This Week in SALS Youth Services
January 8, 2016
Short and sweet
Fantasy in Middle Grades (book talks), Libraries Transform - Understanding Change, Lessons in Censorship: How schools and courts subvert Student's first amendment rights, and Sustainable thinking. On Monday, starting at 8 am I will be in the audience of the Youth Media Awards and will try and tweet or retweet award winners in real time. Check it out SALS Twitter account @SouthernADKLib
What are your picks?
YMA Newbery Speculation
by Pam Munoz Ryan
Lost in the Black Forest, Otto meets three mysterious sisters and finds himself entwined in a prophecy, a promise, and a harmonica--and decades later three children, Friedrich in Germany, Mike in Pennsylvania, and Ivy in California find themselves caught up in the same thread of destiny in the darkest days of the twentieth century, struggling to keep their families intact, and tied together by the music of the same harmonica.
by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
Find the book
by Ali Benjamin
Find the book
Upcoming Events
2016 Summer Library Program Webinar - Early Literacy manual
To learn more and to register visit CSLP.
Tuesday, Jan 12, 2016, 03:00 PM
undefined
Summer Reading Workshop
Arrival & Welcome 9:30-10 am
Exercise your mind
Jen Ogrodowski, Saratoga Springs Public Library 10-11 AM
Even if you've never tried coding and don't know where to begin, this presentation will offer some suggestions on how to get started in hosting an introduction to coding workshop or series of workshops at your library. We'll go over the free courses offered by code.org and talk about how to pick and choose activities you may want to focus on to accomplish your program goals with the time you have. We'll also take a look at how different activities offered by code.org can be useful if you have a class full of participants with different levels of previous experience.
break
Kathy Ceceri, Author and STEAM educator 11:15 AM -12:45 PM
Kathy Ceceri, author of "Paper Inventions" and "Making Simple Robots," will show you how to create light-up paper designs using only inexpensive LEDS, batteries, and conductive tape! Paper circuits teach kids about electrical circuits, switches and sensors. They can even be used to talk about smart devices, robots, and beginning computer programming concepts such as "if-then" statements and logic gates. For more information on Kathy's hands-on STEAM activity books and programs for kids, go to www.craftsforlearning.com
lunch –byo, snacks and beverages will be provided
Mini Maker Showcase 1:15 pm – 2:15 pm
Libraries throughout the 4 counties are offering maker programs or lending out materials. This is an opportunity to bring some examples of what you do at your library and share them with others. Each person will have 5 minutes to explain their program or materials, then attendees can walk around the room to check out your stuff and ask questions. Space is limited to 5. Jennifer will contact you by January 22nd to let you know if you are one of the lucky 5. Register when you RSVP online.
On your mark get set…
Adam Feldman, Go Kids 2:30-4:00
Go Kids uses "imagination" games and active storytelling to help children prepare socially, emotionally and physically for school and the broader community. Meet Adam, the founder of Go Kids, and learn some tips and tricks to get your community moving, playing, and learning.
RSVP by Wednesday January 27th 2016.
Snow date is February 11, 2016.
Tuesday, Feb 2, 2016, 09:30 AM
Southern Adirondack Library System, Whitney Place, Saratoga Springs, NY, United States
News from LibraryLand
Classics and Popular Large Type Books for Youth
The Clifton Park-Halfmoon Library has recently started a Large Type collection for children and it is circulating well! Our patron for this collection is a child with low vision or an adult with low vision who is reading to a child. Also, there are adults with low vision who enjoy revisiting children’s’ classics, especially as they are accessible to them in LT. We have classic and contemporary titles. Books may be borrowed by patrons within and outside our library tax district, either in person or through ILL. Start your search of the PAC with Large Type in the keyword search, then in the left-hand column, narrow search by selecting Juvenile.
Facebook becoming more accessible
Facebook is an extremely popular social media site with millions of users. Many of those users have some degree of visual impairment. In order to increase accessibility for visually impaired users, Facebook is testing a new feature. This feature utilizes an artificial intelligence that describes photos to individuals. Hopefully this feature will become available sometime soon and libraries will be able to start utilizing it to make their Facebook pages more accessible to all patrons. Read more about this tool here: http://phys.org/news/2015-12-facebook-tools-social-media.html
Facebook is a powerful tool for libraries. The New York State Library has two Facebook pages; one for Ready to Read at New York Libraries, and one for TeenNY. If your library has a Facebook page, like us to receive valuable information about various literacy related topics. If your library does not currently have a Facebook page, consider creating one to further engage with your patrons. It is a valuable tool that is completely free, and takes little time to maintain.
Karen Balsen
Outreach, Networking, and Regional Advisory Team Leader
Library Horror Stories
Outdated heating and/or cooling equipment, out-of-service bathrooms or elevators, over-crowding, water damaged ceilings or flooring… sound familiar?
NYLA is gearing up for Advocacy Day 2016, and we need your help! The 2016 NYLA Budget Priorities include a push for more investment in the library aid construction program, which is why we are soliciting photos from libraries that show the need for increased infrastructure funding. Usually, when we put out a call for photos and examples of how things are going in libraries, we see a huge emphasis on positives – which is awesome, of course, but can really undermine our efforts of asking for an increase in funding!
Select photos will be included in the packets for elected officials, to show them that New York’s libraries need more funding for long-overdue critical infrastructure repairs and updates.
Submit all photos no later than January 31, 2016. Click here to submit photos!
Thank you for helping NYLA advocate for New York’s library community!
Image: Old Bridge Township Library
Southern Adirondack Library System
Email: jferriss@sals.edu
Website: www.sals.edu
Location: 22 Whitney Place, Saratoga Springs, NY, United States
Phone: 518 584-7300
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/salsyouthservices/
Twitter: @SouthernADKLib