Category Archives: Programs

Books, Programs, Public

The collection is all around

The Collection All Around: Sharing Our Cities, Towns, and Natural Places

Contact:

Rob Christopher
Marketing Coordinator
ALA Publishing
American Library Association
(312) 280-5052
rchristopher@ala.org

 

CHICAGO — Public libraries’ mission, skills, and position in their communities make them ideal facilitators of public access to local resources. In other words, the collection is all around, and libraries can help citizens discover historical, cultural, and natural riches that they might otherwise overlook. Providing smart planning and implementation advice, “The Collection All Around: Sharing Our Cities, Towns, and Natural Places,” published by ALA Editions, shows public libraries how to make the most of these outreach opportunities. Using ideas drawn from libraries from around the country, author Jeffrey T. Davis covers:

  • why this type of initiative is important, demonstrating how this model strengthens libraries with regard to community and institutional support;
  • programs for brokering public access to cultural venues via ticketing platforms;
  • using library event calendars to feature the programs and meetings of other city agencies, community organizations, and affiliated institutions;
  • the joint use of library cards as IDs, for banking, and as parking/transit passes;
  • ways that libraries can act as guides to local resources, including such examples of “pathfinding” as historical/cultural walking tours, navigating social services, and providing guidance on government benefits and civic involvement;
  • parklets, crosswalk murals, food truck roundups, and other programs for extending the public library beyond its walls;
  • initiatives for improving access and connections to natural surroundings such as nature-play environments, offsite StoryWalks, nature maps, and circulating outdoor gear and state parks passes; and
  • talking points for new and existing partner buy-in, planning advice for getting started and managing the launch, budgeting guidance, technology considerations, and other helpful tips. Continue reading The collection is all around →
Communication, Programs, Public

Dinosaurs roam Gail Borden Library in Elgin

London - Crystal Palace - Victorian Dinosaurs 1
From the Chicago Tribune

“On Monday, Gail Borden Public Library officially unveiled its Dinosaur Giants interactive exhibit, timing it with the launch of the library’s summer reading program.

“This is why it’s important to have these exhibits,” Gail Borden executive director Carole Medal told the dozens in attendance. “It’s wonderful to have them right in your backyard.”

The exhibit features four full-scale dinosaur skeletons, one dinosaur skull, and one full-scale flesh model of animals that once inhabited what is now part of Africa 110 to 135 million years ago.

The centerpiece is the Jobaria skeleton, which stands at two stories tall, its head and neck fitting in between the library’s spiral staircase opening.

While the skeletons are all made of plaster casts and not actual fossils, the exhibit nonetheless is impressive, said Medal.

“Each display is interesting, colorful,” she said. “Oh my God, jaws will drop.”

Curiosity bloomed from practically everyone who stepped foot inside the library Monday. A group from St. Mary’s Catholic School, children and adults alike, gaped at the Jobaria skeleton.

“We’re very lucky to have a library like this close to us, that our kids can come to from school and see this, it’s pretty impressive,” said Barbara Colandrea, the school’s principal.

Some actual fossils are sprinkled around Gail Borden. Near the entrance of the children section is the femur fossil of the Jobaria, weighing in at 350 pounds and 135 million years old.

The exhibit continues the library’s long run of attention-grabbing displays, such as castles, Legos, robots and artwork from childrens author Maurice Sendak.

“From beginning to end, this project was so exciting,” said Mary Amici-Kozi, the library’s exhibits manager. The first items and artifacts of the exhibit were delivered last week, and many staff members were working double-digit-hour workdays, said Amici-Kozi and Medal. The Jobaria skeleton took two days to set up.

It is also a return to dinosaurs, having done the same thing in the fall of 2005. Medal said that first exhibit was a game changer for the then-new library, which had opened only two years earlier.”

(Read the rest of this article here!)

Advocacy, CMLE, Programs

It’s Here! It’s This Week! Postcard Party in the Park Happens Thursday!!

Clemens GardensWe are very excited to hang out in beautiful sunshine, talk with library people, and let everyone know how wonderful and valuable libraries are.

So we are hosting a Postcard Party in the Park this Thursday, and you are invited! (You, your family, friends, neighbors, polite strangers you met on the street – it’s a very inclusive invitation!)

CMLE HQ will provide postcards and addresses; you can write out quick notes to your stakeholders to tell them about libraries; and we will mail them. Quick and easy advocacy in action!

Thursday, May 25 from 11:00 to 1:00 we will be sitting at tables behind the Gift Shop at the Munsinger Clemens Gardens. Bring your lunch; we will provide snacks, postcards, pens, and addresses for your legislators. Beverages are available for purchase at the Gift Shop, and water fountains are nearby.

After our poll on the best day for this event, we have added a second time. We will also be there from 4:30 to 6:30 that afternoon. Stop by on your way home from work, or bring a sack dinner and enjoy the beautiful gardens, and the river! Snacks and postcards will again be available to everyone who attends. Bring your kids and sweeties and friends and patrons, and let them run around the garden while we have library fun! (Of course, everyone is invited to write out a postcard! But it’s not a requirement of having fun.)

We will provide suggestions for stakeholders who might appreciate some quick news for you, and give you some suggested wording to help you get started. This is your chance to enjoy yourselves in the company of other library people, chat about libraries, and do a little advocacy work to help us all!

Continue reading It’s Here! It’s This Week! Postcard Party in the Park Happens Thursday!! →

Children's services, Programs, Special

Adventures of a Funky Hat Librarian

Balloon Hats Abstract on the guys

(From the ALSC blog, by Emily Bayci)

“One of the best parts (maybe even the best part) of being a children’s librarian is getting to dress up and look ridiculous all of the time. No questions asked. My favorite way to express this? Funky hats.

It all started innocently enough. There were a few hats hanging around at my graduate school and I wore them while working at the help desk. People thought it  was fun and when I found a cool hat
at a store I would end up buying one.

This escalated into a full on obsession. My friend told me how much money you could save by buying a hat for a costume and working your way down. Continue reading Adventures of a Funky Hat Librarian →

Advocacy, Communication, Programs, School Media Specialist, Training

AASL President’s Program addresses “What an administrator wants”

Dr. Scott Beck

Contact:

Jennifer Habley
Manager, Web Communications
American Association of School Librarians (AASL)
312-280-4383
jhabley@ala.org

CHICAGO – Scott Beck, head principal at Norman (Okla.) High School, will conclude the American Association of School Librarians’ (AASL) Awards Ceremony & President’s Program taking place at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, June 24, as part of the 2017 ALA Annual Conference in Chicago.

“As school librarians, we know how critical it is to the success of our library programs to have a supportive administrator,” said AASL President Audrey Church. “I am very excited to have Dr. Scott Beck as my President’s Program speaker. Dr. Beck knows what a 21st-century library program that contributes to student learning looks like and understands the key role that today’s school librarian plays in instruction in his/her school. We look forward to him sharing his perspective on how school librarians transform student learning.”

Beck is currently the head principal at Norman High School, serving 2,000 students in grades 9-12. Over the course of his 17-year career in education, Beck has also served as an assistant principal and a National Board Certified social studies teacher. As principal, Beck has overseen a 30-million-dollar renovation at the high school, including a state-of-the-art learning commons and a 1:1 laptop initiative.

Beck presents nationally and internationally on educational issues. Past presentations include “Library as School Hub” and “Building the Eclectic High School” presented at the 2012 and 2013 High Schools that Work National Conferences. He holds a Master’s degree in education administration, curriculum and supervision and a Ph.D. in education leadership and policy studies from the University of Oklahoma.

The AASL Awards Ceremony and President’s Program is an annual event featuring prominent experts on issues relevant to school librarianship and is open to all registered conference attendees. For more information about this and other AASL programs at the 2017 ALA Annual Conference in Chicago, visit www.ala.org/aasl/annual.

The American Association of School Librarians www.aasl.org, a division of the American Library Association (ALA), empowers leaders to transform teaching and learning.