Reading Power

Wednesday, April 4th
8:30 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Barrington Public Library
Pre-registration Required by April 2nd

Registration limited to 3 people per organization/library.

Join us for the first Reading Power mini-conference, sponsored by the Afterschool Leadership Circle and the Office of Library and Information Services. Reading Power is a day-long professional development event bringing together afterschool professionals and youth services librarians to address the literacy and learning needs of children in grades K through 5.

Reading Power 2018 includes workshops that not only integrate literacy with topics such as STEM, social justice, social emotional learning, but that also tackle broader learning issues, such as school partnerships, stress management, and challenging behaviors. We are also very pleased to have 2016 Rhode Island Teacher of the Year Tracy LaFreniere as our speaker for the morning's plenary session!

Please pre-register by April 2nd. When registering, you will be asked to indicate your workshop preferences for both the morning and afternoon session. This event is free and open to all afterschool and youth services staff. Please note that registration is limited to 3 people per organization/library.

For registration and additional information, agenda and workshop descriptions, please see the Reading Power LibGuide.

OLIS has partnered with the RI Department of Corrections (DOC) to help support children, teens, and families impacted by parental incarceration. Through this partnership, OLIS has received books sets to distribute to public libraries statewide. These sets focus on parental incarceration and have been made possible through a grant awarded to DOC by the Rhode Island Coalition Against Domestic Violence (RICADV).

The books in this set have been selected by RICADV with recommendations from OLIS. They include fiction and non-fiction titles that feature a variety of experiences and include activity guides or resources for further reading. Please consider using these books in programming, book displays, and outreach to not only to help families impacted by incarceration, but to help reduce the stigma associated with incarceration.

Books included in this set:

A Terrible Thing Happened by Margaret M. Holms

Clarissa's Disappointment: And Resources for Families, Teachers and Counselors of Children of Incarcerated Parents by Megan Sullivan

Everyone Makes Mistakes: Living With My Daddy In Jail by Madison Strempek

Knock, Knock: My Dad's Dream for Me by Daniel Beatty

Our Moms by Q. Futrell

The Night Dad Went to Jail: What to Expect When Someone You Love Goes to Jail by Melissa Higgins

Visiting Day by Jacqueline Woodson

What Will Happen to Me by Howard Zehr and Lorrainie Stutzman Amstutz

One set will be sent in delivery to each library's main branch in the next few weeks. If you do not wish to receive a book set, please contact Danielle Margarida.

"Every day I talk with young girls and women—from my own daughter to successful Rhode Island businesswomen and elected officials—and I am reminded how important it is to expose young girls to the significance of public service.

Girls should know that with hard work and dedication, the opportunities available to them here in Rhode Island are endless. That’s why I created the “Governor for a Day” essay contest for 5th–8th grade girls.

The winning essayist will be named “Governor for a Day” and spend a day this spring as Rhode Island’s Governor.

Girls: Send me your essays answering the question,

“What would you do if you were Rhode Island’s Governor for a Day?”

This Women’s History Month initiative is open to girls in 5th through 8th grade throughout the state.

Interested applicants should apply by March 16, 2018 and answer this question in 400 words or fewer:

“What would you do if you were Rhode Island’s Governor for a day?”

Students should submit the following information along with their essay:

Name

Age

School

Grade

Home Address

Phone Number

Email Address

Teacher’s Contact Information

Parent or Guardian Name(s)

Applicants may email their essays as an attachment to communications@governor.ri.gov. Google documents will not be accepted.

Or they may mail their essays to:

“Governor for a Day” Essay Contest

c/o Governor’s Communications Office

82 Smith Street, Room 110

Providence, RI 02903

Teachers looking to incorporate the essay into their curriculum should feel free to use the attached worksheet.

Best of luck to all applicants!"

"For example, an early-November analysis of the 698 picture books we'd received so far in 2017 from U.S. publishers revealed:

• A character in a picture book was 4 times more likely to be a dinosaur than an American Indian child.
• A character in a picture book was 2 times more likely to be a rabbit than an Asian/Pacific or Asian/Pacific American child.
• A female character in a picture book was highly likely to be wearing pink and/or a bow, even if she is a hippopotamus, an ostrich, or a dinosaur.
• A child with a disability appeared in only 21 picture books, and only 2 of those were main characters. Most others appeared in background illustrations."

FEMA announced last week that it is seeking applicants for the Youth Preparedness Council, which brings together teens from across the country who are interested and engaged in community preparedness. Council members are selected based on their dedication to public service, their efforts in making a difference in their communities, and their potential to expand their impact as national leaders for preparedness. Students in 8th through 11th grade are eligible to apply.

The Youth Preparedness Council, formed in 2012, offers an opportunity for youth leaders to serve on a distinguished national council and participate in the Youth Preparedness Council Summit in Washington, D.C. During their two-year term, the leaders will complete both a local and national-level project and share their ideas regarding youth disaster preparedness with FEMA leadership and national organizations.

Youth interested in applying to the Council must submit a completed application form, provide two letters of recommendation, and academic records. All applications and supporting materials must be received no later than March 18, 2018, 11:59 p.m. PT in order to be eligible. New council members will be announced in May 2018.

To access the application materials, read about the current Council members, and for more general information about the Youth Preparedness Council visit www.ready.gov/youth-preparedness-council.

ALSC’s Comforting Reads for Difficult Times

CCBC’s 50 Books about Grief and Loss

CCBC’s 50 Books about Peace and Social Justice

presented byMichele Stricker, Deputy State Librarian for Lifelong Learning, New Jersey State Library

Trauma-Informed Early Education Classroom Design: Designing Child and Family-Friendly Spaces for Recovery from Trauma

presented by Ileen Henderson for Early Childhood Investigations

Libraries and Compassion Fatigue

presented by Elissa Hardy from the Denver Public Library for the Massachusetts Library System

Youth Services Programming During a Time of Crisis. Capstone Project of Jamie Gilmore, Grace Morris, Erica Trotter, and Alexandria Wardrip. Library of Michigan, Michigan Department of Education. Information School University of Washington, sponsors.

Resources for Coping with School Shootings and Other Traumatic Events

March 14, 2:00pm-3:30pm

Library Journal: Get a Grip on Grants: From Searching to Spending

March 15, 3:00pm-4:00pm

Active Shooters and Armed Assailants – Responses and Realistic Tools

March 19, 1:00pm-2:30pm

Play Therapy Techniques in Early Childhood Settings: Supporting Social-emotional Learning & Self-regulation Webinar

March 21, 2:00pm-3:30pm

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

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