Services to Elementary School Age Children and Their Caregivers Meeting Highlights

ALA Midwinter Meeting 2007, Seattle, WA

Submitted by Louise Lareau, chair

January 21, 2007

Reviewed the programs presented by the committee in New Orleans.  Although two proposals were submitted in June 2006, the committee will not be presenting at the Annual Conference in Washington D.C.  Discussed programming options for future conferences.  Committee members and visitors examined ways in which non-fiction material can be used and highlighted in programming. 

Members present:  Eileen Glazik, Annisha Jeffries, Louise C. Lareau, Susan Person

Members absent:  Brenda Pierce McGuigan, Mary Puleo

Visitors:  Alison Grant, Andrea M. Ketchum, Rachel McDonald, Kathryn Poulter

ALA Annual Conference 2006, New Orleans, LA

Barbara H. Fischer - June 25, 2006

-Introductions

-Review of "Graphic Novels for Children - Wave of the Future," 150 attended, evaluations positive.

-Final planning for this afternoon's program, "Research Applied for Sure Fire Programs," hope for publications, electronic or print copies of release to be available.

-Submitted 2 programs for presentation at both ALA 2007 and PLA 2007 & 2008

Members present: Betsy Diamant Cohen, Collee Costello, Allison Grant, Mary Puleo, Barbara Fischer, Louise LAreau, Cecilia McGowan (ALSC Representative).

Members absent: Zahra Baird, Brenda McGuigan, Susan Person

Visitors: Kellee S. Rayburn,

ALA Midwinter Meeting 2005, Boston, MA

Allison Grant, Chair
1/16/05

Discussed what each library represented is doing for children afterschool. Then discussed programming options at upcoming conferences. Decided to have a Talk Table at PLA 2006 on high/low books for elementary school students.

Program at Chicago on Emergent Literacy and articles related to that program.

Members present: Barbara Fischer, Zahra Baird, Alison Grant, Mary Puleo, Colleen Costello, Betsy Diamont-Chen

Members absent: Brenda Pierce McGuigan, Cecilia McGowan, Khafre Abif

Visitors: Gloria Nottingham

ALA Annual Conference 2004, Orlando

Allison Grant, Chair
6/27/04

Members present: Colleen Costello, Betsy Diamant-Cohen, Barbara Fischer, Alison Grant, Cecilia McGowan, and Mary Puleo

Members absent: Jacky Averill and Susan Wray

1. Briefly discussed the committee’s program entitled “It Works! Successful Programs for School Age Children” scheduled on Sunday 6/27/04 at 1:30pm.

2. Strategic Plan: The committee addressed two major goal of the PLA as listed in the strategic plan from the perspective of professional librarians serving school-age (K-5^th grade) students in public libraries. Following is text from an e-mail sent by committee member Betsy Diamant-Cohen on 6/1/04.

   I think that based on the fact that money for children' s services is dwindling, and since in many libraries providing access to technology for young children is being seen as very important -- perhaps … we can do something to educate library professions as to why programming is so important.

   This could be geared towards children's librarians (to give them the validation for what they are doing) as well as to library directors, board members, etc. to show them the value in what they have to offer the public through programs.

   "Encouraging Connections" is a conference, which, I just attended, that provided training for the most recent findings in the field of brain research and how that relates to early childhood educators. The people presenting this say that Maryland is the only state, which includes librarians; many other states just invite childcare providers and teachers to attend. In our case, this workshop sponsored by the State Department of Education was open for librarians as well.

   Perhaps for ALA 2005, we could suggest a pre-conference where children's librarians would be invited to learn about their stuff, the research as well as practical applications. This will help the future of the library profession, by showing that children's work is not just about "feel good stuff" but it is actually very important. This would fit in with the goal of "Literature Nation", creating a nation of readers.

   This is a little different from the early literacy research that is mentioned in the strategic plan. I believe that is based on the studies done in public libraries already - the joint ALSC/PLA thing. I am focusing more on what neuroscientists are saying.

Betsy’s e-mail stimulated discussions among committee members during the meeting.

ADVOCACY & RECOGNITION

In this technology-driven society, professional youth librarians must ensure we continue to provide literature-based programs and a print-rich environment that unites children with literature and foster life-long learning characteristics.

Given funding cuts across the nation and each state, youth librarians must provide solid justification of vital services rendered, not only to the community, but also to teachers, administrators and board members.

• There is a need to partner with other divisions, such as ALTA (Association for Library Trustees and Advocates) and LAMA (Library Administration and Management Association).
• There is also a need for libraries to forge new partnerships with community organizations, including businesses and charity organizations (e.g. Optimist Club) to provide resources for future research and spreading the word to other local groups as well as other community libraries.

Reliable funding is vital to continue offering high quality programs to families, in addition to adopting new practices to suit changing community literacy needs.

TRAINING & KNOWLEDGE

There is a need to educate and train children’s librarians serving elementary school-age children in education practices and trends, and particularly current education research.

There is a need to continue literacy services to school-age students (K-5^th grade) where emergent literacy leaves off (ages 4-5).

Children’s librarians must market themselves as experts on literacy – ranging from early literacy in preschoolers to elementary school age children and beyond.

• Children’s librarians must learn and internalize findings in brain-based research on how children develop, learn and increase literacy skills to work with children within the library and with parents to support language, writing and reading development, in addition to enjoyment.

In addition, library school students should receive instruction on brain-based research in education to unsure all youth librarians are equipped with the necessary knowledge to address the changing needs of students, parents and educators.

After discussing the need for future training in how children learn, including multiple intelligences, learning styles and brain-based research, the committee discussed potential training opportunities for librarians, including recently attended workshops.

3. The committee submitted a program proposal for ALA Annual Conference 2005 in Chicago. The program will address the training needs of public children’s librarians on brain-based research by an active educator and expert in the field of brain-based learning and teaching, as well as practical advice on how to use this information within the public library to better serve elementary school-age children and caregivers. The program is entitled “Beyond Emergent Literacy: Serving the Elementary School Age Child “ and the committee is awaiting approval.

ALA Midwinter Conference 2004, San Diego, CA

Alison Grant, Chair
1/11/04

Members present: Barbara Fischer, Betsy Diamont-Cohen, Mary Puleo, Colleen Costello, Cecilia McGavan, Alison Grant

Members absent: Jacky Averill, Susan Wray, Khafre Abir

Visitors: Yvonne Chen-representative

The bulk of the meeting was spent discussing and planning our program at ALA Annual-Orlando. Specifically, we finalized the format and presenters for the program, as well as tables for the informal table talk to follow.

The committee also briefly discussed who will become the next chair of the committee, Public Library Associations Strategic Plan (not everyone received it prior to Midwinter) and potential issues to address in future e-mail correspondance and meetings.

The Committee received approval of “It Works! Successful Programs for School Age Children” program proposal for ALA Annual in Orlando, 2004. Most of the meeting was devoted to planning this fast-approaching program. See Program Outline for a list of speakers and program organization (in future e-mail). Many committee members will be available to present or host table talks. Children’s librarians from across the country have also expressed interest. In selecting the presentations and table talk topics, the Committee attempted to address a number of community needs and programming ideas. The two presentations focus on both in-house programming and school outreach. Table talks includes: programming for homeschoolers (maybe), how to host a success author visit, after-school programming, intergenerational book discussion groups, “gross” programs (especially appealing to boys!), storytelling with puppets, library card/reading initiative programs, and read the book-see the movie with discussion. Community partnering, with schools and other organizations are key!

PLA President Luis Herrera reminded committees to think about the 3 Ps – programs, publications, and products as well as the strategic plan. The strategic plan was e-mailed to committee chairs late on Thursday 1/8/04 and consequently most committee members did not receive it, nor read it prior to the meeting. Copies of the strategic plan were distributed during the meeting. It was decided that a discussion about how the Committee can address specific goals should continue via e-mail. The Committee briefly discussed the need of public librarians to document outcomes of successful programs, to promote library service and justify need to continued support. Betsy suggested we report outcomes of our “It Works!” program based on attendee feedback, etc.

Service to Elementary School Age Children and Their Caregivers

Barbara Fischer, Chair
June 22, 2003

Those present brainstormed ideas for a program at ALA in Orlando, 2004.

Alison Grant prepared the program proposal application for "IT WORKS: Successful Library Programs for Elementary School Age Children." The target audience for the program will be librarians serving school age children.

Identified objectives for the program -

1. Participants will interact with program presenters to explore and share program ideas.
2. Participants will leave with solid valuable ideas to implement in their libraries.
3. Participants will receive resources and materials to apply these programs.

The program will feature three presenters in lecture style presentations to an estimated audience of 150 persons followed immediately by additional presenters at tables to share successful program ideas.

Members Present: Barbara Fischer, Chair; Alison Grant, incoming chair; Jacky Averill, newly appointed

Absent: Betsy Diamant-Cohen (excused), Mary Puleo (excused), Leah Wagner - Electronic member, Khafre Abif, Deborah Wheeler, Patricia Arnold

Guest: Jo Ann Jones - Chula Vista, CA.

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