PBS Books recently announced the PBS Books Library Engagement Program, a multi-faceted initiative that targets distinct areas for library engagement.Â
The initiative offers some excellent opportunities for libraries. One Library Engagement Program is PBS Screening Rooms, in which PBS Books facilitates national screening events for libraries across the country, and in select areas, facilitates live speakers.Â
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!
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“Programming with Library of Congress Digital Collections” is a new LibGuide designed to help libraries explore the thousands of primary sources available from the Library of Congress (LOC) online collection.
The guide focuses on eight LOC collections (Arts, Civics, Folklife, History, Literature, Maps, Military Experience and STEM) with collection highlights and suggested program ideas that are accessible and adaptable for various library types and audiences.
It’s fair to say that COVID made for a meaningful — and very steep — learning experience for librarians. We became adept at virtual programs, no-touch lending, adopting social distancing, health and safety rules and much, much more.
In November 2022, Programming Librarian shared an article about why programming library workers should get to know their state humanities council. With these ideas in mind, we’ll talk about why libraries are such an important community resource for cultural programming in their communities, an idea that ALA recently shared at the National Humanities Conference (NHC2022).
This teen and adult program uses Library of Congress women’s suffrage primary sources, alongside your library’s own databases and physical holdings, to explore the non-conformist, creative and subversive ways that suffragists educated and agitated for the right to vote.
This teen or adult program uses Library of Congress women’s suffrage primary sources, such as letters, diaries, women’s self-published information sources and other ephemera, to examine how suffragists documented their activism and feelings on women’s rights and social issues of the time.
Program attendees use current magazines, newspapers, flyers, ephemera and personal effects to start their own scrapbook and create their own DIY personal history (that might become a future primary source!).
This hands-on button-making program for teens or adults uses primary sources to explore photographs, slogans and political ephemera of the women’s suffrage movement. Attendees will view examples of historical women’s suffrage buttons and discuss how they were used as marketing pieces.
Are you looking to add some historical context and deepen conversation in your book club? Do you have a group of patrons who enjoy history titles? Pairing primary source analysis with a reading and discussion program is a great way to add another layer of history and information skills to a program your library may already offer.
For those interested in primary sources, the Library of Congress — the largest library in the world, with millions of books, recordings, photographs, newspapers, maps and manuscripts in its collections — is a veritable treasure trove. And you don’t have to go to Washington, D.C. to access its materials; millions of primary sources are freely available in the Library’s digital collections.
With funding from the Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources program, ALA has published “Programming with Primary Sources: Women’s Suffrage,” a resource guide to inspire and help library workers bring primary source inquiry into their book clubs, crafts and other library programs.
In 1976, Alice Hagemeyer was a newly appointed staff person at the DC Public Library. As a deaf librarian, she quickly experienced culture shock and a rude awakening as she met and spoke with librarians.
“ASL (American Sign Language) is becoming hugely popular for hearing people to learn,” says Alicia Deal, public services librarian at Dallas (Texas) Public Library. “As great as that is, I worry that it’ll end up being a passing fad.”
ALA, in collaboration with the FINRA Investor Education Foundation (FINRA Foundation), has released Thinking Money for All Kids: Diverse and Inclusive Reads to Teach Young People ab
According to the Pew Research Center, “roughly eight-in-ten U.S. adults go online at least daily.” However, many are unfamiliar with the basic ways the internet works, including why certain content ends up in our search engine results.
Navigating the world of personal finance and financial literacy can be tricky when searching for information to share. As information professionals, we are always looking for timely and reliable resources to help address the needs of our communities.
You may think money is too personal a topic for the library … well, we hope to convince you otherwise. Money matters affect every person you know. Education about financial concepts and tools for money management are important to informed decision-making and are keys to independent living.
Toot, toot! Do you hear that? That’s the sound of me tooting my own horn. Not something I love to do, but I’m doing it anyway because … I wrote a book! It was not easy, and toward the end I never wanted to look at the manuscript again. But now that it’s here, I’m pretty excited about it and wanted to share it with you.
Have you read my recent post on job burnout yet? After I wrote it, a lot of you reached out to me to learn more about the resources I use to relight the fire of my passion for programming.
There are so many amazing blogs, websites and webinars out there that it can be hard to know where to start. Without further ado, here are a few of my favorites (aside from Programming Librarian, of course!).
The American Library Association (ALA) recently held its annual conference in New Orleans. As expected, the food was fantastic, the people of New Orleans were amazingly welcoming and the content of the conference was spectacular. We spent several days soaking up ideas for programming, learning about new authors and networking with our fellow librarians.
