It’s all fun and games until someone loses an eye. Or an axle. Or a 24-tooth crown gear. Or all of them in one sitting.
That was the challenge we faced here at Mid-Continent Public Library as we planned to make LEGO WeDo kits available for programs at our 31 branches. How do you circulate 40 kits throughout the system without losing most of the pieces — and your mind?
It’s December, and that means Santa Claus is coming to our library.
At Mid-Continent Public Library, Kimberly Howard has collected more than a half dozen Santas over the past 16 years. “Finding Santas isn’t always easy,” said Howard, assistant manager in MCPL’s Community Programming Department.
Every day, people with years of experience and loads of knowledge and creativity leave their jobs in our communities as they retire or transition to new careers. All of those folks have the potential to develop and present excellent programs at your library.Â
It may be winter everywhere else, but it’s summer for me and my colleagues in the Community Programming Department here at Mid-Continent Public Library.Â
If you’re old enough to open a lemonade stand in your front yard, it’s time to consider a future as an entrepreneur.
Question: When do you go “un-tech” when you want to go high-tech?
Answer: When you’re creating a coding program for kids.
That was the strategy Assistant Branch Manager Claire Rust applied when she designed the Beginning Coding Concepts program for kids at the Mid-Continent Public Library Blue Springs South Branch. Instead of building the program around computers, Rust opted for manipulatives and tabletop games to introduce the concepts behind computer program coding.
Angie Strathman and Natalie Pauley know that some of the best discussions in a book group happen after everyone is done talking about the month’s selection.
Q: What do you get when you take a toothbrush head, a pager motor, a drinking straw, a rubber band and a AAA battery, and stick them all together? A: A brushbot, just about the coolest premise for a kids’ program ever!
Well, maybe that’s a little over the top, but I thought they were pretty cool when I found them while searching for STEM and makerspace program projects earlier this year. Then my daughter brought a couple home from 4-H camp, and I was on board.
Amy Jo Vorwark’s passion for the French language started with a trip to her local library when she was very young.
