’s very much a part of the artwork he created and the purpose it served.

PL: Who are the children’s books illustrators you admire?

DT: There’s a lot of great people out there. I definitely like Ezra Jack Keats. I got to do a project related to his work for the Akron Art Museum. I feel a lot of connection to his work because he also did collage and was very interested in multicultural works.

Some of the art that inspires me is definitely pre-Columbian art. I like naïve art and outsider art—art made by people who aren’t necessarily trained artists. There’s something very raw and expressive and imaginative about it. It was definitely an interest of mine before I started drawing in this Pre-Columbian style, and it definitely drew me more towards that because it allowed me to experiment and play even if it’s not realistic, per se.

As a kid, I was very much into anime and manga and comic books. My cousin and I collected Spider-Man and X-Men and I had a big collection of those kinds of books. Those were definitely my very first influences in trying to draw and make images.

PL: You mentioned that you’re working on something coming up in the fall. Can you talk about what’s next?

I have two books coming out in the fall. One I wrote and illustrated called The Princess and The Warrior: A Tale of Two Volcanoes. It’s a myth set in Pre-Columbian times about the origin of these two volcanoes, Iztaccíhuatl and Popocatépetl, that are just outside Mexico City. The story of their origin has a lot of similarity to Sleeping Beauty and Romeo and Juliet. It was a very fun project to do.

The other book I did was written by a woman named Susan Wood and is called Esquivel: Space Age Sound Artist. It will be published by Charlesbridge and it’s a biography of the Mexican composer Esquivel, who’s considered the inventor of lounge music. It was a fun project because the illustrations are very groovy and swanky, and I did a lot of hand-drawn lettering for it. So the two books that I have coming out will look very different and are about very different subjects, so they were fun projects.

The post Ancient and Contemporary: A Conversation with Duncan Tonatiuh first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

The Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE), in preparing an initiative to help young children get ready for school, asked: What better place for families to find exciting—and free—resources for early learning than at the public library? Indeed, where else could they ask the question? Bah doo bah doink!

Transforming Family Life

How can a library experience transform family life? Let’s look at two real-life examples that bubbled up in a Library Café discussion program. “It’s amazing how much I have learned about tractors!” said Lyndsay Edwards of Westminster, Maryland. “When my first son was only six months old, we began attending the Read and Play programs at the library. I loved spending time with him while librarians showed me how to read, sing, and play with my newborn. Now my son is four years old and his brother is one. We attend library activities regularly. I’ve learned how to pick out books that get my sons excited about reading, which is how I’ve become an expert on tractors. It’s always nice to get out of the house for an hour and spend time with other parents and their children. It is a social opportunity for both of us.”¹

Another mother told her library story, “Being homeless a few short years ago I got into the routine of bringing my children into the library each day. One day before we got to the library Miss Sue [from the check-out desk] was walking down the street on her lunch break. She greeted us, ‘Hello, how are you? Will we see you in the library later today?’ She talked to us as if we were any other family that goes to the library.” The mother smiled, continuing, “That conversation was a turning point in my life. I began to think of myself in a more optimistic and confident way. In time, I was able to get out of a troubled marriage and move into an apartment with my children.”²

As Edwards added, “The library has provided me with a safe place to take my two boys where they can learn and grow. We look forward to our visits where we can explore the train, play with the puppets, choose new books, participate in storytime, and make new friends. It is a weekly routine for us and something I will treasure for years to come.”³

The Maryland Early Childhood Advisory Council (ECAC) partnered with MSDE to apply for and receive Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge grant funding. Two public library projects are featured in the grant and serve Title 1 neighborhoods: Library Family Cafés and Family Info Centers. These projects were designed to strengthen the ability of community partners to connect at-risk families to library services.

Library Family Cafés

Library Family Café discussion programs are loosely based on an engagement model used by Illinois’ Strengthening Families model (Love is Not Enough Parent Cafés), but they focus discussion on the excitement of learning—as opposed to more social work-type topics, such as how to discipline your child. They sometimes offer meals or snacks. Each library designs their café programs to fit their community needs. For example, some libraries set up activity play stations in the storytime room where parents and children go from station to station at their own pace. Librarians visit with families one on one during this active play time and enjoy informal conversation about learning and early literacy. Other libraries create informal discussion time during Every Child Ready to Read @ your library workshops with the goal to spark curiosity. One of the universal questions asked—no matter the format of the “café” —is: “What more can the library do for you and your family?” In this way, librarians can listen and respond to each family to help develop exceptional customer service, improve their relationship with the community, and tap its potential.

Library cafés invite parents for a deeper discussion about learning for themselves as adults and learning for their children. For example, parents can discuss the progression of how children develop writing skills. Babies enjoy squeezing playdough, which strengthens their fingers and hands as a first step toward the process of writing. Then it’s step-by-step—children begin to scribble, make letter- and number-like shapes, then advance to making letters and numbers. Parents have ah-ha moments in the informal and fun café atmosphere and are excited to share their observations and ideas. Parents are learning from librarians—and learning from each other.

Family Info Centers

Every library system has identified one or two or more branches to feature a Family Info Center or kiosk of information specific to early literacy, early learning, and community partner brochures. Local early childhood councils are eager to include their printed promotional handouts in the info center. These centers are usually a simple wall mount or table top brochure holder or literature display rack. Every Child Ready to Read @ your library toolkit offers ready-to-use parent brochures and handouts on early literacy that are ideal for the centers.

Engaging Families—Four Tenets

How can libraries partner more effectively with parents, schools, and others to help a community thrive, especially while treading the convoluted pathways of politics, bureaucratic mumbo jumbo, and naysayers? Like Benjamin Franklin’s Junto, a group of likeminded aspiring artisans and tradesmen who “formed . . . a club for mutual [self] improvement” to enhance their community,⁴ the library celebrates human creativity, curiosity, and courage.

Library staff members establish relationships with families (low needs and high needs) in order to offer services and opportunities to support family learning. A model of effective practices and guiding principles has emerged over the years and were encapsulated into four tenets within Maryland’s early literacy guidelines:

1. Parents are their child’s first teacher.
2. The public library is a family’s resource for learning—children and adults alike.
3. Library staff members strive to bring out their best as professionals and the best in all families—through dignity, respect, and creating opportunities as a jumping-off place for learning.
4. Libraries shine by serving children birth to five when in collaboration with parents and caregivers (high needs and low needs) and with other agencies and organizations.

One of the brilliant aspects of libraries engaging families is development of the caring, benevolent nature of the parent or caregiver as the child’s first teacher. Library activities nudge grown-ups to develop the interests of young children that can lead to skill development—peekaboo (nonlinear thinking), stacking (problem solving), banging (music), giggling (humor), jumping (self-assurance), frogs (science), and drawing (self-expression). Libraries in Maryland—and across North America—offer myriad opportunities for parents and children to enjoy lifelong learning. Librarians are developing effective practices to support parent enthusiasm for their child’s learning. They are training grown-ups to be attuned to their child’s play and conversations for clues to their interests.

Libraries Supporting Community Goals

Margaret Williams, executive director for the Maryland Family Network, said, “Our mission is to inspire parents to be their best each day. Library programs offer parents and children time together when library staff can model what parents might do at home. Librarians can teach parents how to share books and have fun with age-appropriate activities. They can demonstrate how children can become positive participants in groups through storytimes.”⁵

When librarians strive to listen to parents and caregivers, identify needs, and design services responsive to their individual community, a library is more likely to reinvent itself in ways to stay relevant. For example, many libraries offer play and learning opportunities to families through early literacy storytimes, special parent and child activity programs, interactive resources, café discussions, and large or small play spots inside and outside library buildings.

The Maryland Early Childhood Family Engagement Framework—based on a national Head Start Parent, Family, and Community Engagement Framework model—put forth seven common goals that all partners in the early childhood system can embrace to develop appropriate strategies.

Goal 1: Any initiative should promote family well-being.
Goal 2: Family engagement should promote positive parent-child relationships.
Goal 3: Community resources should support families as principal educators of their children.
Goal 4: Innovative strategies inspire the educational aspirations of parents and families.
Goal 5: Effective practices should support families through the care and educational transitions of early childhood.
Goal 6: Networks should connect families to their peers and to the community.
Goal 7: Through opportunities that engage and inspire parents, community partners support the development of families to become leaders and child advocates.

Williams added, “Libraries offer families—all ethnic and income groups—a place to go for tips on finding good books and how to read aloud. Librarians can assist parents in finding information on what they need or what interests them as lifelong learners—anything from job hunting to discipline for children to how to handle a death in the family. Storytimes and other programs create a safe atmosphere for families to have fun and socialize together.”⁶

Low-needs families support high-needs families through modeling and conversations during programs and café discussions. Library staff can create the proper atmosphere for this important work.

“Through programs and activities, such as Every Child Ready to Read, or in the library café discussions, we are offering a learning structure for parents to think about how to be their best. For example, we give tips to parents encouraging them to ask questions of their young children when they are in the grocery store (what is the name of this fruit) or driving in the car (let’s sing “the wheels on the bus” song),” explained Rachel Wright, the children’s services manager of the Cecil County (MD) Public Library.7

Librarians can also contribute to the family engagement effort by understanding that it can apply to children older than five. “Recently I was sitting in the Children’s Room watching a nine-year-old boy teach his grandmother how to play the online game Minecraft,” said Amanda Courie, youth services coordinator, Caroline County (MD) Library. “They were building a birchwood house together, and suddenly came across some squid! She was open and curious. I could see how much the grandson enjoyed being the expert and giving his grandmother a glimpse into a world in which he is right
at home.”⁸

“Seventy-seven parents and children showed up at our first library café,” said Barbara Graham, youth services coordinator, Wicomico County (MD) Library. “We partnered with the Judy Center, the early learning division at our local school system focused on Title 1 areas. Many of the families had not been to the library before. All staff were on deck including our library director, staff, and volunteers to meet and greet families, guiding them through the evening’s activities. Our volunteer coordinator happens to be a culinary arts school graduate and prepared a special array of refreshments. Every Child Ready to Read’s five practices were at the heart of our activities—activity stations were set up in the library with one take-home activity and one activity per practice (talk, sing, read, write, and play).

Our goal was to create a pleasant experience with the hope that parents would want to come back. We believe we’re moving in the right direction because we had several children who didn’t want to go home.”⁹

With a bit of grit, goodwill, and piggledybop, the family engagement concept can transform library services.

References and Notes

1. Remarks shared at Early Childhood Consortium Breakfast Celebration, Carroll County (MD), Apr. 30, 2013.
2. Remarks shared at Library Café program, Carroll County (MD) Public Library, Nov. 13, 2012.
3. Remarks shared at Early Childhood Consortium Breakfast Celebration, Carroll County (MD), Apr. 30, 2013.
4. Shaw, Peter, ed. The Autobiography and Other Writings by Benjamin Franklin (New York: Bantam Books, 1982), 53.
5. Margaret Williams, phone interview with authors, May 27, 2014.
6. Ibid.
7. Remarks shared at Maryland Library Association conference program with Rachel Wright, May 9, 2014.
8. Amanda Courie, email interview with the authors, June 2, 2014.
9. Remarks shared at Maryland Library Association conference program with Barbara Graham, May 9, 2014.

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Expectations:
I bought a cute little pink notebook to write down summaries of all the books so I would remember my thoughts. One of the women who had been on the committee before (yes, they were all women) laughed and said I wouldn’t need it. She was right. By the end, I was reading during every free moment–no time for note-taking. Said A, “I think that I didn’t realize just how much reading we would be doing though, and how disciplined I’d have to be!”

Reading Time:
We read approximately 105 books over about 9 months’ time. (We were supposed to read more but a few of us who work throughout the year whined enough over the lengthy summer list!)

I’m the person who always has a book in their car in case of emergencies, but this got a little ridiculous. I was reading everywhere, all the time. A said she was even reading while blow-drying her hair. One big help for many committee members was audiobooks in the car–and while cleaning, cooking, and… It did take up a lot of time, but B said that the benefits to reader’s advisory alone were worth it. She mentioned that she spends so much time selecting great picture books to read in storytime, but rarely has the chance to get as in-depth with older readers. A had a great tip and said she put all the titles into her Goodreads account so she could go back when making a recommendation to a patron.

Junior Readers:
We had two student readers on our committee–one boy and one girl. Everyone I talked to agreed that their input was valuable, though our students were on the quiet side. A suggested adding two more students, while B said, “I think that a lot of them feel intimidated being on the committee with a bunch of librarians.  Therefore, they tend not to speak up and speak their minds as much as they should (which I can totally understand).”

Our student members definitely helped to sway us when the group as a whole was on the fence about a title. I found that the students were better at telling us why they liked a title, as opposed to why they didn’t.

The Debate:
C said it best – “I enjoy every part of the process—the rich discussions, passionate debates, and the opportunity to ask the committee to reconsider a title (& the thrill when I have successfully swayed votes in a desired direction!).” There were many great debates over a few titles, though luckily no fist fights ensued. What I found to hold true was the old adage “the cream rises to the top.” Those special titles that are really good usually find a way onto everyone’s top lists. But then there are those that speak to each of us individually, and maybe not to everyone.

Said C, “I am not going to lie—it is nothing short of disheartening when a book I have placed in my “emphatically, yes!” column is casually tossed out by the group! (Or the opposite happens!) It has been a humbling reminder to respect my students’—and friends—differing opinions regarding genre, authors, & titles, and to fully support everyone’s right to not finish a book.” D said there were times when she looked at a book in a whole new way after hearing someone’s comments about it.

The Notes:
While my pink notebook was repurposed, I did write notes in the margins on my reading lists to bring to the meetings. Here are some of my favorite ones:

“Apocalyptic”

“Seems like it was created for the illustrator”

“He (author) has done better”

“Cover may limit readership”

“STRANGE”

“Don’t like cover, don’t like concept!”

The Controversies:
One title we all really enjoyed ended up with a split vote, simply because some of us thought it would do better on the Teen List. And in fact, the Teen committee did vote it through so that was a win-win situation! An issue I still have trouble deciding on has to do with books that are extremely popular before we choose them— maybe even a Newbery winner or honor book. I feel like that book is going to get enough readers on its own and that one of the ten slots should go to a less publicized book. But then someone makes the case that not everyone has read it, and if it’s that good, doesn’t it have as much right to be on the list? The jury is still out on that one.

Another issue arose when we really liked a title that was a sequel to another book. The first book was too old to be on the list, but we weren’t sure we should choose the sequel if the kids hadn’t read the first one. Ultimately the book was selected, because a few committee members who hadn’t read the first one said it could stand on its own.

The Vote & the Aftermath:
Our committee had to borrow five titles from our alternate list because some of our top choices were not available in paperback, which is one of the criteria. The titles we couldn’t end up including might be able to make it on the next year’s list depending on their publication date. Ultimately, six of my ‘Top 10’ titles made it to the official Top 10. Two more made it to the ‘Alternate 10’ list, and the last two were not voted through. Of course I made sure my library owns all the titles I liked, and am still taking every opportunity to push them on my young patrons!

When the final list came out, I had a friend who is a school librarian comment that there weren’t any sports books on the list. Like I told my friend, we really didn’t read many from the lists, and of the ones we did, we chose one book about a female soccer player. In the end, that book was cut because it wasn’t available in paperback. This forced me to look back at the list through a different lens, and I still stand by it. It may not have the requisite ‘sports book for boys’ but there are boys as the main or co-main character in at least half of the titles, and in the others, at least two have animal main characters.

So I say, if you have the chance to serve on a book award committee, do it. You will be infinitely glad in the end that you have read so many wonderful titles that you can recommend. Said A, “Library work can be very insular sometimes, and I wanted to join the committee to get to know how other libraries operate, and meet colleagues.”

And then there’s the happy dance you do when the list is announced and you get to tell your patrons that YOU helped choose that book.

Cover Image Credit: ProjectManhattan (CC BY-SA 3.0)

The post Observations from Serving on a Children’s Book Award Committee first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

Of the children surveyed, 51% were currently reading a book for fun, and an additional 20% had recently completed one. Significantly more girls than boys identified in the former category. The other 29% of students admitted to not having read for pleasure in a long time. Surprisingly, when compared to these numbers, only 46% of children felt pleasure reading and developing skills in this area are important, compared to 71% of their parents.

Scholastic also looked at the differences between “frequent” (5-7 days a week) and “infrequent” (less than one day a week) reading. Today, 31% of the children polled identify as frequent readers, down from 37% in 2010. The two demographics responsible for this drop are boys of any age, and readers over the age of 8.

Perhaps the biggest reason behind the drop in reading frequency among older readers is the increasing prevalence of other activities, such as sports, extracurriculars, and most notably, spending time using devices such as smartphones, tablets, and computers. Unfortunately, the report notes that many children have found activities they prefer, preventing them from reading as much as they did when they were younger. One positive finding was that children are far more likely to enjoy reading—and thus take part in it more frequently—when they are given the freedom to choose their own books.

If reading frequency is dropping as kids get older, how can public libraries help combat this trend? One obvious solution is to encourage children—and their parents—to choose books they would like to read for fun. Older kids (ages 12-17) also noted they were more likely to read if they had a good understanding of their reading level. This makes reader’s advisory more important than ever; not only is it important for librarians to help young patrons find books and topics that are of interest, it is also vital to bear the appropriate reading level in mind.

The study additionally shows a positive correlation between how regularly parents read and whether their children will become frequent readers. The prevalence of books at home is also a strong indicator of a more avid reader. Because so many adults cannot afford to purchase reading material for their families, this makes borrowing from the library critical.

Although it can be somewhat disheartening to see that pleasure reading is on the decline for children, libraries are in a powerful position to help stop this slide. By promoting our youth collections and sharpening our reader’s advisory skills, we can get kids and their parents more excited about reading. How do you motivate the young readers in your library?

Sources

[1] Scholastic, Inc. “Kids & Family Reading Report.” 5th Ed (2015). Accessed May 1, 2015. http://www.scholastic.com/readingreport/.

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We Need Diverse Book logo

According to their website at weneeddiversebooks.org, the organization defines diversity as recognizing “all diverse experiences, including (but not limited to) LGBTQIApartn, people of color, gender diversity, people with disabilities, and ethnic, cultural, and religious minorities.”

In the last year, the WNDB campaign has established itself as a tax-exempt public charity, partnered with School Library Journal and the Children’s Book Council in promoting their cause, established the Walter Dean Meyers book award, and among other things, created the popular #WNDB. Diversity panels have popped up at conferences everywhere from School Library Journal’s Day of Dialogue to the American Library Association to the Society for Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI).

Part of what spurred Oh and Lo to take action was the all-white panel scheduled at last year’s Book Expo America (BEA) BookCon event. This year, BookCon and WNDB partnered for a panel entitled, “We Need Diverse Books: In Our World and Beyond.” Authors Sherman Alexie and Jacqueline Woodson were scheduled to be part of the event, but WNDB did point out that no authors of color were to be featured at the annual BEA children’s breakfast.

It seems the call for diverse books would begin with authors. In a recent interview, middle school teacher and first-time novelist Cindy Rodriguez talked about diversity in her new YA book, When Reason Breaks. While in the revision process, she took the time to add diversity to her novel.

Said Rodriguez, “Emily Delgado is Puerto Rican, Tommy Bowles is half-Mexican, Ms. Diaz is Latina, Kevin has two dads, and Sarah is black. The story, however, is not about being Latino or gay or black. It’s about teen depression, attempted suicide, and Emily Dickinson. When we talk about diversity in children’s literature, we often think about it in terms of books with an almost all minority cast of characters dealing with issues linked to race, culture, etc. I’ve read lots of those books, and I think we need more of them, for sure, but we also need more books with diverse characters tackling other issues. The characters’ culture, race, sexual orientation, etc. may play a part in the narrative because it’s important to who they are, but it shouldn’t always be the “problem.”

What’s next for WNDB? They recently developed an internship to help “diversify publishing from the inside out”, and will host the first Children’s Literature Diversity Festival in Washington D.C. in 2016.

Wondering what you as librarians can do at your libraries? Some advocates suggest not just buying books with diverse characters simply for that fact. They want you to buy books with diverse characters because they are good. For more tips, check out Marybeth Zeman’s two-part series on “Can Children See Themselves in the Books on Your Shelves?” here:

https://publiclibrariesonline.org/2014/07/can-children-see-themselves-in-the-books-on-your-shelves-part-i/

References:

https://publiclibrariesonline.org/2014/07/can-children-see-themselves-in-the-books-on-your-shelves-part-i/

http://weneeddiversebooks.org

http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2015/03/people/movers-shakers-2015/we-need-diverse-books-movers-shakers-2015-change-agents/#_

The post “We Need Diverse Books” Campaign Gaining Momentum first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

Salt Lake City Public Library is trying to do just that. Since 2011, they have been fighting the battle against illiteracy in early childhood with great results. “The library system’s Smart Start program, a community outreach project that serves more than 1,000 children each month, aims to cultivate children’s love of reading while giving parents and teachers necessary literacy-building tools.” (Oligschlaeger 2015)

Smart Start is active in seventy low-income classrooms throughout Salt Lake City. There are currently twelve librarians on staff who participate in the program. Basically they take breaks from their daily library jobs to travel to schools and programs, inviting the kids to participate in a full story-time and a selection of picture books. The classrooms range from pre-K to Head Start. “Smart Start’s reach also stretches beyond the classroom. Librarians regularly bring story-time presentations to children staying at The Road Home, the YWCA women’s shelter, and Odyssey House, a rehabilitation center with residential family programs.” (Oligschlaeger 2015)

One of the librarians who participates has said that he hopes the program will spur a ripple effect in other outreach areas, and I agree. Every library has its own niche with which to help the community. I work at an art reference library, and would love to create an outreach program that will help bring art into schools that may not have the funds for art education. I’d love to hear more about library outreach programs. Where does your library go in the community? Share your stories in the comments.

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You know the books we’re talking about. Thomas the Tank Engine, Scooby Doo, Spongebob, Spiderman, Martha, and all things Disney related. Originally the idea of grouping together all the books that were related to current television shows, movies, and direct to DVD releases was aimed at children. Bringing this genre to the forefront of some of our collections has been an interesting experience where we learned about circulation and reading development.

In the past few years, our library’s youngest readers have gravitated towards “TV tie-in books.” We’ve struggled with how to best keep this disparate collection together. Each book would be by a different author or have no author at all. On one hand, it would have been easier to not buy these books at all because they were flimsy and out of fashion as soon as the TV show or movie was no longer popular. But we found it was impossible to tell a small boy or girl that we didn’t have a book about their most favorite thing in the whole world: a popular television show on Sprout, PBS, Disney, or Nick Jr. We aren’t even going to mention the near small girl riot that occurred this summer when we had only one Frozen book in the building and three little girls all wanted it at the same time! Thankfully they took other Disney princess books in the short run!

In the end, the practicality of having what our youngest patrons wanted won out. We cataloged the books by their character, so all the John Deere books based on the direct to DVD releases were shelved under John Deere. And no one remembered the Rev. Awdry wrote the original Thomas stories, so the originals and the new television character-based stories all are shelved under Thomas. While some people remember that H.A. Rey wrote Curious George, all the books are shelved under Curious George.

However, a most interesting thing happened about a year ago when we went to genre grouping in all of our fiction collections. Several reading levels got a “Seen on TV” section, which ended up as one of the largest categories in the collection. The picture books have a huge “Seen on TV” section which includes Star Wars, GI Joe, Transformers, Barbie, Angelina Ballerina, Clifford the Big Red Dog, Curious George, Iron Man, and all things Disney. But it was the Learn to Read collection where we put about 30% of the total collection into the “Seen on TV” section. Even more interesting, people are taking out huge handfuls of these books at a time.

Our circulation of “Seen on TV” books has gone up over the past year, and our emerging readers are happily taking piles of books that match their favorite movies and shows. It has been especially successful for parents who come in searching for their child “who doesn’t like to read.” Even though we must weed this section more aggressively for condition and popularity, it has definitely been worth the time and money we’ve put into it.

Melanie A. Lyttle is the Head of Public Services Madison Public Library. You can watch her YouTube channel, Crabby Librarian, at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Rv5GLWsUow. Shawn D. Walsh is the Emerging Services and Technologies Librarian at Madison Public Library.

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While we have People Magazine and Rolling Stone, the request for substance made me not only review our publication list more closely, but examine what was currently available in the periodicals marketplace.  This quest lead to some terrific discoveries.

Below are five great titles that I’ve found most people never heard of!  I have no affiliation with any of these publications, but offer them here for the curious…

1. ChopChop Magazine – an award winning, quarterly kid’s foodie magazine produced by ChopChopKids. Founded in 2010 by James Beard-nominated author Sally Sampson, the magazine’s mission is to teach young people to cook and eat real food.  The publication is available in both English and Spanish and offers facts, games, and recipes.  http://www.chopchopmag.org/
2. Pacific Standard Magazine – prints bimonthly in partnership with its parent organization, the non-profit Miller-McCune Center for Research, Media and Public Policy. They “explore the science of society;” examining everything from economics to psychology, customs to education, and institutions to the environment.  Their broad-based and timely articles are accessible and readable, yet also grounded in empirical research, with reference provided.  http://www.psmag.com/
3. The Sun – For those seeking a more literary approach, The Sun is an independent, non-profit, ad-free monthly magazine that celebrates life through personal essays, short stories, interviews, poetry, and photography.  http://thesunmagazine.org
4. Mindful – Another publication by an independent non-profit, the magazine uses personal stories, news, and advice. to celebrate being present, composed, and thoughtful in all aspects of life. Articles focus on kindness, caring, and being present.  The magazine is published by the Foundation of a Mindful Society.  http://www.mindful.org/
5. Stone Soup – produced by the non-profit, the Children’s Art Foundation, Stone Soup magazine is written and illustrated by young writers and artists ages 8 to 13. Published six times a year, the magazine hopes to inspire creativity in youth. http://www.stonesoup.com/

If you are looking to expand or develop your periodicals, encourage a wider frame of reference, or think your patrons ( like mine) are looking for something more substantive and thought provoking, I recommend these titles.  Likewise, if you have hidden gems, I would like to hear of them.

The post Hidden Gems – Five Lesser-Known Periodicals for Your Collection first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

Many libraries are using the Illinois Reading Enrichment and Development program (iREAD), which has the a musical theme for 2015, “Read to the Rhythm.” iREAD originated in 1982 in Illinois as a statewide collaboration with the goal of providing low cost, high quality summer reading resources for libraries. Since then, libraries in several other states, including California and Minnesota, have taken advantage of the program.

Illinois Library Association’s iREAD Committee showcased the 2015 theme at their conference last fall. The presentation included a myriad of suggestions for every age group, from baby to adult. The youngest audiences will enjoy musical story times, which will also tie in nicely with the early literacy skill, “sing.” Offerings for school age children can range from STEM topics, like the science of sound, to exploring new cultures. Dance lessons, lip synching, finish the lyrics, and “Name That Tune” contests could appeal to a wide variety of ages from tweens and teens to adults.

Librarians are sharing their great display, craft, and program ideas on the iREAD Pinterest page. The theme lends itself well to musical makerspaces— making homemade musical instruments like harmonicas, drums, or maracas. Musical craft ideas abound on this board as well. Ideas we’ll be using at my library, Great River Regional Library in Minnesota, include passive programs like guess the nursery rhyme, guess the animated movie from a song, “Mad Lib” lyrics, and a musical genre guessing game.

iRead is also currently highlighting artwork from children’s illustrator Don Tate. Tate’s illustrations in Duke Ellington’s Nutcracker Suite are perfectly in tune with the iREAD musical theme. Tate is a champion for diversity in children’s literature and is also one of the founders of the blog The Brown Bookshelf , which is designed to raise awareness of African-American writing for young readers. He also recently joined the #WeNeedDiverseBooks team.

Furthermore, iRead has resources for strengthening your summer reading program. The California Library Association partnered with iREAD in 2013 and brought along resources on developing outcome-based measurements for summer reading programs. California has adopted two statewide summer reading outcomes: “Children belong to a community of readers” and “Underserved community members participate in the summer reading program.” Resources for adapting these outcomes or creating outcome-based measurements are included in the iREAD manual. It also includes reproducible resources about the summer slide and why summer reading programs are important.

It’s not too late to join the festivities! The iRead  program catalog is available at ireadprogram.org.

Resources

Mitnick, Eva. “CA Librarians Gear Up For Summer with iREAD’s Read to the Rhythm Programming.” School Library Journal.  November 19, 2014.

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Starr Latronia stresses that libraries that include diversity in its programs and collections have the potential to help children make “cross-cultural connections and to develop the skills necessary to function in a culturally pluralistic society”¹.  Books that promote diversity should not be reserved for special ethnic holidays; they should be celebrated every day.

Programs like Story Walk Park Street in Hartford, Connecticut, celebrate diverse ethnic and racial communities through children’s literature and engaging, fun and family literacy-oriented activities. Hartford Public Library’s walk took children around the largely Hispanic neighborhood, Frog Hollow, surrounding the Park branch of the Hartford Public Library, and the Portuguese neighborhood, Parkville, served by the Dwight branch².

Using enlarged pages of the books, Quinito Day and Night by Ina Cumpiano in Spanish and English, and The Giant Turnip by Henriette Barkow in Portuguese and English, participants were given passports and the location of each page of the story, located in local businesses.  The entire community was involved—teachers, librarians, parents, guardians, children and “guest travelers” from other neighborhoods in Hartford.

Leticia Cotto, Branch Manager, at the Park Branch, said that “it was exciting to see the interaction between the children and teachers, librarians or parents leading the Story Walk and to listen to the children reading out loud in the community and talking about their book.” (Email interview, May 20, 2014).  Sharing these stories allowed the diverse communities of Hartford to share social identity and increased awareness and appreciation of one another.  Most of all, it fostered a community cohesiveness and respect for Hartford’s diversity.

Leticia spoke at a recent breakfast hosted by MOSAIC, Multicultural Outreach Services and Information Center, a division of the Suffolk County Library Association RASD.  Elma Lugo, Spanish-speaking librarian at the Longwood Public Library and Co-Director of MOSAIC, believes that “the more you become aware of other cultures and backgrounds your life becomes richer…In my conversation classes…they learn, but I feel I learn so much more….such as tolerance, patience, other cultures, and service” (Email interview, May 22, 2014). MOSAIC’s mission, “…to promote cultural awareness and develop strategies for effective outreach services” is one example of the many organizations and special interest groups that public librarians can tap into for professional guidance and/or professional development³. Joining one of the ALA’s Associations of Ethnic Librarians can provide a public librarian with an invaluable source of information on books, resources and professional development opportunities.⁴

There is a need for public libraries to become more inclusive and welcoming to the diverse cultures that exist within and without of their communities.  Children of any color need a diverse collection of books that represent the rainbow of cultures and communities that public libraries serve.

RESOURCES

1. LaTronica, S. (2014, May 1). Libraries Working to Bridge the Cultural Divide. Huffington Post. Retrieved May 20, 2014.
2. G, R. (2014, March 18). Hartford’s First Story Walk. HPL Blogs. Retrieved May 20, 2014.
3. Reaching Out To Unique Communities. MOSAIC. Suffolk County Library Association, 25 Apr. 2014. Web. 20 May 2014.
4. “Associations of Ethnic Librarians.” ALA Office of Diversity. American Library Association, n.d. Web. 20 May 2014.

The post Can Children See Themselves in the Books on Your Shelves? Part II first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

Libraries can bridge this cultural divide, so that children of all colors can benefit from exposure to literature that mirrors themselves, their culture and their families and develop a respect for those who are different from them.

In a March 2014 New York Times op-ed, author, Walter Dean Myers, asks the question, “Where Are the People of Color in Children’s Books?”¹ His question echoes the 2013 study by the Cooperative Children’s Book Center’s statistics: Of 3,200 children’s books published in 2013, just 93 were about black people, 57 about Latinos, 69 about Asians or Pacific/Asian Americans and 39 about Native Americans².

The CCBC’s answer to Myers’ question is what propelled me into becoming a librarian.  As an ESL teacher, I encountered many newly arrived students who had no prior experience whatsoever with a public library.  There was a missing link in their emerging English literacy—experience with a library and books that they could identify with.  My intervention then was a field trip to the public library and their first library card. They ran excitedly from book stack to free Internet to magazine section as if they were given a ticket to Disney World.  Their excitement was contagious; I was soon enrolled in library school.

And now, as the “unofficial” school librarian in a jail school program, I have student after student, all boys of color, tell me that they either never had a library card or had never visited the public library.  These American-born students lack the same experience that my former ESL students did and lack the same access to books with characters who they can identify with or who reflect their cultural heritage.

Sadly, these young men’s lack of library experiences has resulted in the “harmful effects” that Starr LaTronica points to in Libraries Working To Bridge The Cultural Divide. There, she links children not being exposed to “print or digital materials that reflect themselves or their culture” with low self-esteem, intolerance toward others, and cultural invisibility³.

There is, indeed, a cultural divide in books that celebrate America’s diversity.

Librarians, especially children’s librarians, need to seek out and read diverse literature. Crystall Brunelle, school librarian, offers these suggested blog sites: Diversity on the Shelf, Latin@s in KidLit, or Africa Reading Challenge.⁴. In addition, the CCBC compiled an extended list of blogs and reading resources⁵.

Aptly, the director of CCBC, Kathleen Horning, emphasizes that “buying a book is a political act.” She stresses this simple axiom: “If we want to see change, if we want to see more diversity in literature, we have to buy the books.” We need to add them to our collections.

Librarians need to actively seek the books that promote diversity and build that bridge between cultures.  ALA’s recommended lists such as the Coretta Scott King Awards, promoting the best in children’s African-American literature, or the Pura Belpre Award, which lists the best books that celebrate Hispanic heritage, are two good places to begin.  But lists and recommendations abound.  This month, School Library Journal also provided readers with a list of culturally diverse books.⁶.I hope these lists encourage you to expand your YA collection. In part two of my article, I’ll discuss innovative programs that promote cultural diversity.

RESOURCES

1. Myers, W. D. (2014, March 15). Where Are the People of Color in Children’s Books? The New York Times. Retrieved May 20, 2014.
2. Children’s Books by and about People of Color Published in the United States. (n.d.). Children’s Book By and About People of Color. Retrieved May 20, 2014.
3. LaTronica, S. (2014, May 1). Libraries Working to Bridge the Cultural Divide. Huffington Post. Retrieved May 20, 2014.
4. Brunelle, C. (2014). Everyday Diversity: A Teacher Librarian Gives Practical Tips To Make a Difference. School Library Journal, I(Diversity). Retrieved May 20, 2014.
5. Diversity Resources. (n.d.). Reading For Life Blog. Retrieved May 20, 2014.
6. Culturally Diverse Books Selected by SLJ’s Review Editors. (2014, May 1). School Library Journal. Retrieved May 20, 2014, from

The post Can Children See Themselves in the Books on Your Shelves? Part I first appeared on Public Libraries Online.