Bringing Children and Libraries Together: Great Ideas for Childrens Services in Public Libraries

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Bringing Children and Libraries Together Great
Ideas for Childrens Services in Public Libraries

• Presented by
• Joanne de Groot
• Alberta Library Conference
• April, 2006

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The Plan

• Introduction
• Why do we provide services for children in
  libraries?
• Childrens Services in Libraries
• Benefits
• Obstacles
• Services for Children
• What?
• Who?
• How?
• Samples Programs and Other Ideas
• Conclusion and Questions

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Introduction

• By providing a wide range of materials and
  activities, public libraries provide an
  opportunity for children to experience the
  enjoyment of reading and the excitement of
  discovering knowledge and works of the
  imagination. Children and their parents should
  be taught how to make the best use of a library
  and how to develop skills in the use of printed
  and electronic media.
• (IFLAs Guidelines for Childrens Libraries
  Services, 2001)

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Library services for children are more
important than ever to children and their
families all over the world.International
Federation of Library Associations
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Why do public libraries provide services for
children?
Why are library services to children important?
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Childrens Services

• Benefits
• Promote lifelong learning skills
• Reading / writing skill development
• Love of books and reading
• Community outreach
• Model positive parent/child interactions
• Social interactions between children
• Library support

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Childrens Services

• Obstacles
• Time
• Staffing Levels
• Money
• Space
• Expertise
• Lack of Ideas and/or Confidence

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Services for Children

• Who?
• Babies
• Preschoolers
• School Aged Children (5-11)
• Tweens (12-15)
• Teenagers/Young Adults (15-18)

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Services for Children

• What kinds of programs do you offer in your
  library?
• What age groups do you target?

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Services for Children

• What?
• Literacy Programs
• Baby Lap Time
• Storytimes
• Summer Reading Programs
• Science Programs
• Science Alberta
• Other

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Childrens Services

• How?
• Establish partnerships with other organizations
  to plan, implement, and fund programs and
  services
• Use a team of staff members/volunteers to plan
  and implement programs
• Enlist interested parents/grandparents/others to
  assist
• Work with your strengths
• Recognize what is needed in the community and try
  not to overlap services
• Start small Baby Steps!

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Sample Programs and Ideas
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Storytime Programs

• This Little Piggy Went to Storytime
• Books
• Olivia (Ian Falconer)
• The Wonderful Pigs of Jillian Jiggs (Phoebe
  Gilman)
• The Three Pigs (David Wiesner)
• Charlottes Web (E. B. White) for older readers
• Craft
• Make a pig
• Songs/Rhymes
• Old MacDonald Had a Farm
• This Little Piggy

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Storytime Programs

• Circus Time
• Books
• If I Ran the Circus (Dr. Seuss)
• Circus (Peter Spiers)
• Olivia Saves the Circus (Ian Falconer)
• Craft
• Face painting
• Make a top hat
• Have some Fun!
• Have a three ring circus right in the library!
• A long, low bench could be your trapeze
• Make a lion mask and tame the lions
• Have a clown making balloon animals

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Storytime Programs

• Read Around the World
• A whole storytime session could focus on stories
  from around the world a different continent each
  week
• Stories, songs, games, food from each continent
• Kids could get a passport stamped for each
  country/continent you visit
• People from your community with ties to different
  countries could assist with planning and
  presenting the storytime program

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Pet Parade

• Books
• Stanleys Party (Linda Bailey)
• Our Cat Cuddles (Gervase Phinn)
• The Children who Smelled a Rat (Allan Ahlberg)
• Dear Mrs. LaRue (Mark Teague)
• Not Norman A Goldfish Story (Kelly Bennett)
• Nonfiction books for display and circulation
• Work with a local pet store or the Animal Shelter
  to bring some pets to the library
• Have an animal expert (veterinarian, zookeeper,
  etc.) answer questions and give advice to parents
  and kids about pets

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Reading Circle

• The People in Our Neighbourhood
• A time for families to read and share books
  together
• Meet other families from the area
• Learn about the people in the community

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Game Day

• Host a game day at your library
• Board games galore for all ages and skill levels
• Provide refreshments
• Family focus
• Tournaments
• Book Jeopardy
• Wheel of Books

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Knitting Group

• Start a knitting club for
  teenagers at your library
• Knitting is very trendy
• Find someone in the community (staff member,
  volunteer, etc.) to work with the group and get
  them started
• While the kids knit, another adult could read
  aloud (or listen to an audiobook)
• Display the groups creative talents in a display
  at the library

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Book Sales

• Just for kids book sale or swap
• Childrens and YA books
• Door prizes for children
• Free (swap) or inexpensive
• Young Adult volunteers
• Comic Book Swap
• Encourage kids to bring their gently used comic
  books or graphic novels to the library and trade
  with other comic lovers

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Book Groups

• Graphic Novel Readers Group
• Manga
• Book and Movie Group
• Mother/Daughter or Father/Son Book Groups
• Age specific book groups (e.g. just for grades
  4-6 7-9 10-12)

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Kids are Writers!

• Host an author visit especially for kids or
  sponsor an author to visit a local school
• Sponsor a writers workshop for local school
  children
• Poetry Café a venue for young poets to share
  their work
• Young Writers Group

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The Plays the Thing

• Partner with a local theatre group (or the high
  school drama department) to organize a drama
  workshop for budding thespians in the community
• Readers Theatre Group
• Talent Show for talented, young people

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Conclusion

• Public libraries have a special responsibility
  to support the process of learning to read, and
  to promote books and other media for children.
  The library must provide special events for
  children, such as storytelling and activities
  related to the librarys services and resources.
  Children should be encouraged to use the library
  from an early age, as this will make them more
  likely to remain users in future years.
• The Public Library Service-IFLA/UNESCO, 2001

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Questions? Comments?

• Thank-you!
• Contact me
• Joanne de Groot
• Email joannedegroot_at_shaw.ca