The Faith Hektoen Award is given annually by the Children’s Section of the Connecticut Library Association to recognize
the efforts of an individual or group that has made an impact on library services to children in Connecticut at the local, regional, or state level. The 2012 winner is Linda Williams who works at the Willimantic Library Service Center. See the nomination summary for more. Linda will receive her award at the upcoming CLA Conference. Congratulations, Linda!
The children’s services Discussion list “goodnightmoon” recently celebrated its 15th year. This was one of the first
library discussion lists in Connecticut and by all accounts might be the most popular. Read this article and find out why it has been so successful and why this “old” technology still works so well.
The Middletown and Willimantic Library Service Centers Puppet Collection
All the puppets and dolls you see here may be borrowed from the Service Centers. Click on the puppet you are interested in borrowing, note the name and barcode number of the item you wish to borrow. Then contact one of the Service Center staff members below with your request to borrow. Puppets and dolls may be booked ahead of time for specific programs in your library.
Project photographer: Diane Stielau, MLSC.
To book and borrow puppets and dolls, contact:
Arthur’s Gang Dolls
| www.flickr.com
|
| www.flickr.com
|
Bears
| www.flickr.com
|
Birds
| www.flickr.com
|
| www.flickr.com
|
Book Character Dolls
| www.flickr.com
|
| www.flickr.com
|
| www.flickr.com
|
Cats
| www.flickr.com
|
Circus and Zoo Animals
| www.flickr.com
|
| www.flickr.com
|
Dinosaurs
| www.flickr.com
|
Dogs
| www.flickr.com
|
| www.flickr.com
|
Fantasy
| www.flickr.com
|
| www.flickr.com
|
Farm Animals
| www.flickr.com
|
Hand Puppets
| www.flickr.com
|
| www.flickr.com
|
Human Characters
| www.flickr.com
|
Insects & Spiders
| www.flickr.com
|
Miscellaneous
| www.flickr.com
|
| www.flickr.com
|
| www.flickr.com
|
| www.flickr.com
|
Other
| www.flickr.com
|
Primates
| www.flickr.com
|
| www.flickr.com
|
Reptiles and Amphibians
| www.flickr.com
|
| www.flickr.com
|
Sea Creatures
| www.flickr.com
|
| www.flickr.com
|
These $3,000 directed grants are based on ALA’s Every Child Ready to Read (ECRR). Only public libraries may apply, one per library system. Applicants receive training and materials, offer workshops and training, and more. See the grant information and application.
Discover the new books that you can recommend to children who use your library! Hear about books published in 2011, and upcoming Spring 2012 titles, that will be popular with children ages 0-12. These include picture books, easy readers, transitional fiction, genre fiction for middle grades, graphic novels, poetry, nonfiction, and more! Hear about books that will appeal to the “reluctant reader,” boys who may have drifted away from reading, and books that will have popularity with a wide audience of children.
At the end of this one-hour webinar, participants will:
This webinar will be of interest to any library staff or volunteer who serves children ages 0-12, in either public or school libraries.
Thursday, February 2, 2012
3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Online
For additional details and registration information visit: InfoPeople: Children’s Literature Update 2012
What is the absolute best avenue to getting teens involved and engaged at your school or public library? How can you encourage them to be peer reader advisors and library advocates in the community? Ultimately, if you want to encourage your teens to become lifelong readers, learners, and library users/supporters—and possibly even choose library work for their future career path—there is no better way to go than offering opportunities for active and involved teen library participation. In this webinar, you will explore ways teens can take part in your library, such as advisory groups, volunteering, short-term projects that use teen’s special skills, and partnering with adults. You’ll also get tips on planning, organizing, conducting, and evaluating teen participation. When you team up with teens at your library, it’s win-win! WebJunction is pleased to host this webinar in collaboration with the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA).
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Online
*If you require Closed Captioning in order to attend this webinar, please contact Jennifer Peterson by October 14 petersoj@oclc.org.
For additional details and registration information visit: WJ: Teaming Up with Teens @ Your Library
The 2011 summer reading survey is open and waiting for your data. It should take only 5 – 10 minutes to complete, if you have your summer reading facts and figures (circulation, number of participants etc.) readily available. You can view the questions before you go to the survey site, or just go directly to the survey and start filling it in.
The first 110 libraries to complete a survey will receive a free copy of the 2012 Collaborative Summer Library Program summer reading manual. The 2012 themes are “Dream Big – Read!”, “Own the Night” and for adults, “Between the Covers”.
Charlotte Minnick made the East Hampton Library her reading destination this summer and arrived at a $1,000.00 college savings account as well. She was one of four Connecticut children to do so, as part of the “Destination College Savings” promotion sponsored by The Connecticut Higher Education Trust, Connecticut State Treasurer’s Office, TIAA-CREF Tuition Financing, Inc., and the Connecticut State Library. The goal was to motivate children to visit their local libraries and read over the summer, and to educate families about the CHET college savings plan. Over 1,500 entries were received; eight children were awarded $50.00 Barnes & Noble gift cards while the four grand prize winners received a $1,000.00 donation to a CHET 529 plan. Libraries were winners as well; receiving either $50.00 or $500.00 checks for being a winning child’s home library.
The award ceremony was held at the Connecticut State Library in Hartford on Saturday September 10th. The children and their families received presentation checks and were congratulated for their efforts by Deputy State Treasurer Jonathan Harris.
2011 Destination College Saving Winners
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Hartford Public Library is collaborating with the Connecticut Science Center to bring age-appropriate understanding of numeracy, scientific inquiry, and literacy for Hartford children age 3-6.
It’s the kind of LSTA project that is scaleable to any size community and which is based on a foundation of solid, specific curricula developed by the State Department of Education.
Check out the best practices story and smiling kids on CT.WebJunction.

Four years later, still going strong!
Back in 2007, Linda Slate from the Jonathan Trumbull Library in Lebanon applied for an LSTA grant and started up the Read, Rock & Rhyme program.
Some grant programs struggle from the start. Others go great guns for a few years before succumbing to the axe-du-jour.
But Read, Rock & Rhyme (RRR) is busier than ever. Based on Betsy Diamont-Cohen’s Mother Goose on the Loose (MGOL) program, RRR’s programs showcase a wide range of early literacy elements and offer caregivers the tools to develop children’s early literacy skills.
So what’s the secret? Program director Linda Slate has some insights.
“Since our Library had just opened an additional day each week, I thought this program would be a perfect fit for the babies and their caregivers in our community who had previously been underserved.”
“After I was awarded the LSTA grant in 2007, Susan Cormier became my grant monitor. Her wealth of experience helped me ramp up the program and I was able to offer it in early 2008. Since then, RRR has served a total of 3,893 babies and their caregivers from Lebanon and surrounding towns. The babies who first attended RRR have transitioned to my Toddler Storytime, and now their younger siblings are attending RRR.
My advice to those of you who may be interested in offering a similar program would be:
Your enthusiasm will become contagious, and this will likely become one of the best attended programs at your library.”