Food Literacy Workshop
Gather 'Round the Table with Teens - returns!
In-person workshops, 10:00 am ET - 5:00 pm ET for the following dates/locations:
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Monday, April 20, 2026 -
Register for this session at Jackson District Library's Meijer Branch,
4699 Airport Road, Jackson, 49202.
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Wednesday, April 22, 2026 -
Register for this session at Traverse Area District Library's Woodmere Library,
610 Woodmere Ave., Traverse City 49686.
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Food literacy is essential for teens to understand and learn about food in a positive way, including food skills and best food practices. Young Adult library library staff will benefit from this workshop designed to guide libraries to in turn support teens
as they explore the impact of food on so many levels of their lives.
This project is made possible by grant funds from the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) administered by the State of Michigan through the Library of Michigan.
Ready to Read Michigan Presents:
Tuesday, January 27, 2026 and
Tuesday, February 3, 2026
2:00 - 3:00 PM ET
The Reading League advances the awareness, understanding, and use of evidence-aligned reading instruction. This two-part webinar series* will be taking a deeper dive into the "Science of Reading" and how libraries can help support best practices for early
literacy development. The Science of Reading embodies over 40 years of research findings from multiple fields of study that shine a light on key fundamental principles of reading instruction. In the Foundations of the Science of Reading session, participants
will learn about three "anchors" that have emerged from this research. These include:
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The Simple View of Reading (Gough & Tunmer, 1986)
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Scarborough's Reading Rope (Scarborough, 2001)
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Four-Part Processing Model for Word Recognition (Seidenberg & McClelland, 1989)
*This webinar will be recorded for
registrants, but live attendance is encouraged for an engaging conversation.
This project is made possible by grant funds from the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) administered by the State of Michigan through the Library of Michigan.
Resources
Braille Literacy Month with MI's BTBL
Braille Literacy Month begins January 1st, and we celebrate World Braille Day on January 4th to commemorate the birthday of Louis Braille. In preparation and celebration, we wanted to provide you some fun programming ideas you can do in your library in the
New Year. For the activities listed below, please email me directly at
wambaughs@michigan.gov and I will provide you with the PDFs that you can print at your library (the files are too large to attach in the listserv). I can also mail you braille alphabet cards if you plan to use any of the following activities.
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NLS Fun with Braille activity sheet
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Write Your Name in Braille activity
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Crack the Code activity
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A Facebook post about Braille Literacy Month- please tag us @MichiganBTBL! (I’m happy to provide images that can be used to promote braille literacy!)
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Storytime highlighting Louis Braille, a character with a visual disability, characters with glasses, characters with white canes, etc.
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Adult book club or Netflix miniseries discussion about
All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
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Step into a colorful year of reading, writing, singing, talking, playing, and counting with the 2026 Early Literacy Calendar! Share these fun, reproducible calendars with families at your library and support early literacy growth all year long. Each month features
hands-on, family-friendly activities that spark curiosity and support early learning.
Use code ELC26 at checkout to receive both your PLA and ALA member discounts for a total of 20% off the list price.
Bring Acts of Science: Connected to Your Community This April—Sign Up to Livestream!
Apply now
to be one of 250 libraries hosting a satellite event this April!
SciStarter will provide all the resources you need — from livestream access to event materials, toolkits, and promotional content.
New to Citizen Science? If you or your library staff are new to citizen science, start with these foundational tools:
🎓 Library Training Tutorial: Learn the basics of citizen and community science, and how to introduce it to your library users.
🌐 Library Resource Hub: Explore kit-building guides, project recommendations, promotional materials, and professional development tools designed for libraries.
Outstanding Science Trade Books and Best STEM Books for 2026!
The Children’s Book Council (CBC) and the National Science Teaching Association (NSTA) are proud to present the winning children’s and teen titles for both the Outstanding Science Trade Books and Best STEM Books for 2026! Since 2017, the CBC and NSTA have been
coordinating and promoting these nationally recognized book award lists. Each year, the NSTA selects expert educators to form committees for each award and the CBC coordinates with publishers to send hundreds of newly published books to them to read and evaluate.
The
2026 Outstanding Science Trade Books and
2026 Best STEM Books winners are on the CBC website. Along with our online display of book covers and bibliographic information, there are also spreadsheets so that you can easily sort and check these lists against your collection or inventory.
In the News...
‘The
Librarians’ To Premiere on PBS on February 9 - SLJ, 12/5/25
Wishing you all a peaceful holiday season,