Parish Literary Festival

Our libraries hosted Dr. J. Patrick Lewis, the U.S. Poet Laureate for Children this week for our first-annual Parish Literary Festival.

Pat, as he insists everyone call him, is engaging and informative.  If you are looking for someone who can hold the attention of kids of all ages while teaching them about the writing process and poetry, Pat is your author.

For proof positive, see this darling response from a Parish primary student:

People are our brand

You've seen the discussions swirling around.

Books are our brand, says one. No, this limits libraries, says another. Ebooks, 24/7 access, social media, and information are what we're about.

While I agree with both, I think they're incomplete. The best brand for libraries? People!

By meeting the immediate needs of our users, anticipating their future needs, and reaching out to new users, we're living our mission statements.

This means we'll want to provide books in all formats, help our patrons use and produce information, and meet the needs of people no matter when or where they occur.

Are things our brand? Nope. Service is our brand. People are our brand.

You can't make this stuff up

Last week eighth graders were in the library looking for biographies for an upcoming project.

"Do you have a book about Anne Frank," one girl asked? "You know, the girl who couldn't see or hear or talk?"

Another student wanted help finding a biography "about someone in World War II." I showed him several, but not finding any he liked, he asked, "What about World War III?"

Creating a community of readers

For me there's nothing more fun than the smile of a kiddo who has read a book and loved it.  And if it's a book that I recommended, that's an amazing feeling.

And creating a community of readers?  Making progress toward that wonderful and lofty goal would probably be enough for most of us to retire happy.

But how can we set the tone for a community of readers at our schools?  How can we create excitement for pleasure reading when many kids think that's an oxymoron?

Let's start with what it's not.

Creating readers is NOT:
*based on rewards
*mandated
*tested
*computerized
*censored
*judgmental
*solitary

And on the positive side...

What do readers need?
*Choice
*Adults to model a love of reading
*Someone to recommend books especially for them
*Time
*A variety of books in many formats
*An opportunity to share what they read

What can we do to set the tone for a community of readers?

*Read what the kids read
*Read a ton
*Have an awesome collection
*Talk to kids about books
*Provide programming that encourages reading
*Know a wide variety of authors to recommend
*Keep a list of what you read

I'd love to hear your ideas for creating readers--please do share! I'll be happy to post them here, along with a list of programs that may encourage reading.

In the meantime, there's a good book and a comfy sofa that's calling my name...

Yeah, do it for the kids!

My grandsons and I were doing some last-minute Christmas shopping a couple of days ago. Traffic was crazy, and one driver, impatient with the person in front of him, honked loudly.

"Geez," I said, "give the guy a break. It's Christmas!"

"Yeah," chimed in Jake, my six-year-old. "Do it for the kids!"

And when you think of it, that pretty much sums up a great library philosophy. Thanks for the reminder, Jake.