Sunday, October 23, 2011

Resources for Children's Programming

As part of my children's programming and services class, the students had to make a wiki page reviewing 3 resources for children. Everyone chose one print resource and had to find 2 electronic resources. The class now has an extensive list to use to help us find books, activities, finger plays, felt board stories, songs and more! This is extremely helpful because our final project is a story box, which is basically a storytime in a box! These boxes are usually based around a theme and contain lists of books, related songs with words and instructions for felt board stories and other activities. These boxes are handy in case you need someone to do a story hour on the fly because they will have everything they need. These books and sites are also especially helpful for parents, teachers, new librarians looking for programming ideas and seasoned librarians looking for new programming ideas. Here are some great resources that our class has found to be helpful:

Print Resources

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Simmons Librarians Guild establishes a library at Occupy Boston

Hi everyone!

Check out this interesting article about the Simmons Progressive Librarians Guild!

Library Established at Occupy Boston

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Library Policies

Many people don't realize that libraries deal with many sensitive situations while working with the public, especially children and their safety. Most libraries have created policies and procedures to handle these types of situations. What are these issues that may arise? Here are a few of the top areas where policies are needed:

Unattended children
Codes of Conduct
The Internet
The Library Collection/Censorship

Because more issues arise each day, it's critical for libraries to constantly evaluate, modify and add to their existing policies to reflect new problems they encounter. This way, the library staff can know and uphold the policies to create a safe environment for all library patrons. It's also a way to protect library staff. It's critical to be informed as to what your library's policies are as a patron and a staff member. The American Library Association, or ALA, is the basis for library "Best Practices." These are guidelines that as librarians and library staff, we are supposed to follow as far as services we offer.

Click here for ALA's Guidelines for the Development and Implementation of Policies, Regulations and Procedures Affecting Access to Library Materials, Services and Facilities.

Library Staff should also be aware of the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners' "General Laws of Massachusetts" and "Code of Massachusetts Regulations" (click on public libraries).

Many times, as individuals we may not agree with these policies, but as librarians we must follow these guidelines to provide the best possible service. For example, we are absolutely not supposed to censor what anyone, including children, check out of the library. This can be controversial, but we are not to make ANY judgement on patron's selections regardless of age. It's also important to note that we are supposed to enforce existing policies without making any personal judgements about the patron. The best way to enforce policies is by merely stating what the policy is and why it exists without making the patron feel like we are condemning their actions.

My first assignment for my Children's Programming and Services Class is to compare two different libraries policies, specifically regarding children. I chose the Ames Free Library as one of them and we have our policies prominently displayed on our website:
http://amesfreelibrary.org/About_policiesx.htm

Surprisingly, many libraries do not have detailed policies on there websites. Because of this, I ended up choosing New Bedford Public Library as my second choice because they have a detailed list of policies on their website:
http://www.newbedford-ma.gov/Library/

I thought the two libraries would be a good comparison since the Easton is a small community and New Bedford is a large city. I'll let you know my findings when I complete my research!

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Fall Update

Hi blog friends and followers! It's time for a new semester and that means exciting new installments of my library blog! As a quick wrap-up, I finished my summer class (with an A!) and took a vacation in August. The fall semester starts this week and I'm enrolled in Library Programming and Services for Children and Information Organization (aka Cataloging). From the looks of the syllabi, it's going to be quite a tough semester with lots of work but very interesting, engaging and fun. Look for new blog entries discussing these subject areas coming soon!

Summer Reading

Hi all! Remember how each fall, your English teachers would ask what you've read over the summer? I've been trying to do some fun reading in my time off. Here are some of the books I've enjoyed:

Heat Wave by Nancy Thayer- A young widow with two small children must figure out how to keep her home on Nantucket so she opens a bed and breakfast.

The Sixes by Kate White-A gripping mystery where an investigative writer tries to find out if a secret society exists at the small private college where she teaches. As she digs further, she places herself and others in danger trying to find the truth. A real page turner!

Groundswell by Katie Lee-One of my favorite cookbook authors (and ex-wife of Billy Joel) tries her hand at fiction. A young woman falls in love with an older a-list actor and marries. His fame allows her to become a successful screenwriter, but when she finds out he's cheating on her with her best friend she sets off to find herself in Mexico. She learns how to surf and begins to accept that her marriage has failed. Sound vaguely familiar? A fun, quick read.

Silvergirl by Elin Hilderbrand-After finding out her husband was the mastermind behind a huge Ponzi scheme, Meredith must retreat until the investigation is finalized. What's worse, she and her son are also being investigated as accomplices. She calls an old friend whom she hasn't spoken to in years. She agrees to let Meredith stay with her at her summer house on Nantucket. The two rebuild a struggling friendship over an eventful summer and begin to accept the loss and love they've each experienced while trying to forgive one another.

Let me know what you've read over the summer! I'd appreciate any comments, thoughts and recommended titles!

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Memo on E-Readers

For my final assignment for Technology for Information Professionals, I had to write a memo proposing a new technology for a library. My library is loosely based on the Ames Free Library as far as goals and population, but the budget and other details are made up. If you haven't had experience writing a memo, here is a description of what they entail, taken from my assignment:

Memo style and format

Memos are institutional instruments of persuasion and planning. They demonstrate competence and convince others. They share in the corporate or institutional culture, and so may have many different acceptable styles and formats.

Although there are many different styles, for all memos:

1. Perfect spelling and grammar are the norm.

2. Marshaling of evidence, providing alternatives, buttressing recommendations and statements with strong arguments based upon research, arguing to a clear and easily followed conclusion, are marks of good memos. Be clear and strong in your writing.

3. The more concise, without becoming cryptic, the better.

4. The style of the memo is formal, clear, and professional. No contractions, no sentences beginning with “This” without referents, no colloquialisms. Write as though the memo will be seen by everyone in the organization for the next two years. It should be understandable by non-technical readers.

5. Citations for print and online sources should be embedded in the text, with sufficient information so that the reader can find the source. For websites, remember to date both the information and access.

6. Memos are short (4-5 pages) in a reasonable font (10 or 12 point)

7. Memos demonstrate solid research.

8. Use appendices for pricing documentation, diagrams, pictures, and other apparatus.

9. A good memo style uses bullets, single spacing, visual delineators, paragraphing, white space, horizontal rules, tables, and other cues to facilitate organization and understanding.

10. The memo is written for your director, who is not technical. Yet the memo should demonstrate a clear understanding and command of the technical issues.

Since E-readers are gaining popularity, I proposed that my fictional library start circulating E-readers to patrons. I looked at three different types of popular E-readers, made comparisons and then looked at the research to see what would be the best choice for my library as far as functionality and budget. I then discussed how the new technology would be introduced into the library. Check out a copy of my memo, complete with a side by side comparison of the Nook, Kindle and Sony E-reader. You may be surprised at which E-reader I chose to adopt at my library!

E-Reader Memo

Friday, July 29, 2011

Technology of Interest

Hopefully you've checked out my last blog entry about the technology Library Elf, an online tool that helps keep track of library items. Everyone in my class submitted other great tutorials featuring exciting technologies that may be new to you. Here is a list of other helpful and interesting websites you may want to become more familiar with! They can help make life easier (Zotero) or just help you have fun (Second Life). All of these technologies can benefit libraries in many ways from advertising to referring students to useful sites when answering reference questions!

Twitter
Twitter is a real-time information network that connects you to the latest information about what you find interesting. Simply find the public streams you find most compelling and follow the conversations.

Adobe Photoshop
Edit, organize, store, and share your photo galleries easily.

Scribd
Scribd is a social publishing site, where tens of millions of people share original writings and documents.

Survey Monkey
Create and publish free online surveys in minutes, and view results graphically and in real time.

Zotero
Zotero is a powerful, easy-to-use research tool that helps you gather, organize, and analyze sources and then share the results of your research.

Second Life
Second Life is a free 3D virtual world where users can socialize, connect and create using free voice and text chat.

Facebook

Facebook is a social utility that connects people with friends and others who work, study and live around them.

Prezi
Prezi is a web-based presentation application and storytelling tool that uses a single canvas instead of traditional slides. Text, images, videos and other presentation objects are placed on the infinite canvas and grouped together in zooming frames.

Tumblr
A feature rich and free blog hosting platform offering professional and fully customizable templates, bookmarklets, photos, mobile apps, and social networking.

Wordpress
WordPress is web software you can use to create a beautiful website or blog.

Library Thing
LibraryThing catalogs your books online, easily, quickly and for free.

Really Simple Syndication (RSS)
A family of web feed formats used to publish frequently updated works—such as blog entries, news headlines, audio, and video—in a standardized format.

Cloud Computing
Cloud computing is a model for enabling ubiquitous, convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storgae, applications, and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction.

Linked In
Manage your professional identity. Build and engage with your professional network. Access knowledge, insights and opportunities.

Library Elf
Personal reminder service for library users.

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Print Resources

Resources for Infant and Baby Storytimes

Resources for Toddler and Preschool Storytimes

Resources for School-aged Children and Family Storytimes

General Programming Resources