Hi all! Wow, I have really neglected my blog here, haven't I!? My goal this month is to post weekly about the events that are happening at the library/in my life, because sharing is caring, right!? And because I want to be able to look back on these posts as a reminder of where I came from, and where I'm going in my career :) At the beginning of February, I started two new storytimes -- a Literacy Lapsit on Monday Mornings and a shared Silly Storytime on Saturday mornings. So, how have they been going? Literacy Lapsit: To begin with, Literacy Lapsit has just been going OK. Like I said in previous blog posts, I really have relied on the help from different blogs (specifically jbrary and miss meg) as well as talking to the ladies of jbrary and miss meg on Twitter, and attending my friend Katy's baby storytime, to really frame and plan my own literacy lapsit (SO THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!!!). I also did a lottttt (or, what I felt was a lot) of outreach -- so far the numbers have been pretty low...on average I have 1-2 families that attend. I have a standard baby storytime plan, but I find myself tweaking it because some weeks I may have one baby and a parent, and others I'll have a baby, a 3 year old, a 7 year old, and an 8 year old (which, those weeks are AMAZING because the older boys really want to help the babies have a fun time in storytime, so it was no sweat off my back at all! I was grateful that they were so excited to participate!) But I've definitely had to change the focus to encompass all ages, rather than just babies. My plan is to do some more outreach, and then maybe even market it as an "all ages" storytime, like our Wednesday storytime is marketed, because that storytime gets a TON of kids and parents every week (including two different daycares that come in for it.) So, maybe Monday isn't a good day? Or 10 AM isn't a good time? Or maybe I just need to get the word out more? Or maybe this community is just not interested in having a baby storytime? I'm not sure what the answer is, but if anyone has any suggestions -- PLEASE let me know! I'm open to any and every thing! I know it's only been about a month of my literacy lapsit program, but I really want it to be successful! Silly Storytime: Silly storytime is our Saturday storytime from 11am - 12pm, and it's marketed as ages 2-5, though sometimes we get older and sometimes we get younger. I share this storytime with the other Youth Services Department members, because I'm not here every Saturday. This one DEFINITELY varies in the numbers we get. Some weeks no one will show up (like on Valentine's Day..I was so sad!) And other weeks we'll have 6 or more show up! So I think the Saturday one will definitely catch on and continue to grow. It really just depends on what people are doing with their weekends. Other Events: In February, we also had two major Youth Services Events -- A Valentine's Day Party and a Mardi Gras Celebration! I was minimally involved in both (Because I was in charge of manning the desk while these parties went on) BUT they were still SO much fun, So I thought I'd include some pictures from those events as well! The kids really respond well to those types of events that we put on, so hopefully library events will only continue to grow :) | |
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Hey all!
I have really been slacking on posting about my jam-packed week last week, which included: attending a baby storytime! So, as I've previously stated, I'm starting a literacy lapsit storytime for babies (ages 0-24 months) and their caregivers. While I've done a ton of research in different storytime books, talked to the ladies from Jbrary, and perused many websites and articles...I thought it would be a good idea to actually sit in and see how a baby storytime is run! I put the request out there to the world (aka facebook) and got a ton of responses from my fb friends to attend their baby storytimes. I decided to go to a friend from grad school's storytime, and she was nice enough to explain what she does and how she sets everything up, before her actual storytime session. And let me tell you, Katy's baby storytime was so much fun! The kids were having a blast, and I even picked up a few ideas that I am definitely going to try myself! -- including, using bubbles, incorporating some sign language, and a really great shaker song! So, thanks Katy for sharing your infinite baby storytime wisdom with me! :) -Julia PS. I've included some pictures from the baby storytime I attended, below!
Hello All! Welcome to my first Blog Post at "Miss Julia's Life in the Library." I'm Julia and if you want to find out some about me, check out my "About" section -- but what you really need to know is that I love ALL things storytime and I hope to focus on those aspects of my library life, for the most part. There are SO many great storytime blogs out there, and I've probably perused all of them, and have used many things from other storytime librarians in my own storytimes -- so THANK YOU! I think my favorite part of librarianship is that we are all willing to help each other out and share ideas. So, this is my forum to share some of my ideas! Along with storytime, I love storytelling, listening to audiobooks (I just finished all of the Harry Potter audiobooks this past summer, and if you haven't given them a listen, please DO! Jim Dale is amazing!), singing, pop-culture, feminism, cats (and cat videos, of course), tweeting, and crafting (because who doesn't love a good craft). So, this is it for now. My storytime sessions in my new Youth Services Librarian position (which I started this past December) begin next week! Please think good thoughts for me, and wish me luck! -Miss Julia |
Miss JuliaYouth Services Librarian. Interested in storytime, pop-culture, books, singing, feminism, proper usage of the Oxford Comma, and cats. Archives
September 2016
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