Resources & Training for Public Library Staff
Upcoming Trainings
Solar Eclipse Activities for Libraries (SEAL) Project Workshop
Saturday, March 18th: 10-4 @ Kennewick Public Library: Register Here
Monday, March 20th: 10-4 @ Puyallup Public Library: Register Here
Attendees will receive hands-on training on operating solar telescopes and other methods for direct and indirect solar viewing, best practices for developing and facilitating STEM programs, and how to engage with community partners and library-specific digital resource networks. STAR Net facilitators, bringing many years of experience building the STEM capacity of public library staff, will work with each state library to customize the workshop experience based on the needs and interests of public libraries within that state. These workshops will use materials from the circulation kits and highlight best practices in using those materials but the strategies, activities and resources shared during the workshop will be useful to attendees whether they have access to a circulation kit or not.
The goals of these solar science workshops are to help library staff:
1. Build off the excitement of the 2023 and 2024 solar eclipses, and engage their patrons in solar science activities
2. Safely and effectively facilitate direct (e.g. solar telescope and Sunoculars) and indirect methods of safe solar viewing
3. Develop and facilitate exciting and interactive STEM programming at their library
Lunch will be provided by STARNet. Masks are not required, but encouraged. Attendees are encouraged to bring their own refillable water bottles and/or coffee cups.
What is a Welcoming Library?
The Welcoming Library is a pop-up conversation on immigration created by I'm Your Neighbor Books, a nonprofit with the goal of building a stronger America where first-through-third generation Americans truly belong.
The Welcoming Library is a pop-up community conversation on immigration. That conversation is driven by a collection of acclaimed picture books featuring New Arrival and New American families. Readers of all ages “meet” these families on the page and explore the commonalities of all families with embedded discussion questions and companion programming / education materials. The collection — with its pop-up display unit — packs into a crate and travels between schools, libraries, and community centers in a given region, building an environment of Welcoming and Belonging.
100 % of the Welcoming Library readers surveyed indicated a positive response to immigration with 66.7% saying, “Reading this book reinforced my feeling that immigrants should be welcomed in my community” and with 41.7% saying, “I feel inspired by this book and project to find a way to be actively welcoming in my community.”
What is in the Welcoming Library?
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29 Acclaimed Picture Books featuring the experiences of modern-day non-European immigrants, refugees, and 1st- through 3rd-generation families.
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Discussion Questions affixed to the back end papers to allow any reader to have an in-depth, informed conversation about commonalities, differences, welcoming, and belonging, regardless of the reader’s experience and comfort with such conversations.
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Pop-up Display Unit with Banner which adapts to any space to both highlight the books and draw attention to the mission. The handmade wooden display disassembles for packing and shipping between locations.
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Crates to move and ship books, the display, and all support materials between your locations.
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Rubber Mallet to assist with bookshelf assembly.
How Might You Use Your Welcoming Library?
- Set up the Welcoming Library in a communal area with chairs for students or families to sit down and explore and read together.
- Set up the Welcoming Library in a programming room for people to engage with before, after, or during programs like storytime or book clubs.
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Set up the Welcoming Library in a classroom room for students to engage with during free reading time.
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Bring the Welcoming Library as a pop-up library to outreach events such as education nights, cultural festivals, after-school events, etc.
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Use the Welcoming Library books in classroom units, library storytimes, or any other way you can image!
Outcomes and Goals:
* Start conversations on modern immigration
* Refute false narratives about communities of color
* Create emotional connections to a vast diversity of voices
* Share the joy and strength of immigrant and new generation families
* Build the cultural competency of all readers
* Lay the groundwork for cross-cultural communication
Kits will stay at a library for up to six weeks then they must be sent to the next location. You are welcome to borrow it for between 1-6 weeks!
If you are hoping to send this kit between locations in your district using internal mail and need it for more than six weeks, please email [email protected] and we will see if we can accommodate your booking.
Collection Management Policies
Creating and maintaining a robust collection development plan and collection management policy are key components of any library program. Whether you are revamping an old policy, or creating a new one from scratch, here are some resources to get started.
Selection
Weeding
Evaluating Library Collections
Webinars & Self-Paced Courses
Check out the Washington State Library Training page for more information on upcoming workshops, webinars and the full collection of online training resources including WebJunction and Niche Academy.
We encourage your feedback. If you have comments or suggestions, please use our
feedback form.
Funded in part by the Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS) through the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA).