Summer Reading In Your Neighborhood

This has been a project that has been in my head for many years and this is probably going to turn into a whole series of posts as we go through the summer and see how it goes.

You see, since I started at my library there has been a huge discrepancy between certain schools. Schools from certain areas of our county have had huge participation in the Summer Reading Club, which schools from other areas have had low participation. There are a lot of barriers there, but one of them is definitely access. So we decided to bring the Summer Reading Club to them.

This summer we are taking a mini-collection, activities and crafts, and all the accoutrements of Summer Reading out into some of our neighborhoods to try to reach families where they are. We're calling it Summer Reading In Your Neighborhood, which is a subset of our new #instaLibrary service.

Our Friends of the Library gave us a grant to help us get started, which allowed us to purchase a canopy tent, folding tables, plastic tubs to carry books, nylon drawstring bags to check out the books in, new library cards specific for this program, and a laptop to take out with us. The collection of books has been culled from donations and fair-condition withdrawn books. We also placed a large order from Scholastic's FACE program to ensure that we would have enough books to carry us through this summer. This collection will grow as we continue to solicit donations (and my review copies have a great home now!).

Kids who visit the sites will be allowed to check out a book bag with five books of their choice in it. The books aren't cataloged and there's no overdue fines or fees for lost or damaged books. We won't check out individual books, just the book bags. If book bags are lost, kids will have the option to pay a small fee or to volunteer or read off their "fine". If patrons already have a library card, they may use that (we will override any blocks for them to check out an #instaReads bag). If not, they may get a free #instaLibrary card just for use at these pop-up libraries. Anyone may get an #instaLibrary card, regardless of whether they have ID, live in our county, know their address, etc. This is modeled off the Indianapolis Public Library's Bunny Book Bag program.

Each morning Monday through Thursday this summer, we'll be loading all this stuff up to head out to a different site in our county. We've partnered with our local schools and other community organizations to bring the sites to places that we can hopefully reach the families that haven't been coming to us. We're also setting up sites farther out in the county where people have to travel farther to reach us.

We will send at least two people to each site - one staff member and at least one intern. We have a couple of interns who are going to be helping us out with this program. I have an intern from our local community college who is completing her early childhood practicum with this internship. We got another intern through one of our local high schools who won a grant for an internship stipend for working in a nonprofit over the summer. Our college intern will be in charge of planning activities each week. Our high school graduate intern may be planning activities, helping to sort through the books in our collection, or just offering another set of hands at the sites.

Yes, this makes our staffing a little tight at the library since we are continuing with our regular summer storytime schedule. We have cut back a little bit on library programming, electing to offer more self-directed programming which is easier to run with fewer staff. And we'll just see how it goes.

In June, we are partnering with our local schools' Bridge to Success camps, so I know that we'll have a captive audience to utilize the sites. In July, after that camp ends, we're moving some of our sites to other community locations that were recommended by some of the principals as areas where we might be closer to the families in their districts.

I have no idea how it's going to go yet, but I'm really excited to see. It's been a TON of work getting this all set up, but the best thing is that now that we've got the infrastructure in place this is a service that we have ready to go throughout the school year and next summer. We'll learn as we go and change whatever doesn't work.

I'm going to write in more detail about this program throughout the summer. And I'll keep you updated on how everything is going. Help me formulate more detailed posts:

What questions do you have?

Any Prize Can Be an Activity Pack

As we were putting together our Science Activity Packs this year, I realized that we needed to have an option for babies and toddlers. This year, we're lumping babies in with our preschoolers and school-age kids because developing another separate program when we were changing SO MUCH was too overwhelming. But our Science Activity Packs were not baby-appropriate.

I turned to one of my employees who recently had a new baby and asked her what she thought would make good baby-appropriate prizes and we decided on the Bright Starts Lots of Links toy and farm animal bubbles from Oriental Trading.

The catch is, I wanted these toys to also be activity packs so that everyone was getting the same things. So I asked my employee to come up with some activities that parents could do with their babies using these toys. And voila! Put them in a baggie with the activity guide and they become Activity Packs! (Learning Links activities sheet here and bubble activities sheet here.)

It got me thinking that probably any toy or prize you offer for your Summer Reading/Learning could be an "activity pack" and offer ideas of how to carry on the learning at home. Yes, it's more work to put together an activity pack than it is to just hand someone a plastic toy, but if it's feasible for you it might be worth it.

I took a look at the incentives offered by CSLP and iREAD to see if I could think of some basic activities you could include and here's what I came up with:

CSLP incentives:

Color-Your-Own Flower Pots. This is an easy one! Buy a big bag of sunflower seeds and encourage kids to germinate and plant their own seeds. Or even if you don't include the seeds, you could include a list of books about flowers and gardens or instructions for how to plant a seed and what to watch for as it grows.

Racing Car Building Block Kits. Build your car and then test how far it will roll. Create an inclined plane with a propped-up book and measure how far your car will roll. Record it. What happens if you make a steeper incline? What happens if you make a shallow incline? How steep can you make the incline before the car topples over? Test, record, and compare your results.

Build a Better World Water Bottle. Get outside and move (or move inside!). Include some activities or games that kids can play to get moving and get their hearts pumping. Or you could include information about why it's important to keep hydrated or why it's a healthier choice to drink water than to drink sugary drinks.

Jacob's Ladder. The Jacob's Ladder toy operates using a kinetic illusion that makes it look as if one of the blocks is traveling all the way down to the end. Pair this toy with information about optical illusions that they can share with friends or a family member. Science Sparks has instructions for an easy activity for kids to create their own optical illusion.

Color Block Bouncing Balls. Hold your bouncing ball straight out in front of you and drop it. How high does it go? What happens if you release it from a higher or a lower height? Experiment with trajectory ala Angry Birds. Set up a block tower or a stack of cardboard boxes and try bouncing your ball from the floor to your structure to knock it down. Did you aim correctly? If not, adjust and try again.

Construction Hats. These are a great toy for some imaginative play. An activity guide for this prize might include some info for parents on why imaginative play is important and suggest some ideas for other props to extend the fun. Wooden spoons could be hammers, a large cardboard box could become a backhoe, bulldozer, or other construction equipment.

iREAD incentives: 

Propellers. How do propellers work to lift things off the ground? Can you think of a way to measure how high your propeller is flying? What happens if you slide your hands more quickly or more slowly? Can you aim your propeller at a target? How close did you get? Experiment with how you can get closer to your target.

Bubble Illusion. Here's another one for optical illusion activities (see Jacob's Ladder above).

Flying rockets. Test how far your rocket will go. If you pull the rubber band farther, how does that affect the rocket's flight? Why does a rocket have fins? Can you design different fins for your rocket and attach them? How does that affect the rocket's flight?

Geometric Light-Up Bouncing Balls. See activities for "Color Block Bouncing Balls" above, but also ask yourself how does the shape of the ball affect the bounce? These balls are made up of geometric shapes, so how does that affect the height and how easy it is to aim?

Water Bottles. See activities above.

With a little creative thinking and research, almost any toy incentive can lend itself to at-home learning. If you don't want to create activity packs or separate instruction sheets, maybe you could put extension ideas on your website, include them on your summer reading log, or create a poster to put up at your prize station and encourage parents to take a photo of it.

What prizes are you offering for Summer Reading/Learning this year? How do you think your prizes could encourage learning to continue at home?

The Engineering Table

This summer, one of our self-directed programs is our Engineering Table. During the school year, we offer a craft table with a different self-directed craft each month. Over the summer, it's too cumbersome to refill supplies and keep a craft table stocked, so we have turned it into an activity table. This year, to go with our Summer Reading theme of Build a Better World, the table is all about engineering.

I put the Engineering Table up this week when our Summer Reading Club started and it has already been a big hit! I wasn't sure if kids would engage with the materials - they look so handmade - but they dive into it, making some really interesting creations. We've seen a lot of families engage in the table together, having some great conversations as they build together. That's exactly what we wanted!

I love providing self-directed activities because it means that no matter when a family stops by the library, there's something for them to do. We may not have a program for their age going on every single day this summer, but we always have some type of activity they can do. We mention the Engineering Table in our printed program calendar and I added it to our web calendar so that families who are looking will realize that there is always something for them to do at the library.

Each week, I'll change it out with some activities being more "handmade" and some being more polished (see our full schedule below).

I purchased several sets from Lakeshore Learning to use with the table. Some of these sets could be homemade if you're tight on funds. I was tight on time, so ordering the sets was easier for me.

Here's what I'm planning for each week:

Week 1: Building with craft sticks, clothespins, and binder clips (source: Frugal Fun 4 Boys).

Week 2: Fairy Tale Problem Solving Kit: The Three Billy Goats Gruff (Lakeshore Learning)

Week 3: Building with pool noodles and sponges (source: Handmade Kids Art)

Week 4: House Building Engineering Center (Lakeshore Learning)

Week 5: Letter Builder Set (this is similar - not sure if it's the same set we ordered several years ago) (Lakeshore Learning)

Week 6: Fairy Tale Problem Solving Kit: The Three Little Pigs (Lakeshore Learning)

Week 7: Building with cardboard boxes (source: 2014 Preschool Lab; we'll be using smaller boxes so that they'll fill on our table)

Week 8: Vehicle Building Engineering Center (Lakeshore Learning)

Week 9: Bridge Building Engineering Center (Lakeshore Learning)

Do you have any self-directed programming planned for this summer? I would love to hear about it in comments!

Summer Reading Club: Our library #hashtag

This may be a no-brainer. I may be the very last librarian to think of this. But a late realization is better than none at all, right?

This summer, we decided on a library hashtag and I'm putting it on all of our stuff that we're doing to encourage families to take photos of how they're experiencing the library and share them with us on social media.

We haven't done it yet, so I'm not certain how it's going to go. But I suspect that people love any excuse to post to social media and that having our hashtag to follow may help us find those posts and collect ways that families are engaging with the library.

I've posted this on all our Science Activity Packs we're giving out as prizes and on the weekly instructions for our Engineering Table. I'm also creating general signs to put up at all our programs to encourage families to help us document the summer.

When we tried to think of a summer-specific hashtag, everything we came up with was too long or too weird (our library has a super long name). So our hashtag is #nafclibrary in case you want to check and see if anyone is following through...!

Has your library done this? Did people participate?

#middlegrademay Recap!

This month, I challenged myself to pick up more middle grade books and post about them on social media with the hashtag #middlegrademay. There are still SO MANY MORE great middle grade books on my radar that I want to get to, but here's what I was able to read this month:

(Full disclosure! I'm an Amazon Associate, so if you purchase something after clicking the links on my site, I get a small commission.)



Amina's Voice by Hena Khan (Salaam Reads/Simon & Schuster, 2017). This is a really solid contemporary middle grade story about Amina, a Muslim kid living in America. When her best friend Soojin decides to adopt an American name after she gets her citizenship, it throws Amina for a loop. Suddenly everything seems to be changing. Can Amina find her voice to stand up and tell everyone how she feels? Although Amina and her family deal with some issues related to immigration and being Muslim, I wouldn't call this an issue-driven book. I would hand this to kids who like realistic stories about characters who are dealing with a lot of the typical middle school issues - friendship, family, school, etc.



The Apprentice Witch by James Nichol (Chicken House, July 2017). This one's coming out in July and it's a great read for kids who like stories about magic and witches. When Arianwyn's evaluation goes awry and she does not graduate to the status of full witch, she is sent to a desperate little town near the edge of a powerfully magical forest where they are happy to have even an apprentice witch. There Arianwyn does the best she can dealing with the creatures that venture out of the wood, and she tries to understand the mysterious, dark glyph that keeps appearing to her. This is a magical adventure story that's a bit dark, but not too scary. It reminded me a lot of The Thickety series (which I love) and I think readers who enjoy that blend of slightly scary magical fantasy will like this one, as well.



Armstrong and Charlie by Steven B. Frank (Houghton Mifflin, 2017). One of my staff members raved about this historical novel, set in 1970s Los Angeles and telling the story of two boys - one who is bused to a predominantly white school from an African American neighborhood, and one who has attended the white school his whole life. I enjoyed it, although the characters read older than sixth grade to me. As a kid who was bused myself, it was interesting to see two sides to the story. I'd suggest this to readers who love historical fiction and school stories.



The Crystal Ribbon by Celeste Lim (Scholastic, 2017). In the vein of Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin, this is a richly depicted historical fantasy novel about a young girl sold away from her family to abusive in-laws who helps and befriends jing, animal spirits who eventually help her in return. Kids who love Grace Lin's work or who enjoy Chinese folklore and/or fantasy adventure stories will like this one, too.



Full of Beans by Jennifer L. Holm (Random House, 2016). Here's another historical novel, this one set in Depression Era Key West, Florida. Beans does what he can to make ends meet and help his family, even when his jobs are not quite legal. When strangers show up to makeover Key West as a tourist destination - a last ditch effort to save the city from bankruptcy - they turn the whole town on its head. I especially like historical fiction that tells me about things I didn't know, and I had no idea this had happened in Key West. Hand this to fans of Jennifer Holm's other works and any fans of historical fiction.



The Harlem Charade by Natasha Tarpley (Scholastic, 2017). The discovery of a hidden painting in a community garden in Harlem and a subsequent attack on an elderly man in that garden sends three kids on a hunt to solve a mystery and save their neighborhood. With developers looking to transform Harlem into something much different than the historic neighborhood, Jin and her new friends know they must stop them or risk losing their homes for good. I'm not a huge mystery fan, but I could really appreciate the rich setting, filled with details of life in Harlem. Kids who love mystery stories, especially novels like Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett or The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin, will like this one, too.




The Thickety 4: The Last Spell by J.A. White (Katherine Tegan Books, 2017). This is the fourth and final book of a series that I LOVE and it did not disappoint. Definitely start with the first book, but don't skip the rest. This is a creepy magical adventure story that will please fans of slightly scary fantasy books.



Midnight Without a Moon by Linda Williams Jackson (Houghton Mifflin, 2017). Rose is used to being left behind, so when her mother leaves with her new family to travel North away from the hard life 1950s Mississippi has to offer, Rose resigns herself to her fate... for now. Her deepest hope is that her mother might send for her or that she might find some other way out of the South where tensions are rising. When a Negro boy from Chicago, Emmett Till, is murdered, Rose realizes that change is coming in Mississippi, but whether it will be good or bad, only time will tell. Hand this to kids who enjoy civil rights stories, especially fans of Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor.



Moving Target by Christina Diaz Gonzalez (Scholastic, 2016). This book is a complete thrill ride! Cassie has spent her life moving around to different places, following her art history professor father's career. Now they're living in Italy when one day her father picks her up from school in a panic, saying that she is in trouble, that a group called the Hastati wants her dead. And Cassie finds out that she is part of an ancient bloodline, she is a person marked from birth with the ability to control the Spear of Destiny and alter the course of human history. But many people would kill her before she can take that power into hand. This action-packed adventure story will appeal to kids who love the action in series like Percy Jackson or Loot by Jude Watson.



Ms. Bixby's Last Day by John David Anderson (Walden Pond Press, 2016). Oh, man. This book got me in the feels. When their beloved sixth grade teacher is diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and leaves unexpectedly early, missing her Last Day party that the class was throwing her, three boys set out to give her the send-off they know she deserves. Both funny and heartfelt, this is a contemporary novel for kids who like to feel the feels, but who also love to laugh. I love books that are sometimes funny and sometimes serious, and this one fit the bill.



Princess Princess Ever After by Katie O'Neill (Oni Press, 2016). In this fairy tale graphic novel, Princess Sadie is waiting for rescue in her tower when it's not a prince who arrives but another princess. Although the story felt a little sparse, this is a much-needed GLBT twist on the traditional princess rescue trope (and done in a middle-grade friendly way).



The Savage Fortress by Sarwat Chadda (Scholastic, 2013). This rip-roaring action adventure story features Hindu mythology like the Percy Jackson series features Greek mythology. Don't miss this one for your Rick Riordan fans!

Did you read any middle grade this month?

Science Activity Pack: Parachutes

Science Activity Packs are back at my library this year! For the full list of the activity packs we're offering, click here!

Parachutes
Source: Deceptively Educational: DIY Parachutes

In this pack, we included:

• 1 small plastic cup with holes punched in the sides near the top
• 1 plastic bag square (we cut up garbage bags)
• 4 lengths of yarn
• 1 instruction sheet

On the back of the instruction sheet, we included some information about the science of parachutes and the following extension activities: 

• What happens if you put something heavy in the cup? Something light?
• What happens if you let the parachute go from different heights? 
• Does size matter? Can you make a smaller parachute? Does it fall differently?

Science Activity Pack: Static Electricity Butterflies

Science Activity Packs are back at my library this year! For the full list of the activity packs we're offering, click here!

Static Electricity Butterfly
Source: I Heart Crafty Things

In this pack, we included:

• 2 tissue paper wings
• 1 cardstock butterfly body
• 1 balloon
• 2 pieces of tape* 
• 1 instruction sheet

On the back of the instruction sheet, we included some information about static electricity and the following extension ideas: 

What gives an electric charge? When you rub your balloon on your hair or cotton cloth, it builds up static electricity. What happens when you rub it on something else? (Be careful not to pop it!) Make a list of what items generate static electricity and what items don’t.

What will static electricity attract? It makes the wings of your butterfly move—what else will move when you hold your charged balloon near? Your hair? A washcloth? A plastic bag? Find out!

* For the materials that we bring out to our Pop-Up Libraries this summer, we really wanted to provide EVERYTHING that a kid would need to do the science activity. We weren't sure whether all of these kids would have basic stuff at home like tape, pencils, etc. So we devised a way to include tape by cutting out squares of thin cardboard and covering one side with packing tape. Then we cut strips of Scotch tape and affixed them on the packing tape with a little tab at the end (just cut out of cardboard) so that kids could pull it off. It's labor-intensive, to be sure, but we didn't include the tape in all of the bags, just the subset that we took out to the Pop-Up Libraries. 

Science Activity Pack: Catapults

Science Activity Packs are back at my library this year! For the full list of the activity packs we're offering, click here!

Catapults
Source: One of my librarians did a catapults program over spring break!

In this pack, we included:

• 6 craft sticks
• 2 rubber bands
• 1 plastic spoon
• 1 pompom (any color or size)
• 1 instruction sheet

The instruction sheet includes the directions for building a catapult and the following extension suggestions: 

Construct your catapult (instructions are on the back!) and then try this:

· Find something to aim at (not a person or pet!) and see how close you can get.

· Did you miss? Try again and adjust your aim or the amount of force you are using.

· Try shooting something else in your catapult. Does it go farther? Try something heavier. Try something lighter. What happens?