Youth Services News

Newsletters are archived on the OLIS website.

OLIS will be offering non-competitive grants to all public libraries to support reading and learning programs this summer. The program will reimburse pre-approved expenditures for programming at libraries this summer which fall into OLIS’ priorities for summer programming. Each library will be eligible for $500 for youth activities and $250 for adult activities. Library systems may request an additional $250 per location for youth activities.The grant application will open March 8 and an informational webinar is scheduled for March 8 at 2 pm.

The time has come for your students and patrons in grades 3-5 to vote for their favorite book among the RI Children’s Book Award nominees for 2021! All voting and program evaluation will be completed online February 1 – March 15.

March 19, 2pm

Learn more about the impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had and will have on youth in our communities. Discover the emotional and behavioral responses you are likely to see and how you can help support youth by managing your own responses to current events.

This webinar will be presented by Bradley Hospital. The Zoom link and accompanying materials will be emailed the one week before the webinar.

Children's Services Roundtable

Youth services library staff serving children are invited to discuss current topics of interest and network with colleagues. In preparation for this discussion, please submit topics for discussion by emailing the RIYAC listserv or by submitting this form: https://forms.gle/qX8p7gNzjzUe3q4VA

Unless otherwise noted, CSRT meetings will not be recorded. Notes will be available after meetings and will be linked on the CSRT LibGuide.

March 22, April 21, May 18, June 14

3pm - 4pm

Young Adult Roundtable

Youth services library staff serving tweens and teens are invited to discuss current topics of interest and network with colleagues. In preparation for this discussion, please submit topics for discussion by emailing the RIYAC listserv or by submitting this form: https://forms.gle/FPHnz45rR45okWJG6

Unless otherwise noted, YART meetings will not be recorded. Notes will be available after meetings and will be linked on the YART LibGuide.

March 10, April 6, May 6, June 2

10:30am - 11:30

March 3, 11am

Please join Luke Miller creator of Prenda Coding Club as he demos this exciting new coding tool for kids. This is a brand new area for EBSCO and they are excited to offer a coding resource for kids to learn this valuable skill and have fun while doing it right from their public library.

Prenda Code Club is a self-paced learn-to-code software for kids ages 8-18. Through hundreds of coding tutorials and dozens of real-world projects, this high-impact educational e-resource prepares the youth in your library community for jobs and provides meaningful life skills such as critical thinking and problem solving.

Stop by our virtual office to check-in and chat with OLIS Youth Services Coordinator Danielle Margarda. Danielle will be available the first Wednesday of each month to answer questions, help problem solve, listen, or just say hi. Register to receive the Zoom link and join anytime between 2:30pm and 3:30pm. Can't make virtual office hours or prefer a private meeting? Email Danielle at danielle.margarida@olis.ri.gov to schedule a phone call or Zoom meeting.

The South Providence Library has been creating and distributing monthly sensory takeaway bags. The bags include supplies for children to create sensory crafts at home and families are encouraged to share their creations.

Want to explore more virtual/distanced sensory programming ideas? Join fellow youth services librarians to share best practices for sensory story times and inclusive library programs and services. The Children's Sensory Support Group's next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, March 9 at 1pm.

Have something cool happening at your library? Email danielle.margarida@olis.ri.gov to be featured in an upcoming newsletter or share directly with YS colleagues by emailing the RIYAC listserv.

February 23, 8:30pm

Register

EmbraceRace's Talking Race & Kids webinar will feature a discussion with children's illustrators Grace Lin, Oge Mora, and Yuyi Morales. Hear their experiences as children who didn’t see people who looked like them depicted favorably (or at all) in books and media and learn how adults can support kids to use drawing as a tool for seeing and honoring others.

March 4, 1pm

Register

Join ALSC for this free webinar centered on supporting school partners.

Dakota County Library’s Youth Services Manager Renee Grassi will share strategies and ideas you can utilize to help advocate for K-12 learning resources to school librarians, teachers and other educational professionals to more equitably serve youth and families in your communities.

We Need Diverse Books announces the sixth annual Symposium​ ​on​ diversity​ ​in​ ​children’s​ ​literature,​ ​co-hosted by​ ​the​ ​Library​ ​of​ ​Congress.​ ​The​ ​Symposium,​ ​titled​ “Listening, Learning, Creating Communities,”​ ​will be​ ​moderated​ ​by​ ​Deborah D. Taylor, Coretta Scott King/Virginia Hamilton Lifetime Achievement award-winning librarian and educator, and will include panelists Traci Chee, Robin Ha, Daniel Nayeri, and Kacen Callender.

The​ ​Symposium ​will​ ​be​ ​held on ​Friday,​ ​March​ ​12,​ ​2021, followed by the Walter​ ​Dean​ ​Myers​ Awards​ ​for​ ​Outstanding​ ​Children’s​ ​Literature Ceremony. The Symposium and Ceremony will be held virtually. Award-winning author Laurie Halse Anderson will serve as Ceremony’s Emcee. The event will begin at 1:00 PM EST and will appear on the Library’s Facebook page and its YouTube site.

Learn more at https://tinyurl.com/pbnvfdha

March 24-26

Learn more and register

Building Life-Long Opportunities for Strength, Self-Care, Outlook, Morale and Mindfulness

A free 3 day virtual symposium for library staff focused on their health and wellness.

March 25, 1pm-3:30pm

Register

The New England Roundtable of Teen and Children's Librarians (NERCTL) invites youth services librarians from across New England to their virtual unconference for open dialogue, collaborative brainstorming, and lively discussions.

About the guide:

In the summer of 2020, the project team worked with 137 library staff in the United States to learn how they are supporting their communities during the COVID-19 pandemic, when library buildings were fully or partially closed. COVID-19 was the impetus for this work, however, as the process launched, the country saw increased civic unrest resulting from the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Tony McDade, and Dion Johnson. As a result of the multiple crises facing the nation, this work took on an expanded role with a focus on the multiple crises facing the country.The project team created a Field Guide that maps the essential tasks that public library staff must enact before and during crises. While this Field Guide focuses on supporting non-dominant youth and families, the Field Guide can be adapted to serve the needs of other age groups at any time.

(Shout out to the team at the Providence Public Library who's Teen Squad is highlighted in the guide!)

View the guide.

Thinking of organizing or promoting a Citizen Science event or program at your library? April is Citizen Science Month and SciStarter has free, customizable resources you can use to plan and promote your event! https://scistarter.org/citizensciencemonth-resources

Talk Story: Sharing stories, sharing culture is a joint initiative by the Asian Pacifc American Library Association and the American Indian Library Association that provides $750 grants to libraries, museums, schools and organizations that provide culturally accurate programming to Asian, Pacific Islander, Native and Alaskan Native youth and their families.

Applications are due by April 1, 2021. Eligibility details and past winners can be found at www.talkstorytogether.org/grants.

A Spring 2021 Webinar Series featuring Library and Information Science Scholars discussing contemporary conversations on race, gender, sexuality, class, and information equality. This webinar series is part of the launch of GSLIS' new Information Equity, Diverse Communities, and Critical Librarianship Track. Webinars will not be recorded and closed captioning will be available for the live sessions.

#BlackBoyYALit: Seeing Black Boys in 21st Century Young Adult Literature

• Thursday, February 25th, 12:30-1:30pm
• DeAnza Williams, iSchool University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
• Register Here

Information Access, Systemic Oppression, and Incarceration

• Thursday, March 25th, 12:30-1:30pm
• Dr. Jeanie Austin, San Francisco Public Library
• Register Here

On Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Surveillance through Digital Library Tools

• Thursday, April 8th, 12:30-1:30pm
• Sarah Lamdam, Professor of Law at CUNY and Mijente Immigrant Defense Project
• Register Here

Listening at the Library: Surveillance in the Stacks Gets Smart

• Thursday, April 22nd, 12:30-1:30pm
• Dr. Miriam Sweeney, School of Library & Information Studies,University of Alabama
• Register Here

Professional Learning Network: Children's Literature Presents

Winter Speaker Series

This virtual event is free and open to Librarians and Museum Educators

Featuring presentations by award winning author Jewell Parker Rhodes, children's book author Gloria Repress-Churchwell, David Feinstein from The Eric Carle Museum of Picturebook Art, and ALSC Institute presenter and Illinois librarian Sophie Kenney.

More information can be found on our group page: bit.ly/PLNchildrenslit

Click on each presentation title to a link to our registration

3/5/2021 Resilient Chester! Microaggressions, Allies, and Civility with Gloria Repress-Churchwell

3/19/2021 Diversity's Rainbow with author Jewell Parker Rhodes

This Winter Speaker Series is presented by the Professional Learning Network (PLN.) PLN is an online community which facilitates discussions, idea sharing and learning opportunities. This is the second occurrence in our event series.

Membership to PLN is FREE. There are no license/membership affiliate requirements.

This work is hosted by Reading Success by 4th Grade and the Springfield City Library .

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