Friday, November 17

10:00am-4:00pm

View Schedule and Register

Join your neighbors for the annual New England Teen Summit! Library staff throughout New England are invited to this free, virtual event focused on teen services. Author Tiffany D. Jackson will kick off a day of sessions designed to help library staff reimagine teen programs, collections, and engagement.

The next Young Adult Roundtable meeting is scheduled for Thursday, November 16 at 10am. While this hybrid meeting is scheduled to take place at the Warwick Public Library the currently low in-person registration may mean moving this meeting to Zoom only. If you were planning to attend in person please register as soon as possible at https://olis-ri.libcal.com/event/10384021 . This is our meeting to plan for 2024 and I invite everyone to join the discussion so we ensure this community of practice is best serving your needs.

If you cannot join us for the discussion please take a few minutes to fill out this survey by 9am on November 16 so that we can have your input - https://olis-ri.libwizard.com/id/b3ee389e47ca8c1f36b787215cdc4dc8

Each library's Summer Reading Contact (typically your children's librarian/head of youth services) should have received an email with information about downloading the 2024 iREAD Summer Reading Resource Guide. Guides must be downloaded before June 1, 2024. As a reminder, OLIS will be supplying posters and bookmarks featuring the 2024 artwork for public libraries. An interest form will be going out to libraries in early January so please consider whether you would like materials for your Summer Reading Program and check in with your SRP Contact.

If you missed the iREAD webinar “Summer 2024: Read, Renew, Repeat” you can watch the recording at https://youtu.be/z_MO_GbxpJk?si=r3UayMaHnyAR4P78. The webinar introduces the 2024 program as well as the 2025 program Level Up at Your Library and the 2026 program centering on “farm to table.” Rhode Island library staff are invited to contribute to the 2025 resource

guide and to vote on the 2026 slogan (see links below).

The iREAD store is open at https://www.ireadprogram.org/store for purchasing additional thematic materials at your own cost.

• Summer 2025: Level Up at Your Library
• Call for Resource Guide Submissions
• Vote for the 2026 iREAD theme Tagline
• iREAD FAQ's

Don't have time to participate in the Kid Reading Across RI committee, but have a few favorite books to recommend? Use the form below to suggest up to three books for 2024 consideration. The form will be open through December 1 and you may submit as many forms as you like.

The Solar Eclipse Activities for Libraries (SEAL) program has created two "programs in a box" to support library activities celebrating the 2024 Total Solar Eclipse. The Multi-generational Solar Science Kit includes a solar telescope, sunoculars, and accompanying activities for older children, teens, and adults. The Younger Audience Solar Science kit includes a sunspotter telescope, mini sunoculars, and activities for children pre-k through elementary.

• Reserve the Multi-generational Solar Science Kit
• Reserve the Younger Audience Solar Science Kit

A round of LORI Project Grants from OLIS will be announced soon. Have an idea for a project for your library or community but need some funds to get it off the ground? Consider applying for a grant from OLIS. There will be two grant pools; mini grants totaling between $2,500 and $7,500 and large grants totaling $10,000 and $27,500. All certified Library of Rhode Island (LORI) members are eligible to apply. Projects must align with at least one of the OLIS goals: Access, Learning, Engagement.

An announcement will be made on olis.ri.gov when applications open. Check back soon for more details.

The following 2024 RICBA nominated authors are available for library and school visits.

Kelly Starling Lyons, author of Miles Lewis: King of the Ice is a founding member of The Brown Bookshelf, teaching artist and award-winning children's book author. Her mission is to center Black heroes, celebrate family, friendship and heritage and show all kids the stories they hold inside. She has written more than two dozen books for young readers that span from easy readers to picture books and chapter books. Among her acclaimed titles are Caldecott Honor winner Going Down Home with Daddy, Geisel Honor Award recipient, Ty's Travels: Zip, Zoom, Christopher Award winner Tiara's Hat Parade and Sing a Song: How Lift Every Voice & Sing Inspired Generations, a Bank Street Best Book. Her latest picture book, My Hands Tell a Story, earned two starred reviews. Kelly lives in Raleigh and was named to Good Morning America's 2021 Inspiration List: Who's Making Black History. Find out more at www.kellystarlinglyons.com.

Maryann Cocca-Leffler, author of Fighting for YES!: The Story of Disability Rights Activist Judith Heumann , has been a disability rights advocate since her daughter, Janine Leffler, was born with Cerebral Palsy in 1985. Maryann offers both virtual and in-person presentations which focus on inclusion, diversity and the history of disability rights through her books. Maryann also offers Community/Educators Professional Development, and Book Talks. Please see the attached flyer for more information.

The Rhode Island Center for the Book is partnering again with Rhode Island Poet Laureate, Tina Cane, for the sixth year of the Rhode Island Youth Poetry Ambassador initiative. This program establishes a youth poetry advocate position to be filled by a high school student (grades 9-12) who lives in Rhode Island. The application period takes place between November 1st and December 15th 2023. We will announce the winner in January 2023. Application Information here: https://ribook.org/2023/10/25/apply-to-be-the-next-ri-youth-poetry-ambassador-4/

This initiative is designed to bring more poetry directly to our state’s youth and to inspire young people through example. Just as the State Poet Laureate position affirms Rhode Island’s support of poetry, the Youth Poetry Ambassador is meant to validate and support the creative potential of our young people.

The PrepareRI High School Internship Program is a rigorous 7-week work-based learning experience where current Rhode Island public high school juniors, including public charter schools and home school students with identified local LEA, are placed in a paid summer internship during the summer of 2024. The program is looking for high school students who are highly motivated to learn and want to explore the world of work. Students selected into the program will make $15.00/hour, and can earn up to $4,200 for the summer. For the 2024 PrepareRI High School Internship Program, SkillsRI is planning for a placed-based internship where interns will be placed with one of SkillsRI’s 180 employer partnerships. An internship may be in-person, virtual, or hybrid based on the employer work model.

The application is open through January 12, 2024 and can be found at https://prepareriintern.smapply.io/prog/2024_prepareri_high_school_internship_program/
Questions can be directed to Hazel Delgado: hdelgado@skillsforri.com or 401.680.5984 and Michael Dunican: mdunican@skillsforri.com.

The PrepareRI High School Internship Program is a program of Skills for Rhode Island’s Future (SkillsRI) and is funded by the Governor's Workforce Board and Bank of America.

Take Your Child to the Library Day, is an international celebration that encourages families to take their children to their local public library. Take Your Child to the Library Day is held annually on the first Saturday of February. To celebrate, libraries across the country and around the world welcome families with programs, activities, and special events.

Since 2011, more than 1,735 libraries have participated, serving 56.54 million people and drawing attention to the importance of the library in the lives of children.

Last year, the Take Your Child to the Library Day team launched a new public-facing website: takeyourchildtothelibrary.org . The site features information about Take Your Child to the Library Day and the benefits of libraries for children, including an interactive map for families to find a participating library near them. Coming soon is a librarian resource page with information and tools to make participating even easier.

Participation is completely customizable – it can be as simple as handing out bookmarks, or as elaborate as a full day extravaganza. Registration is simple and free through this form. When libraries register, they’ll be placed on the map for their community to find.

Libraries can get information and inspiration from these short videos:

• How to register
• Planning your events
• Making a publicity plan

Take Your Child to the Library Day is coordinated by the Connecticut Library Consortium along with co-founder Caitlin Augusta of the Stratford (CT) Library. Please feel free to contact Amanda Stern at astern@ctlibrarians.org with any questions.

Wednesday, December 6, 5:30pm - 7:30pm

CCRI - Liston Campus Atrium, Providence

Cornucopia of Rhode Island welcomes you to attend the first annual CORI Mixer! They will be hosting special guest speaker Representative David Morales who will be discussing intellectual freedom and EDI in librarianship. Please join us for an evening with friends and colleagues.

MLIS students, non-professional library staff, and non-CORI members are encouraged to attend.

From the RI Holocaust and Genocide Education Commission:

As you begin preparing for the upcoming school year, The RI Holocaust and Genocide Education Commission would like to remind you that April is Genocide Awareness Month. The Commission hopes that you will look for ways to help members of your community learn more about the topic of genocide. Things you might consider doing to mark Genocide Awareness Month include having a display of related books, organizing a book discussion group about an individual book or group of books, having a guest speaker, etc. We know that organizing these things takes time which is why we are reaching out to remind you about April now. As we did in April of 2023, the Commission will be sharing a list of recommended books for Genocide Awareness Month in 2024. We will be reaching out for suggested titles in a few months, so be thinking about any books you might want to recommend. (For reference, here is a link to the 2023 list.) The Commission also hopes to develop a list of related speakers and films. Again, suggestions for this are welcome and we will share the list once it is finalized.

If you have any questions or suggestions at this point, please email the Commission at rihgec@gmail.com. We are currently developing a website to share resources and events so keep an eye out for an email with information about the website.

Penguin Random House and We Need Diverse Books launched their annual Creative Writing Awards program with a new Freedom of Expression Award. In their announcement, they write, “In the face of book bans and attacks on free expression on the rise in America, Penguin Random House and We Need Diverse Books celebrate the power of books and stories. Applicants to the new award will be asked to answer the prompt, “Tell us about one banned book that changed your life and why.”

The Creative Writing Award was founded in 1993 by PRH. We Need Diverse Books entered the partnership in 2019. The shared mission is to help elevate and support the next generation of writers. Over the years, the program has awarded more than $2.9 million to public high school students for original compositions across genres and formats. Categories include the Michelle Obama Award for Memoir, the Amanda Gorman Award for Poetry, the Maya Angelou Award for Spoken Word, and the Fiction/Drama Award. This year will include the inaugural Freedom of Expression Award. Submissions close on January 16, 2024. More information on the award can be found here .