Colorado State Library staff are offering many workshops around the state as part of the 2009 CLiC Spring Workshops. For more information and the complete workshop schedule, visit the CLiC Web site or call the State Library at 303-866-6900.
CSL Workshop Schedule (PDF)
Thursday, October 16th found me at the Aurora Public Library for one of the Colorado State Library’s Youth Services workshops. I was lucky enough to be able to attend this year, and would like to share my experience (and photos!) with everyone.
The YS workshops this year were based not only on children’s programming for the 2009 statewide summer reading program (Be Creative @ Your Library), but also on teen programming (Express Yourself) and other teen issues, literacy-enhanced storytimes, and much more.
In the morning, we split into groups and got creative, making our own posters with markers, crayons, stickers, foam cutouts, and any other crafty items you can think of. Some posters were especially nice, and everyone received this year’s READ lapel pin as a prize.
Patricia Froehlich (Colorado State Library) then gave us some history on CSLP (the Collaborative Summer Library Program), which now boasts 47 member states.
Next up was teen services and a presentation by Mary McCarthy (Colorado State Library, Boulder Public Library). Of course she had to loosen up the group with an icebreaker, and so we all went around and told what was the oddest thing in our cars. (My answer: a toaster oven.) Mary spoke about C’YAAL, using your community and staff for programming, and of course, “begging, borrowing, and stealing ideas” from others. She also presented us with some wonderful web resources, including the following:
When we broke for lunch (pizza and salad…mmm!), we played Human Bingo, and those who were able to complete their bingo card were given prizes of t-shirts and books.
We also used lunch time to share creative ideas for the 2009 program. Projects such as “Paint like Picasso”, using recycled materials to make kaleidoscopes, podcasts on the Twilight series (with kids reading aloud their favorite parts of the books), bringing in local art teachers from the schools to display student art, “musical petting zoos”, and many others were suggested.
After lunch, we moved on to a presentation on CLEL and literacy-enhanced storytime by Melissa Depper (Arapahoe Library District). Melissa talked about the 6 skills your child needs to learn in order to read, starting from birth. She defined early literacy as “what kids know about reading and writing before they can read or write”. We were able to view PET scans of a brain, and to practice the 6 skills with actual storytime books. She recommended zerotothree.org for information on cognitive development, as well as the CLEL website.
Finally, we ended the day with a brief presentation on the LRS Fast Facts and “the Robbie report” by Patricia Froehlich. She also discussed a site called readingrecord.org, which can track summer reading participants online, and patrons can even register themselves for the program.
At the end of the day, Patricia handed out program manuals and order forms, and the workshop was adjourned. What a day! I learned so much about teen services and early literacy, children’s programming and storytimes.
I want to say thanks to the Aurora Public Library (and Jan Zinkl in particular) for hosting.
Here’s what I learned:
Some exciting news for Colorado this month! Robbie Marks and Keith Lance have an article in the September issue of School Library Journal, pp 44 – 47, on the positive correlation between public library services and early reading success. In the sidebar are quotes by Carol Wagstaff (Douglas County Libraries) and Maxine Curley (Mesa County Public Library District). There is also a mention of Colorado Libraries for Early Literacy (CLEL), an early literacy group formed in January 2008.
For more information:
Note: CLEL members will be presenting a session on early literacy at the Youth Services workshops in October. Register now for one of the 5 statewide workshops.
Ever heard of Sanborn Maps? Sanborn fire insurance maps are large scale historical city maps, detailed at the block and building level, that show residential, commercial, and industrial uses of sites, building footprints, potential environmental hazards, and construction details of structures. Sanborn fire insurance maps were originally designed to assist fire insurance agents in determining the potential damage from fires, assessing risk, and setting premiums. Today, Sanborn maps are used for a variety of purposes, including environmental site assessment, architecture, urban history, and genealogy.
Building Colorado Story by Story: The Sanborn Fire Insurance Map Collection is a digital collection of Sanborn fire insurance maps of cities across Colorado. The collection contains 346 maps of 79 principal cities in 52 counties covering the years 1883-1922. The University of Colorado at Boulder is the in the process of digitizing these maps and the beta version is now available online.
CLiC andthe Map Library staff at CUB are running workshops about these Sanborn maps and map librarianship in general. Many people have attended the short overview sessions at our CLiC Spring Workshops. Also check out the last Accidental Map Librarian Workshop in Gunnison May 11.
We have also created a wiki for our Accidental Map Librarian Workshops you can check out at : http://maplibraries.pbwiki.com/
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