Early Lit Center Revisited

If you have been following me, you may remember a post from February about our new Early Literacy Center.  For the most part it has been great, but we did have to rework a few things.

1.  We removed the velcro labels from the post office sorting center and used Avery 5163 labels to label the cubbies.  For some reason, velcro labels encourage kids to take them off, move them around, take them home, erase the marker and write their own name, etc.  Who knew?

2.  Despite the signage that parents work with their children on their letters, we have learned that in reality, that doesn't happen.  Upon observation, many of the parents are too busy getting in, getting their items, and leaving, that they totally miss the point of the station.  It became an unsupervised babysitting project.  Sigh.  We got some great letters, but those were written by children who already knew how to write and didn't need supervision (1st and 2nd graders).  I got really frustrated when over a four-day period, the following happened:

• We went through 1 ream of paper by children writing one line on each page.  While I understand that scribbling is a part of early literacy, it also has to be weighed against the paper waste.  I would have been happier if each page was filled with scribbled letters.
• The pencils at the station were taken and whoever had them managed to scribble all over the station tables and a stack of books in the children's room.
• 5 of the plastic envelopes that were reinforced with book tape, were ripped. (I have no idea how this happened, because I can't even rip through book tape.)

In the interest of my sanity and keeping the station going, we pulled the paper and pencils from the station and put it at the reference desk.  We now have a sign attached to the station for people to ask at the desk for pencils and paper to use with the post office.  The envelopes are still out and are often sorted and mailed with nothing in them.  We still have kids asking for paper and pencils, but staff have better control/knowledge over what is going on in the children's area.  We aren't going through near as much paper, but are still getting quality letters (see below).

What has been interesting is the amount of scrap paper that has been mailed lately.  We keep a basket of scrap paper and golf pencils at each OPAC.  I have been getting a lot more letters that look like this:

Neither of these letters are perfect, but they do make me smile because kids are practicing their early literacy skills.  

Our Post Office has been a great learning experience for me, while offering our public something new. 

Peepunzel

I am part of the Fun Committee at my library (yes, that is the real name).  It is a committee to bring random fun to all employees through contests, food days, and anything else we can come up with.  We have learned that fun boosts morale, which makes for a better employee experience.  One of our favorite contests of the year is our Peep contest.  I don't know if you are a fan of the marshmallow creation that appears at holidays, but we have learned that it is great fun to dress them up, pose them, smash them, and more.  This is our second year and I am excited to see the results.

I thought long and hard this year about what would make a good entry, because a lot of us on staff are really competitive.  Not only do you have to have a cool picture, you should create a fun name with "peep" in it.  Last year I created Harry Peeper (a take on Harry Potter).  If you want to see some awesome examples, check out the Washington Post's annual contest. 

Introducing...

Peepunzel, Peepunzel, let down your long hair.

I thought that would give you some fun Monday reading.  Happy Monday!

Flannel Friday's 2nd Anniversary

In honor of Flannel Friday's 2nd anniversary, I decided to create a birthday-themed flannelboard.  (After all, what screams birthday more than flannel?)

Four pretty presents and they're all for me,

I unwrapped the red one and now there are three.

Three pretty presents and one is from you,

I unwrapped the blue one and now there are two.

Two pretty presents left until I'm done,

I unwrapped the yellow one and now there is one.

One pretty present, I'm having so much fun!
I unwrapped it slowly and now there are none.

To create my presents, I cut squares out of fun foam (I liked the bright colors for presents).  They are small enough that they will work on a glove, but also look great on a flannelboard.  The ribbon is wrapped around the square, held in place with a line of glue and the velcro on the back.  The presents didn't need a bow as that would get smashed in storage so I knotted the top and cut the ribbon so it looks kind of like a bow.

This week's round-up is hosted by the creator of Flannel Friday, Melissa, at Mel's Desk.  She also has a special 2nd Anniversary Flannel Friday button for you to grab.  Check out the great Flannel Friday map unveiling at Catch the Possibilities.  Kay at Storytime ABC's is setting up the next Storytime Swap.  If you are interested, get in touch so you can get some new flannel stuff in time for summer reading.  Have a great week!

How to Make a Good Display

This year I am working on pulling out parts of our nonfiction collection that sometimes get overlooked to promote with the new Common Core standards and school assignments.  At my branch, we get a LOT of biography requests in late March and throughout April and most of the kids want people that they can remember (lots of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln requests).  If you work in a public library, you know that as soon as the first kid or so hits the collection, all of those books are gone.  This month's display is called "Famous People" and I am adding biographies on people that you don't always think of along with past award winners or ALSC Notable Books.

My finished product!

So how did I get here?  Here are a few tips to create your own display:

1.  You will want some sort of theme to hold it all together.  It could be subject, color of the book covers, or just about anything that you can come up with.  It does not always need a sign as long as the theme is obvious (otherwise people will just dump their leftover books on top of your display because they think it is a catch-all.)  We use a sign here because our display space is in between two ranges of shelves.  I really want to push that this is a display space.

2.  Pick out your books.  You will want to keep an eye on size and color of the book covers.  You also want to keep the display interesting.  Looking at a book that has a plain black cover is not interesting.  Illustrations really do make a difference.

3.  Now it is time to arrange your books.  You will want your biggest books in the middle of the display and the smallest books at the outside (think-pyramid).  If you use a pyramid design, it will naturally draw people's eyes into the display.

Now look at color.  Are there any books that have some color in common so they look like they go together?  You will notice that the top shelf has a burgundy/red color that goes through all of the books.  The second shelf has blue on all of the covers.  The books on each side are also mostly black (it would look weird to have two black books in a row, then a light blue one).

4.  Is there anything else that would enhance your display?  I added a sign promoting one of our databases-Biography in Context.

Just remember that a good display can increase your circulation 90% on the books that are included.  This is your chance to promote your collection and to get those books to circulate!



Very Hungry Caterpillar Headband

As a children's librarian, I love Pinterest.  When I have a program to plan and need some ideas, it is my "go-to" place to start.  We are doing a special story time next Wednesday to celebrate The Very Hungry Caterpillar's birthday, but needed some craft ideas for preschoolers.  After searching Pinterest, I found this picture, but there was no pattern.  This morning I designed a pattern from the picture and cut out pieces for our program.  Here's what I came up with:

 

We started with a 4-inch wide headband.  I like to use a paper clip to close it up, because young kids tend to take them frequently off and on.  The paperclip gives the headband some give.

 

 

Then I added yellow and green circles for his eyes and purple antennae.  I think that it ended up looking cute and can't wait to see all of our little "caterpillars".  Stop by next week for more info from the program.



What Flannel Friday Means to Me

As we prepare for Flannel Friday's 2nd birthday, we are doing something a little different this week.  This week we are all participating in "What Flannel Friday Means to Me".  As I am totally not a sappy person, here are some of the tangibles for me that have happened since I joined:

• After being a lurker for a couple of months, I created my own blog on 2/14/12.  Since then, I have participated in 51 Flannel Friday posts.  (Personally, I am kind of impressed with that since there are only 52 weeks in a year.  I must have doubled up a couple of times.)
• While I wasn't too sure about this whole blog thing, I have kept with it.  While I started it for Flannel Friday posts, I have expanded into early literacy, collection development, and other programs.  I have found that I have lots of ideas and opinions and this is a good format for them.  :)
• In addition to regular posts, I have hosted 5 round-ups over the past 13 months.  If you haven't tried it, it is a lot of fun!
• By following other posters, I have a gigantic TBD (to be done) pile, in addition to random ideas pinned in Pinterest.  This fall I realized that I was coming away from Flannel Friday with a lot of new flannels and ideas so I started pinning them to a "Completed Flannelboards" folder on Pinterest so I can cite them in the future.  There are a lot more that I still have to add.
• Through blogging and discussions with the Flannel Friday Facebook group, I have gotten better at explaining what I do and why I do it (definitely an important thing when working with early literacy).  I have learned new techniques and ideas that have been successfully put into practice.  I am a better advocate for myself and my library.
• While it started as a flannel group, that is not all it is.  Now, whenever I have a children's question, I ask the Flannel Friday Facebook group first.  I have learned that many of us are always online and I get near instant results.  My questions have ranged from using iPads in the library to best books to use for a reading night.

I could keep going with this all day now that I have gotten started.  If you work with children, whether in a library, a preschool, at home, etc., this is a great group to be a part of.  There are many levels of participation so you can find the best level for yourself.

This week's round-up is hosted by Sharon at Rain Makes Applesauce.

Flannel Friday-Little Cloud

We are on a break from story time this month, which is when I can make a dent on my TBD pile.  In preparation for our story time theme of "Clouds and Rainbows" in April, I created Little Cloud by Eric Carle using a pattern from Kidzclub.  If you aren't familiar with the story, the clouds make shapes, similar to It Looked Like Spilt Milk by Charles Shaw.  To make your own, you will need at least 8 pieces of white felt.

 

Little Cloud

 

 

The first half of the shapes

 

 

The last shapes

 

This story works well for my 2-3 year olds because they like to guess the shapes.  It is kind of like an I Spy book for younger ages.

 

This week's round-up is hosted by Sharon at Rain Makes Applesauce.  It will also include special posts about "What Flannel Friday Means to Me".