If you follow me on Instagram or Twitter, you know that I am always hyping books I’ve read before they are published. One of the most common questions I get is “How do you get them?” Advanced Reading Copies (ARCs), are free copies of books that are distributed to stakeholders before the publishing date. And… Read More How to Get and Use ARCs as a Librarian
Virtual Storytimes are hugely popular right now, and for good reason. But a lot of librarians are new to video creation and don’t know where to start. Through trial and error, and some research, I’ve put together this list of best practices. Please leave your ideas and resources in the comments! The greatest challenge of… Read More Tips for Recording Virtual Storytimes due to COVID-19
A new month means it’s time to swap out the book bin displays! In February I promoted “I Read Canadian Day” for kids, and “Romance…with a twist” for adults and teens. For March I created two book bin displays that focus on developing new skills. What’s Cooking? For the adult side I did a “What’s… Read More Book Bin Displays: What’s Cooking, Brush Up On Your Skills, Romance…with a twist, and I Read Canadian Day
Eye-catching? ✔️ Instills a love of reading? ✔️ Fun, relatable tone? ✔️ I love the new February display board. This is a great one because multiple people can help prepare for it. I had a talented co-worker create the giant book, and I love how it turned out. I used the Cricut to create the… Read More Reading Gives You All the Feels Bulletin Board Display
Does Dog Man’s popularity have no end? Are there even kids out there who have yet to become fans?! That’s what it feels like everyday at the library when we can’t keep the books on the shelves, and kids are bubbling away talking about their favourite characters, and the best flip-animation pages. Naturally, I decided… Read More Dog Man Library Program Outline
“New Year, New Books” Bulletin Board Display I love how this sparkly, awards-show-esque “New Years New Books” bulletin board display turned out. I used the Cricut to cut out the text and the stars on glittery gold paper, and printed out covers of anticipated 2020 releases. My hope is that families see the books and… Read More New Years Display Ideas
Are you more of a brave Dog Man type? A creative, class-clown Harold? Sweet Li’l Petey? Or a sneaky, villinous Petey?! This personality quiz is the perfect activity for a Dog Man fan club, book launch, or party event at the library. In a few weeks I will be running a Dog Man Mania event.… Read More Which Dog Man Character Are You Personality Quiz
Be Not Far From Me by Mindy McGinnis For me, this was a passionate one day read. I couldn’t wait to reach the end. It reads like a detailed fever dream. I was at once racing to finish, savoring every word, and scared to turn the page! Ashley is our teenage main character. Raised by… Read More My 2020 YA ARC Reviews: Be Not Far From Me, All Your Twisted Secrets, and Tweet Cute
Looking for a cozy, non-Christmas winter bulletin board display, with a sprinkle of audience participation? Look no further than my new Spot The Difference Snowpeople Display! If you follow me on Instagram, ontarianlibrarian, you already know that I am in love with the Cricut Explore Air 2 machine at my desk! I’m in change of… Read More Spot the Difference Snowpeople Display
Oh gentrification. The inevitable machine, the mysterious monster, the impossible crawl. A lot of the time when powerful people talk about gentrification, it sounds the same. Repackaged spooky vagueness, either diminishing the issue or shifting the focus. Variations of “there are so many factors at play it’s impossible to pin down,” or “it’s an issue… Read More Libraries and Gentrification
Ontarian Librarian 