Children's Services Meeting Minutes for April 2006

Date:  April 5, 2006  1:00pm- 4:00pm

Location:  Ralph Ellison Library

Attendance:   Carolyn Abernathy (SO), Lynda Bahr (OUT), Janet Brooks (MLS), Alma Brown (WA), Cheryl Coleman (RE), Children’s Services Intern, (CH), Daniel Fields (BE), Fran Harbert (DC), Carol Hunter (ED), Barb Johnson (BI) Karen Lehr (ED), Tulin Lafollette (CT), Mary Mahan (NP), Karen Marriott (MLS), Dana Morrow (OUT), Heidi Port (DVS), Kelley Riha (OUT), Stacy Schrank (PLA), Joan Shelton (CH), Cheryll Smith (MC), Kristin Smith (OUT), Rhonda Turley (DN), JoNita White (HR), Emily Williams (OUT), Lisa Wood (VI).

Welcome:
Staff introduced themselves and Kristin read Bark, George by Jules Fiefer. The book was used to introduce librarians to new children’s literature, demonstrate reading aloud techniques, and start the meeting off with some fun.

General Announcements:
Kristin discussed the new Donna Norvell Oklahoma Book Award and introduced the first winning book, Wild About Books by Judy Sierra and illustrated by Marc Brown.

Sharing Knowledge from PLA:
Lisa Wood shared information about the various sessions she attended at this year’s PLA meeting in Boston. She specifically talked about the Every Child Ready to Read program from PLA. We hope to be able to bring some of these concepts to our library’s storytimes soon.

Family Talk Updates and Ideas:
Janet Brooks and Karen Marriott discussed the Family Talk section at each library. Janet mentioned various uses for the collection, talked about what titles should be in the collection, and the librarians gave examples of how they have found the collection useful.
Baby’s First Library Book and Smart Start packet:

Dana spoke about the use of the Baby’s First Library Book cards. Several librarians expressed concern that not many cards were being returned, but Kristin and Dana explained that they were targeting a “hard to reach” population and that any response was good. We will continue to look for new opportunities to hand out the cards.

Dana also talked about the children’s reading packets she has helped create through her involvement in Smart Start Oklahoma. The packets encourage parents to read to their children through simple daily reminders of the importance of reading. We are currently looking for ways to distribute the packets to newborns at local hospitals.

Break:
Over break the librarians were able to browse books that go with the summer reading theme. Snacks were prepared along the Paws, Claws, Scales and Tales theme, and at the end of break the librarians were able to play an animal facts game.

Event Employees and Summer Volunteers:
Heidi distributed information for teen volunteers at each branch, and she and Kristin discussed this year’s event employee opportunities around summer reading. Specifically, we are asking office library staff to support the branches during the first few days of Summer at the Library.

Summer Reading:
Stacy gave a presentation on this year’s Summer at the Library program. This is the same presentation that every library employee will eventual receive as training for the summer. The presentation gave the librarians a chance to see the prizes and discuss the process of this year’s Summer at the Library. Based on feedback from the librarians, Stacy was able to clarify a few aspects of his presentations for other library employees. Librarians were also able to share some ideas about this year’s program.

Sharing Resources and Ideas:
Dana shared an essay called “I is not for Indian”, which Kristin has used in the past as a way to rethink the way we use cultural books in the library.
Lisa mentioned the new Sesame Street production for babies and the controversy surrounding the creation of a show targeted at babies.
Because this group has less meetings than previously scheduled and a large amount of information to share, Kristin and Dana suggested the children’s librarians begin to communicate through email bulk mailings more often. This can be a useful way to communicate between meetings.

The next meeting will be held in October.