The now-iconic bright yellow jacket and bold red headband; a young, Black girl reciting loudly and clearly for all to hear. As I perused my social media feeds on the evening of January 20th, one thing was abundantly clear: Amanda Gorman was having a moment. Poetry was having a moment. The National Youth Poet Laureate’s […]
When I was younger, I was painfully shy. Put me in a room full of people and you wouldn't even know I was there because an intense fear would overcome me and paralyze my ability to speak. Fast forward 15 years and I hardly recognize the younger version of myself. Standing in the presentation tent at Saturday's tenth annual Princeton Children's Book Festival as an aspiring librarian, my job was to introduce high profile authors and illustrators to a large audience that remained steady all day.
No matter the time of year, our Youth Services department is a busy place. But things change around here during the summer when school is out. There is definitely a different vibe on the third floor.
While March Madness is now down to the final four, thing are just heating up in Youth Services. Between now and April 8, come on up to the third floor, where you may vote in our “brackets” for the champion of the 2015 Battle of the Books. Our staff chose 32 of their favorite picture books, both classics and newer titles, and we’re putting them up for a vote.
A question I am asked frequently on the Youth Services desk is whether I can recommend any assistive technology apps. There are several that caught my eye recently, and when I tried them, I was impressed with the continued development of these types of applications. Many people, both young and old, would benefit greatly from using these simple programs. All the following apps are intuitive and easy to use. Some have a nominal fee, and others are free.
The Princeton Public Library aims to be the community's living room—and maybe its refrigerator door as well? The library's Teen Advisory Board (TAB) is starting a new, monthly, literary publication, SPARK, that gives students in kindergarten through eighth grade an opportunity to showcase their original work.
Last year, our Youth Services department, and specifically our Teen Center, underwent a freshening up. After reconfiguring our floor space and thinking about how it is used, we decided to purchase several MacBook PROs for afterschool use. We had been circulating e-readers and tablets, so this was a natural next step for us.
We made an initial purchase of eight laptops, and the kids went wild! We rolled out this new service a year ago and it has proven to be so popular that we recently invested in six more just to keep up with the demand.
Halloween is just around the corner, so there’s no better time for creepy, spooky programs. This month the Youth Services department will be hosting some events that are sure to give you the heebie-jeebies.
For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Roary the lion and I am the most sought out member of the Youth Services department. Why am I so popular? Well, that’s an easy answer. I am cute, cuddly and furry and I love a good adventure. Speaking of adventures, I have had quite a few since I came to the library earlier this year. Did you know that I can visit your house too and have adventures with you?
On any given day squeals of laughter can be heard coming from the newly refurbished “play” room in the Youth Services department. This magical room is one of the first stops that parents and caregivers make when bringing little ones to the library. Inside you’ll find a kitchen, interactive wall displays and even a yellow submarine.
Anyone who has ever traveled with a young person has heard that question repeatedly. It’s difficult to keep children amused on long trips and there is only so much of the license plate game one can take. The Youth Services department offers a unique service called Book a Trip.
It’s a tradition in the Youth Services department at Princeton Public Library. The first day of summer also is the first day of our summer reading programs. This summer preschoolers through teens are invited to “Dig into Reading.” The general theme of our programs and clubs will be the “underground.”
Our Youth Services department has entered the 21st century in technology. Recently we added two iPads as part of our Early Literacy Initiative. These new devices are perfect for our little customers and their grown-ups and replaced our popular pre-school computers. Each day we feature an “app of the day.” These apps are bright, colorful and perfect for young children. We choose apps that are based on some of the more popular books that kids are drawn to including, books by Mo Willems and Sandra Boynton.
One of the first things that I do when I visit other public libraries when I travel – and I always visit other public libraries when I travel (thank you Lebanon (NH) Public Library for letting me print my boarding passes for free!) – is to check out their children’s section. And every library, no matter how small has a space set aside for children, with low rows of attractive picture books, irresistibly cute furniture sized specifically for little ones, and sometimes even special play areas for tactile learners.
If you come to the library on Saturday, April 27, don’t be surprised to hear some French or English with a strong French accent. The Princeton Public Library, in collaboration with the Cultural Services of the French Embassy in the U.S., welcomes one of the most popular French illustrators for children: Olivier Tallec.
If you visited Youth Services on the third floor of the library over the past few weeks, you know that we were deep into voting season. It’s not November…
Pictured is our library lion, the star of a new Youth Services program. Over the next few weeks, we will begin lending the lion to children, encouraging them to read, write, and play creatively. For more on the program or to indicate interest in adopting the lion for a few days, please visit our site.
In the next few weeks the Youth Services (YS) Department will be debuting two new iPads which will be dedicated to our early literacy initiatives. The YS staff has been discussing all the fabulous apps that are available and we are excited to get started with our new endeavor. This got me thinking about different devices and book apps, and what makes a great book app for children.
When I realized my next blog was going to be posted on New Year’s Eve, I knew I had to write about the wonderful year we had up on the third floor. Youth Services is always a bustling place, sometimes so busy that we often lose sight of just what happens on a day-to-day basis.
If you haven’t had the opportunity to visit the third floor of the library recently, you are in for a big surprise. Quite a few wonderful changes have taken place recently, changes we think everyone young and old will approve. This renovation has taken one of the most special areas of the library and made it all the more magical.
It’s that time of the year again. No, I’m not referring to the end of summer reading clubs or the kids heading back to school. I’m talking about Book Festival time. On Saturday, September 8, 2012 Princeton Public Library is proud to host our 7th Annual Princeton Children’s Book Festival. For those of you who are Festival followers, we’ve got a lot in store for you this year. Yes, it does get bigger and better every year.
We have recently added another exciting resource to the Youth Services Digital Collection.
It is called OneClickDigital and we have subscribed to the Children and Young Adult Subscription series, which consists of approximately 1,000 titles for beginning readers, children and young adults.
We’ve hit our midway point for Summer Reading and programming in Youth Services. It seems like only yesterday we were out in the schools promoting the programs, now here we are over one month later with more than 1,200 preschoolers, children and teens enrolled in our summer reading clubs! Nothing short of amazing if you ask me!
Did you know that Princeton University is home to many gargoyles? These grotesque, carved figures of humans or animals reside along the corners of many University buildings. Often they are found along the gutters, acting as water spouts for rain.
On Tuesday, July 10 at 2:00 pm Youth Services librarians Allison Santos and Martha Perry-Liu will lead a tour on the University campus and help you discover these gothic creatures.We plan to highlight 13 of these unusual beings and offer a brief history of each.
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