Time flies! It’s been 200 years since Mary Shelley published "Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus." The literary world is celebrating, and there are plenty of ways for you and your library to take part.
This month, I’ve handed the spotlight to a dear friend who always knows what obscure holiday it may be and how to celebrate it! Kami Bumgardner is the youth services coordinator at Maitland Public Library in Maitland, Fla., and works primarily with toddlers and kids through fifth grade. Any questions or comments will be forwarded to her. Enjoy!
May 31, 2019, marks the 200th birthday of one of the most celebrated poets of all time — Walt Whitman. There are tons of programming opportunities for both National Poetry Month (April) and beyond, so let's jump in.
Community Reading of Favorite Poems
Feel free to steal my library's program! We are having a Community Reading of Favorite Poems, an event based on former Poet Laureate Robert Pinksy’s favorite poem project.
It’s probably not news to anyone that landfills contribute to climate change and contain wasted recyclable material. Oftentimes it’s easier and less expensive to replace an item that technically could be repaired. A lot of people — including me — just don’t have the tools or knowledge to fix things anymore.
The library can play a role in promoting healthy exercise and activities by sponsoring outdoor activities and lessons. One such activity my library has chosen to sponsor is skateboarding lessons for teens at our local skate park, simply called Learn to Skateboard.
Like most of you, I know libraries rock all year 'round. Still, I really love this year’s Collaborative Summer Library Program theme, Libraries Rock.Â
This year’s Teen Tech Week (TTW) theme is Libraries are for Creating, with events taking place March 4 to 10, 2018. Teen Tech Week was created by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), and this year's theme is aimed at encouraging teens to take advantage of “digital tools offered through the library to become content creators, and to leverage library resources to share out their creations.”
Therapy dogs in libraries are not new. Most frequently brought in as "listeners" for young children to build their reading skills, therapy dogs of all sizes can be found in even the most remote library. If your library already has a therapy dog program, it can be an easy transition to include teens in the mix.Â
“The book was better!” We’ve all said it, and most of the time, it’s true. The timeless discussion of whether the book or movie was better may never end. For me, it spawned a new program and partnership for my library, while attracting new patrons and re-invigorating regulars.
Whether you’ve always been a proponent of gaming in the library or were late to the party, games have found their place in adult and teen programming. According to ALA’s Games and Gaming Round Table’s (GameRT) 2016 International Games Week (IGW) report, about 82 percent of public libraries participating already had a collection of either tabletop or console games. Some libraries loan games while others focus on game events.