72276 Literature and Information Resources for Children and Young People
I've just started the above course, through the Open Polytechnic - Kuratini Tuwhera. I will record my notes in this blog as part of my professional development.
Reading One: Knowledge of the Client Group
Cerny, R., Markey, P., & Williams, A. (2006). Outstanding library service to children:
Putting the core competencies to work. Chicago, IL: Association for Library Service to
Children, American Library Association.
- Libraries have direct links to communities, so staying in touch with local services, and up to date with other community groups helps you to best cater for your own clientele.
- Children and YA go through different stages of development and it is important for the library to reflect those stages.
- Involving parents and engaging with them is important for families and their children as the aim is to build and encourage literacy for all.
- Librarians generally work with the widest age bracket of all educators, from infants to the elderly.
- Change is always happening and librarians need to keep up with those changes, both in society and community, and also technology.
- Librarians also need to build relationships with educators to engage with them and their needs for the students they are working with. The aim is to make a symbiotic relationship.
Key stages of development and how that effects a library
Infancy - 0-2
Biggest stage of growth and development, egocentric and dependent on family, all experiences sensory; perfect time to start reading out loud to baby and engaging with them through tone and language. Modeling from parents huge.
Toddlers, ages 2-3
Beginning to refine physical skills and showing some independence while asserting self more, understanding more concepts like cause and effect, likes to play independently still. Library programs and reading should still involve caregiver, and books with lots of repetition, rhyme and simple stories.
Preschool, ages 4-5
Highly developed language skills and is playful with language too, enjoys sequencing, rhyme, silly stories, beginning to understand bigger world than just family and home; At library can sit for longer periods of time and do simple activities with independence.
Primary, ages Y0-2
Beginning to think logically and learning is hands on, asking lots of questions, and personal life still dominates thinking and emotions; At library they are beginning to enjoy reading themselves and have a more developed sense of humour and of bigger concepts.
Middle grades, Y3 & 4
More independent academics and complex reasoning, while having mind opened to new concepts, enjoys collecting and hobbies, becoming own person more with sense of individuality, and influenced by outside friends more than family.
Preadolescents, Y5 - 8
Beginning puberty, can reason and research and find information and make up own mind about thoughts and opinions, starting to become self conscious and challenging authority, but still needs family, becoming more socially aware of others and self. At library developing new needs from books, possibly books about popular culture and friendships/relationships.
Adolescents Y9 - 13
Final spurt of brain development, lots of hormonal changes and physical changes more or less done, often seen as a child in an adults body, but ready to act as an adult, while also displaying toddler tendencies. Will need own space in library away from what might be seen as 'children's' sections, and will need to be treated as adults from library staff.
Thoughts/implications for my own practice
- I have been thinking about how best to change up the non-fiction as it seems to be such an under-utilised section of the library, due to the amount of books, and the disarray of the dewey decimal system. This course has already had some conversations about how to group non-fiction differently, and the networking meeting I went to the other day suggested different ideas too. I will keep thinking about this, as I am thinking of separating out a junior non-fiction area to make it more accessible to the junior children.
- It's a good reminder about child development as we are moving into a new space, so I will keep these thoughts in mind when we are creating our new library space, with the needs of the different age groups.
- I like the idea of a new space for early chapter books to transition the early readers from about Year 2 into chapter books. I saw this at Waimauku Primary and was inspired. Space in the new library might be tricky, but I'll see what we can do.
- This year I have already been doing a major buy up of books with really diverse looking families to try to represent our school community more. I have purchased a few books with mixed race families, as our school is very multicultural. When we displayed our languages books and I promoted them in Whanau Time, those books were hot off the display shelves, which was encouraging.
- I'm wondering if potentially we could open the library up one afternoon a week, so that families can come in and enjoy the library with their children after school. Hmmmmmm......
