Where Are the Toddler Books??

 

In the spirit of Festivus, I'm going to air one of my grievances with the publishing industry - Where are the books for toddlers and younger preschoolers??

I find I am having more and more trouble finding picture books suitable for storytime, particularly for toddler storytime. I currently work at a smaller library and inherited a relatively small and poorly developed picturebook collection that was missing many of my favorite storytime books. Unfortunately, I found that many of these titles were now out of print, or available only in paperback, which is not suitable for a library collection, or board book, which is too small for storytime use. In addition I found that some of my old favorites that used to work in storytime no longer did because they were too long, text-heavy, and/or sophisticated for the younger audiences I was now seeing.

So I have been on a continuous search for picturebooks that are short and simple enough for the younger and/or less-attentive audiences of today, yet still engaging, and I am finding they are very rare these days. It seems that while storytime audiences have grown younger and attention spans even shorter, picture books have paradoxically become more text heavy and sophisticated. So many of them would be great for read-alouds for a slightly older audience of kindergarten or first grade or a one-on-one lap-sit read with a caregiver, but just don't work well in storytime. It is becoming nearly impossible to find good books for toddler storytime in particular, and I've had to resort to buying used copies of older favorites. 

So publishers and authors, this is what I'm looking for in a toddler storytime book:

• No more than 32 pages, 28 would be even better.
• No more than one sentence per page.
• Repeating phrases
• A good rhythm when reading aloud is key!
• Rhyming scheme helps
• Relatable content
• Bright, bold, simple illustrations
• Cuteness or simple, obvious humor is a plus
• Motions to imitate
• Not boring, more than just identifying things or simple statements
• Fun to read out loud
• Onomatopoeia is also a plus
• Reinforces basic concepts in a fun way
• Diverse representation - skin color, body types, disabilities, families, etc.

Here are a few examples of great toddler storytime books; I'm sure there are more, but I'm struggling to come up with titles right now, especially more recent ones:

• Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See and the other books in the Bear series by Bill Martin, Jr. & Eric Carle
• Wiggle, Stretch, and Bounce by Doreen Cronin & Scott Menchin
• One-osaurus, Two-osaurus by Kim Norman & Pierre Collet-Derby
• Clip-Clop and Jingle-Jingle by Nicola Smee
• There's a Dragon In Your Book and others in the series by Eric Fletcher & Greg Abbott
• Bing! Bang! Chugga! Beep! by Bill Martin, Jr., Michael Sampson, & Nathalie Beauvois
• Ten Tiny Babies and others by Karen Katz
• Hello, Baby! by Mem Fox & Steve Jenkins

And finally, a quick note on board books. I'd love to see more large-size board book formats! These are great for storytime because the pages are easy to turn, people can see the pictures, and the kids can't tear them up if they get a hold of them. And, just like with picture books, I'm seeing a trend in very text heavy board books, often board book versions of books originally published in picturebook format. We need more simple board books that are developmentally appropriate for babies and toddlers with simple, bright illustrations or photographs, and either single words or very short (2-3 word) phrases. 

So please, dear authors and publishers, please bring us some great toddler read-alouds in the new year!

And dear readers, if you know of any great books for toddler storytime that are still in print in hardback picturebook format, please leave them in the comments!

Happy Festivus!

The Gingerbread Man - Preschool Storytime

I typically do a "Cookie" theme as an inclusive, holiday-adjacent storytime in December. However, in January a new staff member will be taking over the preschool storytime and really wanted to do a cookie theme as Laura Numeroff's If You Give a Mouse a Cookie is her favorite childhood book. So I decided to give mine a more narrow focus, and made it "Gingerbread Man" themed (or "Gingerbread People" if you prefer, but I unfortunately could not find more gender-inclusive gingerbread books that were short enough for preschoolers).

I greeted everyone and introduced the storytime by talking about how many people like to bake cookies this year, and even more people like to eat cookies this time of year! We discussed who had already done some holiday baking and favorite cookies, which led into our warm-up, an action rhyme that would allow us to pretend to make cookies:

Making Cookies

We are making cookie dough;
Round and round the beaters go.
Add some flour, just two cups.
Stir and mix the batter up.

Roll them, cut them, nice and neat.
Put them on a cookie sheet.
Bake them, cool them on a rack.
Share them with my friends for snack!

Then we sang our lead-in song, "If You're Ready for a Story", prior to our first story. I began with a traditional telling of the classic Gingerbread Man story, which I found in a collection of classic folktales by Usborne unfortunately entitled Stories for Little Boys. Despite the completely unnecessarily gendered and sexist title, it is otherwise a nice collection of classic folktales that are not too text-heavy or dark, as so many are. (It also includes Pinocchio, Under the Ground, In the Castle, and The Emperor's New Clothes.) 

Since most children aren't familiar with the classic folktales, I like to incorporate them when I can for cultural literacy, and to provide context for the contemporary retellings that often have a humorous twist.

Next, we did a counting-down rhyme, with clipart images of gingerbread people on the magnetic board (I had intended to make nice felt ones, but ran out of time):

Five Little Gingerbread Men

Five little gingerbread men in a row,
Not gonna eat one no, no, no!
But they look so sweet from head to toe
Crunch, munch...uh oh!

Continue until...

No little gingerbread men in a row;
Wasn't gonna eat one, no, no, no.
But they looked so sweet that it's sad to tell
Crunch, munch... oh well!

I followed that with reading How to Catch a Gingerbread Man by Adam Wallace and Andy Elkerton. There are numerous titles in the How to Catch... series, and while I have found this series to be somewhat hit and miss, this was definitely one of the better books of the series. 

The story is set in a bookstore storytime, where they are reading the classic Gingerbread Man story when the Gingerbread Man leaps out of the book and runs away, with the children in quick pursuit. They try various traps in an attempt to capture the Gingerbread Man, but with the help of several other classic storybook characters he always manages to escape. In the end, he decides to return to his story on his own. I loved the way the book featured a storytime setting, and tied in several other classic stories. Though preschoolers may not recognize them all, the adults will appreciate them.

I followed that with another "Five Little Gingerbread Men" rhyme, instead of the song I had originally planned, due to the small size and low energy of the group.

Five Little Gingerbread Men

Five Little Gingerbread men lying on a tray,
One jumped up and ran away,
Shouting, "Catch me, catch me, catch me if you can...
I'm really fast, I'm a gingerbread man!"

Four Little Gingerbread men... (Count down the numbers repeating the stanza above...)

No more gingerbread men lying on a tray,
They all jumped up and ran away.
I guess I'll have to make more another day,
and next time I'll eat them before they run away.

I skipped the usual "Good-bye" song, and sent the kids to wash their hands (we have a preschool restroom attached to the program room) while I put out the craft and some mini-gingerbread men cookies I happened to find at the grocery store a few days earlier. 

In the past I've gotten the regular Pepperidge Farm Gingermen and given them icing to decorate with, but after discovering most kids don't like them, I decided against it this time. But then by chance I found small packages of mini-Gingerman on sale, and thought that would be perfect; since they were smaller, there would be less waste if kids took one taste and didn't want them. However, these were sweeter and less spicy than the regular Gingermen, and the kids enjoyed them.

For the craft, I had gingerbread houses with stickers to decorate with that I had found in my office when I first started working here, something I presume my predecessor had planned before deciding to retire. I'm not sure where she got them, but similar ones can be purchased from Oriental Trading and Amazon.

While they were enjoying their gingerbread men cookies and working on the craft, I decided to read a third book, The Ninjabread Man  by C. J. Leigh and Chris Gall, because I think it's really cute, I knew at least one of the kids would really appreciate it, and it was just too quiet (a very rare occurrence!). As the name suggests, this is a clever re-telling of the gingerbread man story set in a dojo, with the old sensei making a magical ninjabread man, who runs off to test the speed, strength, and wisdom of the ninjas in training.

How It Went 
It was a bit of an off day. I was looking forward to this storytime, which would be my last preschool storytime as my assistant will be taking over in January to free up some of my time for other things, but at the time it was supposed to start, there was no a single soul in the children's department. I waited 10 minutes, then gave up and went back to my office to work. A couple of minutes later, one of the circ staff came back and said there were a couple of families, chronic latecomers, asking about storytime.

Normally at that point I would've just said, sorry, no one was here so storytime was cancelled, but since I really wanted to do this last storytime, and had dressed for the theme (see below), I told them I would do an abbreviated storytime since it was so late. Since it was just three kids, I skipped over some of the usual intro and warm-up. It worked out, and the kids enjoyed it. I overheard one later telling a friend who arrived at the library later all about it and telling him he should have come. I don't know why, but we really struggle with attendance for the preschool storytime, while the toddler storytime consistently has 12-15 kids, and sometimes as many as 20-25.

I decided to be extra festive, and instead of my usual "Oh, snap!" gingerbread man t-shirt, I went all out and wore a gingerbread woman dress I bought on clearance after the holidays several years ago, which I also wore later that evening to promote the library at the local preschool's "Festival of Trees" where each classroom decorates a tree based on a different picture book. In keeping with the theme of the festival, I decorated a small tree on my table with gingerbread people and animals.

A Day In the Life of a Children's Librarian

As I've said before, there really is no such thing as a "typical" day as a children's librarian; every day is different. One day is mostly researching and planning programs, another day may be mostly meetings, another may be a combination of customer service and collection development, and another may be a little bit of a whole bunch of different things. The only thing they have in common is that I rarely get everything done on my to-do list due to things taking longer than expected, or all the unexpected things that inevitably pop-up and require my attention, and pretty much every day has at least some time spent on programming-related tasks.

Since we were recently required to conduct a time-audit, I have an almost exact, down to the minute, accounting of how I spent my time over a 6-week period, so I'll be able to give a very detailed report of this "typical" Wednesday in November:

• 9:00a - clocked-in, and immediately went to work staging a photo of the toy dinosaurs getting into mischief as part of "Dinovember" (45 minutes)
• 9:45a - checked email (10 min)
• 9:55a - completed policy acknowledgement form (required of all staff anytime a policy is introduced, or changed) and turned in (5 min)
• 10:00a - Worked on book order for patron requests and upcoming programs (25 min)
• 10:25a - Going over storytime planning, resources, and early literacy skills with staff member who will be taking over preschool storytime in Jan (50 min)
• 11:15a - Browsed catalogs with co-worker, looking at furniture and items for proposed dramatic play center (30 min)
• 11:45a - Stopped to answer questions from staff member (15 min)
• 12:00p - Met with teen librarian regarding programming in general, and specifically about a new program launching in 2 weeks that we are collaborating on, and another new program we have been asked to develop (1hr 15 min)
• 1:15p - Lunch (unpaid, 1 hr)
• 2:15p - Walked through children's department to check on things, realized we were out of scavenger hunt sheets, and printed more (15 min)
• 2:30p - Edited staged dinosaur photos from earlier, created a social media post drafts with dino photos and results of kids' vote for favorite dinosaur character from previous day, emailed marketing specialist to let him know they need to be published, and followed up in person (1 hr)
• 3:30p - Kidbrarian appointment (gave kid tour, helped them select books for a display and design a sign for it; 1 hr 15 min)
• 4:45p - Pulled books for monthly book bin to drop off at daycare during outreach visit the next day (40 min)
• 5:30p - Clock out & go home.

This was one of those days I did a little bit of everything: program planning, program prep and set up, program execution, program admin & marketing, outreach prep, collection development, training & supervision of staff, and miscellaneous admin, though just over half of my time was spent on programming in some form or fashion.

I did end up working half an hour over, because I just couldn't quite get everything done in our normal 7-hour workday, and pulling books for the outreach visit had to be done before the next morning. One thing the time audit has helped me realize is that (1) I need to carve out time for the things other than programming, and (2) I need to plan my time and plan ahead a little better, but more on that in another post. 

You also might notice I did not take any paid breaks on this day. Some days I am just too busy, other days I don't feel I need one, but if I do take them when I feel I need one. This is usually on days when I've been on my feet for an extended time, doing more physical or stressful work, or have very busy, hectic programs. Many times I give myself a break just by doing something different, like covering the children's service desk for a while, changing out a display or something, or just taking a quick lap through the library checking in with staff and patrons. If I need a snack, I usually eat it at my desk while working, and I don't count the literal 2 minutes it takes to go to the restroom to pee and wash my hands (yes, I timed it) as an official break.

Going On Safari - Elementary Program and Preschool Storytime

This is a program I did back in the summer; I originally planned it for the elementary aged program, then adapted it for the preschool storytime (see below) the next day. We had an animal show booked that week with animals from around the world, so I wanted to do something with a safari theme. Not knowing if I was going to have any help over the summer or not, I also wanted to keep it fairly simple, without a lot of advanced prep, set-up, or clean-up, so decided on a simple binocular craft and safari activity using inflatable animals (cheaper and take less storage space than plush animals).

This was one of my "splurge" programs for the summer, as purchasing all the inflatable animals was a bit pricey, but they can (and will) all be used again in the future. If you already own larger plush or inflatable animals you can use, it would be significantly less costly to do.

Program: Going On Safari

Ages: 5-10, then adapted for ages 3-5 (see below)

# of Participants: Planned for up to 30, actually had 14 kids, then 8 for storytime

Budget: $165, but bulk of cost was reusable inflatable animals, consumable items cost less than $1/participant

Materials:

• cardboard craft tubes (such as from toilet paper, but I opted to purchase for hygienic reasons), 2 per participant, $0.33 each, 60 for $20
• colored masking tape, $7 for 8 rolls
• washi tape (already had), optional
• yarn or heavy string (already had)
• markers
• crayons
• construction paper cut into pieces sized to fit around tubes
• glue sticks
• tape
• scissors
• hole-punch
• assorted inflatable animals - $138 (The ones by JET were good quality, though scale is inconsistent since they are all about the size of a medium-large dog, so we just said some of them were babies.)
• elephant, $18
• rhino, $18
• zebra, giraffe, & tiger, $40
• alligator, kangaroo & kiwi bird, $38
• monkeys, $14 (poor quality, leak, but will last barely long enough for program)
• snake, $10 (this one was plush)

Activities:

Binocular Craft 

1. Participants could decorate two cardboard tubes however they liked using crayons, markers, colored paper, colored masking tape, and/or washi tape.
2. The tubes were then glued together, as well as taped together by wrapping tape around the middle. [Realized too late that it would have been nice to have something to act as a spacer in the middle to have at a more appropriate width.]
3. Holes were then punched on the outer side of each tube at one end, and string or yarn tied to them so they could hang around the kids' necks.

 

Safari 

1. Prior to the program, my co-worker had made a "fact sheet" for each animal with one or two interesting facts, along with a photo of a real animal, and a checklist of animals to find with a question about each animal that had to be answered.
2. The animals were hidden all around the library, and the appropriate fact sheet was posted next to them.
3. The kids took their binoculars and checklists and searched the library until they found all of the animals and answered the questions, requiring them to have actually found the animal and read the fact sheet. They were reminded that it was NOT a race, it didn't matter how fast they found them, or who found them all first, and there was no running or yelling. I also encouraged them to take photos with the animals.
4. Once they had found all the animals, they returned to the program room and showed one of us their checklist. If they had all the questions answered correctly, they got to pick a small prize (I gave them a small selection to choose from: small plastic animals, slap bracelets, or pop-it bracelets).
5. If they had missed a question or had the answer wrong, I sent them back to find the animal again and get the correct answer (most were because they didn't read the question carefully, a couple accidentally skipped a question), then they got to pick their prize.

How It Went:

I was a little worried some of the older kids would think the binocular craft was too babyish, but they seemed to enjoy being creative decorating them, and most did use their pretend binoculars on the safari. They really enjoyed the safari, and I got a lot of positive feedback from caregivers, too. More animals would make it even more fun! Of course you can use whatever animals you want, and either inflatable or plush. I chose inflatable because I could get larger animals for less cost than plush, and they could be deflated and thus take less storage space. I will definitely do this program again in the future!

Preschool Storytime Version:

Since we had so many cardboard tubes leftover, and had so much fun with the safari, I decided to just adapt both activities to use after the safari-themed preschool storytime the following day. I followed my usual storytime plan, reading Sitting in My Box by Dee Lillegard & Jon Agee and Starry Safari by Linda Ashman & Jeff Mack and singing songs featuring exotic animals ("The Animals in the Jungle Go...", or "If You're a Lion and You Know It"), then did modified versions of the binocular craft and safari afterward, simplifying both in order to be more developmentally appropriate and take less time.

For the binocular craft, we provided fewer options for decorating, skipping the colored paper and washi tape, and just having them color directly on the white tubes with crayons or markers, and using the colored masking tape to attach them together. For the animal safari, instead of sending them out to search for them, I led them around as a group to find the animals together, and read the facts to them, skipping the checklist with questions and prizes. Then they were free to go back for photo ops with the animals.

How It Went: This streamlined version worked perfectly for the preschoolers, and they loved it! One caregiver left me a note over the weekend telling me her child had not stopped looking at the world through her binoculars, and when I saw them again a couple of weeks (or more?) later at the library, the child still had her binoculars, except that the caregiver said they were a different pair, and that she had been obsessed with making them at home since the program. So definitely a hit! 

 

Play In the Sand Day! - Family Program

 

I typically take a programming break in August to do a deep clean and organizing of the program room, plan for the upcoming school year, get in some training and professional development for me and my staff, and just to have a bit of a break after the busy summer, but this year I decided to throw in one special program to tide people over.

Since August 11th is National Play in the Sand Day and I already had play sand and kinetic sand, as well as a stack of sand art and a few sand bottle necklaces leftover from SRP 2022, I decided that it would be a relatively easy, low-cost, low-prep, and fun program to do. Though I initially hadn't planned on buying anything new for the program, I ended up getting a couple of small inflatable wading pools to use rather than the sensory bin (for ease of access by the little ones), another 100 pounds of play sand, and some great sand toys I happened to see on clearance.

Benefits: Sand play is not only fun, it offers several developmental benefits for kids:

• Sensory Exploration - sand play allows kids to experience different textures, temperatures, dry vs wet, as well as movement, how their body interacts with the sand and space, developing tactile, vestibular, and proprioceptive senses.
• Gross Motor Skills - scooping, digging, lifting buckets, using large molds all build muscle strength and eye-hand coordination.
• Fine Motor Skills - using mini molds, spoons, collecting and arranging shells and rocks, sprinkling sand or water, using the pincer grasp all help develop and refine the smaller muscles and coordination of hands, fingers, and even toes.
• Math & Science - scooping, molding and building with sand help develop concepts of volume, capacity, and numbers; sorting shells by size, color or type practices observation and classification skills; mixing sand and water encourages curiosity and experimentation.
• Problem Solving - figuring out the right amount of moisture for the sand to be molded and keep its shape without collapsing or sticking, realizing building too close to the water means a short life for your castle, and trying to build bigger castles all require observation, testing, patience, and perseverance.
• Creativity & Imagination - all open-ended play is wonderful for encouraging creativity and imagination, and sand play has endless possibilities. Build castles with molds or freeform, build something else entirely! Sculpt sand into animals, pretend to be a crab, a pirate, an explorer, a treasure hunter....
• Social & Language Skills - as kids play near each other, they talk together, perhaps collaborate and work together, work out sharing and turn-taking, conflict resolution, and make new friends.
• Boosts Immunity - Children who are allowed to play outdoors and get dirty have stronger immunity than those who do not.

Ages: Offered as family program for all ages, attended by kids aged 1-10 & adult caregivers

Time: Drop-in program, 1-1/2 hour

Budget: $40, all items reusable, already had several items

Materials: 

• Play sand, two 50 lb bags, Lowe's, $7.50 ea
• Small inflatable wading pool, two, $14 ea, Amazon
• Assorted sand toys & molds, already had some, bought a few more on clearance
• Kinetic sand, already had
• Adhesive sand art kits, leftover from SRP 2022
• Sand bottle necklaces, leftover from SRP 2022
• Assorted colored sand, already had
• Assorted shells, already had
• Cafeteria trays, already had
• Mini funnels, already had
• Dixie cups, smallest

Activities: 

1. Sandbox - I filled each small wading pool with one 50lb bag of play sand, along with shells, various castle molds, animal molds, shovels, and other sand toys. Sand was already wet enough to mold; if not, add water.
2. Kinetic Sand - Gave them a scoop (around a cup) of kinetic sand on tray, and provided mini castle and animal molds and shells.
3. Adhesive Sand Art - These came as a kit, and kids just picked up the kit and a tray. Simply peel off the cover from all sections for a given color, sprinkle on the sand, spread, press in, and dump off excess. Repeat with each color until all sections are done.
4. Mini Sand Bottle Necklaces - Dispensed colored sand in Dixie cups, set out funnels and bottles. Kids chose desired colors and using a funnel poured the sand in the bottles in layers. They did this on trays to contain the sand.
5. Book Display - I put together a display with books featuring sand, sandcastles, going to the beach, seashells, seagulls, and sand crabs.

How It Went:

This was a relatively low cost, low effort program, and a good way to make use of re-usable materials and supplies we already had and use up some leftover consumables. I had a good turnout, with about 18 kids of various ages and 12 adults. Considering we are in a small, rural town and school was back in session, this was a great turnout for an after school program. I also had a lot of good feedback, with several parents and grandparents thanking me for having it. They always like it when their kids can engage in messy play somewhere other than home!

I figured I'd be sweeping sand for the rest of the week, but it was surprisingly easier to clean up than I expected. We put everything away, wiped down tables and chairs then put chairs up on tables, scooped all the sand out of the pools into storage tubs, spot-swept the obvious areas of sand, then dry-mopped the whole floor. Finally, asked the custodian to wet-mop the floor that evening while the chairs were out of the way. I would be hesitant to do a program like this on a carpeted floor, but putting tarps down could help minimize the mess.

I would highly recommend doing a program like this, and I may make it an annual event. It has great developmental benefits, is inexpensive, easy, well-received, and a nice bonus program to throw in after summer reading to extend the summer fun just a little longer.

Further resources:

• Play-in-the-Sand Day themed storytime
• "Sand Play: Nature's Etch-A-Sketch" from Pathways.org
• "Developmental Benefits of Sand Play" from BabySparks.com
• "10 Amazing Benefits of Sand Play" from EmpoweredParents.com

Summer Reading 2024 - Reflection

 

Now that summer reading is officially over, it's time for my annual reflection on how things went, what worked, what didn't, and what we might do differently next year. This was the 11th summer reading of my career, the third one that I was in charge of almost all the planning and most of the execution, and I felt that it went really well.

There was a lot of upheaval, restructuring, and staffing changes back in the spring that took a lot of time to deal with and adjust to, and caused a lot of distraction, which made planning summer reading much more difficult and stressful this year. I personally find the planning everything, deciding on programs, booking performers, etc., to be the most stressful part by far, but then once we get past the kick-off, the actual summer is the easy part and goes by so fast. This year everything seemed to go really smoothly and drama-free, and I actually enjoyed it. 

I structured this year essentially the same as last year, with some minor tweaks. We had programs each week for every age-group, plus a family/all-ages program that was either a performer or a family craft, and a fun, low-pressure, non-competitive, not heavily incentivized "Bookopoly" reading challenge that awarded free books at the beginning to get them started, another free book when they turned it in at the end of the summer, entry into a prize-drawing (modest, $25-$30 value gift cards or prizes related to reading or learning), and kids also got some coupons for other goodies that were donated by various restaurants. The Bookopoly board had various reading prompts or learning/literacy related activities, almost the same as last year, with slight update in design to fit with this year's theme (for more details on the Bookopoly reading challenge and link to a template, see last year's "Summer Reading - Going Rogue" post).

Some of the changes this year were:

• This year we did elect to go with the CSLP theme, "Adventure Begins at Your Library".
• We have a new adult services librarian who fully supported adult summer reading (the previous one wanted nothing to do with it).
• Adults were also able to receive free prize books just like the kids for the first time
• We also hired a new teen librarian right before summer, so I no longer had to oversee the teen programming or collection development or entrust it to someone who really didn't know anything about programming.
• I kept programs more simple to reduce my stress levels.
• I tweaked the rules/instructions for the reading challenge, to make it clear that they were supposed to keep it and work on it all summer, not turn it in as soon as they met the minimum number of squares (as happened last summer).
• Dropped registration and tracking prize book claims for the reading challenge, which reduced my workload and made things much simpler for all staff. Participants merely had to pick up the Bookopoly sheet, then turn it in.
• We hired two new children's services staff right before summer, who really stepped up and helped out, even covering several programs when I got hit with Covid during the last week.
  
  

Performers & Costs - fees are generally up another $100 this year, and turnout was slightly less than last year, but it does bring families in who don't attend any other programs. 

• Kick-Off, Petting Zoo ($825) and Explore-a-Truck (free), great turnout
• Steel Drum Band ($600, decent show, very poor turnout to have spent that much)
• Theatre Troupe, Cinderella and Jack & the Beanstalk ($700), good turnout, everyone enjoyed
• Raptor Rehab ($350), decent turnout
• Science Show ($400), good turnout
• Animal Show ($400), good turnout
• Edu-tainment ($800), very good turnout, known performer
  
  

Weekly Themes - I book performers first, then choose weekly themes around them. These are just very loose themes that guide some of the programs, weekly displays, and scavenger hunts, but I don't force every single program that week to fit the theme, or force every program to fit the overall summer theme for that matter.

• Backyard Adventures (native wildlife, outdoor activities)
• Adventures in Space
• Explore the Arts (art, music, dance)
• Fantasy Adventures (fairy/folk tales, fantasy)
• Library Adventures (miscellaneous)
• Safari Adventures (exotic animals)
• Treasure Hunt Adventure 
• Ocean Adventures

Popular Children's/Family Programs:

• Play-Dough - The most well-attended non-performer program of the year! Who would've guessed? 🤷
• Beach Terrariums - Had to turn people away after we ran out of supplies.
• Shrinky-Dinks - Kids LOVED making these! Had a choice of shoe charms or key chains, and though I expected shoe charms to be to top choice, it was actually key chains to hang on back-packs that they most wanted to make. Already been asked to do it again.
• Owl Pellet Dissection - educational, slightly gross, but cool!
• Safari - Made "binoculars" then went on safari throughout the library to find inflatable animals and answer questions about them.
  
  
  

Programs that Flopped:

• Space - though they loved making paper rockets, the activity making constellations with pipe-cleaners and glow-in the dark star pony beads was a flop. Many said it was "too hard" and wouldn't even try it, though some did complete them successfully.
• Secret Codes & Hidden Messages - Not exactly a flop, but though I've done both in-person and hybrid versions of this program successfully before, it was clearly too ambitious for this group. They had a MUCH harder time and took way longer getting through what I'd expected to be fairly quick, instructional activities, and many struggled with the clues of the final treasure hunt challenge, not recognizing call numbers nor being able to used them to find books containing the next clue. They needed LOTS of help and the program ran WAY long. I still had positive feedback from several participants; it just needed to be simplified.
• Fairy Tale STEM - Another that wasn't a true flop, more of a sleeper, as those who did attend really enjoyed it and had fun with the Lakeshore Learning Problem-Solving STEM kits, but it didn't draw people and attendance was very low.
• Tie-Dye Bandanas - A total shock that attendance for a tie-dye program was very low; I'd expected to be overrun! I don't know if it was because we weren't doing shirts, or what. Those that attended did enjoy it, but struggled more with getting their bandanas tied up than expected. Probably would've done better as a "family craft" program than an "elementary explorer" program.
  
  

The Outcomes:

• Children's/Family program attendance held fairly steady, with just a tiny drop. I expected this, now that everything else is back to "normal" there are many other activities and summer camps available than the previous two years.
• Teen program attendance significantly increased.
• Children's participation in the reading challenge increased slightly.
• Teen participation in the reading challenge doubled!
• Adult participation in the reading challenge nearly tripled! Partly due to being able to get free books this time, but mostly to having a supportive adult services librarian.
• Much more engagement with the reading challenge. Even though I reduced the minimum from 10 squares to 5, by tweaking the instructions so that people worked on it all summer and didn't focus on numbers, most participants completed many of the squares, far above the minimum. I also had many more kids and adults talk about working on the reading challenge and asking for book suggestions for various squares.
• Lots of positive feedback from kids and caregivers about the quality of the programming and how much fun they had this summer, several saying it was the best summer ever. Personally, I feel the quality was just as high, if not higher, both of the previous summers. Our current director and I think the difference is more a difference in atmosphere rather than a difference in quality of programming. We were much better staffed this year, with engaged, qualified staff for one, but the previous two years we were saddled with a very incompetent, unprofessional, and unethical director who pitted staff against each other, alienated patrons, and created a very toxic, high-stress environment, and staff morale was at an all-time low. Thankfully she is gone and we now have new leadership, better staffing, and staff are much happier and working as a team again; patrons can clearly sense the easing of tensions and that the environment is more positive, professional, and welcoming.

I was really pleased with how smoothly the summer went, and that I was able to enjoy it, and especially happy about all the positive feedback from patrons. We generally get positive feedback, but it seemed that we had an exceptional number of positive comments this summer, and no complaints. It's always nice to feel that your hard work pays off and people do appreciate what you do.

Next Year?

Since this summer went so well, will we do things very similarly next time? Well, I don't know. Things have changed so that I'm not solely in charge of it any more. Right before summer, in addition to a new adult services librarian, a new teen librarian was also hired, and it was decided to restructure and divide youth services into two separate departments, Children's Services and Young Adult Services, with me as the head of Children's Services and the new teen librarian as head of Young Adult Services. So it won't all be up to me next year, and though I would prefer for us to have a single cohesive, coordinated program for all ages as I think the simpler it is for staff and families the better, my colleagues may prefer to do their own thing. 

One change I'd like to consider, now that I have two colleagues to help with planning, is to make the Kick-Off more age-inclusive. Previously, since I was doing it all myself I had to limit my focus of the kick-off to kids and families, but I would like to try possibly shifting the time from morning (10:30am - 1:00pm) to late morning-early afternoon and add at least one activity geared to attract teens and one for adults, or something that is truly all-ages. I'd also like to add a smaller finale at the end. As for kids and family programs, I am finding I'm really needing to "water down" and simplify my programs compared to what I was doing 5 years ago. Attention spans are almost non-existent, kids and adults alike are having much more trouble following directions, lack problem-solving skills, and have no tolerance for frustration; they want everything to be quick and easy, and will give up if it's not. I'm going to have to figure out how to step back and design programs to help them build these skills.

Other Articles Related to Summer Reading:

• "SRP 2023 Summer at the Library" - Last year's summer reading reflection
•  "Summer Reading - Going Rogue" - for more details of the Bookopoly Reading Challenge
• "True Confessions" - My past love-hate relationship with summer reading
• "The Inconvenient Truth of Incentivized Reading Programs" - Why research does not support the effectiveness of incentivized reading programs
• "Evidenced-Based Summer Reading Program Design" - Designing more effective summer reading programs that actually support reading, based on research
• Annotated Bibliography - articles related to incentivized reading programs and increasing reading motivation and practice
  
  

Now, time for a programming break to clean, re-organize, get in some training and professional development, and make plans for the next year!

How did your summer go? What worked and didn't work for you? What changes have you made, or will make for next year?

Beach Terrariums - Family Program

 

I was looking for a family craft that loosely fit the "Ocean Adventure" theme for our last week of summer reading, which had the overall CLSP theme of "Adventure Begins In Your Library", and somehow the idea of a beach-themed terrarium popped into my head, though it took me a little bit to figure out exactly how it was going to work.

Ages: Family, all-ages

Budget: About $3.75 per terrarium. This was one of my more pricey programs, but I also had some really inexpensive ones, so it evened out.

Time: This was one of the faster programs, taking only 40 minutes or so (which made up for my treasure hunt program the week before involving secret codes and hidden messages that ran WAY over, at an hour and a half!)

Materials:

• terrariums - I got spherical plastic ones about 4" in diameter from DollarTree for $1.25 each, larger and cheaper than what I could find elsewhere, total of 34
• air plants - $55 for 50 plants, Amazon (there are many different options available). I bought more than I needed because it would have been the almost the same price for fewer, and I figured some would die in transit (only 2 did), soaked in water for 30 minutes the day before the program
• resin figures - packs of 3 for $1.25 at DollarTree, assorted (sandcastles, bucket of sand, coral, flip-flops, lighthouses, shells, starfish), 12 packs.
• tiny shells & starfish - $12 on Amazon, came with 50 starfish and a jar of 800 shells
• larger shells - these were from my personal collection from a long-ago vacation
• sand - we already had play sand that I use for the sensory bin that I got from Lowe's for $5/50lbs
• glue - from our stock supplies
• craft sticks - from stock supplies
• paper bowls - from stock supplies
• small dixie cups - from stock supplies
• measuring cup
• forceps - left over from previous owl pellet dissection program
• air plant care sheet
  (I ended up with about a dozen plants, 3 resin figures, about 12 starfish, and maybe 2-3 tablespoons of the tiny shells leftover)

How-To:

1. I had them pick up the following supplies as they came in: terrarium, paper bowl, craft stick, forceps, dixie cup with 1/2-1 Tablespoon of small shells, and a few of the larger shells if they wanted. Glue and a small amount of dry sand were placed at each table.
2. Next, I called them up a few tables at a time to get sand in their bowls, roughly 1/4 Cup.
3. Add about 1/2 Tablespoon white glue to sand, and mix until it comes together, adding more glue if needed (this is to prevent the dumping of loose sand in the car or home; you could also use kinetic sand if you want to spend a lot more or have a small group).
4. Press sand & glue mixture into bottom of terrarium, sprinkle just a little dry sand on top, and arrange shells as desired.
5. While they were completing step 4 I went around and had them pick one resin figure out of a bowl without looking, to be fair, and they added the figures to their terrariums.
6. Then they selected their air plants (there were a few different types) and added them to their terrarium, being careful to just set them on top of the sand, not pushing them into the sand.
7. And for the final touch, I went around the room and gave everyone a tiny starfish to add.
   

How It Went:

This was a super popular program! So popular that I had to turn away 3-4 families due to all the terrariums being taken, which I really felt bad about, but I had purchased all I could find at all 3 stores in my area (not available online). I've never had this many show up for a craft program before! I had included "while supplies last, first come-first served" in my description (registration just doesn't work for us) and those I had to turn away at least seemed understanding. There was one other hiccup; UPS lost the package of air plants for several days, but they miraculously turned up the day before the program with only 2 dead out of 50 plants.

Other than that, it went really well, and those attending really seemed to like it. It was so popular, I will definitely do some other version of a terrarium program again in the future!

New Books - Preschool Storytime

 
This was a bit of an "off" week, as it was the week of the Fourth of July. Our numbers are always low for this week, so we back off on the programming a little bit. The holiday fell on the day we would normally have had the elementary program, and instead of booking a performer I just did a very simple family Lego program. There was no weekly theme, and I had a couple of new books that I really liked, so decided to forego a theme for storytime and use them.

We started with a "Hello" song, followed by introductions and expectations, then this month's warm-up song, followed by our lead-in song:

Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes

Head, shoulders, knees and toes; knees and toes.

Head, shoulders, knees and toes; knees and toes.

Eyes and ears and mouth and nose,

Head, shoulders, knees and toes; knees and toes.

If You're Ready for a Story?

If you're ready for a story, stomp your feet!

If you're ready for a story, stomp your feet!

If you're ready for a story, if you're ready for a story,
If you're ready for a story, stomp your feet!

(turn around, sit down, clap hands, pat knees, say "shh"...)

For our first book I choose The Wrong Book by Drew Daywalt and Alex Willmore, which starts out as a perfectly normal book, presenting objects/animals/people and saying what they are and what they say. On the first spread, a red apple is shown, and the text reads "This is an apple. And apples go 'Crunch! Crunch! Crunch' when you eat them." However, things soon begin to go hilariously wrong when the book says that a pretty flower smells good and says "Chugga, chugga, Chooo-Chooo!", followed by a puppy that the book says is a bicycle and goes "Buurrp!". The silliness and mis-information continue, much to the consternation of the serious bookmark.

This book is super silly, and super fun to read aloud! It would be even better if done with two readers, one reading the main text of the book, and the other reading the part of the bookmark, which I realized as I was reading it and really wish I would've thought of earlier, in time for a second person to prepare. This would be a great book for elementary classes, too.

After reading such an incredibly silly book and getting our sillies all wound up, it was time to shake them out!

Next up was another new book I ordered primarily to beef up my selection of beach/sand related picture books. The Squish, by Breanna Carzoo, tells about a poor little sandcastle that keeps getting knocked down. He gets stepped on, hit by a frizbee, rained on, wiped out by waves. He tries picking himself up, dusting himself off, and rebuilding himself taller, to no avail; he still ends up getting squished. Will he give up and just stay squished?

This story starts out a little bit funny, a little bit cute, and a little bit sad. The messaging about dealing with trauma felt a bit heavy-handed to me, and I felt took away from what could have been a fun, cute story (which is what I thought I was ordering). But the kids didn't really notice, and it might be a good book for someone who needs that message, and it can be interpreted as dealing with frustration when things don't work the way you want them to and trying again, which is the spin I put on it for storytime.

I decided to stop there rather than attempting another song, book, or rhyme and sing a quick "Goodbye" song, followed by activities and play time.

Activities

Since I expected a very small turnout, I just planned on two activities, figuring I could always pull out more if we needed to.

• Kinetic Sand - I gave each child a couple of handfuls of kinetic sand on a tray, along with a handful of shells, 2-3 mini castle molds, and 2-3 animal molds.
• Sensory Bin - This week it contained rice and several different kinds of beans, along with measuring cups and spoons.
• Soft blocks - we got these out for the one younger sibling who was too little for the other activities.
  
  

How It Went

It was a weird morning, being the day after the Fourth of July. I expected a small crowd, and at start time only one family was there. I waited a couple of minutes to see if others would show up, but none did, so we went ahead and started. After we got going, 3-4 other families trickled in, the last one not arriving until we were almost finished with the storytime part. Other than that, it went well. I think kids that are a little older, 5-8 years old would appreciate the humor in The Wrong Book even more.

Wiggle - Toddler Storytime

 

My toddler storytimes often don't have a strong theme, since we use the same songs/rhymes all month, and I can't always come up with activities that are developmentally appropriate and strongly tie-in with the book, and this was one of those times. Themes can be fun and help give direction, but sometimes it can unnecessarily complicate things, so I don't worry too much about whether I have one or not (for a more in-depth discussion of themes, please see my previous "To Theme, or Not to Theme" post).

This was the first week of the month, so we have new songs/rhymes (other than the Hello/Goodbye and lead-in songs, which only change every few years when I get tired of them). 

Hello

Hello, my friends, hello.
Hello, my friends, hello.
Hello, my friends at storytime;
Hello, my friends, hello!

Followed by introductions, expectations (we have so many late-comers I've started saving expectations for after the greetings and hello song), then a warm-up song with movement, followed by two songs with manipulatives (scarves for this month).

Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes

 Head, shoulders, knees and toes; knees and toes.
Head, shoulders, knees and toes; knees and toes.
Eyes and ears and mouth and nose,
Head, shoulders, knees and toes; knees and toes.

(repeat 2x, faster each time)

This Is the Way....

This is the way we wave our scarves,
Wave our scarves, wave our scarves.
This is the way we wave our scarves,
Because it's fun to do!

(shake, twirl, scrunch, throw, look through)

Popcorn!
(to the tune of 

Popcorn kernels, popcorn kernels,
(wave scarves overhead)
In the pot, in the pot.
(scrunch into ball)
Shake them, shake them, shake them;
(shake)
Until they POP! Until they POP!
(throw in air)

(They LOVE this one so we usually do it three times.)

Then it was time to settle down for our story with our lead-in song:

If You're Ready for a Story

If you're ready for a story, stomp your feet.
If you're ready for a story, stomp your feet.
If you're ready for a story, if you're ready for a story,
If you're ready for a story, stomp your feet!

(turn around, have a seat, clap hands, pat knees, say "shh")

I'm finding it is becoming more and more difficult to find books for storytime, especially toddler storytime, as kids' attention spans are becoming shorter and shorter, but today I settled on an older book that has toddler time written all over it! 

Wiggle by Doreen Cronin and Scott Menchin is a fun read-aloud that is perfect for those shorter attention spans as it encourages the kids to move along with the cute dog that is narrating the story, and it has a very pleasant rhythm and rhyme, which I've observed seems to hold their attention better. Wiggle is part of a movement trilogy, which includes Bounce and Stretch.

After that we worked on our ABCs and 123s with the "Alphabet Song" (to the traditional "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" tune) and "Ten Little Bubbles" (first counting up, popping bubbles, then counting down). Bubble time generally turns into a toddler mosh pit! 

Following bubbles, I announced we were done with the storytime part and would go ahead and sing our "Goodbye" song in case we didn't get to say goodbye to all of our friends later, but that we did have activities afterward.

Activities
I put out a variety of developmentally appropriate toys and activities afterward:

• Busy Boards with various locks and fasteners to open and close
• Puzzles - Chunky, simple wooden puzzles with animals or vehicles
• Foam Blocks
• Sensory Tubes
• Sensory Balls
• Stacking/Nesting Cups
• Paper & Crayons
• Sensory Bin - with a variety of beans and rice with measuring cups and spoons
• Magnetic gears
  

How It Went

Everything went well, though I am finding that now that I am getting steady attendance, those that started as new toddlers a year or two ago are turning 3 (or already have), and I have a new bunch of 1-2 years olds, I feel like the age range (1-3) is too broad and the older kids are taking away from the experience of the true toddlers. 

I have started trying to gently suggest the older kids (who don't have younger siblings) move to the preschool storytime by changing the stated age range for toddler time from 1-3 years to 12-36 months and reminding the group that we have a preschool storytime for ages 3-5 and that it is usually a smaller group and less chaotic, but so far, no one has moved up. I'm not sure if it is a scheduling thing, they just like the toddler storytime better (more songs and movement, and less books than preschool), habit, or what. This is the conundrum I will be trying to figure out how to manage over the next few months.