GIVEAWAY!
The second edition of Out and About in the North Country is out, and I have a copy to give away! (Hat tip to the North Country Children’s Museum for hooking me up.) Just email me with the subject line “OUT AND ABOUT” by Thursday at 4pm for your chance to add this to your library’s local interest section!
(Also, congratulations to Lowville Free Library, the winner of the COLOR ME HAPPY giveaway. Look for that in your delivery soon…)
CORE VALUE: INTELLECTUAL FREEDOM
There’s been a lot in the news lately about efforts to remove books from school libraries, so I thought this would be a good time to highlight one of librarianship’s core values: Intellectual Freedom. In a nutshell (and quoting directly from the ALA’s Intellectual Freedom Manual, Ninth Edition, please enjoy), intellectual freedom is “the right of every individual to both seek and receive information from all points of view without restriction.” It’s why we protect patron privacy and build diverse collections. It’s why we craft collection development policies that incorporate the ALA’s Freedom to Read statement. Check out this short video (and longer ones!) from the ALA Office of Intellectual Freedom to take a deeper dive.
SEMI-PERMANENT STORYWALKS
From the ALSC blog: “We launched a big addition to our library collection last month: eleven podiums that make up our new Trail Tales! Trail Tales is based on StoryWalk®. This project was long in the planning. My colleague had tried to find funding to create a literacy/walking experience at the outset of the pandemic, but was unable to secure a source for us. However, we didn’t give up our dream of a StoryWalk® of some sort! We kept our eyes open for potential partners…”
CRAYON TIME
From Jbrary: “A few months ago I shared the amazing work of libraries who created displays, scavenger hunts, and contests around the book The Day the Crayons Quit. Awhile later I heard from Sarah Viviani, a youth services librarian in central Florida, who took those ideas and ran with it! Here is how she created a virtual event for families that included a crayon-making activity and science experiments. Firstly, she created her own set of giant crayons. I would pay money for these!”
