When COVID-19 hit, librarians around the world started offering virtual storytimes: some prerecorded, and some live. Many of us who opted for prerecorded have now shifted to live virtual storytimes, due to having less time to edit, changes in publisher copyright allowances, or because our website now has a full roster of storytime videos and… Read More How to Make Your Live Virtual Storytimes Sparkle
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
Thank you to Scholastic Canada for the Advanced Reading Copy. Guts by Raina Telgemeier will be published on September 10, 2019. This review contains spoilers, and is written from the perspective of a children’s librarian. It’s been 5 years since Sisters, the sequel to Smile, was published. From my experience working in libraries, interest in… Read More Raina Telgemeier is at the top of her game with new book, Guts
There are a lot of factors to consider when running a public library’s Instagram account: content, style, captions, frequency of posts, hashtags, stories, and engagement with users. But the most immediately impactful aspect is the quality of your photos. Most of the people who run their library’s social media accounts do not have degrees in… Read More Instagram Tips for Small Public Libraries – Photos
I heard through the grapevine that my neighbours to the south are celebrating A Universe of Stories as their Summer Reading theme this year! Canadians are celebrating Our Natural World. I know some people might not consider galaxies as part of our natural world, but I sure do. I imagine hundreds of American Librarians (hey,… Read More Galaxy Jars with Mini-Lesson on Nebulae
Bees are incredible creatures. And without bees, our ecosystems would be irreparably damaged. But bees have a bad reputation among children (they’re scary!), and I want to change that. I’m sharing all my resources for this program so that you can help change that too. If you are a teacher or a librarian, feel free… Read More Un-BEE-Lievable Science: A bee themed lesson plan for grades 3 – 6
Ontarian Librarian 