My Baby Storytime: 2014 Edition

The most visited post on my blog is "My Baby Storytime". After almost 2 years in La Crosse, I've made a lot of changes though! Here is the new and improved version of how I facilitate my infant and baby storytimes.

Room Setup– Blankets and pillows really help contain little ones and make the parents more comfortable too! My song sheets are directly behind me so no parent has to figure out the words to the songs. I sing the same songs every week, so usually by week 3 they have them all memorized. At the beginning of each new 6-week session I will usually introduce a new rhyme or two and rotate out others. This keeps the content fresh and helps me not stab my eyes out from singing the same 10 songs for months and months.

Bouncing Babies (0-9 mos) Set-up

For my 1 year old storytime I use a slightly different set-up. The pillows and blankets are just tripping hazards for their unsteady toddling and I need more space for the group. I used 10 spots for this picture, but I usually set down 16 of them and have a wider circle. I set down these small cushions only for the first session. If I put them down each week kids will eventually start fighting with them and it becomes a huge distraction for some. Setting the room up the first class helps everyone understand the shape I want them to sit in, and is worth the headache for the first session. I've tried simply telling the caregivers to sit in a half-circle and they all seem to forget what it looks like if I don't do the cushions at least once.

Little Movers (10 mos-23 mos) Set-Up

Nametags: I still hand these out as the caregivers and babies are walking in. This helps me memorize their names and get a count for how many are in attendance. I remind caregivers to stick nametags on their child's back so they can't reach them. If your class is small enough, make a nametag for the parents too!

My Introduction: I always start each session with a welcome. For the first two classes of a session I will also explaining the timeline of what will be happening.

"Welcome to Storytime! My name is Miss Brooke and I'm so excited to see you all today. We're going to read great books and sing a lot so everyone get your singing voice ready! All of the words to my songs are on the wall, so please sing with me because your baby loves to hear your voice. If your little one is having a rough day feel free to step out and come back if you can. If you need to leave early I promise I won't be offended. Just come back and try again next week. Is everyone ready?"

Song Wall: 11x17 sheets taped together and laminated

Timeline:  "Storytime usually last about 15-20 minutes. We always start about 5 minutes late to give everyone enough time to come and settle in. Once storytime is over I will throw out book and toys and you all can stay and play! This is a great time to make new friends and have some one-on-one time with your little one."

Caregiver Introduction: The first few classes of a new session I also go around the circle and have my caregivers introduce themselves, their child, give the child's age, and a fun fact about them. The fun fact can be stressful for some caregivers at first so I always say, "You can tell me something they love or something they hate. Tell me about a milestone they just hit or just something you just really want me to know about them!" I start out the exchange with my name, how long I've been in La Crosse, and a fun fact about myself. This helps break the ice because I always make it super ridiculous. The introductions combined with the nametags make learning names much easier for me.

Books: I have changed the way I approach books in infant and baby storytime. I used to go into storytime with a plan for 3 books. This is WAY too much in my opinion. I did it this way because that's what I read on a lot of other outlines and in different books. I stuck with this for about a year before I realized I was making reading a forced activity. Yes, I would still have a few kids by the third book but the majority were lost. I now do one book as a reader and the group does one book with me for choral reading. Two books for the entire storytime. The rest is singing, talking, dancing, and rhyming. This has made the storytime experience a much more enjoyable one for both myself and the participants.

Outline:

Opening Song

Opening Rhyme/Movement

Flannel Game (Little Mouse or The Shape Game)

Rhyme/Movement

Book

Rhyme/Movement

Rhyme/Movement

Rhyme/Movement

Choral Reading (Usually a different book each week. I always start and end the session with Brown Bear, Brown Bear by Bill Martin Jr. though)

Shakey Eggs/Scarves/Parachute (I usually only do one during each class. Sometimes I will hand out shaky eggs to get the parachute back though.)

Nursery Rhyme

Closing Song

Buy it here

Playtime/Bubbles

Playtime: Are you playing at the end of your baby storytimes? If not, start immediately! It is such a great time to make those bonds with caregivers and to encourage and model play with their babies. For a list of toys I use check here. I always put a stack of books out first and then my toys.

If I have a storytime immediately after one group I will put my clean-up bin down 15 minutes before the next class. If there is no group in the programming room after then I let them stay as long as they want.

I also stopped handing out bubbles to my parents. They were such a headache. They spilled everywhere, parents didn't really want to use them, and kids wanted to just drink them. Instead, I took the genius advice of Kendra from Read, Sing, Play and bought this bubble blower from Gymboree. Stop whatever you're doing and buy this immediately. You basically become a bubble machine. The kids will flock to you which is nice for the parents who want a moment to catch up with their storytime buddies. Plus you get a lap full of babies!

A refill bottle lasted me an entire year, because you have to use so little of the solution to get SO MANY BUBBLES! Gymboree should really just hire me to sell these at ALA. Maybe we can make a black market type thing at ALA? So many possibilities....



Organization: I started storing my toys in plastic bins. This keeps kids from losing focus during the storytime. I also have the book I'm reading and the bubbles (ignore them in this picture) hidden in my tote bag. Keeping my table more organized has really helped with the overall chaotic-ness of storytime. I know exactly where everything is and the kids can't grab anything off the table I don't want them to have. Invest in plastic bins.

Cleaning: I use Lysol wipes on everything after my storytimes. I take the pillow covers and quilts home every other week to wash them. Any item I give to the babies, I assume they will try to eat so I plan accordingly with how I'm going to clean it before my next class.

Final Thoughts: This is simply what I do. Maybe you read 5 books every storytime and love it. Maybe you read and sing the same books every single storytime. Maybe you think you storytime is the best and you are never going to change it.

My challenge to you is to ask yourself- Do your kids and caregivers love it too? Are you reading all 5 books simply so you can say you read 5? Are your caregivers starting to roll thier eyes when you announce it's time for The Itsy Bitsy Spider. Have you had some caregivers who have heard the same books and songs for multiple years?

Please just stop and reflect about your storytimes. If you're struggling to plan or not enjoying them as much as you once were then it's time to change it up. Try only reading a few books. Try singing more and using different songs. Use CDs. Try whatever you want, but simply try something different. As our dear friend Albert Einstein said, "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result." Don't let storytimes drive you insane! I hope it is one of the most enjoyable and rewarding parts of your job. Need to talk about it or have questions? Email me at berasche at gmail dot com.

WLA 2014 - ALL THE THINGS!

I had a fabulous time swooping into the Wisconsin Dells (Wisconsin's own little Las Vegas) this past week. I would highly reccommend that everyone go and check their state association out. While I love ALA, it's really lovely to go to a conference where the majority of people you meet are within driving distance. It's also really refreshing to see how many amazing things are happening in your very own state! We have some amazing people in Youth Services in Wisconsin. Go join the Youth Services Section if you're already a WLA member. If you're not, then definitely become one. If you don't live in Wisconsin, then just move here. Totally worth it, I swear.



The safari-themed hotel really helped set my mood for the conference. For the record, I am not being sarcastic. I truly loved the outrageous hotel. I know people thought it was outlandish (it was) and over the top (absolutely), but I loved it. I loved the stupid lobby music, all the little shops, restaurants, and tourist trap places. I would go to the Dells on a monthly basis if I had the vacation time! So there.





I had the pleasure of presenting two different programs while at WLA. I was lucky enough to present with some of my favorite colleagues Linda and Sara. We decided to be as ridiculous as possible and Sara made up a Chuck Norris themed presentation. I'll include the slides because they're amazing. Unfortunately, you'll literally get nothing from the slides other than laughs. We did give really great information though and you can get all the info about our tours FIELD TRIP ADVENTURES! here  here and here. Sara is a genius with slide decks.

Don't Go On Tours: Go On FIELD TRIP ADVENTURES! from Brooke Elizabeth

Next, I presented with two lovely women, Tiffany Meyer and Ann Hardginski, about preschool programming. We wanted to encourage people to break out of their storytime ruts, and try new things! Throughout the presentation we talked about a variety of different programs and our crowd had great questions. The slides are included below. If you have any questions about a specific program email me and I will forward it on to the right presenter.

UnStorytime: Programming for Preschoolers from Brooke Elizabeth

Early Literacy Center- Mail Time Part 2

For part one of this post go on ahead over here.

Once our new and improved Play and Learn area had been up for about a week, I knew there was more we could be offering our patrons. While they absolutely loved the mailboxes and delivering letters, I realized they would also love WRITING letters to their favorite characters.

Our amazing aide made our bulletin board directing kids to ask for supplies at the desk. Since I'm a huge failure I unfortunately didn't take a picture of it. The kids just had to come to the desk and we'd give them a small piece of cardstock to write/draw their letter on. The project went well with a few people doing it the first few days. Kids would write their letters and "mail them" in our play mailbox. However, it wasn't the smash hit I was expecting.

Luckily, I work with a bunch of geniuses. Our teen librarian, Linda, suggested having the character write back to the letter writer. This quickly became one of the greatest and coolest things we've ever done.

We started posting the letters on our bulletin board with the attached responses. We had over 40 letters within 3 weeks. We had a core group of about 6 kids that came back at least once a week to see what their character had said back and to write another one. We also had adults checking the board each week because they thought the letters were hilarious. One mom told me that her kids had talked all week about who they were going to write their letter to. Another mom came up after we had taken the board down to request that we write a letter for her daughter who was very upset that Elsa hadn't written back to her. I wrote one really fast and her face lit up like I had given her a bowl of candy.

Seriously, if you have a bulletin board or wall space in your library then you should do this project. It's simple and fun, plus writing the letters back is an amazing job. Here are some of my favorites...

Early Literacy Center- Mail time! Part 1

We were very fortunate this year to receive a Community Foundation Grant to upgrade our Early Literacy Center. We purchased some big furniture pieces that we'll be rotating out quarterly. This will help keep the area new and exciting for our littlest patrons.

We decided to open our newly renovated area with one of our coolest purchases. A mailbox of course!

Kids love getting mail, and they love pretending to be a mail person even more. After visiting the Eau Clair library and seeing their great early literacy area and reading the great mailbox ideas over at Libraryland I knew we had to jump on the mail train. 

We made mailboxes for some of our favorite characters and wrote each of them a letter. This was my favorite part.

This has been a huge hit in our Play and Learn area. Kids can organize the mail, deliver the mail to their friends, and then mail the letters back in the mailbox. I've seen kids pretend to be a mail person for over 30 minutes. It's pretty awesome.

We've also added a writing component to our area, but I'll talk about that more in part 2!

Hello Again!

Hello dear friend! I am so sorry that this blog has been abandoned over summer. Life has been a little crazy over in La Crosse.

Imagine this... but with children.
 I'm the guy in the yellow coat.

Our summer reading was a smashing success! We went prizeless this year, and you can read about it over on Marge's blog. TL:DR is that it was amazing. Kids loved it and so did the parents. Everyone should go prizeless next year, ok?

Oh, and I GOT MARRIED!

My name is now legally and officially Brooke Newberry. Isn't that the best last name for a children's librarian?! I am changing my name professionaly as well. Since no one knew how to spell or pronounce my maiden name I don't think this will cause too much heartache.


Storytime outlines (I have about 12 of them) will start going up next week, and then we will hopefully return to our regularly scheduled, slightly less sporadic, blogging. Thanks for sticking it out with me friends!

Play, Baby, Play! and other fun ALA adventures

Two weeks ago I was in Vegas for ALA Annual! It was a fabulous, hot, and humid time. While there I was able to attend a committee meeting, some great presentations, and even give a few myself. Since I can't figure out if my slides are actually available through ALA or not, I decided to go ahead and post them up here.

I was lucky enough to present with the fabulous Kendra of Read, Sing, Play. We are both extremely passionate about early literacy programming, storytimes, and cheap wine, so it was a perfect match for us to present together. We decided to do an IGNITE session where each slide advances every 15 seconds and we have 5 minutes total.

It was seriously one of the coolest things I've ever done. It's amazing how much information you can get out in 5 minutes! It also makes you realize how much people ramble in presentations when they don't need to (guilty).

I'm assuming the picture is a little blurry because of
 the manic energy we were putting out there. 

Here are all of our slides:

I also presented with the fabulous joint chiefs of Storytime Underground about storytime. We had a great crowd and they had some amazing things to share at the end of the presentation.

Four Guerrilla Storytimes happened at ALA as well. The wrap-ups can be found over at Storytime Underground. Everyone was amazing and I found like 10 new things that I want to start doing in storytime immediately.

The highlight of my conference was the Newbery-Caldecott Banquet. I was very fortunate to receive the Kate McClelland and Kathy Kransnieqicz Scholarship since this was my first ALA. The scholarship was sponsored by Random House so I was invited to sit at their fancy table at the banquet. I sat next to Clare Vanderpool, Matt De La Pena, and Markus Zusak! It was probably the coolest night of my life. I couldn't even look at Markus for like 75% of the banquet. They were all very lovely to me.

My biggest regret was that I didn't have enough free time to go and find Elvis. My dad is absolutely obsessed with him and I knew he would be slightly disappointed in me. As I was getting off the plane in Minneapolis, I heard a familiar voice behind me. It was ELVIS! He had followed me all the way back to Minnesota. He said he was coming to visit family and only impersonated in the winter usually, but I think it's because he knew I needed to tell my dad that I was successful in my search.

The Biggest Baby Shower Ever – Community Outreach

The community I live in is amazing. There are so many great opportunities for library outreach. We go to school fairs, parent read nights, mom & baby classes, daycares, and anyone else who will invite us. One event that I look forward to every year is the Biggest Baby Shower Ever!

It is coordinated by the Mayo Clinic and groups come from all over to participate. There are about 20-30 booths at this event, with everything from the YMCA to Mary Kay represented. The library has been lucky enough to get invited to this event for the past few years. Around 250-300 people attend each year, and it is a great opportunity to meet new patrons!

I always make sure to have a bright and fun table. The event is located in a Children's Museum, so I'm competing against a lot of background items to grab their attention. I also make sure to have some sort of "giveaway" for parents. Fact– New moms love free things.

This year I brought plastic keys and rubber duckies to hand out. Each had a sticker with our logo and website on them. Truthfully, I found both of the items in the basement (lots of buried treasure down there) and decided I was tired of seeing them every time I went downstairs.

On the table I included some of our alphabet sensory bags we use in storytime, board books, a handout about storytime,  and a sign-up sheet for our Baby Book Bees initiative. I also set up a little reading nook in the corner with paperbacks of popular characters for older siblings who were getting bored. I had quite a few parents thank me for this last minute addition.

They only got the bib if they signed up for Baby Book Bees.
Once people started showing them off
I had lots of questions about the program!

The main thing I highlight when I talk to people are our storytimes. We offer speciality ones for infants, babies, toddlers, and a family storytime. I also talk about all of the different resources we offer such as DVDs, books, audio books, etc. I encourage expecting moms to use us to read parenting books. You'll only read them once or twice and they're usually $25-$35 each! It's way more cost efficient to get a library card and check the books out from us. I keep our tri-fold pretty sparse and use lots of white space. I usually only have parents for a minute before they walk away, and the pictures always make them stay a little longer.

I love this event because I get to meet potential patrons for the first time, while also seeing some old friendly faces. I always leave this event feeling successful because of the number of people I speak to, but this year the success was even more apparent. We opened up storytime signups the following day and my infant storytime is almost full 2 days into sign-ups! I've never had an infant storytime fill up, so we're all feeling pretty happy about this.

Does your community have an outreach event like this? If not, you should convince your library to organize it. It is a great resource for new parents and it's a wonderful way to reach new patrons!

Baby Storytime –Farm

Opening Song
Welcome Song

Opening Rhyme/Movement
Hands are Clapping

Early Literacy Tip
If your child really loves a certain page of a book, then stay on it. When we all read our board book together we don't all have to stay on the same page. If your child really loves the black sheep or red bird then stay on that page a little longer and start talking about it! Every time you talk to your child you are introducing them to new words and building their vocabulary.


Shape Game
Today, I hid a cow. You can find out about this game here.

Rhyme/Movement
This is Big

Book
Farm Animals by Simms Taback
All of these giant fold-out books are perfect for baby storytime! I use them often and they're always a winner.

Rhyme/Movement
Itsy Bitsy Spider

Rhyme/Movement
Roly-Poly

Book
I Went Walking  by Sue Williams
The sing song rhythm is perfect for baby storytime. Plus there's plenty of opportunity for animal noises!

Rhyme/Movement
Giddy-up, Giddy-up

Rhyme/Movement
Where is Thumbkin

Choral Reading
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?  by Bill Martin Jr.
or
Ten Little Fingers and Tel Little Toes by Mem Fox

Egg Shakers
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
The Egg Shaker Song

Closing Song
Zoom, Zoom, Zoom

Playtime!

Baby Storytime – Opposites

Opening Song
Welcome Song

Opening Rhyme/Movement
Hands are Clapping

Early Literacy Tip
Your little one is going to get up and move during stories. That's ok! They are still absorbing the language and seeing you enjoy reading even if they're not looking at the pages.

Shape Game
Today, I hid arrows. You can find out about this game here. (As an aside, figure out how you're going to explain the concept of opposites before storytime. It's really hard to define it without using the word 'opposite'.)

Rhyme/Movement
Itsy-Bitsy Spider
We did it once like normal and the second time around we said the Great Big Spider! The kids thought it was hilarious when I used my deep voice.

Book
Quiet Loud by Leslie Patricelli
All of her board books are fabulous! Parents and babies just adore them.

Rhyme/Movement
Where is Thumbkin

Rhyme/Movement
Roly-Poly

Book
Yummy Yucky by Leslie Patricelli

Rhyme/Movement
Giddy-up, Giddy-up

Rhyme/Movement
The Elevator Song

Choral Reading
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?  by Bill Martin Jr.
or
Ten Little Fingers and Tel Little Toes by Mem Fox

Egg Shakers
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
The Egg Shaker Song

Closing Song
Zoom, Zoom, Zoom

Playtime!

Baby Storytime – Hello!

This was my first storytime of a new session. We took a long 3 month break, so I wanted to make sure everyone felt comfortable. During the first 2 storytimes I always introduce myself, talk about why we're here, and share a rough outline of what each storytime will look like.

I also make the parents go around the circle and introduce themselves, their baby, and say a "fun fact" about their child. It can be a new milestone, something they love/hate, or something they just want to share. It really helps me remember the child's name and relieves some of the awkwardness in the room.

Opening Song
Welcome Song

Opening Rhyme/Movement
Hands are Clapping

Early Literacy Tip
It's ok if your child doesn't participate during the songs. They're in a new space and might be nervous. Parents just keep smiling and doing the motions and your little ones will start mimicking you. You're the role models, so they look at you to see what they should be doing.

Shape Game
I know I said I was going to get rid of this, but I chickened out. So many kids request it or come up and immediately start saying the shapes that I know it is a great thing. I'm just sick of it. Maybe if I make new flannel shapes I'll feel better about it? Something to add to my to-do list.

Today, I hid a happy face because I love when people say hello to me! You can find out about this game here.

Rhyme/Movement
Itsy-Bitsy Spider

Book
Say Hello Like This by Mary Murphy
This book is new and adorable! It is a perfect book to use with babies. You should all go buy it right now.

Rhyme/Movement
Row, Row, Row Your Boat

Rhyme/Movement
Giddy-up, Giddy-up

Book
Hi, Pizza Man! by Virginia Walter
A storytime classic. It's a little long for my crowd, so I usually clip a few pages. Everyone loves waving hello though!

Rhyme/Movement
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

Rhyme/Movement
The Elevator Song

Choral Reading
I finally decided to use books other than Brown Bear, Brown Bear and started purchasing new board book sets for our choral reading time. I went back and forth between these two sets for the 6 week session. I will be introducing new ones each session.

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?  by Bill Martin Jr.
or
Ten Little Fingers and Tel Little Toes by Mem Fox

Egg Shakers
Baa, Baa, Black Sheep
The Egg Shaker Song

Closing Song
Zoom, Zoom, Zoom

Playtime!

Guerrilla Storytime at Northern Waters Library System

This past week the fabulous Marge Loch-Wouters and I visited Asheland, WI. I had a lovely time seeing Lake Superior for the first time, and coming to the realization that Wisconsin is always cold. Even at the end of April.

People are still ice fishing up here!

We had a great time presenting information about our 1000 Books Before Kindergarten, Baby Book Bees, and our Early Literacy Center. Then we wrapped up the day by talking about storytime and having our very own Guerrilla Storytime!

It was a long workshop day and sleeting outside, and we made the decision to keep it short so people could get home a little early. The participants were fabulous and had amazing things to share!

Challenge Question: Sing your opening song

• (To the tune of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star)
  Hands go up, and hands go down
  I can turn myself around
  I can stand up on one shoe
  I can listen and so can you
  I can sit, I'll show you how.
  Storytime is starting now.

Challenge Question: How do you add vocabulary in your storytime?

• When you run across a difficult word, ask kids if they know what it means. If they don't, then explain the word and reread the sentence.
• Make sure you are able to explain the difficult word clearly to kids before storytime. For example, it's really hard to explain 'opposites' without using the word in the definition.

Challenge Question: What is your favorite way to add play in storytime?

• Using puppets. You can have ones that talk, or ones that whisper in your ear. 
• Using fingerplays. It's a great way to break up book sharing and grab the kid's attention.
• Bean bag song from Greg & Steve
• Using fairy tales to role play. First read the story and then go back through and act them out as a group.

Challenge Question: What props do you use in storytime?

• A giraffe puppet with older kids. Giraffes have no voices and make no sound, so when you need kids to quiet down you rub your throat. (putting on your giraffe throat)
• Tell a tale like three little bears and have finger puppets. Let the kids retell it by passing the puppets around. 
• Shakey eggs. If you can't afford to buy them, then just make them! Simply add rice to Easter eggs and hot glue them shut. Wrap duct tape around them for extra strength. 
• Scarves. Great to use when telling a book and having the kids act out the actions. A good way to calm the kids down when singing a song. Also, fun to use with a parachute. 

Challenge Question: Favorite five little... rhyme

• 5 Littel Jack O' Lanterns- Great with finger puppets, flannel pieces, or simply using your hands!
  5 Little jack o' lanterns sitting on a gate
  The first one said, "Oh my it's getting late."
  The second one said, "There are witches in the air."
  The third one said, "But we don't care!"
  The fourth one said, "Let's run and run and run!"
  The fifth one said, "I'm ready for some fun."
  Ooooooo went the wind, and out went the light.
  And the five little jack o' lanterns rolled out of site. 
• 5 Little Monkey- Kids love when the alligator chomps the monkeys. If it bothers your audience you can always have the alligator spit the monkeys out at the end. 

I think the next time I do a Guerrilla Storytime with an entire system, I will give them a little warning before. Over lunch I'll ask them to be brainstorming some questions they have about their storytime and to think of their favorite song/rhyme/book. I think this will help everyone feel more comfortable sharing. 

Even though this was our drive home, it was an amazing day in Ashland! I can't wait to come back and visit when everything isn't so white, icy, and cold. Maybe late August?

On the Road with Preschool Mojo - Part 1

I'm presenting at the Northern Waters Library System in Ashland, Wisconsin today. Welcome new friends! If you're an old friend, then I'm glad you decided to come back. Marge is over here talking about our morning presentation.

Some quick links of things I talked about today...

Here are my early literacy center activities.

I talk about Baby Book Bees over here.

Here's some information about how we set up our iPads.

Some of my storytime plans are over here.

Here's our Pinterest page for everything else!

Also, don't forget to check out Marge's round-up of links. 

Finally, here are some websites to visit when you get tired of looking at mine!

Storytime Underground

Mel's Desk

Read Sing Play

Jbrary

Storytime Katie

Library Bonanza!
Miss Meg's Storytime

Evolving an Early Literacy Area - Part 2

To read the first part of this post, jump over to Tiny Tips for Library Fun! Marge covers how our Early Literacy Area has changed in the past 3 years, and some challenges that have presented themselves. Now, I'll be talking about the work we have done to the area since I came to La Crosse.

When I came into my position a year ago, there was an established Early Literacy Area. It was called the "Play Learn Read" area. However, it was also called the "Tot Spot" and there was signage with these names used interchangeably.

The space was set up well, but everything looked a little beat up. There were laminated shoes on the ground that were peeling and cracked, a puppet theater who had seen better days, and a magnet story with about 40 pieces (The Very Hungry Caterpillar).

I took a few months to get acquainted to both the space and the population who used it before I started making changes. The Youth Services team also discussed what could be changed or improved in the area during this time. We realized that it was primarily the same families coming into the library each week/month and using the area. While the kids enjoyed the space, parents were very bored of doing the same activity each visit.

With all of the above in mind, we decided to make some CHANGES! There were high quality items in the area, but they needed to be changed at a higher frequency and some more thought needed to be put into the activities that were being displayed. I explained my reasons for updating the area to our team and made sure I addressed the issues other staff members had mentioned to me. The staff was ready for a change and were very supportive during our transition period!

My first change was making the magnet board into a flannel board. I simply took a piece of flannel and covered it using Velcro. It didn't look the greatest, but it got the job done. Eventually, my boss took pity on me and bought an actual flannel board to attach to the wall once she saw how successful it was.

Next, we decided to make sure there was a parent messages included with every activity. I put them next to the flannel board, as well as other activities throughout the room. By including the early literacy tips, parents can immediately understand the affect playing can have on their child.

We decided to put a fun game on one of the pillar. I wanted this to be a bright item that captured their attention before they would leave the space.

We also took out the sad puppet theater patrons had been playing with for 6+ months and introduced a new activity. 

We are still working on a name for our area. Our original "Play Learn Read" is a bit of a mouthful and didn't catch on with the public or staff. The second try of "Tot Spot" was confusing to all, since our local grocery store provides a child watch service called this. Currently we're trying "Play & Learn" and we'll see if we still like it in a few months.

The most important decision we made was to keep the space updated and fresh. The flannel story and wall game get changed out monthly. The table activity usually stays out for 2-3 months. This has made the area appealing to both children and their parents. Best of all, everything is cheap! I've made every activity for the center, and usually with supplies I find lying around the library.

Starting a venture like an Early Literacy Center can be so rewarding! However, you have to think about sustainability when the decisions are being made. Will you reasonably be able to keep the space is good condition? Do you plan on updating it weekly? Monthly? Quarterly? Set deadlines for yourself on how long you want activities to be out and keep them. You will be setting yourself up for success!

Come Be My Friend!!!

GUESS WHAT?!
I have a job opening for you. Come and work at the La Crosse Public Library!

A pretty accurate depiction of
Brooke & Sara in the office every day.

Do you love youth services? 

Seriously, look at the cuteness.

Do you love working with the public?

Love programming for all ages?

Rocky works well with everyone.

You'll have an opportunity to work with fabulous staff members, 

live in a beautiful city,

Found on google images, but legitimately La Crosse, WI.

and do amazing things! In the 14 months I've been here, I've had numerous opportunities to try new things. The staff is willing to try just about anything once, and everyone pitches in to figure out what went wrong when programs don't work. The staff is one of the biggest perks of this job.

You'll have some amazing support behind you both professionally as well as in the community. Our department is always busy and each day brings new challenges and victories.

Also, you get to work with Marge Loch-Wouters! This woman is amazing. Her mentoring has been invaluable this past year and I've grown so much professionally because of it. This is the chance of a lifetime. 

The official job posting is over here. Go read Sara's take on it over here. Here's Marge talking about it over on her blog.

So what are you waiting for? APPLY! If you have doubts then email me. As Sara Bryce will tell you, what's the worst thing that could happen? You don't get the position? Guess what, you'll never get a job if you don't apply for it. The position closes on May 2nd, so hurry up!