Newsletters are archived on the OLIS website.

Hopefully you've had a chance to check out the new OLIS web site at www.olis.ri.gov. The new site has a completely new look and structure that we hope is intuitive and easy to navigate. Some changes related to youth services web pages include:

• the Children’s and YA webpages have been combined into “Youth Services,” which can be found in the dropdown under “Library Services & Support”
  
• KRARI, RICBA, and SRP are grouped under “Reading Programs,” which can be found under “Library Services & Support,” as well as in the right rail navigation of the youth services pages

We're still tweaking the site, so please let me know if you're having difficulty accessing youth services information. In the coming months I will be adding LibGuides to the youth services pages, and plan to build more content in the areas of SRP and continuing ed. resources.

It’s time to discuss and vote for a Rhode Island Mock Caldecott winner and honor books! We’ll read and discuss a sampling of the best picture books of 2017 before voting using the balloting procedures of the real Caldecott committee. We'll also have a picture book giveaway, so bring your book bag!

(And while you're settling in with the books on this list over the weekend, why not whip up a Caldecocktail? Now that sounds like my kind of snowy day...)

Mock Caldecott Discussion and Voting
Tuesday, January 23, 2018
4:00 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.
Greenville Public Library

CLICK AND REGISTER

OLIS will be offering Youth Mental Health First Aid Training on Tuesday, March 27 from
8:30am - 4:30pm at Bradley Hospital.

Youth Mental Health First Aid is an 8-hour training course designed to give members of the public key skills to help an adolescent who is developing a mental health problem or experiencing a mental health crisis. The 8-hour course covers a range of common disorders and potential crises such as helping a young person who is having a panic attack, is contemplating suicide or is struggling with substance abuse.

This training will be held at Bradley Hospital and will be led by hospital staff. Youth Mental Health First Aid is geared towards individuals who desire to learn more about responding to a youth ages 12-18 in behavioral crisis. Because this training is limited to 20 participants and requires a significant time commitment, interested participants are asked to submit this application. Professional and paraprofessional library staff working with youth ages 12-18 in public and school libraries are encouraged to apply. Priority will be given to applicants whose primary service area includes tweens and teens.

The application will be open until February 1 and all applicants will be notified by February 2. For more information about Mental Health First Aid please visit Lifespan.

It's book award season!

RI Children's Book Award
The time has come for your students and patrons to vote for their favorite book among the RI Children’s Book Award nominees for 2018! For over 20 years the Rhode Island Children’s Book Award has generated widespread enthusiasm for reading. Thank you to the many schools and libraries in Rhode Island that participate.

All voting and program evaluation will be done online February 1-March 2. Visit the new RICBA web pages (and update your bookmarks!) and stay tuned for more voting info.

RI Middle School Book Award
The RIMSBA Award shall promote and encourage Rhode Island children in Grades 6-8 to read books of literary quality which appeal to a wide variety of reading interests. The intent of this award shall be to encourage children in Grades 6-8 in Rhode Island to read for enjoyment and to promote the use of libraries and media centers.

The committee searches for books that have: -a well-constructed plot and defined story structure -strong characterization -striking language -vivid setting -appeal for readers in Grades 6-8

In March 2018, students in grades 6-8 vote for their favorite book to determine the year's Rhode Island Middle School Book Award winner. Teachers and librarians will have ballots for readers who have read three or more nominees to cast their vote for the winning book. In April 2018, the winner of the Rhode Island Middle School Book Award will be announced, as well as next year’s nominees list.

For further information, please visit our site: https://tinyurl.com/RIMSBA

or Follow us at Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rimsbacommittee/

RI Teen Book Award

From January 22-February 28 teens in grades 9-12 can vote for the 2018 RI Teen Book Award choosing from a list prepared by librarians, teachers and educators. To make voting even more exciting, we are offering free books as prizes and incentives for both teen voters and voting stations in public and school libraries across Rhode Island. We are offering one free bundle of five books to any school or public library voting location. These books can be used as giveaways to teen voters. Stations may select a random winner for all five books, give away a free book to the first five voters, or get creative! The voting location with the most votes will receive 50 brand new books, all of which are recently published teen books, featuring popular authors, titles and sequels. These books can be added to libraries, used in classrooms or given to students. Voting locations with the second and third highest amount of votes will receive 40 and 35 books, respectively. To register for our book giveaways and find voting ballots, visit our website riteenbookaward.org. Please note, only one voting station per school. Questions? Contact us at riteenbookaward@gmail.com.

This February 16-25, the Providence Children's Film Festival invites audiences of all ages to enjoy nearly 100 feature-length and short films—including live-action, documentary, and animation—made by filmmakers from around the world.

The Festival takes place at main venues within walking distance of downtown Providence and at satellite venues across the state. With more than 10 days of screenings, filmmaking workshops and free activities, along with post-film presentations that help deepen the film-watching experience, this year's Festival brings a world of film to even more Rhode Island youth and families. Film descriptions, trailers, locations, tickets, FAQs and Reel Connections presentation information can be found here.

Posters and additional information for display in your library will be arriving via delivery. Also, be sure to check out the PCFF Film Hub for a film directory, film guides, and more. You can also search the OSL catalog for a listing of PCFF selected films that are owned by RI libraries. If your library owns PCFF films, or you have these films on order, be sure to request PCFF DVD/Blu-ray labels to help families easily locate them in your collection.

Last year, more than 113,000 students, parents, and educators participated in SurveyWorks, a school culture and climate survey that helps illustrate what is working and what can be improved in Rhode Island schools.

Are students engaged in their learning? Do parents feel welcome in their school community? Are teachers included in decision-making with school leadership? These are the kinds of important questions asked through SurveyWorks, and this year, we want to engage even more Rhode Islanders in the discussion.

In particular, we’re focused on increasing family participation, because parent voices are too often left out of the discussion when it comes to their child’s education.

That’s where our public libraries come in.

Attached are flyers in English and Spanish that we hope you may consider displaying in your library. On the flyer, you’ll note that it encourages parents to visit your Reference Desk for help. If you are willing to support this effort, we can provide you with instructions on how to access and navigate the SurveyWorks website, as well as a customized list of school codes for your community. Each school in the state has a unique code for SurveyWorks, and we are happy to generate a list for your city or town, if you are willing to help local families complete the survey in the library.

The SurveyWorks window will be open from January 16 to March 30, 2018. Schools will select two-week windows in which to more heavily promote the survey, but parents can complete the survey at any time during the full survey window. The survey takes approximately 20 minutes from start to finish, and is available in English and Spanish. Schools have a very limited number of paper copies available, but with your help, we are hoping to transition to an almost entirely online administration. If you have any library events in that survey window at which you think it could be helpful for RIDE to attend and promote SurveyWorks, please let us know and we can work with your team.

Thank you for your support, and if you are willing to help us in this effort, please contact Meg Geoghegan at Megan.Geoghegan@ride.ri.gov for more information and for a list of your local school codes.

Aim High: Supporting Out-of-School Time Programs Serving Disadvantaged Middle School Youth (1/26)
Coretta Scott King Book Awards Donation Grant (1/31)
USSBY Bridge to Understanding Award (1/31)

*new* Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation Great Stories Club (2/16)

Bank of America Foundation Grants (varies)
Library Pipeline: Awesome Foundation Innovation in Libraries Grant (due between the 1st - 15th of each month)

Graduate Certificate of Professional Studies in Youth Experience

applications accepted until February 16

Excite Transformation™ For Libraries

application for cohort 2 training in RI due 6/14/18

February
World Read Aloud Day (February 1)
Take Your Child to the Library Day (February 3)

March
Read Across America Day (March 2)
Teen Tech Week (March 4-10)

Registration for all OLIS winter/spring 2018 continuing education programs is now open! Check out all the offerings and our new look!

Email: danielle.margarida@olis.ri.gov
Website: http://www.olis.ri.gov/
Location: 1 Capitol Hill Providence, RI 02908
Phone: 401-574-9309
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/olisri
Twitter: @olisri