“Students are too busy nowadays.” I’m sure we’ve all heard it. So here are a few tips — from my own experience and crowdsourced from other very helpful librarians — to break through the haze of busy-ness and reach students.
Money Smart Week, which will be celebrated this year starting on April 21, is a national initiative of ALA and the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago to provide financial literacy programming to help members of your community better manage their personal finances.
But teaching financial literacy does not have to happen only during April. Here are a few ideas to help promote financial literacy and make money smart students any time of year.Â
A few months ago on Programming Librarian, I talked about asking a trivia question as part of your passive programming. Now, I've taken it a step further to create a Trivia Master Challenge that encourages students to search the library’s catalog, explore our nonfiction section, and learn how to search successfully within a book.
Passive programs can be a great way to regularly attract students into the library without having planned, specific events. Pick a corner of the library that can be designated for these drop-by activities, set out the supplies and some instructions, and let it go! Here are a few of my go-to passive programs.
Like the increasingly popular "escape rooms" — in which players solve a series of puzzles to break out of a room — Breakouts use a compelling story, time limit, and series of puzzles to create an interactive game. But instead of breaking out of a locked room, students must work together to break into a tightly locked box before the timer runs out. Puzzles lead to the combinations for the different types of locks, and many games also include a digital element.
Everyone loves to share their opinions — you just have to ask them. And what better way to get to know your student community than to ask them about their thoughts, feelings and lives?
Ranganathan’s Sixth Law of Library Science: Every reader his/her bookmark. I kid, but we do all know that there are two types of people in the world: those who use bookmarks ... and monsters.
As students get busier, both in and out of school, how can we promote a lifelong love for reading? Here are a three program ideas to help promote literacy throughout your school.Â
A great book talk can make anyone want to read any book, but sometimes you need an alternative. If you haven’t read your new books yet, you only have a couple copies of a book to lend, or — like me — you’re just not very comfortable with giving book talks, here are a few programs you can do with your classes to build excitement about reading.
Marketing can be tough in any library, but in a school library, where we are often solo librarians, it can be particularly difficult to fit it in. Here are three easy and cheap ways to market your school library and let everyone know about the fantastic things you’re doing!
