Youth Services Model Programs

March 26, 2010 – 9:30 – 1:30
Peabody Institute Library, Danvers

9:30 Welcome and Power Breakfast Buffet

Librarian Exhibitors! Each librarian panelist will present briefly an exemplary program:

10:45 Gina Lipkin, Langley Adams Library, Groveland
Teen Programs on a Shoestring

10:55 Maureen Foley, Chelmsford Public Library
Mixing in Math

11:05 Mixing in Math continued

11:15 Corinne Fisher and Brenda Wettergreen, Reading Public Library
Mother Goose Lapsits

11:25 Diane Giarrusso, Boxford Town Libraries
Poetry Circle (adults)

11:35 Break

11:50 Noelle Couture and Amy Martin, Tewksbury Public Library
Read to Me Book and Craft Club

12:00 Cathy DeWitt, Georgetown Peabody Library
Lego Club

12:10 Marianne Stanton, Melrose Public Library
Snack Pack

12:20 Jane Johnson, Topsfield Town Library
Afterschool Drop In Club

12:30 Sara Collins, Manchester-By-The-Sea Public Library
Money for Nothing, Tricks for Free

12:40 Visit the Exhibits and Network!

1:20– Wrap Up and Final Raffles

Planning for this Fifth and perhaps final Program Power Breakfast is underway! Presentations include: a Poetry Circle for adults, Teen programs on a shoestring, a Lego Club, Mixing in Math, and several on afterschool programming.

There is a small fee to cover the catered breakfast which is served first. Registration materials will be available soon. Check back here or the NMRLS CE Calendar!

The Burlington Public Library would like to share our materials from this summer’s Star Jumper Book Club with any libraries who would like to try a similar program. The club was based on Frank Asch’s Star Jumper, a book that tied in with the summer Starship Adventure theme and that adapted beautifully to activities for grade school kids. I planned the activity for both meetings: first, a builders’ meeting, where members tried to follow in the footsteps of Alex, the Cardboard Genius, who builds his own spaceship; and second, a life size interactive board game of my own design.

The program was a great success, but now that we are done with the program, I would like to share our materials and experiences with others. We can pass along the books for your own club members to read. (We will catalog the books as a kit and make the other
materials available on request) If you choose to do the builders’ meeting, you will still need to scrounge for building materials (mainly junk) yourselves; however, I can pass along pointers I picked up at our own meetings to help your own go smoothly. As for the board game, most of the equipment is compact enough for us to be able to pass along to others: rules, mini-board and tokens if you haven’t time to build one to full scale, spinner, challenge cards, directions for same, badges, templates, and small challenge items. To give you an idea of what our programs looked like, click on the photos below from our own Star Jumper club.

We welcome you to borrow these materials, adapt them to your needs, and pass them on to others in the region. I would be happy to field questions from you and would love to hear from any libraries that try out the kit.

Please email:
Mary Naugle
Youth Services Assistant
Burlington Public Library

Weaving Math into a Family Storytime at the Nevins Memorial Library
By Kathy Moran-Wallace, Head of Children’s Services

On June 29, 2009, the Nevins Memorial Library held a family Mixing in Math (MIM) storytime for kids in 1st and 2nd grade. Since it was the first day of summer vacation, everyone was served pizza and juice for lunch. Astronaut ice cream was served as a sweet treat for dessert. After everyone had a small taste, the group was asked a MIM Quick Question “Do you like Astronaut Ice Cream?” Before recording their vote, we talked about the best way to record the results of our poll. The children chose to make tally marks on the paper in groups of five, rather than randomly placing them on the paper because it was easier to count. All of the participants recorded their preferences of Yes or No on a pad of paper attached to the easel. Three out of 22 participants did not like dessert!
[Read more →]

By Theresa Hurley, Head of the Children’s Department

On November 6th 2008, the Lynn Public Library held a Mixing in Math Pizza Party to kick off our participation in the MIM program. After the families ate pizza, they participated in the activities. We had 5 different stations of activities:

* Make your own mystery jar- Children and parents filled a plastic cup with candy while counting the pieces. Other tried to estimate how many pieces were in the cup.
* Double the recipe- Children made play dough by following a recipe. Depending on how many batches they wanted to make, they could double or triple the recipe.
* Giant museum- Using large graph paper, children chose an object and tried to make it 3 times bigger.
* Who am I? – Clues were given for the children to try and find answer in a book about an animal.
* How many in a minute – Children tried to predict how many things they could do in a minute using a stop watch. Activities included jumping jacks, how many times they could say their name, etc.
[Read more →]

By Molly Hancock, Coordinator of Youth Services

In the Fall of 2008, the Youth Services Department Staff at the Pollard Library became one of the libraries in the state involved with TERC’s “Mixing in Math” (MiM) program. TERC is a nonprofit education and research organization whose staffers created the “Mixing in Math” program as a way for afterschool programs to incorporate math into their daily routines. Through funding from the National Science Foundation TERC developed materials for staffers to use with the children. TERC approached libraries to see if they would be interested in “Mixing in Math.”
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By Maureen Foley, Chelmsford Public Library

The Chelmsford Library was chosen to test a math program designed for public libraries called Mixing in Math. I was very enthusiastic when my library was selected, because I was looking for support as I tried to combine math in many library activities.

I received a binder that provides detailed instructions for activities. I loved the many ways we introduced the concept of estimating rather than guessing. We bought mason jars. We placed two jars next to each other. One jar was twice as large as the other, but the pieces we placed inside were all the same shape. The next month we took two jars that were the same size, but placed objects of different sizes in them. I myself got much better at estimating – a skill I never developed as a child.
[Read more →]

Pictures say a 1000 words so be sure to look at the Program Power Breakfast photos!

Feedback on the Breakfast has been very positive! Here are some of the comments from participants:

“Variety of ages and interests were considered; brevity and clarity of the presenters; handouts; well-organized; stayed on schedule. Interested in the online SR programs and the Time Travelers. Impressed with so many librarians doing so much with so little funding. This was the first time I attended and I was very impressed with the quality of the ideas and programs.”

“I liked all of the presentations. I will probably adapt the poetry presentation when I teach a poetry unit – i like the community storytelling idea. I liked the bagels and books idea. I liked the decorating a tree idea. Lots of great ideas to adapt to my library program.”

“Thanks so much for the awesome program this morning. I got so much out of it. AND – I can’t believe the loot bags. What a treat!”
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The 4th Annual Program Power Breakfast agenda:

9:30 Welcome and Power Breakfast Buffet

Librarian Exhibitors!
Each librarian panelist will present briefly an exemplary program:

10:45 Gina Lipkin, Langley Adams Library, Groveland
Time Travelers

10:55 Bonnie Rankin, MacKay Branch, Chelmsford Public Library
Using Storytelling to Build Community

11:05 Maria Mastrocola, Methuen Public Schools
Books and Bagels

11:15 Sara Collins, Manchester-By-The-Sea Public Library
“Poetry Aloud Here”

11:25 Noelle Couture, Tewksbury Public Library
Children’s Online Summer Reading Program

11:35 Break

11:50 Darsana Barua, Boxford Town Libraries
Teen Online Summer Reading Program

12:00 Penny Berube, M.G. Parker Memorial Library, Dracut
Junior Friends

12:10 Kirsten Underwood, Nevins Memorial Library, Methuen
Community Reads

12:20 Marilyn Pauley, Ipswich Public Library
Collaborative Storytimes

12:30 Alissa Lauzon and Leslie Todd, Haverhill Public Library
Tween PhotoVoice Program

12:40 Visit the Exhibits and Network!

1:20– Wrap Up and Final Raffles

Though the day was dark, cold, and wet, participants and presenters made the day glow with networking, ideas, and fun!

An earlier posting presented the agenda

Please visit the slideshow to see glimpses of the fun!

Some comments from the evaluation include:

“What a great annual, delicious way to mingle and see such a wide range of librarians!”

[Read more →]