12th Annual Kids Are Customers Too

It was held at the lovely Turf Valley Resort in Ellicott City, Maryland. The first session was called "Storytime Transitions" conducted by Gloria Bartas of Enoch Pratt. At a break neck pace she introduced songs, chants, flannelboards, games, etc. to link books in your preschool storytimes including nonfiction book ideas. She said if you email her at Pratt Library she will actually send you all of them (gbartas@prattlibrary.org). I also attended the breakout session called "Wiggle Giggle Storytimes" conducted by Jill Hutchison from St. Mary's County Library. This a based on a program that the library does in partnership with the Infants and Toddlers Program for children with developmental delays and includes peers from the general public. I think this is very adaptable to our programs which may or may not include children with some of these same issues. She emphasized: shorter storytimes for shorter attention spans, realistic and clear expectations, no single sit time activity longer than 3 minutes, follow each sit time activity with a wiggle activity, bridging between every activity, and incorporating sing language if possible. She also said to choose only big books or stories with flannelboards or puppets, stories with simple concepts and short lines, repeating a story across several storytimes, singing and chanting, etc. Jennifer Holm author of Babymouse fame also spoke about the appeal of her character and graphic novel to not just girls but all children. The second break out session I attended was called "Booktalking Bonanza" conducted by Betsy Diamont-Cohen and Selma Levi both of Enoch Pratt. They showed how to incorporate both fiction and nonfiction booktalks into themes interspersed with videos, games, etc. They also have a new book called "Booktalking Bonanza" for sale from the ALA store that contains ready to go programs - only $36.00 for ALA members. The last two sessions were devoted to the Blue Crab Young Readers Award winners (these are beginning readers) and effective school and library partnerships.