ALA Annual Conference: 2015 Odyssey Award Program

Award Winners, Conference Corner 0

2015 Odyssey Award Presentation

Odyssey Award for Excellence in Audiobook Production
For children or young adults published in the US
Chair: Dawn Rutherford
On the committee you develop “Odyssey ears” So tuned to production notes
463 audiobooks screened.
More than 340 hours of listening each.

Honor Books:

Tim Federle

Five, Six, Seven, Nate! by Tim Federle, narrated by Tim Federle
Tim Federle lived in the Bay Area when he was a child.
Our job as adults is to take our childhood weaknesses and turn them into strengths.
His weaknesses:
–Had a lisp.
–Had a sense of humor that got him sent to the principal’s office every day.
–Was a boy who loved musical theater
Becomes a platform instead of a demerit.

The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place, by Julie Berry, narrated by Jayne Entwistle
Jayne Entwistle

Jayne Entwistle

Books are like oxygen to a deep sea diver (from Flavia DeLuce)
In the theater, instant feedback. No immediate response with audiobooks.
Alone with the book — favorite place to be.
Proves the back and forth conversation, if not as immediate, is still alive.
As an only child, she was practically raised by books.
With this book, the book led her, rather than the other way around.
They had to pause it often because she was laughing too hard.
When she moved to LA, she cried out, “If only I could be paid to read.”

A Snicker of Magic, by Natalie Lloyd, narrated by Cassandra Morris
heard a clip

2015 Award

H.O.R.S.E., by Christopher Myers
Narrated by Dion Graham and Christopher Myers

HORSE

Dion and Christopher:
They read the whole book.
Christopher Myers:
One of the things authors get from ALA is to get outside the studio and get to see the people you’re talking to.
But this book was a conversation. They got to speak and listen both.
The Odyssey Award is about the skill of listening.
The Supreme Court decision was about listening.

Dion Graham: It is a conversation. What we do is about finding ways of listening to each other.

Let’s keep talking, and let’s keep listening!

ALA Annual Conference: YALSA Shark Tank Program Ideas

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YALSA Shark Tank Program Ideas

This was a Young Adult Library Services Association program where members submitted ideas for programs, and “Sharks” critiqued them. (They were awfully nice sharks, but these were good ideas!) I didn’t stay to find out who won funding for their idea, but all had great potential!

Sharks:
Susan Del Rosario
Crystle Martin
K-Fai Steele
David ten Have

Program Ideas:
Pitch 12: Teens and Technology: Interactive 3D display
Virtual world of Minecraft brought to life in 3D.
Project: Have teens create 3D pieces for a display they curate.
Each piece printed on 3D printer and put into a display the teens curate.
Goals: Strengthening STEM skills and increasing engagement with the library
Outcomes: How many teens involved and what they learn.
Sharks: Using Minecraft to scale up to 3D modeling, etc. Takes their interest and builds on it.
Hope you’ll find some way to celebrate what they make.
One-on-one time and small groups to teach kids the software.
Want it to be super collaborative. Help them learn teamwork.
Seeing their pieces will be satisfying.

Jennifer Bishop from Maryland, Carroll County
Use subscription box model — crates exhibited on the public floor for exploration.
TABs will create videos on monthly crate unboxings.
Teens will learn new skills.
Ideas have teens come and innovate through play.
Open access exhibit model along with program model.
Will evaluate success based on surveys.
Plan to run for one year for around $1500.
Sharks: Encouraging teens themselves to promote on social media.
Have you thought about teens determining what is in the crates?
Part of survey will determine future crates.
Do librarians get to play with the crates, too? Staff is trained, too. Someone on each branch can assist.
How will the items survive? Need to get them into the hands of everyone. Teens have been very careful with them.
There will be sheets with some things you can do with each crate.
Encouraging other librarians: There are many resources out there to learn. A lot is trial and error. We can learn along with our teens. You don’t have to be an expert to start.

Katie McBride, Mill Valley Public Library, California.
Building History in 3D
Teach kids 3D modeling skills to build a historically accurate model of their town 100 years ago.
Time Walk project.
Use local history to get community engagement.
Building history in 3D will also impact the Mill Valley community.
Great example of how libraries can be curators.
Will engage students in the past and give them technological skills.
They’ll have groups of teens work on one building at a time.

Kristin Phelps, Whittier Middle School, Oklahoma
Make Your Library Space
They have a variety of borrowed tech toys. Do have access to experts.
Have teens decide what would best meet their learning goals.
Create a Makerspace environment.
Sharks: Use other people’s money as much as possible!
Teens loved the Littlebits. They tried things out before they decide what to purchase.
Has access to university professors, collaboration with university.
More important than tools is relationship with the teens.
Think about collaborative projects when building a makerspace.

Rika, Napa County Library, California
Incorporating Digital Literacy with College and Job Readiness
–Teens are entering the workforce without critical skills
–Youth unemployment is at an all-time high.
Talked and surveyed their teens in interests and what information they needed.
There was a felt need for what colleges and jobs are looking for.
Creating climbers — space in the library — symposium reaching out to community partners to supply this information.
Sharks: How does digital literacy fit into it?
Trying to show them how it links together. Where to go? Will try to have peer teaching, which builds leadership skills.

Shanna Miles, South Atlanta High School
American’s Next Top Maker
90% of kids are economically disadvantages.
10% of class of 2015 are the first in families to graduate from high school.
Many students have outside responsibilities.
Program involves creative competition.
Incentivize digital play in the library.
Students will apply, 6 best ideas will go to next round
Will have maker packs for the next level.
Categories: App development, music production, writing, game development
Final judging will be an assembly with the student body.
Prizes are opportunities toward entrepreneurship.

Sharks will consult on winners.

Newbery/Caldecott/Wilder Banquet

Award Winners 0

Newbery1

Notes from the Caldecott/Newbery/Wilder Banquet

Dan Santat Caldecott Winner
He’s 40, but he feels like a kid pretending to be an adult.
Still feels like he’s pretending to know what he’s doing.
11 years in publishing, over 60 books.
Santat is alphabetically next to Seuss, Sendak, and Silverstein.
Always wanted to believe hard work could mask any shortcomings.
Always worried he’d be discovered as an imposter.
Slow and steady career rise.
Navigated the process by reading reviews.
He reads every single review. To search for answers. What does it take to make a great book?
Had an opportunity to work at Google making google doodles. Would have provided financial security.
Was hoping his friends would tell him to keep it real and making books is what he’s meant to do.
Finally turned it down, because he knew he’d always wonder what he could have done.
Published 13 books in 2014. Terribly tired. Felt like he had nothing left to give. Learned he’s only human. Was angry at himself for being weak. Feeling that he’d peaked. And he couldn’t push himself any more.
He wants far more than he’s capable of. Keeps wanting to work harder.
Just before getting the call, he’d reminded himself he wasn’t good enough.
Maybe is a dangerous place to be.
Magic only happens in fairy tales and feel-good movies.
You just experienced the unimaginable becoming a reality.
After 10 years of working like a dog, he realizes this is a prize that can’t be earned, but he will always try to be worthy of it.
Let him feel he’s good enough. And not invisible.
Other authors and illustrators make it look effortless.
You are the stars in the sky.
Thank you for allowing me to shine with you.
Thanks his wife who supported the decision to decline the job offer from Google.
I’m still a kid pretending to be an adult. His agent tells him what he needs to hear.
Thank to bloggers — Betsy Bird, John Schu, Travis Jonker, Colby Sharp, Nerdy Book Club
A month before Beekle was published, he was worried about the ambiguity of the ending.
To his kids: “Beekle” was his kids’ word for Bicycle. How it feels to be loved unconditionally.
Despite our insecurities, it’s our nature to work our hardest.
You are my proof that I am able to produce something perfect in this world.

Newbery
Kwame Alexander, The Crossover

When I was a child, I wanted to be a fireman and a doctor and a king.
Tonight I feel like a king.
Newbery trance is not kind to clarity and conciseness.
My first librarians were my parents.
Books lined the walls and floors of our home.
Librarian: All about joy and about books.

Honored to be in this room with so many pulchritudinous librarians.
“The most distinguished literature for children” — that sounds perfect.
Went to Key West to write the speech. Went to the Mel Fisher museum — a treasure hunter who found gold.
After 20+ rejections, he finally discovered gold.
About a family — not about his family but from his own familial experiences.
Editor: “Brightly shining yes in a sea of no.”
“How do you win the Newbery?”
Learn words, love words. “Your son intimidates the other children with his words.”

How do you win the Newbery? Be interesting.
Father always hosts a book fair the day after Thanksgiving.
Books are doors to a life of sustainability and success.
Was going to be a doctor.
— Took Organic Chemistry
— Took a course on poetry with Nikki Giovanni
“She smiles like your grandma used to do when you thought you said something profound, but you didn’t.”
“I can teach you to write poetry, but I can’t teach you to be interesting.”

Wrote his wife a poem a day for a year.
Poetry found him.
Use your words. Be interesting. Be eloquent.
His story of becoming a poet.
Living an authentic life, so you’ll have something authentic to write about.
You have to answer the call.
Write a poem that dances. That looks good.
Write a poem that is contagious!

Now that’s a speech!

Wilder Award: Donald Crews
Without his late wife, Ann Jonas, he wouldn’t have gotten on this journey.
They took the fork in the road.
He used to read to his grandma, Big Mama. She said he would go somewhere.
He developed a tendency to doodle in the margins more than work on the problem at hand.
Fork in the road: Applied to and was accepted to an Arts high school.
Teacher asked him about his plans — told him he would apply to Cooper Union.
Failure was impossible.
Fork in the road: Cooper Union.
Graphics teacher told him he didn’t have much talent, but he had the determination to figure out what to do.
Fork in the road: Ann Jonas followed him to Germany and they got married.
Included a book for children in his portfolio. — A to Z
First rejections were in German
Fork in the road: Freelance work.
Failure was impossible.
Fork in the road: Find something only you can do.
Fork in the road: Began to think about his picture books. Freight Train
First book as a full-time children’s book creator.
Parade has a cameo of himself.
Led to Big Mama’s, and now black people fundamental to the books.
Also encouraged Ann to try children’s books.
She supplied the courage to try to be successful artists in New York.
He unreservedly shares any honor with her.

Afterward, a highlight is going through the Receiving Line and getting to congratulate all the Award Winners in person.

ALA Annual Conference: All Hands on Tech

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All Hands on Tech
Explore, Play and Imagine Interactive Tech Time in Kids’ Library Programming

Rachel Nard, Mary Beth Parks, Amy Tooley from Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh

Children are growing up with a wide variety of tech that can support learning.
Not all tech is great. They did research.

Developed a plan, selected equipment, created app guidelines, integrated technology, evaluated the programs.

Build your case first. Look at community need.
Wanted to provide more than just access.
Wanted staff to communicate how they could support learning.
Wanted staff to be media mentors.
Began the project at locations where staff were comfortable with the technology.
Learned about best practices and research.

You can start small. It was scalable.
Developing a Plan
Looked at Fred Rogers Institute statement — was the basis for all their work.
Also used Littleelit as a resource.
Used ALSC resources related to digital media.
Set goals — wanted to create a tech team or a digital librarian position.
Wanted to have developmentally appropriate programs.
Identified outcomes and evaluation.
Researched equipment — selected iPads because of selected access.
Purchased an iPad, headphones, big grips for little hands, screen wipes.
Begin with a purchase, but start small.

Created App Selection Guidelines
Professional reviews
Recommendations/reputable sites
Cost & value
Use & accessibility

Approved App: Daisy the Dinosaur
Reviewed by SLJ. No ads. Free. User friendly. Easily integrated into existing programs. (Robotics program)
It’s a coding app.
Clean interface. Simple coding.

Unapproved App: Reading Rainbow
Peer recommendation. No ads. Fee-based beyond initial free download. User friendly. Easily integrated into existing programs. Ongoing pretty heavily fee-based.

Integrating technology: Programming
Created formal lesson plans for each program as they were starting out.
Very intentional about the use of iPads in the program.
Have used them in Early Literacy storytimes to many other programs.
Use them a lot during outreach.
After the program, check if the learning goals were met.

Program Exploration: Felt Board
Use in any way you’d use a physical felt board. You don’t have to cut out each piece.
Also works well for a storytelling app.
Always tells parents it’s not the app that helps the child learn, but the interaction with the parent that helps the child learn.
Always tell parents they need to be using apps with their child.

Make a Scene Farmyard (Free)
Good for a farm storytime. No gimmick or game, just putting animals in the farm.
Can be used during the storytime or give to families afterward. Always emphasize to parents what early literacy skills apps help.

Toca Robot Lab (school age)
STEM Super Science Program
With Pete’s Robot — ebook
Have used a Bee-bot — a basic, interactive robot
Toca Robot Lab has a maze to send the robot through.

Imagination Builders & Build and Play App
Works on drag and drop skills.

Gardening Thyme & Gro Garden App
Example: composting program and used Gro Garden app to explore how compost works.

Homeschool Explorations program & Leaf Snap app
Leaf Snap identifies leaves for you, with lots of info.

They’re trying to merge the creative with the analytical.

Summer Reading program and Word Girl app
Summer Reading Extravaganza and Code Fest
Had a technology tent with tech for all ages.
Hosted a CodeFest Jr. program
Used LittleBits.

Program Resource: Guided Access
Keeps the iPad locked on a single app.
Increases focus. Controls features. Password controlled. Timer function.

Program Evaluation
Based on evaluations, they did change some processes and accessories.
Phase 1: Did 470 programs reaching 10,597 children/caregivers.

Surveys throughout
Children’s Specialists Feedback

Planning for the future:
Ongoing professional development
Expanding use of technology
Seeking additional funding

Tips & Tricks:
Standardize passwords across all devices.
Choose iPad cases carefully.
Guided Access may be the key to your sanity.
Changed to Autobox cases. iPads are more durable than you’d think!
Managing devices takes longer than expected
Never underestimate the attraction of iPads for all ages.

Their website is carnegielibrary.org/kidstech

Evaluating programs made it easier to get funding.
They’re now using an app management system.

Literary Tastes

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Literary Tastes
(arrived late)

This was a session where various authors talked about their books. We were given signed copies of the books at the end.

Amy Belding Brown, Flight of the Sparrow

King Philip’s War
Found an account, and originally planned to just retell the Puritan woman’s story
Her individuality was cloaked in social hierarchy.
First war with Indians.
She studied colonial life and Puritans. Wanted her historical novel to be as richly detailed as possible.
She went overboard, because she loves research. Got to spend time in libraries!
Found good books about the Native Americans in the area.
Finally she writes a character.
Her writing process is very messy.
For her, the big part of the enjoyment is discovering the story and characters as she goes.
Didn’t like the character. Then read that her account may have been heavily edited.
So she put things in the novel that made Mary more likable. Gave her a native American friend, which got her thinking about the issue of justice.
Uses a circular process in her writing, alternating between research and writing.

Stuart Rojstaczer, The Mathematician’s Shiva
What happens when a famous woman mathematician dies.
His debut novel — but that’s not true, it’s his first published novel.
Wrote his first novel at 19 — then got a PhD in geophysics instead.
In his 40s, his daughter urged him to write a novel with her, a father-daughter experience. Wrote about a crazy college president. He also thought it was bad.
In his 50s, he started writing short stories and they were actually good. So he tried again. Based on an experience with a Hungarian mathematician when his daughter was 3.
She dies with the solution to a million-dollar problem reportedly solved.
His secret to writing — earplugs. He locks himself in an office until he has 800 words per day.
He loves libraries. His daughter works in the Library of Congress.
Got interested in libraries because they let him look in the 4th grade library when he was in Kindergarten.
Learned how to be an autodidact in college.
Math library at Stanford is where he wrote his PhD.
Almost all novelists are autodidacts.
Wrote a song, “The Library” Can find it on spotify under Stuart Rosh.
20% of book was written in libraries — where he started before he found his dingy office.
It’s been a book club choice because it’s at libraries.
Whatever it takes!

Jo Walton: My Real Children
Surreal for it to be listed as women’s fiction — It’s science fiction.
A woman with Alzheimer’s who remembers two different versions of her life.
It’s the close up story of one woman’s two lives.
Genre is a phenomenon. It’s the set of things a book is in conversation with.
SF & Fantasy are constantly in conversation with books across boundaries.
A bunch of crossovers with romance, comedy, etc
Genre is fun to play with.
SF likes to reach across boundaries.
It’s relatively recent that people outside SF have started joining the conversation inside.
Recent successful in-genre crossovers.
Was a crossover with women’s fiction.
Her character’s personal and romantic decision has changed the world.
Women’s Fiction is a reflection on the importance of women’s lives.
SF is historically a male-dominated genre, but this is changing.
Still often have the kick-ass woman protagonist — a woman in a male role.
Rethink the message if you only show the same roles.
SF is the genre of changed worlds.
SF isn’t often interested in women’s issues. — marriage, parenting, families, divorce, getting older.
SF seems to demand an adventure plot.
Are women’s lives only important if they look like men’s lives?
This book has two different versions of the last half of the 20th century.
When you write a crossover, the concern is that it won’t work in dialog in both genres. Getting a women’s fiction award has validated it.

Ashley Weaver: Murder at the Brightwell.
Winner of the 2015 Reading List Mystery Category
She’s also a librarian.
Her life of crime started early, and libraries have aided and abetted her all the way.
Loved mysteries all her life from Richard Scarry on!
Agatha Christie was her first murder, and from there there was no turning back.
Got her first job at a library. That was the year she wrote her first novel.
Got the character’s name in a dream.
Has an ideas file on her computer. If she likes them, they get their own document.
30s is her goto setting. — sophisticated, glamorous era.
Two types of writers: Outliners or pantsers. She’s a pantser.
Doesn’t know who the murderer will be until toward the end.
She got her good news when at the library.
2nd book is Death Wears a Mask.
She got to catalog her own book.
Looking forward to seeing where her life of crime takes her next.

ALA Annual Conference: Libraries and Book Collections as Essential Cultural Institutions

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Libraries and Book Collections as Essential Cultural Institutions:
A Historical and Forward-Looking Perspective

These are notes from a Saturday afternoon session at ALA Annual Conference.

How do we preserve what we have, and how do we move forward into the digital era?

Authors:
Sasha Abremsky: The House of 20,000 Books
Truly interesting and informative account about his grandparents — an expert on Jewish and socialist history. A vision of stewardship

Scott German: Patience & Fortitude: Fight to save a public library
Efforts to gut the NYPL Like a nail-biting corporate thriller

Matthew Battles: Library: An Unquiet History
Polipsest: A History of the Written Word
Writing is constantly evolving.
Our brains have changed all the time, anyway.

Preserving and going forward:
Sasha: Approaching it from his grandparents’ library. His granddad amassed one of the best private libraries on modern Jewish history.
The importance of the library as the fabric of civilized life.
His grandfather got fascinated with the web of ideas behind socialism.
He started collecting anything printed, anything illuminated, and on it went.
Contacted more and more collectors. Included handwritten notes by Marx, Lenin, etc
Yiddish texts, books written in the 1500s.
Wasn’t just utilitarian. Was concerned about the texture of the page. Was interested in mistakes in the printing techniques. Fascinated by the minutaie of printing. They told him stories.
Where it was printed told him where there were centers of intellectual life.
The grade of paper told him about the intended audience.
Granddad collected books and grandma collected people. Conversations developed around the great ideas collected in those rooms.
The rooms had different intellectual trajectories with how they were laid out.
You gained an understanding of a world vision.
He took it for granted that his granddad would grab a book to prove a point.
All of that was the physical texture of the library.
A library is a place that nurtures conversations and a world view.
How do you preserve libraries as cultural institutions?
A library is inherently a public thing. In a house, it tells you about who that person is. Provides an opening point for an interesting conversation.
Online, there would have been no way to spark those conversations.
In the house the books were the social lubricant.
Online preserves things that would otherwise die, which is good.
Don’t forget the majesty of paper or vellum or parchment or cuneiform. They provide a public entry point to a conversation. And all those nonverbal clues to history.
Paper is still an important, vital, and wonderful part of knowledge.

Scott German heard that stacks were going to be destroyed at NYPL. Heard they’d be “removed” not “demolished.” He was there when they got $100,000 for renovation. of the 42nd Street building. 88 branch libraries. For centuries NYPL has been cash starved. They planned to sell branches to raise money.
In early 2012, the plan became controversial.
His book outlines the battle. The stacks are still there, but they are empty — books had been removed to make way for demolition.
What is the best way to preserve?
For government officials to regulate it before the trustees destroy it.
Librarians need to learn to manage trustees.
Trustees see librarians as serfs. Librarians weren’t consulted. The plan came from the mind of a real estate developer on the board.

Matthew Battles: Widener Library at Harvard. His job involved spending lots of time in the stacks. Part of the structural support of the building itself.

Layers of social history are written into the shelving of the books. LC system and also the Widener system. It was topical in nature. A proverbs class, Moliere class, war, Descartes, etc… They told the story of the institution and how the people from the past were in dialog with our own time.
Started working the same time the card catalog was being converted.
Forensic traces of history of the use of the collection on the cards.
He was seeing marks of previous disruption to the schemes.
They’d used printed bound catalogs before the card catalog.
Interested in the archaeology of the library.
Libraries have been many things materially, socially, culturally…
The library has never been one thing. Yet it’s also an archetype.
When we wonder about the future of the library, we do well to look to the past.
There were libraries before there were books, if we mean things that look like these.
Remember out history and it’s a road to a rich and diverse future.
Librarians preserve, but we also shape collections. Should we be selling that more?
Remember libraries don’t have the same meaning for everyone.
Ethics of librarians developed and evolve.

Sasha: When you catalog something, to an extent you depersonalize it.
One of the greatest joys of a library is the unpredictability.
The more you digitize, the less it becomes unpredictable.
Matthew: That depends on the way it’s done. Gave a story about a finding aid that was digitized that allowed you to discover more.

Guy asked a question who wrote a forthcoming book about public library. He talked with library users. Look at why people love public libraries.
Public discourse around the library is so vital.
We should cultivate a sense of ownership in the public.

Canada: Asking auditor general to declare libraries and holdings as cultural resources.
Relationships between writer, publisher, libraries, shift with every technological change.

The Raising of America

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The Raising of America
Early Childhood and the Future of our Nation

First of a five-part film series
Situation of childhood in America
How can we invest in children?
Better for everyone
Companion website raisingofamerica.org
Begin to have these discussions.
How can we make our place healthy for children to be raised?
Bringing people together, having the discussions — What can we do?
Public television broadcast at the end of the year.
This film is the opening umbrella hour.
Book to accompany the film – Westa – research is so strong that something needs to be done: Book: For Our Babies
Forming book clubs and discussion groups about it.
Point is to work together and to think long term. We have to do something.
Chapter 7 is free and downloadable online.
Good place for pieces of information for writing grants.
DVD series comes with public performance rights — special low price for libraries.
Not the kind of thing we have a blueprint. It’s a tool for local conversations.
It’s so much deeper than kids being ready to read. Parents may know what they should do, but not have the resources.
Libraries should be helping facilitating these conversations.
In San Diego they’re working with the Brazelton Institute to build on parental strengths — parents tend to be afraid they’re not enough.
They were trying to reframe the conversation about early childhood — the larger context of policy.
Why do we accept all this as normal? Why do we make parenting so much harder?
Why is it acceptable for government to make a favorable climate for Wall Street but not for children?
Who are the stakeholders? Maybe start with companies who are starting to get concerned about this. They started in San Diego with the largest employer.
Anything you can do to improve the lives of young families.
Build slowly, but it will grow.
For Our Babies campaign is trying to link together people behind this.
The only way to create change in this country is to speak loudly.
Not spending a lot of time with the naysayers.
Like them on Facebook

Leadership and ALSC

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Leadership and ALSC

#LeadALSC

I’m taking notes on the programs I’m attending at ALA Annual Conference. This one I was invited to because I’m going to chair ALSC’s Grant Administration Committee this coming year.

Here are my notes!

Media Mentorship White Paper — get a copy!
2016 Bill Morris Seminar coming up next Midwinter
Applications due August 13, 2015 Joining with colleagues at CSK committee.
2016 ALSC Institute coming up in Charlotte
New semester of ALSC online courses available. Start Monday July 13.
ALSC book lists ala.org/alsc/booklists
Building STEAM with Dia
Summer Reading Lists
Graphic Novels Reading List
ALSC Professional Awards Applications due Fall 2015.
2015 ALSC Awards Presentation Monday 8-10 3006(W)
Membership Meeting 10:30-11:30
Monday 1-2:30 President’s Program about common core – Melissa Sweet and Julie Cheatham
Look at Usbby.org for conference in NYC.
Met everyone!
Thank you for saying Yes!

Kevin Maher — Washington Office Update
Appropriations bills moving through Congress now. House bill was bad for education, cutting funding for education. IMLS was level funded, though. Library funding slight boost to leadership grants. Eliminated some programs. Head Start gets a boost. Innovative Approaches to Literacy kept funding. IDEA gets a boost.
After this, becomes murky. This is just appropriations bills. Controversial things get added to this. There will be fights over appropriations bills.
e-rate funding — need to get ready to apply for it.
FCC has proposed expanding the Lifeline program. Broadband to low income.
Sen Jack Reed — Effective School Library program bill in the works. Allow schools to spend money in library programs. Include library and librarians in definitions.
Probably won’t see a final bill this year. Regulations will probably come from a new administration.

Lisa Guernsey, author of Screen Time
Authors of white paper on media mentor (Cen Campbell, Amy…)
Lisa was their inspiration.
Mentoring can be like planting a seed.
We may not always see the results.
Important, worthwhile work.
What better place to find media mentors than at your library.
Amy Poehler — Main takeaways
“It is a fundamental …”
We tend to be attuned to our communities.
Children and families are using digital media in increasing numbers.
Content developers are marketing digital content to children more and more every day.
Experts in child health and development have been weighing in on appropriate use.
We’re not necessarily seeing those three things overlap.
Some informed children and parents and some less informed.
Parents and children need support to make the best use.
It’s a chaotic, emerging field.
What families need is a guide. Think librarian!
Affirms vital role of librarian in media advice.
Children require mediated and guided experiences.
Kids need mediated access, even with alphabet books.
Media mentors support children & families in their media decisions.
Lisa Guernsey:
A constant and continual supporter of libraries and librarians.
Commitment to action in the Media Mentorship white paper is inspiring.
Literacy and Equity:
The Critical Role of Media Mentors
Equity needs to be at the core. We need to reach all kids.
Ability to be creators and expressors.
Edcentral.org — from New America, a thinktank in DC. (Education policy)
new book: Tap, Click, Read, with Michael Levine
What does it mean to be literate in the digital age?
2 years of research on this book.
Michael Levine is on Joan Ganz Cooney Center
The Quiet Crisis: So many kids today are struggling to learn to read proficiently.
numbers have been flat since 2009 — 2/3 of American 4th graders are not reading proficiently. Numbers for children of color and children with free & reduced lunch — over 80%

Even if you look at state tests, still in 40-50% range.
Technology can be the elephant in the room when we’re talking about this.
How do we bring that in?
Four principles:
1) When it comes to literacy, becoming literate isn’t just the skill of decoding. Also need knowledge.
2) Parents are critical in children’s lives, though they don’t have to be strong readers themselves.
3) If we were to ignore where technology fits, we’ll miss opportunities to reach them.
4) If we think technology is the answer, we’re lost. It’s an assistant to human beings.
What parents get instead: Mixed messages.
Look at all these apps! Or NO! Don’t expose young children to that!
Middle to upper income strata worry about it and grapple with it.
Lower income want tools for their kids.
Touchy subject — American Academy of Pediatrics statement. (Some really good stuff) Recognizes need for families to have a media plan. They discourage screens under age of 2. This is based on research for Passive Media Use.
What about skyping with Grandma, interactive media use?
Start grappling with these issues!
Media overload? Apps in itunes store — over 1 million apps now
Education section — 80,000 apps.
“Educational” apps explosion.
What Science Tells Us —
Ecological Perspectives on Development — idea that there are many different pieces that come into children’s lives. Many different layers.
There’s more research than you might think.
It’s about a lot more than time limits.
3 Cs framework: We have to recognize the Content, Context, and the individual Child and what they need.
Content: A lot of studies now on educational TV.
Even Barney helped kids interact better — were more civil to each other on the playground.
Plenty of research that shows adult content is not good for little kids. Kids between 1 and 3 with a lot of exposure to adult programs are performing worse on executive function. Controlled for economic level.

Straightline storytelling (helps)
Participation – where children can talk back
Labeling on screen
Engagement
Repetition, review, routine
Non-violence
Not as much research as you’d think, because it’s unethical to put violent content in front of children
A long way to go in the research about what interactive content even means.
We have learned if the interactivity is tied to what you’re trying to teach them, that helps. Not indiscriminate clicking!
Context:
Avoid background TV!!!! Distinguish between purposeful foreground media use.
It affects the way children are playing and parent-child interaction.
Promote good sleep. Light from screens isn’t good.
Hour before sleep shouldn’t have a lot of light on their eyes.
Other healthy routines (like physical play!) How do you want your child’s day to go?
Think about the whole healthy routine for a child
Interact with Media together! This may be critical for young children
Dialogic questioning techniques with reading
Parents can be distracted by cell phones — not good for kids.
A lot of judging and judgment calls that go into this.
Is it spoiling kids to give them constant attention?
Individual Child:
Under Age Two:
Can they learn from screen media without an adult around? Can they learn from a children’s book without an adult around.
A few studies: a mixed bag. Mostly, they need adult interaction.
Tune into individual needs!
Science is still evolving, but needs to underpin what we do.
The Field is Responding (of Early Childhood)
“Take a Giant Step” — about early childhood teachers.
“Strengthening Teaching and Learning”
*NAEYC — “Position Statement on Technologies” guidepost for the field.
Be professionals. Think about what you’re using
“Technology and Digital Media in the Early Years”
Paper out from 0 to 3.
“Pioneering Literacy in the Digital Wild West”
Evaluating Apps & ebooks.
Looked at a sample of apps from a two-month period. Do some analysis
Many are aimed at 3 to 5 year olds (55%)
Most say they’re teaching basic literacy skills. (list of 23 literacy skills and looked for evidence)
Alphabet apps especially high. Narrative and story-telling, not as much.
App developers gave almost no info about who they were. Less than 5% mentioned any literacy or language expert.
Putting Human Interaction (not Tech) first.
Allow technology to be an assistant.
atlas.newamerica.org
Texting, video, and tablets — Using new tools to encourage families to talk & learn together
Ready Rosie — video modeling for parents
Media Mentors
A new position for the 21st century — help families find these things!
Children’s librarians can become that!
A lot of organizations are trying to play this role. (Commonsense Media – but they’re not in communities, working with families directly.)
Public Resources – We should be making sure all families have access and can find these resources.
Powerpoint is available at mediamentorship under ALSC.
Questions: Crucial to be interacting with the parent. For under twos, it’s the joint moments that are so important.
Reading on screen versus reading a book: Research is mostly on people who already know how to read.
Highlighting words might help with fluency. It’s not clear how long to use them.
We’re at the beginning of some very interesting questions.
Another issue: Learning to keyboard versus learning to print and write.
National Association of Media Literacy Education meeting – Finland is phasing out cursive writing.
Keep the interpersonal in interactive! Say this to parents! (Saroj Ghoting)