Color Our World™

Katherine Applegate is the 2025 Summer Reading Champion!

CSLP hosted a Summer Reading Kickoff webinar event in March of 2025 that featured presentations all about writing and storytelling programming for your summer celebration of the creative arts that is Color Our World!  Get inspired by the work of Katherine Applegate, our 2025 Summer Reading Champion. To view the kick-off event recording, access details on the writing contest, and download various resources, go to: https://www.cslpreads.org/summer-reading-kickoff/#.

Resources

Social Emotional Learning Resources for Librarians

The Social Emotional Learning Alliance for Ohio* (SEL4OH) excited to announce the launch of the new SEL Resources for Librarians page on its website. This page offers resources specifically tailored to help librarians support social and emotional growth in their young patrons. Resources include a practical guide to fostering SEL in a library setting focused on encouraging responsible decision-making, as well as grade-differentiated booklists.

*I’d like to personally thank my counterpart at the Ohio State Library for sharing these great resources with Michigan librarians!

Michigan Learning Channel

Sneak Peek: Summer Learning Program 

Each summer, the Michigan Learning Channel (MLC) runs an 8-week learning program featuring educational shows and hands-on activities. MLC’s printed activity books have been used in summer schools, camps, and libraries across the state. These books will be available soon for free download, but you can pre-order now! Visit michiganlearning.org/summer for details and watch the episode to see some printer’s proofs of this year’s books! MLC would like librarians to know that this weekly show is for them and we'd love for them to tune in - we share resources and tips that are relevant for classroom teachers as well as librarians who might be planning educational programs for their communities. The segment is in episode 7. Here is the direct link, and the summer program sneak preview starts at 2:40: https://youtu.be/MNy4CcdnMcA?si=g6QW76We2eYyzdls

Severe Weather resources for Libraries

Thanks to funding from NASA through the Learning Ecosystems Northeast project, the Maine State Library is proud to present the Severe Weather & Climate Engagement Toolkit. As the frequency of severe weather events increases around our world and we're all trying to figure out how to prepare for and recover from these events, those of us who work with younger children have seen a lack of resources to help share this topic with them. With funding from a NASA grant through the Gulf of Maine Research Institute and the Learning Ecosystems Northeast project, The Maine State Library has partnered with The Healing Library to create a brand-new toolkit for younger children and their caregivers to talk about severe weather events. The toolkit includes before, during and after sections. While this kit cannot make all the worries and experiences of severe storms go away, it can help families down a path to healing by:

• Offering books to share and empathize with,
• Guiding discussions to ensure everyone feels heard and understood,
• Providing activities of emotional exploration for families,
• Suggesting acts of kindness to take away the powerless feelings,
• Sharing community helpers so families know where to start reaching out for continued help.

Together, all these pieces start families down a path of healing of their own design, a path that will be different for everyone. The toolkit is available for FREE to download and the kits to circulate can be created at your library or purchased from The Healing Library. Any questions can be directed to Kara Reiman, Youth Services Specialist at the Maine State Library*.
*I’d also like to thank my counterpart at the Maine State Library for sharing these great resources with Michigan librarians!

Teaching the History of Civil Rights Through Digital Primary Sources: Introducing the 1939 Library Sit-In
Virtual - April 22, 2025
3:30-5:00 pm EDT
The PreK-12 Policy program invites you to join a discussion and workshop about what it takes to ensure that students have opportunities to analyze and learn from primary sources, deepening their understanding of American history. We will highlight examples of programs in libraries and schools that are making civil rights documents accessible via digital media. We will zoom in on the story of the 1939 Library Sit-In in Alexandria, VA to show how newly digitized primary source documents from the Alexandria Library’s Special Collections can help students learn about the Jim Crow era as well as efforts to demand equal access to public schools and libraries, and the American heroes who envisioned and fought for civil rights for all. Details and registration: https://events.newamerica.org/teachingthehistoryofcivilrights.

ALSC’s 2025 Summer Reading Lists

The 2025 Summer Reading Lists feature book titles and digital media options to keep children engaged in reading and exploring throughout the summer. Four lists are available for birth-preschool and grades K-2, 3-5, and 6-8. The lists are free to download and share!

Thank you,

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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