Newsletters are archived on the OLIS website.

OLIS and the United Way are collaborating on a mini-conference for public librarians and afterschool professionals who serve children in grades K-5. The day's topics will include:

• typical/atypical development
• summer learning
• service learning
• using play to help stressed children

Registration, including a full program description, will be available at the end of the month. In the meantime, plan to join us Wednesday, April 4 9am-2pm at the Barrington Public Library!

The Brown Bookshelf is celebrating their 11th annual 28 Days Later campaign. 28 Days Later is a Black History Month celebration highlighting 28 outstanding children's authors and illustrators. Check out The Brown Bookshelf each day this month and be sure to promote these honorees!

"The truth of the matter is back then, there weren't a lot books for kids like me..." - Jason Reynolds on finishing a book for the first time at age 17

From OLIS Adult Services Coordinator Nicolette Baffoni:

A recent library journal article entitled Do Libraries Discriminate? examined the results of a field study, in which researchers sent inquires from either "white-sounding" names (i.e. Greg Walsh) or "black-sounding names" (i.e. DeShawn Jackson) to many different types of public service agents including libraries. The results found, with statistical significance, that library staff are less likely to reply to inquires sent from the black-sounding names, and that similarly, responses were less likely to be observably polite. You can read the full Racial Discrimination in Local Public Services study here.

This is, of course, a troubling report and a surprise to many of us who believe wholeheartedly that libraries should be inclusive and welcoming spaces for everyone. For those of you interested in reflecting on your own inclusive practices, OLIS has partnered with Dorcas International Institute to offer a series of workshops on Cross-Cultural Competency. Learn about the language of cross-cultural competency, dig deeper into your cultural lenses and workshop ideas for making your library a more inclusive and welcoming space; learn more/register at the links below.

Cross-Cultural Competency: The Language (February 21)
Cross-Cultural Competency: Digging a Little Deeper (April 6)
Cross-Cultural Competency: Change Makers (May 22)

For more information about this workshop series and OLIS' partnership with Dorcas International, please contact Nicolette Baffoni.

Mock Newbery 2018

On January 17, 2018 a group of 12 children's and school librarians selected the following winner and honor books:

Mock Newbery Medal:

Her Right Foot by Dave Eggers

Mock Newbery Honor Books:

Beyond the Bright Sea by Lauren Wolk
See you in the Cosmos by Jack Cheng
The Stars Beneath Our Feet by David Barclay Moore

Mock Caldecott 2018

The 2018 Mock Caldecott took place on Tuesday, January 23 at the Greenville Public Library. Six participants voted in our mock election, including public youth services librarians and school librarians.

Mock Caldecott Medal:

Life, written by Cyntia Ryland and illustrated by Brendan Wenzel

Mock Caldecott Honor Books:

A Different Pond, written by Bao Phi and illustrated by Thi Bui.
Windows, written by Julia Denos and illustrated by E.B. Goodale

Didn't get to participate in the RI Mock Awards?
Heavy Medal, School Library Journal's Newbery Award blog, and Calling Caldecott, the Horn Book's Caldecott Award blog, are both holding online voting. Check out the titles on both ballots and cast your vote!

You can also find the results from mock award programs throughout the country
on the ALSC blog.

The Newbery, as well as the prestigious Caldecott, Printz, and Coretta Scott King Book Award winners, will be announced on Monday, February 12 at 8:00 a.m. ET at the ALA Midwinter Meeting in Denver, Colorado. Watch the awards live via the ALA Youth Media Awards webcast.

From the RI State Council on the Arts:

The GiveMe5 Teen Film Festival is an opportunity for RI teens aged 13-19 to showcase their 5-minute (or less) films and get feedback from professionals. The program is sponsored by the RI State Council on the Arts, in cooperation with the RI Film and TV Office, RI Film Collaborative, URI Media Education Lab, RI International Film Festival, and RI Arts Learning Network. All Rhode Island schools and community media programs are eligible to submit up to 3 films for consideration. Films must be 5 minutes (or less) in length (thus the name GiveMe5!). Film entries can be either fiction or non-fiction, including but not limited to live action (narrative, experimental, documentary, public service, music videos) or animation (stop-motion drawings, claymation, computer animation). A panel of judges, including the RI Film and TV Office, select the films to be screened at the Festival. The panel may also select entries for broadcast on the Rhode Island PBS television show Teenage Critic and/or other broadcast venues. Examples of Student work from past GiveMe5 Teen Film Festivals and Labs can be found on the program’s Vimeo page at: https://vimeo.com/giveme5.

You're Invited to Mystic Aquarium's Librarian Day!
Open to all library staff!

Saturday, February 10, 2018 10:00am – 3:00pm (Last event check-in at 2:30pm)

Let us help you bring books to life! You and a guest are invited to join us at the aquarium and learn about our edcuational programs that are specially designed for libraries. Then, explore our indoor and outdoor exhibits for a fully immersive Aquarium experience.

Advanced registration is required

Admission is free for registered library staff (with a valid library ID) and one guest between 10:00am-2:30pm on Saturday, February 10, 2018. Please note that admission is valid for this date only, is non-transferable and additional guests can purchase admission tickets at regular aquarium admission fees.

From the Global Family Research Project:

A little less than one year ago, together with the Public Library Association (PLA), we published IDEABOOK: Libraries for Families, a first-of-its-kind resource assisting library leaders in creating welcoming spaces, programming, and connections with families.

Today, we are excited to announce the launch of the Living IDEABOOK, a digital publication and actively updated extension of the original IDEABOOK. The Living IDEABOOK features examples from libraries across the country and provides library leaders with a learning hub for discussing and sharing new ideas.

We invite you--librarians, educators, families, and anyone who uses a public library--to share new stories of the ways that libraries serve families. You can share your story now by filling out this two-minute form.

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.

Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation Great Stories Club (2/16)
*new* Governor's Workforce Board Grant Solicitation for Real Skills for Youth (2/26)
*new* Talk Story: Sharing Stories, Sharing Culture Grant (3/1)
*new* Brightly 2018 Children's Books 2018 Preview Sweepstakes (3/23)
*new* Better World Books Literacy Grants for Libraries (3/31)
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)

April
RI Library Day (April 14)
National Library Week (April 8-14)
Money Smart Week (April 21-28)
School Library Month
National Poetry Month
Drop Everything and Read (D.E.A.R.) Month

May
Star Wars Day (May 4)
Children's Book Week (April 30-May 6)
Free Comic Book Day (May 5)
Kids Reading Across RI (May 19)
RI Latino Books Month
National Foster Care Month

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