Professional Activity 3 - Observe and document a program delivered for children or young adults at a local library. Reflect on the experience. Theme - digital materials and emergent technologies

Photos from the LegoMation event I participated in.

Professional Activity 2 - Book Week Performances - Photos.

Professional Development Activity 2 - Book Week Performances at Kogarah Libraries and in the community. Plan and deliver an event for young people and reflect on the process – Theme- Young persons book awards

How was the activity relevant to your professional development?

Children’s Book week 2013 ran 17 – 23 August. However my preparations started months before. The focus is to celebrate the Young People’s Book Awards.   Notable books written and illustrated by Australians are selected in a range of categories. The identification of quality literature in a formal award process allows children’s librarians to become the bridge linking children to age appropriate literature (Williams, 2007).

The theme for 2013 was ‘Read across the Universe’.  Themes highlight the importance of reading and give an angle from which to approach the events.  The Book Council is an important partner to Public Libraries and creating events that unite the passions of both institutions is an opportunity to deliver “motivating activities and reading promotion, offer creative programming and storytelling and cooperative with and support community organisation and institutions” (IFLA, 2012, p 9).

We had to make our Book Week program suitable for a range of audiences.. This meant adapting content for the target groups.  We scheduled performances for the Home School Family network, and Storyworx (our young intellectually disabled group). With the primary schools visits, Preschool visits and Story Corner audiences we managed to connect with many of the target groups suggested in the IFLA guidelines.

What did you learn?

We attended the Pre-Book-Week Extravaganza held at the State Library NSW June 2013, presented by the NSW Young People in Libraries Working Group. The workshop was an opportunity to share ideas.  We decided to use some Early Childhood books that lent themselves well to performance.

The three books we chose were ‘The Terrible Suitcase’ by Emma Allen, ‘It’s a Miracool’ by Christine Harris and ‘Peggy’ by Anna Walker. We wrote a script from each and linked the scripts with dialog.

We spent time sewing costumes and collecting props.  We rehearsed for 5 weeks. 2012 was the first time we had worked together. This year things were meant to go more smoothly. However 2014 proved crazier.

‘Peggy’, saw me dressed up as a brave little chicken that goes on an unexpected adventure and finds a new world, but then gets lost.  This story was very funny acted out but much of the comedy we had to add into the performance. The theme is conquering our fears, finding new friends and being resilient.

I narrated ‘It’s a Miracool’, and Michelle transformed into Audrey Barlow who looses her first tooth and worries that the tooth fairy will not find her out in the outback on the rural  homestead where she lives. Audrey is resourceful though and the tooth fairy does find her and leave her a beautiful emu egg in her billy-can.

‘The Terrible Suitcase’ was our favourite story about the little girl who gets a red suitcase for school instead of the rocket backpack she asked for. We turned this story into a monologue. The dreaded suitcase becomes celebrated for its uniqueness and made special by the children and their imaginations.

Were any gaps in your knowledge revealed?

“Did the audience seem to enjoy it? Did they laugh in the appropriate places? Were they watching and listening with concentration? Did the audience compliment you after the program?” (Cerny, Markey & Williams, 2006, p 56). Asking these questions in evaluating the program the answers were a big yes. The audiences had been the right size, the feedback was positive, the Preschools pre -booked for next year, the Primary school students still recognise me as “the chicken from the play”. Teachers from the schools complimented the appropriateness of the content. We felt that we had successfully promoted the books, the collection, Kogarah Library and the Book Awards.

However 2012 we performed two books. 2013 we attempted three. It was a challenge to coordinate.  We just managed to achieve everything with extra hours being granted. 

 

How might those gaps be filled?

  According to SMART objectives, we need to ensure 2014 is achievable in terms of skills, funds and time (Rankin & Brock, 2009, p 147).  For 2014 I will take a more structured approach to planning, designing the events such as ‘visioning’ and ‘goal setting’ (Sullivan, 2005, p 189).

The winner was ‘The Terrible Suitcase’, so we were so glad we had chosen it to perform. Two honour books were selected ‘With Nan’ and ‘Too Many Elephants in this House’ which was subsequently chosen to be the NSS feature book for May 2014.

The CBCA Book awards are an excellent motivation to put young people at the forefront of library planning.  They serve a recreational and educational function, bring communities together and encourage networking. It also brings reading and books to life in a dynamic, colourful and inspiring ways for children.

References

Cerney, R., Markey, P., & Williams, A. (2006). Outstanding Library Service to Children: Putting the core competencies to work. Retrieved from Ebook Library.

IFLA Libraries for Children and Young Adults Section Guidelines for Children’s Library Services Viewed January 18th http://www.ifla.org/files/libraries-for-children-and-ya/publications/guidelines-for-childrens-libraries-services-en.pdf

Rankin, Carolynn & Avril Brock (2009). Delivering the best start: A guide to early years libraries. London: Facet.

Sullivan, M. (2005). Fundamentals of children’s services. Chicago: American Library Association.

Williams, A. (2007). Storytime Model for Large Groups: Implications for early Literacy. Children & Libraries: The Journal of the Association for Library Services to Children. 5(2), 27-29.