Resources

Día

The El día de los niños/El día de los libros (Día) initiative emphasizes the importance of literacy for all children of all linguistic and cultural backgrounds. In conjunction with the initiative, the Association for Library Service to Children's Quicklists Consulting committee has compiled four new lists of awesome books for kids, birth to age 14, FULL of engaging titles that represent children and families from many backgrounds! They are available in English AND Spanish and are free to download at https://bit.ly/3OU5UCe.

Online Safety
Was asked for some .gov & .org internet safety resources to share with parents, so I thought I’d pass them along. If you have others, please do share!

• FBI’s got some resources if you search “Internet Safety,” though what I looked through seems slightly outdated.
• NetSmartz: https://www.missingkids.org/NetSmartz/home
• Internet Crimes Against Children: https://www.icactaskforce.org/internetsafety (some great links at the bottom of this page)
• National Cybersecurity Alliance: https://staysafeonline.org/resources/protecting-our-kids-data-privacy-is-paramount/
• Dept of Homeland Security: https://www.ice.gov/topics/iGuardians
• Remember McGruff?!  I’m seriously excited to see he’s still around… https://ymiclassroom.com/lesson-plans/go-for-real/

A great event opportunity from… Ohio State (Ok, yes, I said it. Don’t hate me. It looks really cool!)

Registration is now open for Excellence in Children's Literature: The Ohio State University Newbery Award Symposium taking place in Columbus on November 15, 2024 and featuring Kwame Alexander, Derrick Barnes, Amina Luqman-Dawson, Jason Reynolds, and Carole Boston Weatherford. For more details or to register, go to the event website.

Women's History Month

To celebrate, National Girls Collaborative Project has compiled the following resources to support and encourage girls to pursue careers in STEM:

• Career Girls: A comprehensive video-based career exploration tool for girls featuring diverse women STEM role models. It's free to use and contains 16,000 videos, as well as career quizzes and resources.
• IF/THEN® Collection: Created in partnership with Lyda Hill Philanthropies and the Association of Science and Technology Centers, the IF/THEN® Collection is a free digital library with photos, videos, posters, activities, and other assets featuring diverse women STEM innovators – all available for educational and other non-commercial use.
• National Women's History Museum: Explore resources, including lesson plans, biographies, and posters of women in STEM trailblazers throughout history. Search by the theme "STEM".
• Portray Her 2.0: Representations of Women STEM Characters in Media report. Developed by the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, in partnership with IF/THEN®, an initiative of Lyda Hill Philanthropies, this groundbreaking report summarizes how women in STEM are portrayed on TV and film and includes a number of valuable recommendations for the field. Learn more.

In the News…

Committing to Equity: Reaching marginalized youth requires an authentic approach – American Libraries, 1/2/24

Together We Heal: Exploring Mental Health Peer Support at the Library – WebJunction, 2/20/24
What We Learned From Drag Queen Storytime (It Might Not Be What You Think!) – Public Libraries Online, 2/5/24
Grow Your Own student applies literacy skills in elementary school – WMU News, 2/27/24

Last chance to register:

Adventures in Summer Marketing!
Thursday, March 14, 2024
2:00-3:00pm ET
Registration, this webinar will be recorded.
Learn some tips and tricks to marketing your summer library programs, plus some special materials to use. All libraries and their communities are unique and while there is no "one-size-fits-all" solution to marketing, we are going to explore new ways that you can approach marketing your summer programming. We will explore marketing assets from the Collaborative Summer Library Program, provide resources, and inspire you to engage with your community this summer. All areas of library services including marketing are welcome!

Ready to Read Michigan Workshops
Growing Early Literacy Skills for Parents, Caregivers, and Early Childhood Educators

10:00 am – 4:00 pm ET

Wednesday, May 1, 2024 – at KDL’s Kentwood Branch

Thursday, May 2, 2024 – at Plymouth District Library

The Library of Michigan invites you to join Mother Goose on the Loose, Betsy Diamant-Cohen, as we explore The Ready to Read Michigan Parent & Early Childhood Educator Toolkit. The programs in the toolkit are designed for library staff to host throughout the community, engaging and modeling early literacy practices to parents, caregivers, and early childhood educators. Betsy will equip library staff with the information, skills, and ready-to-use tools to promote early literacy through your library, copies of the toolkit will be provided.

This RTRM training will start with an introduction/refresher on the how, what and why's of early literacy skills and best storytelling practices. Then we will transition to cover the workshops in the Ready to Read Michigan Toolkit, which are designed specifically for library staff to easily facilitate with parents and caregivers with children ages 5 and under. Lastly, participants will address the important role played by Early Childhood Educators in the development of children from birth to age five, using familiar tips and tools on how to conduct a two-part workshop for Early Childhood Educators at your library, supported by the materials produced by Ready to Read Michigan.
Registration is limited, lunch will be provided.

If you were previously registered for the October workshops, you are still in our reservation system. If the May 2024 dates do not work for you, then please contact Becky Wartella WartellaB@Michigan.gov to remove you from the workshop. If you were not previously registered, there are a few seats left at both locations, so be sure to register!

This program is supported in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

Cathy Lancaster

Youth Services Coordinator

Library of Michigan
702 W. Kalamazoo St.
Lansing, MI 48915
My Pronouns: She/Her/Hers - See www.mypronouns.org to learn more.

LancasterC5@michigan.gov | 517-335-8129 | www.mi.gov/libraryofmichigan
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Join the MiYouth Listserv, created for Michigan public library staff to share and discuss children and teen programming and services.

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