YouthShare: News You Can Use
by Katelyn Patterson
Ellison Machine Swap
Both CTLS Ellison machines and die sets will be returned to CTLS at our upcoming Membership Meeting. If you are interested in borrowing these for your library, let us know! If someone from your library will be at the meeting, you can pick it up there. If not, we can arrange something else for the near future. Let me know if you are interested in borrowing the Ellison machines or any of our other loanables.
Knowvember
Election season is upon us! A time where reliable information seems scarce and everyone seems to be fact-checking. I can’t think of anyone better equipped to ensure an informed electorate than our librarians! Here is a round up of ideas for helping your community get the information they need to be informed voters.
- Create a display with everything from DVDs of the West Wing to biographies on political figures to nonfiction on major issues.
- Don’t forget the children! Host an election between two beloved book characters or books. Make campaign posters or buttons. Have them vote on a real library issue (a new piece of furniture for the kids area) using pompoms in glass jars so they can see the process happening.
- Scholastic News® Launches 2016 Presidential Election Website with Resources for Kids, Parents and Teachers
- National Voter Registration Day was October 4th, but in Texas the voter registration date isn’t until October 11th. Have a computer set up so patrons can find out if they are registered and how to get registered until the last minute.
- Set up a “voting booth”- a table where people can access information about the candidates and issues on the ballot in your area. Curate a list of candidate websites and reliable, non-partisan sources of information.
- Host a Debate Watching Party- We have a couple more coming up between now and election day. Here is the schedule of debates. The League of Women Voters has a Debate Watching Kit you can use.
- Host a candidate forum for local elections.
- Talk to local media and stakeholders about all of the resources your library offers during an election cycle.
How will you be serving your community this election season? Are you a voting site? I would love to hear your plans.
YouthLinks:
- If you are already thinking about next summer, the Urban Libraries Council has developed a new toolkit in partnership with the National Summer Learning Association to help libraries explore ways to expand summer reading and learning. There are lots of examples of programs and other ideas so check this out!
- Promoting literacy at Oakland playground
- Library Magazine Faces Intense Criticism Over Controversial Review Of Book With Bisexual Female Character
- Escape rooms, a breakout trend in youth programming
- At National Book Festival, all is not lost for young readers
- The Pros of Cons: Bringing Fandom to Libraries
- Protecting Patron Privacy
- Niles PL Invites Kids to Be Library President for a Day
- Iowa City PL Institutes Autism Accessible Browsing Hour
Upcoming Youth Services Professional Development Opportunities:
- TSLAC is doing a series of STEAM in Preschool Storytime workshops presented by CTLS favorite, Kim Lehman!
- Free webinar on Libraries and the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) from TSLAC
- Free webinar on Teen Programming: A Mover & Shaker’s Recipe for Impact and Success from WebJunction
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I am so excited to announce that we will be able to continue our work on the Bots & Books grant during fiscal year 2017, thanks to funding from the Texas State Library and Archives and the Institution of Museum and Library Services. For those that are unfamiliar with this grant, we are getting public libraries all around the state the equipment and training they need to begin offering robotics programming to their youth patrons. So far I have been fortunate to work with 27 libraries around Texas. This year, I am pleased to add the following libraries to our grant:
Similarly, the 