Back to preschool! I’m not sure how many more of these I will get to do as we move back into the library in the next few weeks, so I’m excited to have another opportunity to program for preschoolers. I particularly like being able to retell books with flannels, puppets, and props, which just isn’t something I can do as much with babies, since everything is so action-oriented due to those short attention spans. I even broke out one of my personal flannel sets for the camera this week, since I’m filming from home anyway.
I’ve really enjoyed virtual programming–there is something freeing in not having a group of kids in front of me. I know many don’t feel this way, and it was an adjustment at first, but I am much less self-conscious without kids and adults staring at me. I’m not nervous beforehand the way I am for an in-person storytime. I also enjoy the YouTube videos–it is an interesting way to make what feels like a more permanent footprint with our services. I know we will be virtually programming for a while longer, but I hope we also continue some version of our YouTube presence after this is over. There are always people who can’t make it into the library, but some of those people can watch us on their devices. It’s a different way to reach our community.
Note: My reading is slowing down a little, and I expect it to continue to do so between real-world issues taking precedence and the return to working in the library. Not looking forward to that commute.
Reading Highlights:
Love is Powerful – Timely picture book focusing on promoting love and kindness and the power of peaceful protest.
Sherlock Bones – Fun, quick mystery that is written and illustrated in a style that will really appeal to Bad Guys fans.
Lightfall – Yet another Amulet readalike that will have a great audience. Looking forward to the rest of the series. I hate to say “yet another” because all three of these graphic novels from the last few weeks are really strong on their own–it just feels odd to be reading them in such succession.
Measuring Up – Cooking, friendship struggles, and a much needed diverse, realistic fiction graphic novel great for fans of Smile.
What Lane? – Torrey Maldonado does great work again with this realistic fiction story of a young mixed boy beginning to recognize the differences in his (white and black) friend groups and the acts of racism that surround him everyday. Particularly great because while the main characters are in middle school, I feel comfortable handing this to a 3rd-4th grader.
Eels – Wow, eels are incredibly weird, strange creatures. Well written, appealing non-fiction that is easy to booktalk.
If you have spent any time reading this blog, you know that I am not the best posting partner. But after sharing my resources with Annamarie (Scaffolding Anti-Racism Resouces, A Plan for Movement Worksheets, Student Voice) and reading her post, I felt like I should contribute more than a weekly post of “here are some good books I’ve read”.
Let’s be real, I am a white woman. I am not maligned because of the color of my skin. I do not face adversity, I am not profiled, and I am not judged or harmed because of the amount of melanin I have. I may have grown up in a “black and Hispanic” neighborhood, I may be considered an ally, but I am not a person of color and will never know the same struggles. My skin tone has given me an advantage all of my life even if I hadn’t always been conscious of that fact.
My story is not one that needs to be focused on.
But stories teach people. And written words can sometimes reach people better because they refuse to listen or cannot hear other’s truths over their own. So while my goal was to contribute more to this blog than a list of books…..I’m still going to give you a list of books.
Black Lives Matter. Why is that such a controversial statement? Why do black men disproportionately get arrested and sentenced to prison time? Why do black people–and other people of color–die at the hands of police when walking down the street, sitting in their home, sitting in their car?
I don’t have some enlightened response. I’m on this journey, like so many white people. I’ve been learning and confronting my own racism. There are things I’ve said as a kid, as a teen, as an adult, that I regret. I’ve committed microaggressions. I was That White Kid who said she didn’t see color, that the only race was the human race, in a lofty way like I was the most enlightened kid in the world. I was That White Teen who had a lengthy argument with a black teen about why affirmative action was wrong because I thought it made it harder for me to get into an elite college. I was That White Young Woman in college who said “all lives matter” more regularly than I would like to remember.
Before, after, and meanwhile, BIPOC continued to die and struggle, while educated white people, like myself, pranced around feeling enlightened. We had a black president after all. Surely racism was over.
Libraries and librarians taught me better. Taught me to do better.
Libraries let me leave my box of like-minded people. When I had thought about race before, it had always been external–those racist old people. Those white supremacists. Those weird protesters claiming God was on their side and no one else’s. I’m not like them, so I’m not racist.
At library conferences, I met people from around the country. Around the world. I made friends, and I must have said or done some decent things, because they liked me and invited me to go to dinner with them. And I did something that I wasn’t always very good at. I listened. And while the words and conversations I heard were about other people’s words and other people’s actions, I saw myself reflected there. And it wasn’t pretty.
So I started reading. And learning. White Fragility spent three weeks staring at me on my nightstand before I finally decided to just do it already, read it. I delayed because part of my brain knew what I would find and knew I wouldn’t be “comfortable” with it. I read it without stopping once. The emotional whiplash didn’t leave for a much longer time.
I’ve kept digging. Kept learning. Kept growing. But I’ve made a mistake again, right here–this post is focusing on me. My white lady story. And sorry Facebook, we don’t need another white lady story. Or another white lady post showcasing protest selfies. Protest. Speak out. Inform. Donate. But please stop bragging while you do it.
George Floyd is dead. Breonna Taylor is dead. Thousands of others are dead. Millions more live in fear, knowing that they or their friends, siblings, parents, children could be next.
There are a lot of anti-racism book lists out there for all ages. In the time it would take me to review all of the book lists or even compile my own list below, I could have actually read a bunch of new titles.
We, Michala and I, decided to go a slightly different route with this post, focusing on anti-racism learning tools, resources, and articles that had a particular impact on us. Things that have helped us recently and helped us on our own personal journeys.
Maybe one of them will help someone else out too.
Anti-Racism Resources
Project Ready: Our library’s youth department has been working through this training since January. For people who already have a background in anti-racism efforts and the struggles of BIPOC, much of this may be review, but for the average white librarian or educator, this is an excellent dive into race and racism. This is not a one day, one week, one month, or even one year training–our department is most likely looking at spreading this content over 2-3 years. Includes many suggested resources that allow users to dig even deeper into these issues.
What Is an Anti-Racist Reading List For? by Lauren Michele Jackson: This piece made me rethink the reading lists that so many, including myself, have been so eager to help create and distribute. Beyond making my white lady self feel good, what is their impact? So much more to unpack–read the article, not me summarizing it. Also take a look at this Twitter feed.
A Plan for Movement Worksheets: There aren’t always protests or marches to be a part of. These worksheets help us keep ourselves accountable when this specific moment has passed.
Storytime Underground: I started librarianship after the reign of Storytime Underground’s website, so I have only ever been more familiar with their often scattered Facebook Group, containing random posts from participants mostly about storytime books and self-bragging about programs and decorations. In the last few days, the group admins have taken the group back, shifting its focus to what I was always told was part of their initial effort. Their new exploration started with this thoughtful apology from one of the co-founders and has continued with many of their posts this week, which are restricted to posts focusing on racism, black lives matter, and the like.
Examining Police in the Library: Two thought pieces that I read recently (even though neither is new) on examining how police are depicted in children’s books and their presence in libraries:
Embrace Race: This website sometimes feels more directed at parents than educators, but there are plenty of resources for both. Explore their resource page for webinars, articles, and more focusing on specific aspects of working with kids and talking about race.
Student Voice: A student from our community wrote and performed this piece about her experiences. It is worth a listen. <3
I am bouncing with ages quite a bit in June, and while I will be presenting two more virtual preschool storytimes this month, I am also back to Baby Storytimes the whole month. I’m excited to be back with babies, though not so much to have to live up to my coworker’s adorable baby who made appearances throughout May.
As I expected, I am recycling some of my content here that I used in the first six weeks. Repetition is good for this age, and I also keep to a more strict routine with this age range week to week (though I am reordering my middle slightly). I have had more time than I may have had in the library, so I was able to do more research than usual, and I am planning to scatter a few new content pieces throughout, especially new body rhymes and puppet activities, which will mean a couple new videos a week.
Early Literacy Tip: Talk to your baby as you go about your day, even if they can’t respond with words yet. Encourage, listen, and respond to your baby’s babbling.
Book:Peek-a-Baby by Karen Katz
Song: Row, Row, Row Your Boat by Old Town School of Folk Music
I’m in a weird time right now where I have a ton of (virtual) programming coming up to share with you all over the next few weeks–sometimes two virtual storytimes a week, sometimes a full week of Pokemon programming, sometimes a special Elephant & Piggie storytime, plus the weekly graphic novel book club–but I’ve been spending most of my work time preparing for those things or other future projects that I don’t want to write to you all about until they’ve happened.
So, I’m revisiting a project I wrote about two months ago, Social Media Collection Promotion through Instagram stories. I’ve continued this project since we’ve closed with a daily Instagram story advertising an ebook, series, ebook website, or virtual program.
When I started this project, I rotated through age ranges and formats more carefully–about 40 days into making Instagram posts, I stopped being as careful and just grabbed content that felt relevant and appealing. I still try to select titles that are either immediately available through Hoopla or do not have long hold’s lists through Overdrive or Cloud Library. Even though we have opened for curbside, I am still focusing on ebooks.
Some things I’ve learned:
Posts get about 200-250 views a day no matter who I tag, use of hashtags, popularity of materials, etc..
Engagements, profile clicks, and responses (and, from what I can tell checkouts) only really occur with materials that are already very popular–I got a stronger response when I shared that Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone is free to download on Overdrive and that the new Hunger Games prequel is available on audio via Hoopla.
Honestly? I don’t know how much of an impact these are having. Part of my personal goal for the year was to create a long term plan for social media collection promotion, and frankly I don’t know if it is worth it, at least through Instagram stories. Most of my viewers are library staff. I’d like to potentially try less frequent posts in a different platform–even an Instagram post once every two weeks–but that wasn’t an option before the pandemic, and I know social media has a different purpose at the moment as we start to reopen.
Instagram Stories – Picture Books:
Instagram Stories – First Chapter – Chapter:
Instagram Stories – Program Advertisement & General Service:
Note: This week was very picture book heavy, with a ton of great eARCs mixed in with Hoopla Bonus Borrows (many of which aren’t included here because they are fairly well known books, and isn’t this list long enough?). Finished the Babymouse series this week and almost done with Nikki & Deja.
Reading Highlights:
Animals Brag About Their Bottoms – This is just another adorable picture book title where it is exactly as advertised–animals brag about their big, stripey, furry, unique bottoms. Somehow mixes what will be a humorous read aloud about animals with body positivity.
Superhero Gran – This one stood out to me as a great storytime book, especially with the amount of grandparents we have in our community.
This is a Book of Shapes – Is it terrible that I wish this book didn’t have the animal inserts and humor and was literally a book of “this is a square” with an illustration of a square on a white background (about two thirds of the book is formatted like this)? Why can’t we have more really, really simple books that don’t try to be more? Do publishers have any idea have many copies I would beg my library to purchase that were literally just “A” “a” on a white background that were big enough to trace with a finger?
Fence: Rivals – Fence is back! More Fence! More Fence!
This was a particularly interesting experience for me because in the past I’ve only really filled in for this age range, and I’ve used most of my go-to content for toddlers the last few months. I’m not against reusing the same content for toddlers and preschoolers (as is age appropriate), but part of my stretch into preschool storytimes includes building our YouTube content for preschoolers, and I don’t want to just make duplicate videos for this age range.
I’m not quite as swamped with virtual programs at the moment, so I used last week to dig into the child development and blogs for this age range. It’s been fun! I have a nice pile of new (to me) content that I’m excited to try out over the next month.
As usual, there are more videos here than content that actually fit in a 30 minute storytime. I like to give myself options, and I make videos often 3-4 days before I go live. Plus, more content for YouTube is just another way for our patrons to access storytimes.
Last summer, a coworker and I ran a very successful baby and toddler play program. Each week, about 80-100 parents and little ones joined us for a variety of interactive activities.
Six months ago, when we were planning for May-August 2020, we were thrilled to be able to offer Play & Learn again this summer, plus an additional four weeks in May.
Then COVID happened.
Obviously we weren’t expecting a pandemic, but luckily we were able to shift our plans to adapt this program virtually for the month of May, creating Play & Learn at Home.
Each week, Lisa (my coworker) and I emailed caregivers registered for Play & Learn at Home a video and instruction sheet for two DIY play activities, made from objects commonly found around the house.
Note: Some part of my brain decided that this was the perfect weekend for cleaning, creating real storage solutions (instead of hodgepodge-ing what I own), and going through my Disney pin collection. About twelve hours into all of that, my brain wanted to know why I thought this was a good idea. Too late now.
Reading Highlights:
Slow Samson – I’m always up for a sloth picture book, even if I’m not as obsessed as Michala, and this is a solid read with a good plot about friendship and embracing differences.
The Weirn Books – This is my second stand-out fantasy graphic novel in the last two weeks (Beetle & the Hollowbones was last week’s). There are going to be a ton of great titles out there by the end of the year for fans of Amulet and Snapdragon.
Sasha & Puck (Elixir Fixers) – I love this first chapter series, and I really hope more books are published. It is a great mixture of a spunky and intelligent female main character, a sprinkle of scientific thinking, and a touch of magic. Plus diverse main character. I want more.
**Note about Iggy Peck and the Mysterious Mansion – I feel bad for this title–if it had been published in an alternate universe, I wouldn’t feel like I would need to write something. However, we are living in a pandemic-filled world. The book digs into a mystery connected to the Spanish Flu, specifically the (dead) daughter of a mansion owner. There is a part, small as it is, that essentially says (not exact words, I was listening to the audio)–“The Spanish Flu was scary and millions of people died, but don’t worry, we have doctors and great medicine now, so that will never happen again.” This may not be the best title to hand to a child at the current moment.
