Toys at Chicago public library teach building blocks of code - without a computer.

Parnell, Jacqueline 

Jackson, C. V. (2017). Toys at Chicago public library teach building blocks of code - without a computer.

Learning Beautiful is a startup up company that specializes in creating Research-driven and Montessori-tested toys for young children. These toys are made of natural materials to preserve simplicity and craft that goes into their design. The Chicago Public Library system is Learning Beautiful’s first library customer and will have these toys available for use at their newly redesigned Thomas Hughes Children's Library at the Harold Washington Library Center.

What makes these toys so special is that they help teach children, as young as 3-years-old about the fundamentals of computer science. The toys are designed with concepts in mind such as binary numbers and pixels. The Chicago Public Library is already using toys such as BeeBots, Finch Robots, Cubetto, and Lego WeDo robotics kits to encourage computational thinking, design, and mindfulness. The idea behind bringing these toys to the library is that we don’t need high-tech toys or gadgets in order to teach children how to code. This is also an effort to match local schools in bringing more technology into early childhood learning. Chicago Public Library Commissioner Brian Bannon stated,

"We thought if our education system sees this, then we should be making the same kinds of things available, at scale, through our neighborhood libraries, and in our programs," Bannon said. "These kinds of programs are linked back to what we're trying to do as a city, which is building … curiosity in the children that we have in our city today in the careers that will drive our economy.”

The Learning Beautiful company has plans in the future to distribute their toys to other libraries and museums before making them available to homes.

This is a great collaborative effort and will allow so many children access to learning tools and building blocks in their educational endeavors. It would be wonderful to see these types of toys in every library.

Newark Public Library will obtain Philip Roth's book collection

Leala Arnold

King, N. (2015) Is author Philip Roth’s book collection what the Newark Public Library needs?

NPR News. Retrieved from: http://wypr.org/post/author-philip-roths-book-collection-what-newark-public-library-needs

This is an interview discussing the donation of Roth’s collection of books to the Newark Public Library after his death.  The board hopes that the collection will make the library a “literary destination”.

I think it's a good idea to add and focus on a collection that can possibly bring in more people into the library, and may also lead to more grant possibilities in the future.

The Common Core and Children's Literature

Martinez, Evelyn

Wadham, R. L., & Young, T. A. (n.d.). Integrating children's literature through the common core state standards. Retrieved October 19, 2016.

Summary Notes: In the first chapter, the authors discuss the Common Core State Standards generally and how they were created.  They also discuss what it is and commonly held misconceptions about the state standards.  In chapter two the authors discuss how reading fiction and non-fiction texts along with other foundational skills such as writing, speaking, language and listening is the centerpiece of the standards and integrating these skills across all content areas and subjects including math, science and social studies.  In chapter three, text complexity is examined as well as qualitative and quantitative measures that should be understood to provide students with appropriate texts.  They also discuss the importance of considering the dynamics of readers and tasks when considering appropriate texts.  Chapter four examines the importance and centrality of children’s books in teaching across the curriculum.  Children’s books are very versatile because they include all genres and a variety of formats which can be used in all content areas.  Selecting appropriate children’s text is also discussed as well as the importance of assessing the text complexity in children’s texts.  In chapter five, the importance of Inquiry Learning, the process of learning through a process that is student centered, collaborative, active as well as well scaffolded and structured.  The authors also discuss the need for students to have “21 Century Skills” meaning being college and workplace ready.  They discuss the importance of students to be able to do close and critical reading which means to be able to decipher complex text independently.

Evaluation: This is an important resource for classroom teachers, Teacher Librarians and Librarians working with children.  The Common Core State Standards are central in public school education and the information provided will be extremely helpful and beneficial in order to assist and support children on an academic level.  The text offers background information that is helpful to understand curriculum needs of teachers.  The text also offers additional links to resources that will further assist readers to better serve readers and user of children’s texts.

PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT

Fair, Jeremiah
CB

Mickelson, A. (2016). Practice makes perfect. Library Journal, 141, 34-36. Retrieved from http://web.b.ebscohost.com.libaccess.sjlibrary.org/ehost/detail/detail?sid=a5794a3c-fb6b-4e84-8a8e-ffe98744c05d%40sessionmgr102&vid=11&hid=107&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#AN=117655292&db=llf

Summary of article: A beginner's overview to the current climate and challenges for public libraries in terms of collection development. Mickelson goes over several factors that collection development and building are currently undergoing in the internet age including: Budgets and formats, Tech tools and the human touch, Donations and self-publishers, and weeding and maintenance.

Analysis: While just a basic overview, this article does a great job of describing the base foundation of collection development for public libraries. Mickelson interviews a few librarians on how they go about collection development and building to get the current climate of how they go about doing it. A very great part of this article in my opinion is that Mickelson lists several of the websites and databases that the current librarians use to help them make their selections for their collections. This includes LibraryReads, Edelweiss, NPR Books, and Netgalley. As someone who is very new to the library world, I had no idea of the existence of such sites.

What to Collect? Building a Local History Reference Collection at Your Library

What to Collect? Building a Local History Reference Collection at Your Library 

Salazar, Araceli

Marquis, K., Waggener, L. (2015, July 29). What to Collect? Building a Local History Reference Collection at Your Library. Retrieved from https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/2015/07/29/what-to-collect/

This article gives information regarding how to create a collection in a public library. It is a simple overview of what a collection needs and does not need. This article encourages community outreach by creating a collection based off the community’s history.

This article is a great read for those wanting to peruse a career in public libraries. This article is a simple how to guide, to building a local history collection at any library. It gives information on how to start looking for materials, what to look for, what not to collect and how create a policy to reflect the new collection.  

Library Collections that Impact Communities

I’m inspired by the limitless potential of library collections. Working as an Early Childhood Educator has developed my interest in resources for this critically important and sometimes overlooked subject. The excited aspect of ECE is that it’s still emerging with positive goals that are easily obtainable through time and funding. Minnesota is home to an organization called, “Think Small”. The focus of this agency is to promote child development services, resources, and advocacy for early education. Those most interested in these resources are often educators and parents. Small business owners who often operate child care services from their homes have a single place where they may find resources for all sorts of topics related to the health, education, and development of children. Curriculum materials for young children ranging between infancy through preschool can be found in the collection. Librarians are available to put together materials for a  patron’s specific interest to support their lesson plan for their early learners. Think Small is visionary enough to design an entire library collection that is centered around child development and education. The Debra S. Fish Library is a library that is exclusively dedicated to early education. Think Small is home to the Debra S. Fish Early Childhood Library. You will find over 5,500 exceptional early childhood materials on a variety of topics: child development and learning, the business of child care, parenting, SIDS, and much more. What’s even more impressive about this collection is the use of the space. This library is new, and streamlined to project the essence of the subject-matter within. Anyone with a library card can check materials out from the collection, and this collection alone has improved child care and early education directly throughout its community. I would like to see more models of libraries that are community-based and dedicated to a specific mission.

If you’re interested in exploring the Debra S. Fish Library, please visit:

http://www.thinksmall.org/for_early_childhood_professionals/debra_s_fish_library

Diversity on My Mind

Lederer, Haylee

Johnson, A. (2015). Diversity on My Mind. American Libraries, 46(3/4), 82.

Summary: This article really stresses the importance of diversity in a library's collection. And more specifically, in a children's library collection. Children's librarians have a lot of power over what information and resources are available to their patrons, and Johnson argues that diversity should be a top priority. She advocates for setting goals when it comes to creating and maintain a diverse collection, as well as working with local community groups that push for diversity and acceptance. She pushes for children's librarians to do a lot of reflection, on themselves and their collection. She asks this question to end the article - does your collection adequately reflect the needs and wants of your community?

Evaluation:As an elementary school librarian, diversity is something I thrive for. Budget cuts and constraints make it difficult to achieve, but it is a goal of mine. So this article really resonated with me. I feel that it is a subject that deserves more research and space in academic journals. One page is hardly enough to really make an impact on librarians. Step by step guides and anecdotes from other librarians could really have given this article some much needed context, as well as providing the reader with some real life inspiration. Besides that, it does get the conversation and mind going on issues such as diversity. I know that I started thinking about even more ways to approach it after reading this short blurb.

Bring Board Games to Your Library: Collection Development Tips and Best Practices

Sullivan, Maureen

Spina, C. (2015). Bring Board Games to Your Library: Collection Development Tips and Best Practices.  Retrieved from: http://ccgclibraries.com/bring-board-games-to-your-library-collection-development-tips-and-best-practices/

Summary: This articles touts reasons board games in the library might attract new visitors and allow for different activities in the library. It discusses providing a game space as well as factors to consider in building up a board game collection. The author also provides a list of resources to find games online.

Evaluation: I appreciate the fact that board games are still given some play in the maker space movement. As a school librarian, I feel that face to face interactions are incredibly important for students, and gaming is a lower stakes way for them to practice social conventions than on the yard, perhaps. It is clear that this article was meant to be general, and more as a suggestion to consider including board games in your library's collection. It would have been nice to read about some of the benefits that board games offer, to help provide a rationale to teachers and admin why playing is paramount.