That gap is what led me to start Curious Kids, a monthly hands-on program for children roughly ages six through nine. It’s become one of my favorite things we do, and I want to share what’s made it work.

What Curious Kids Looks Like

Each session starts with a read-aloud, but not your typical storytime fare. We deliberately choose picture books that are a step up and are longer, denser, and more conceptually rich than what you’d share with a three-year-old. Books that reward attention. From there, we move into three activity stations that all connect to the book’s theme. The stations vary: one might be an open-ended craft, one an engineering challenge, and one more kinesthetic or sensory. Kids rotate through at their own pace, and caregivers usually participate alongside them.

My coworker and I come at the programming from different angles, which turns out to be a strength. I tend to reach for holidays and celebratory themes as my starting point. She’s more STEM-minded and often begins with a science concept and works outward from there. Somehow the format holds both approaches equally well, which tells me there’s something genuinely flexible about the structure itself.

Learning to Read vs. Reading to Learn

One thing I keep coming back to when I describe this program is the shift that happens somewhere around first or second grade, when children move from “learning to read” to “reading to learn.” That transition is huge, and it’s exactly the window we’re trying to serve.

A core goal of Curious Kids is to introduce children to the idea that a book can be a doorway, not just a destination. We read together, and then we ask: what do you want to know more about? Where could you look? We walk kids through how to use our catalog, our nonfiction section, and our databases to chase down an answer that the picture book sparked. It’s a gentle, hands-on introduction to research as a habit of mind but one that feels like play, not homework.

What Families Are Saying

The feedback that has stuck with me most came from a mom who pulled me aside after a Curious Kids where we had a volunteer teach us how to do needle felting. She told me she loves that her daughter gets to do hands-on crafting and making at Curious Kids, because she is, in her own words, “craft illiterate” and doesn’t feel equipped to teach those skills at home. The library was filling a gap she didn’t know how to fill herself.

That comment reminded me of something I think we sometimes undersell about library programming: we’re not just supplementing school. We’re reaching into the parts of a child’s development that don’t have another institutional home. Curiosity. Making things. Following a question wherever it leads. Those are library values, and Curious Kids has become one of the clearest expressions of them in our children’s room.

Try It, Adapt It, Make It Yours

If you’re staring down a gap in your programming calendar — that quiet zone between the end of storytime and the beginning of tween services — I’d encourage you to experiment with a format like this. You don’t need a lot of materials or a big budget. You need a picture book you love, a few ideas that grow out of it, and a willingness to let kids get a little messy in the process.

The children in this age group are at such a remarkable moment: their worlds are expanding fast, they’re beginning to ask real questions, and they still think the library is magic. Curious Kids has been my way of meeting them right there.

Today’s blogger is Whitney Hasler, a member of the Program Coordinating Committee. She is a Children’s Services Supervisor in Eldersburg, Maryland.

The post Curious Kids: A Program for the Children We Were Losing After Storytime appeared first on ALSC Blog.

Creating the Website

My library decided to build the website in Google Sites. Google Sites works well because it creates a website that we linked to on my library’s main website. It created a separate, easy to navigate structure for patrons that they could access at any time.

Our website has six main sections. We created the sections based on the different types of information and resources our patrons might want. This makes it easy for patrons who know what materials they want to find a specific resource, such as a decodable kit. We also created a section for patrons who do not know what they want. This way, even when the library is closed or a patron cannot physically come in, they can still get a recommendation based around their circumstances.

When creating the website, make sure to follow accessibility guidelines. For example, use WebAIM’s Color Contrast checker to make sure your font is legible. Also, make sure that you add Alt Text to any image included on the website so patrons with screen readers can access your content.

Decodables, Kits, and Games

The first section of the website is dedicated to decodables. If you’re not familiar, decodables are specially crafted books that have specific sounds so new readers can sound out all of the words. Decodables often follow a “scope and sequence”, where the next book in the series builds on the skills learned in the last book. Due to patron demand, we started a separated decodables section with decodables bundled together in kits. This makes it easier for patrons to follow the scope and sequence of each series. If your library doesn’t have a decodables collection, you may want to feature beginning reader books that can be decoded. The Geisel Award can help you find some great books that follow the Science of Reading!

We also listed other kits that can help patrons develop their reading skills. Further, we created a separate page of games that patrons might like. On this page, we included a mix of games available for checkout in the library and free games from around the web. This way, patrons who are looking for a fun literacy activity can always get an activity, even if the physical library is closed. If you’re looking for online games to feature, try directing patrons to PBS Kids’ Reading Games. These free games are easy to play and designed by the experts and educators who create PBS Kids TV shows.

Quick Tips, Educator’s Guides, and Find the Best Tool

Along with tools for kids, my library also wanted our website to help caregivers and educators feel empowered when teaching kids to read. So, we developed some quick tips and a list of educator resources that adults might find helpful. For the educator’s guides, we chose a mix of books aimed at classroom teachers and caregivers. Like with the games, we also chose some online tools patrons could access at any time.

As we developed the website, we also wanted to create a way patrons could quickly find resources based on their specific circumstances. After all, a parent looking for basic information to decide if their child is ready to learn to read has very different needs than a reading specialist looking for materials to help catch up an ESL learner. To make it simpler for patrons, we created a tool that gave them specific recommendations based on their needs.

In Google Sites, you can add buttons that lead to other pages on your website. You also can hide pages from the navigation bar. By combining these features, we created buttons that functioned like an online quiz. Patrons answer simple questions about their needs and background, which leads them to the resource that fits their needs. It gives a great starting place for patrons who might feel overwhelmed searching the entire website. It also helps give somewhat individualized recommendations to patrons who cannot physically come into the building to have a one-on-one conversation with a librarian.

Other Ways to Add the Science of Reading

Of course, a Help Your Child Learn to Read website is only one way to help bring the Science of Reading into your library. You can also incorporate Science of Reading into your read alouds, and highlight for patrons where libraries fit in with the Science of Reading. There are also a ton of resources available from PLA and ALSC through Every Child Read to Read that you will find helpful.

What resources does your library have to help patrons learn to read?

Ann Baillie (she/her/hers) is the Youth Services Assistant Manager at the Alsip-Merrionette Park Public Library in Alsip, Illinois. She serves on the Illinois Youth Services Institute Planning Committee. Her main interests are the connection between Readers’ Advisory and technology, and how libraries can use technology to better reach patrons.

This post addresses ALSC Core Competencies I: Commitment to Client Group and II. Reference and User Services.

The post Upgrade Your Literacy Resources with a How to Read Website appeared first on ALSC Blog.

This May, Soman Chainani returns to the scene with his first original novel in over ten years. Young World, published by Penguin Random House, is a political thriller set in the not too distant future where countries around the globe are on the brink of collapse. Chainani blurs the lines between fact and fiction on and off the page to make us all think: Wait, is this really happening?

In recent conversations with book professionals in my neighborhood, the question surrounding Young World’s release is often, “How do we market this?” It’s a question I have spent a number of weeks ruminating on, wondering why this question is at the forefront of everyone’s mind. Is it that Chainani’s other books were marketed for middle grades and this is his first foray into YA literature? Is it that this book toes the line of what we, as adults, think is acceptable for teen readers? Or is it, perhaps, that we don’t feel youth have the skills to discern what is real and what is fake after reading this title?

Fact vs. Fiction

To market this book, Chainani and PRH have created a website to highlight the revolution that occurs within its pages. However, the lines start to blur when site visitors investigate the articles that Chainani highlights from across the globe. Some are real articles that you can research and find more information on, and others are excerpts straight from the novel. How do we teach readers to differentiate between the two? That’s where media literacy comes in. 

Media Literacy

As New York State highlights in their “Media Literacy” toolkit for educators, “The purpose of media literacy education is not to teach people what to think. It is designed to facilitate an understanding of media and its role, as well as develop the skillset necessary to become ‘critical thinkers, thoughtful and effective communicators, and informed and responsible members of society.’” As librarians, helping to instill these skills into readers is a vital part of our roles, especially as it relates to research. This could be through direct action such as programs, but it can also be through more passive means such as providing resources and information on an as-needed basis. For many librarians, the question then becomes: where do I go for trusted resources?

Trusted Resources

The resources below can assist information professionals in supporting readers, patrons, and consumers as they navigate the ever evolving digital world.

NewseumEd: Fact Finder – Navigate the media map to develop skills in navigating the news, bypassing bias, and searching effectively in the endless digital landscape.

Get Bad News – An online game, created by Tilt, where players leverage fake news strategies to gain followers and control the information universe.

Media Literacy Crash Course – Set of eleven short videos from The Crash Course on YouTube that introduces media literacy, its history, and skills to evaluate media critically. 

National Association for Media Literacy Education: Resources – The NAMLE’s collection of resources for consumers designed to cultivate the skills to analyze and evaluate media.

Information Literacy Toolkit: LibGuide from the University of Maryland Libraries that contains resources for educators and librarians on media literacy, misinformation, and more. 

Call to Action

In our vast online universe, discerning what is true and what isn’t is increasingly challenging. Thankfully, this selection of resources is just a sliver of the many available to librarians and other information professionals to educate readers about media literacy. Sharing these resources, or others of high-quality, is a great first step to bringing this topic to your community, however it is just that: a first step. There are many additional ways to further learning and instruction within our institutions and to help people become critical thinkers. If you’re interested in developing further ideas around this topic, the questions below can help guide you on that road.

• How can you use these resources in your library?
• What programs, events, or lessons can you offer to highlight the need for critical thinking when consuming media?
• How can literature for children and teens be used to facilitate discussions about media literacy?

Featured image a screenshot from revoltingyouth.org by blogger.

This post addresses ALSC Core Competencies 2.2, 2.4, 2.7, and 4.5

Annaliese Melvin (she/they) is a children’s librarian at a neighborhood library in Washington, D.C. Originally from Pennsylvania, she moved to the DC-area in 2020 to become a special education teacher after graduating with her bachelor’s from Arcadia University. In 2023, she graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi with a master’s degree in Library and Information Science and transitioned into the library field. Annaliese currently works to bring more inclusive programming to DC Public Libraries for children of all ages. She is passionate about equity, inclusion, reading, and Philadelphia sports.

The post Media Literacy for a Young World appeared first on ALSC Blog.

Paint a Pokémon Card

Like me, you probably have inherited a variety of random items from the previous Children’s Librarian at your library. One day, I happened to find some Pokémon card booster packs! However, when I opened the packs, I realized the cards were FAKE! From extreme HP numbers to the off-center logo on the back of the cards to cards having the wrong names, it was clear they were fake, but I would not let these cards go to waste. My colleague showed me videos of people painting on Pokémon cards to complete the scenes. Great activity for the club participants!

To prepare for this, we painted a very thin layer of Gesso onto each card. The only part of the card not getting the Gesso would be the pictures of the Pokémon. From there, we purchased acrylic paint markers, to make it easier for the participants to complete the scenes. We tested out several kinds of paints, including Tempera, but we felt they were too messy and would deteriorate the quality of the cards.

Create Your Own Pokémon Card

There are many templates online to create your own Pokémon cards. I had this as a passive activity a few years ago and not only did the kids love it, but they took the activity a step further. Kids would leave the Pokémon cards they made, as a way to trade with one another. I was not expecting them to trade their original Pokémon cards and I thought it was such a sweet gesture!

I would like to recreate that in my Pokémon Club this season. We printed the template on white cardstock and cut them out in advance. On the day of this craft, I will provide pencils and crayons. After they create some cards, the participants will have the option to keep their cards or trade with one another.

Pokémon Clay Art

We have A LOT of air dry clay at my library and everyone gets so excited to work with clay. This is a very simple craft. I will provide air dry clay and watercolor paint, and the club participants can go to town making clay models of their favorite Pokémon. Very simple, but a fun hands-on activity for everyone!

I am very excited for my next round of Pokémon! What art activities are you planning for your Pokémon Club?

This post addresses ALSC Core Competency III. Programming Skills.

The post Art Activities for Pokémon Club! appeared first on ALSC Blog.

Warmer weather seems to finally be on the way for many of us. And just like the sunshine and heat bring forth the flowers, so too is the reunification work blossoming into reality. This last week we saw the election of new Board members who will be laying the foundation for the newly reunified division. The ALSC Nominating Committee worked hard to engage with both ALSC and YALSA leadership to find candidates who can meet the needs of members working across children’s and teen services. And the results are in!

The incoming President-Elect of the division is Danielle Jones, who has been an active member of both ALSC and YALSA for many years. In her candidate statements she noted, “We are at a critical juncture with the planned reunification of ALSC and YALSA. My active involvement in both gives me a unique perspective and commitment to ensuring a successful transition, prioritizing both children and teens and the professionals who serve them.” 

The new Board members joining Danielle will be Heather Love Beverley, Deadra (Dee) O. Brown, and Renee Ting, all of whom bring a fantastic mix of children’s and teen services experience to their upcoming new roles. We are excited to see the new Board of the unified division working together to meet the needs of our combined membership (as of Sept. 1, 2026).

Last month, the combined ALSC Organizational Effectiveness and YALSA Organization and Bylaws committee posted about the upcoming changes to enhance efforts for both divisions to assess, restructure, combine, and reformat our existing committees in order to meet the needs of all of our members. This work is beginning to show real results, and we look forward to finalizing the new committee structures and focus areas in the coming months once we have completed consultation with chairs and engaged with committee feedback. We know that change is never easy, but we are committed to finding a meaningful balance that will lead to more fulsome engagement with member needs while causing as little disruption as possible.

Staff continue to work hard in the background to ensure that moving forward, we will have the tools we need to serve everyone effectively. This includes increased member communications and an updated reunification dashboard site during the transition period, as well as refreshed back-end systems for the combined volunteer database, and working with central membership services to navigate the complexities of the membership changes for current YALSA and dual members.

Last, but not least, the Reunification Working Group is developing recommendations for the Board to approve in the coming months, and developing a timeline for strategic planning, rebranding, and updating all policies and bylaws (you know, the “fun” stuff!) We are currently exploring a facilitated board orientation at ALA Annual to start planning for the upcoming strategic planning work over the next year.

The Boards of ALSC and YALSA continue to work tirelessly to meet this challenging moment, and we greatly appreciate you, our steadfast members, for your understanding and patience as we navigate these many interconnected pieces to deliver you the best possible results in the coming months!

Next month, we will hopefully be able to share some additional member engagement opportunities coming up at ALA Annual, but in the meantime, be sure to join us tomorrow at our second Town Hall for more updates and a chance for Q&A.

As always… Onwards!

Rob Bittner
Co-Chair, Reunification Working Group
ALSC Past-President

The post Springing Toward a Bright Future Together appeared first on ALSC Blog.

I have heard similar reminiscences from other librarians about these books, few of whom have been of East European Jewish background. Reading about others matters. It builds our knowledge, our empathy, and makes us better people, ready to see “different” as just that: not the same as me. Not bad, or scary, or wrong. And certainly not negating anything about us. Just as we urge our children to try new foods and new experiences, as librarians we constantly want our readers to read beyond their own little piece of the world. Not all of what they will read will resonate, and not all of it will be light reading, but reading is meant to expand our minds and to consider the lives of others.

That is why we must assure that our collections include books about the backgrounds and experiences of all Americans, whether they live in our communities or not. April is Arab American Heritage Month. May is Jewish American Heritage Month, as well as Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month. And there are more ethnic heritage months throughout the year. While gender, race, sexuality have been frequent targets of book challenges, there are growing complaints against books representing other religions besides Christianity. According to  United Against Book Bans, “books are also being challenged and banned because they are by authors or feature characters from Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, and other minority faith traditions. Unfortunately, some of those who want to ban books use religion as a cover for their attempts to shut down the freedom to read. If successful, book banning is a political strategy that could silence diverse religious voices and traditions that are a major part of the rich social fabric of America.” The Interfaith Alliance, working with ALA and PEN America, has resources about protecting public education from religious extremists who seek to censor and control the narrative of learning.

The fight against censorship and the control of freedom of inquiry continues. To quote Rabbi Nachman of Breslov: The whole world is a narrow bridge. The important thing is to not be afraid. We know we are right to purchase and promote reading widely. We just have to not forget that in the face of complaints, challenges, and bans. There is so much to be gained, and so much to be lost. Be brave.

Judy Ehrenstein is a children’s librarian in Maryland and a member of the ALSC Intellectual Freedom Committee. All opinions are her own and not that of ALSC or ALA.

This post addresses the core competencies of I. Commitment to Client Group and IV. Knowledge, Curation, and Management of Materials.

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The Legacy Award recognizes an author or illustrator whose books, published in the United States, have over a period of years, made a substantial and lasting contribution to literature for children through books that demonstrate integrity and respect for all children’s lives and experiences. Recent recipients include Candace Fleming, Carol Boston Weatherford, James E. Ransome, Kevin Henkes, and Pam Muñoz Ryan. Here is a link to the complete list of past winners.

If you have someone you would like to suggest, please consider doing so. Here is a link to the ALSC page listing the Terms and Criteria. Our committee will love having a robust list of names to consider.

If you wish to submit a suggestion, please click on this link to access the handy ALSC Member Award Suggestion Form: https://airtable.com/appHyRhYeVMM6GkJg/shrhAgQqRLM1tlOpp.

We look forward to receiving many GREAT suggestions!

The post We Are Now Accepting Suggestions for the 2027 Children’s Literature Legacy Award appeared first on ALSC Blog.

Screen Time in the News

In our digitally saturated world, children have become adept users of their screens. Families are feeling this overload of digital stimulation and want to do something about the effects on sustained attention and behavior. This “analog living” trend isn’t just happening among parents and families; all ages, including teens and adults, have been making conscious decisions to embrace analog living and choose “old school” hobbies instead of scrolling, such as knitting and gardening, according to AP News. 

As noted in this recent article, “IPads in Kindergarten, YouTube videos at Snack Time” from The Hechinger Report, screen time at school has reached levels that are concerning for many parents. The article shares that many schools have become reliant on screens to teach instruction and entertain students, and that even “brain break” moments for kids like snack time involve watching videos, as opposed to a true break experience where the brain isn’t being stimulated by a device. 

The consequences of social media and screentime were highlighted this year during the Social Media Addiction Trial. As an overview, a jury found Meta liable for youth mental health issues stemming from social media usage and addiction at a young age. The jury concluded that apps like Instagram were built to be addictive, and that the executives failed to protect young users against this danger. This trial is a precedent for spreading awareness of social media addiction, particularly among children and teens. 

While these headlining news articles and experiences are negative, this isn’t to say that all technology is bad. In fact, it’s very important that kids are learning skills like media literacy, research skills, and utilizing tools that are useful to lifelong success. In addition, some devices and screens are incredibly important for children with disabilities who require multiple modes of learning to succeed. The issue is the consequences of excessive screentime and the lack of healthy boundaries. 

Analog Initiatives at the Library

The library can be a place for families to find this oftentimes elusive healthy boundary for their children. Right now, families are seeking developmentally appropriate real-life experiences that support connection and resilience. The library offers this through play-based programming and opportunities to critically think, explore, and discover the world around them. We can champion this for our communities! To read more about inspiring ways to integrate screen-free initiatives into the library, check out this blog post from ALSC’s Children and Technology Committee, Unplug and Recharge with Screen-Free Fun at the Library.

Joannie Lauria is the Youth Services Consultant at the Suffolk Cooperative Library System in New York.

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Someone asked: “What’s something about your library that makes you especially proud?” (Note: This is an excellent conversation starter!) All of the answers were fun, interesting, and heart-warming. Some examples included an “out and about storytime” where a librarian in a small town takes storytime on the road to where kids and families are. Another library has teens tutor younger kids every Saturday. This sounds like a win all around! One library hosts a carnival event and a comic convention. One does a toddler rave. Did you know there is an electronic dance music version of Wheels on the Bus? Now you do. The same library hosted an anti-Valentine’s Day teen event where participants made zombie beany babies and whacked a piñata.

In short, our colleagues are doing amazing things, and they’re a lot of fun to hang out with.

Amelia Jenkins (she/her) is a member of the Youth Services staff at the Juneau Public Library. For over 20 years, she has been working with patrons ages 0 to 18 and the adults who care for them. At the Public Library Association Conference, she is most excited about experiencing the many informal connections that happen between all of the amazing sessions. She grew up on a fishing boat and always thought that any job on dry land was terribly glamorous!

Please note that as a guest post, the views expressed here do not represent the official position of ALA or ALSC.

If you are interested in submitting a guest post, please read and fill out our Guest Blogging Interest Form. We would love to hear from you!

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Food as Knowledge

Sherman began with his own path. He grew up on Pine Ridge, spent hours reading, learned mainstream culinary technique, and built a career in restaurant kitchens after moving to Minneapolis in the 1990s. Then, he reached the question that changed his work: why did he know so many European recipes and so little about Lakota foodways? Why had he grown up in a Native community with so little access to its own food knowledge? He started asking what his ancestors ate; how they preserved food; what fats, salts, and sugars they had; and what had happened to that knowledge.

He treated food as a knowledge system. In his telling, food was never only flavor, trend, or branding. It held ecology, preservation, trade, language, and memory. Once he framed food that way, the loss of foodways stopped looking like a narrow culinary problem and started looking like a historical and educational one.

What the Record Lacks

One of the clearest moments in the half I heard came when Sherman laid out his research problem plainly. He knew hundreds of European recipes. He could study from cookbooks. He could move through culinary training shaped by established written traditions. But when he went looking for Lakota food knowledge, he found broken information and major absences. He even joked that he could not simply order a Joy of Native American Cooking because no such book existed.

In a room full of librarians, the joke should land as more than a joke. It turns absence into a collections question. It turns dispossession into a problem of access, preservation, and transmission. When one knowledge system remains difficult to find in books, classrooms, catalogs, and ordinary public discourse, institutions are still helping decide what counts as common knowledge and what gets treated as recovery.

What Colonization Breaks

Sherman moved quickly through the history that produced this gap. He spoke about land theft, the destruction of bison, aggressive federal policy, and the speed with which Indigenous communities lost access to land, mobility, and food. The sharpest point in this section was not only the loss of ingredients or hunting grounds. It was the break in Indigenous education itself: language, plant knowledge, tool use, stories, and history passed down across generations and then interrupted through forced assimilation and boarding schools.

Libraries belong inside this conversation. Libraries help shape what knowledge appears ordinary, what knowledge appears specialized, and what knowledge children encounter early enough to carry forward. If one knowledge system sits at the center and another appears only as recovery, enrichment, or special programming, the imbalance continues in quieter form.

What Libraries Carry Forward

Sherman’s public work offers one response. NĀTIFS and the Indigenous Food Lab are not only food projects. They are teaching projects, training projects, and institution-building projects. McNeil’s introduction emphasized the classroom, market, and entrepreneurial functions of this work alongside food production. The combination feels close to the best of library work: access, instruction, cultural transmission, and community use in the same space.

For those of us in youth services, the implication is direct. Children inherit what adults normalize. They inherit what we shelve, what we name, what we teach, and what we leave unexplained. Sherman’s closing remarks turned food into a lesson about knowledge sovereignty. The ending suited PLA 2026. A conference that began with public institutions under strain ended with a reminder that institutions still shape what gets passed down.

Witt Salley (he/him/his) is the Teen Services Librarian at Quince Orchard Library in Montgomery County Public Libraries. At PLA 2026, he is most looking forward to meeting colleagues whose work he has been learning from online, making new connections, and serving on the Aging Together and DigitalLearn panels. He grew up surrounded by children’s and young adult books and spent so many hours in the public library that working with teens and youth literature felt almost inevitable. If he could read one book again for the first time, he would choose Weetzie Bat for its originality and the joy of first reading it.

Please note that, as a guest post, this content does not represent the official position of ALA or ALSC.

If you are interested in submitting a guest post, please read and fill out our Guest Blogging Interest Form. We would love to hear from you!

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