Family Storytime

Presents twenty-four participative programs for library storytimes, featuring a mix of picture books, poetry, music, and movement activities; each with lists of alternative material that fits the theme.

This new book from best-selling author Rob Reid features stories, fingerplays, songs, and movement activities to enhance the time families spend at the library. Brimming with all new material, More Family Storytimes offers practical, creative, and active storytime programs that will captivate audiences of all ages.

This is a complete, year-long programming guide that shows librarians how to integrate nonfiction and poetry into storytime for preschool children in order to build literacy skills and overall knowledge. The right nonfiction titles—ones with colorful photographs and facts that are interesting to young imaginations—give librarians an opportunity to connect with children who are yearning for "true stuff." Presenting poetry in storytime encourages a love of language and the chance to play with words. Written by authors with a combined 25 years of experience working with children and books in a library setting, Get Real With Storytime: 52 Weeks of Early Literacy Programming goes far beyond the typical storytime resource book by providing books and great ideas for using nonfiction and poetry with preschool children. This book provides a complete, year-long programming guide for librarians who work with preschool children in public libraries and school librarians who run special programs for preschoolers as well as parents, childcare providers, and camp counselors. Each of the 52 broad storytime topics (one for each week of the year) includes a sample storytime featuring an opening poem; a nonfiction title; picture books; songs, rhymes, or fingerplays; and a follow-up activity. Early literacy tips that are based on the authors' extensive experience and the principles of Every Child Ready to Read (ECRR) are presented throughout the book.

This manual is a "one-stop shop" on how to present storytimes to suit different audiences including bilingual learners, special needs children, and those in a variety of settings such as Head Start, preschools, and day care situations. This beginner's guide to storytelling traces the developmental stages of very young children, illustrating how to present storytime for babies, toddlers, and preschoolers as well as in family settings to be most effective. Author Penny Peck will teach you the fundamentals of reading with the intent of capturing children's imaginations, showing you how to incorporate music, play, and hands-on activities into your routine. She offers expert advice on how to choose the best picture books and provides lists of books for addressing particular literacy needs. A perfect primer for those new to the task, this guide illustrates how to make this activity a favorite of children and provides tips for progressing in the role of storyteller, with ideas for engaging your audience and enhancing enjoyment. Beginning with the basics of performing a library storytime, each subsequent chapter builds on that knowledge, offering ways to infuse technology, special needs adaptations, and music into the story. The revised edition addresses such current topics as iPads, apps usage, online options, and dance programs.

Useful for newcomers to the children's library staff as well as longtime children's librarians, the second edition of this popular handbook provides easy-to-follow instructions to make innovations in children's library materials work for you. Addressing everything from the basics of reference to the complex and highly specialized duties of program development, this handbook is perfect for both librarians and support staff who are assigned to the children's department of a library. This second addition of Crash Course in Children's Services covers many of the new issues facing children's library staff, including eBooks, using apps in programming, other online reading options, book trailers, nonfiction and the Common Core curriculum. It also describes expanded programming options such as makerspaces, gaming, dog reading programs, and play at storytime. Ideal for new children's librarians as well as experienced library staff who have not worked with children recently and long-time children's librarians looking to add new skills to their tool kits, the book familiarizes readers with all the new developments of the past few years, from online reading options to the wealth of new programming aimed at youth. You'll learn about subjects such as pop-up and passive programming, offering online homework help, and outreach and services to special needs children, and then quickly implement new practices into use at your library.

Master the huge array of quality children's books from the past and the present with this must-have resource from children's librarian Elizabeth Bird.

Begins where diversity audits end, informing and supporting academic, school, and public librarians in the quest to embed diversity, equity, and inclusion in a meaningful and sustainable manner throughout collections, policies, and practices. A primary question for many librarians, directors, and board members is how to evaluate diversity in a collection on an ongoing basis. Curating Community Collections provides librarians with the tools they need to understand the results of diversity audits and to formulate a reasonable, achievable plan for increasing diversity, equity, and inclusion not only in the collection itself, but also in library collection policies and practices. Information on ways to make diversity, equity, and inclusion part of a library's everyday workflow will help ensure the sustainability of these principles. Mary Schreiber and Wendy Bartlett teach readers how to increase the number of diverse materials in their collections and make them more discoverable to library patrons through the implementation of a community collections program. Stories from librarians around the United States and Canada who are auditing and improving the diversity of their collections add broad, scalable perspectives for libraries of any size, budget, and mission. Action steps provided at the end of each section offer a practical road map for all types of libraries to curate a diverse, equitable, and inclusive community collection.

This one-stop guide to nurturing six core early literacy skills at your library also offers practical tips for sharing these skills with parents, teachers, and other caregivers so they can institute them in playgroups, in school, or at home. Though libraries have been presenting early literacy activities for decades, library staff may lack an in-depth understanding of early literacy skills and their place in preparing children for a lifetime of learning. Based on the program "6 by 6: Ready to Read," this book is chock full of practical, everyday ideas on how you can foster the six core early literacy skills children should ideally acquire by age six. The volume begins by introducing the importance of early literacy and explaining how to start or expand an early literacy program in your library, regardless of its size. Subsequent chapters explore the six core skills and offer suggestions on how to showcase them in library programs and services. The book also includes activities that relate to each skill, suggests books that are especially useful in exploring each skill, and tells you how to create early literacy spaces. Three sets of storytime plans—one each for babies, toddlers, and preschoolers—are presented as well. Written primarily for public librarians and library staff, this guide will also be informative for parents and for educators who work with young girls and boys.

This text presents a compilation of the best of ideas from a group of library science graduate students, providing creative and engaging programs geared especially for children ages 0–12. What are the concepts, activities, and topics that will hold the attention of today's children? And what are the best ways to provide a valuable learning experience while they're having fun and being entertained? Many of the most original, creative, and wildly effective ideas in storytime are contained in Storytimes for Children, a collection of fresh and vibrant programs created to be relevant, interesting, and fun for today's youngest generations. This collection of themed storytimes includes suggestions for opening and closing sessions; crafts and activities; songs, poems, fingerplays, and movements; as well as the accompany literature. Several of the included storytimes comprise a series of programs, allowing for related activities that build upon each other. The text is organized into six chapters, each prefaced by an introduction that clarifies the strengths of the programs within. Each chapter covers a highly targeted age range to give practitioners the ability to easily choose the most appropriate storytimes for any given audience.

Foundations of Library Services and Programming for Children This book provides required foundational practices, both theoretical and practical. It gives students and working librarians the nuts- and- bolts foundation in providing programming and services for children. The book covers critical important elements needed for today’s librarian, thereby benefitting even the seasoned youth librarian. Chapter coverage includes: The Value of Library Services to Children Program Evaluation: Planning for Desired Results Children’s Programming Services and Resources for Children The Library as a Safe Space for All Administration of Children’s Services Looking Ahead: What’s Next in Library Services for Children? An Appendix provides practical resources such as a storytime format, programming planning outline, and program assessment tools. Special topics include issues of censorship attempts, the importance of providing library services to a diverse population, and the need to examine evaluative techniques for program offerings. Each chapter in this text includes multiple opportunities for learning and reflection as well as case-based learning that facilitates problem-solving and experiential learning opportunities.