The PLA Blog | Official Blog of the Public Library Association
“It Wasn’t Reading, It Was Learning.” Children’s Author Luncheon with Kadir Nelson
(sorry it’s taken me so long to post this, I wanted to do justice to this amazing event!) Kadir Nelson, award-winning author and illustrator, had the crowd laughing at pictures he drew at five and learning from research he spent years on during his interesting and engaging talk at the PLA Children’s Author Luncheon on [...]
Children’s Spaces, Family Places preconference
You never know what the actual take-aways from a conference will be. For example, the last time I attended PLA (in Charlotte) I attended a session about serving coffee in the library. The speakers presented everything from the FOL serving coffee from a book truck to, I think it was Chicago PL (? the conference [...]
Every Child Ready to Read customized brochures
PLA/ALSC are currently taking orders for customized Every Child Ready To Read brochures. Because of the large quantity being ordered, special pricing allows you to purchase brochures at a substantial savings. Orders are being accepted for only the quantities listed below: 5,000 each of the three brochures (15,000 brochures total) $2,850 ($.19 each) 10,000 each [...]
Webinar: A Practical Guide to Fantasy, 9/28
Is the fantasy genre a mystery to you? Wondering how to keep kids, especially boys, interested in reading now that the Harry Potter series is over, with no ideas on what to recommend? Love the Hogwart’s party concept, and looking for fresh ideas? A Practical Guide to Fantasy is the webinar is for you. The [...]
Snips and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails: Every BOY Ready to Read @ Your Library
On Sunday, June 24, I attended the program “Snips and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails: Every BOY Ready to Read @ Your Library,” presented by Dr. Leonard Sax, M.D., Ph.D. He explained the gender differences between boys and girls and how we could use this in our storytimes. A few highlights from his Powerpoint presentation: [...]
Podcast: Celebrating Excellence in Audiobooks for Children and Young Adults
I’ve never recorded a session for podcast and *not* sat in on the same session (my post of the session I attended is forthcoming), so this is something new. Many thanks to Melissa Faubel Johnson for minding the digital recorder! The description for the session, which was presented Saturday, June 23, was as follows: Audiobooks [...]
Babies & Books Beyond the Library
8:00 Bright and shiny, or at least awake, I arrived at the convention center for the first session of the day. Babies and Books Beyond the Library. Rachel Payne, Coordinator of Preschool Services at the Brooklyn Public Library, spoke at the program Brooklyn Reads to Babies. She was followed by Susan Straub, author and director [...]
Free science event resource for children’s librarians
I received this via the Massachusetts Library Association listserv, and thought I’d share: WGBH/Boston, a leading producer of quality children’s programming and award-winning resources for educators, is pleased to offer librarians a FREE Peep and the Big Wide World Event Kit. The kit has resources for organizing 3 different hands-on science events for preschoolers. This [...]
PLA Committee Meeting
I’m a little slow with posting about the Sunday meeting of PLA committees, but it takes awhile to get used to the three-hour time difference/jet lag. I’m on the PLA Services to Preschool Children and Their Caregivers Committee, and we met Sunday to discuss our plans for upcoming conferences and the like. We will be [...]
Every Child Ready to Read @yourlibrary wiki goes live!
The Public Library Association (PLA) and the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) are proud to introduce the Every Child Ready to Read® @ your library® wiki, which can be found at http://wikis.ala.org/ecrr. The wiki allows new and current users of the Every Child Ready to Read® @ your library® program to share innovative [...]





