you iis family and friend

Count Your Blessings

Pam B. found this drawing around the computers
in the children's room @  HQ.

up next for teens: CSI

fun ways to read with your child

Don't forget Jane's doing an excellent workshop called "Fun Ways to Read with your Child" on Monday @ 6:30 pm at HQ.  This will be a fun, free, and interactive workshop for parents of children ages 0-5 years old.  Childcare will be provided by Smart Start Rowan.  One free book and book bag to the first 50 families.  She's asking folks to register at any library location or by phone at 704-216-8234, but no one will be turned away. 

children, teens, and reading

Common Sense Media recently released a research brief called “Children, Teens, and Reading.” The group researched children’s reading habits in the United States and how they have changed in recent decades as technology has been on the rise. See the group’s infographic (left), key findings (below), or read the full report.

Key Findings

• Reading for fun drops off dramatically as children get older, and rates among all children — especially teens —  have fallen precipitously in recent years.
• Reading scores among young children have improved steadily, but achievement among older teens has stagnated.
• A significant reading achievement gap continues to persist between white, black, and Hispanic/Latino children.
• There is a gender gap in reading time and achievement: girls read more and better.
• Reading is still a big part of many children’s lives, but many children do not read well or often.
• Parents’ and children’s attitudes about electronic reading are still in flux.
• Ereading has the potential to significantly change the nature of reading for children and families, but its impact is still unknown.

- from the State Library's Library Development Blog

fizz, boom, FLY! at east

Storyteller Lona Bartlett kept the school-age kids engaged...

and the teens learned how to make it fly this week!

(thanks to Emma @ East for the collage and photo!)

week 2: mad science

Week 2: Mad Science takes the kids Up, Up and Away
This spellbinding special event illustrates the principles of air pressure. Children will be astonished as we use air to levitate different items, and will learn how the forces at work affect the world around us. Mad Scientists will make a hot air balloon out of a garbage bag and have a volunteer demonstrate the science behind an airplane. Watch a vortex generator at work, ride a hovercraft, and see just how strong air pressure is! It’s all possible when you send kids Up, Up and Away!

online registration tips

In addition to these FAQs for the Adult Summer Reading (which also apply to Children and Teens), here are a few additional issues that have come up when people are registering for summer reading:

• Creating a username: although no parameters are specified, it appears that the username must be between 6 and 12 characters long.  If the name is not accepted, the box will turn red and the user must try a different name.
  
• Creating a password: although no parameters are specified, it appears that the minimum length is 5 characters and that passwords must contain 1 digit and 1 letter.  If the password is not accepted, the box will turn red and the user must try a different password.
  
• Thank You message:  this is the message people receive once they have created their account.  It has been updated to help clarify how to log in and begin tracking hours:
  

  We are so excited you have signed up for Summer Reading!  Please close this window and go back to the "Events for [Kids or Teens]" page to sign in with your new account and begin to Track Reading time. 

  When users click on "Continue", they will be looped back to the registration page (there is a problem with the redirect code).  This page is where you sign up for a new account, not where you log in.  As the "thank you" message states, users will need to exit this page, go back to the "Events for Adults" page on our website, and click on "Track Reading" to log in.
  
• Email address optional:  the requirement for users to share their e-mail address has been disabled.  Anyone who wishes to register for summer reading using their library card number and PIN may do so without providing an e-mail address.

If you experience additional issues and would like to share as an FAQ, please send to April.  Thanks!

online registration is LIVE!!!

Online registration for children’s summer reading will go LIVE Friday morning IS LIVE!!!!!!

I know this adds another component to an already hectic kick-off week but we are up to the challenge.

I recommend you register for adult summer reading as a way to become familiar with the system.

If you have not already done so, you need to watch the webinar linked below ASAP!  This webinar is specifically for staff and goes over the online registration process and how online tracking works.  Erika has already added Rowan County Schools.  An email was sent out in May 5th with the same link to all children’s staff.

http://statelibrary.ncdcr.gov/ld/webinars.html

From this link, select:  Summer Reading Online Management Tool: For Staff Users

A few quick FAQ:

Folks do not have to register online in order to participate in summer reading!  Both the paper system and the online system will be used at all branches.

If a parent/guardian/teen does not have an email address, they can still participate online.

An email address is required as part of the registration process but is not required after their account has been set-up.  They may miss out on special announcements and promotions, but will have access to all the online program features.  At this time, Melissa will create their accounts and call them with their login information.  Staff will need to take all the regular summer reading registration information along with a phone number and their branch preference so we can call them with their login information.  Forward this information to Melissa.  Accounts will be set up within 24 hours.

Parents may create an account and then register their children under their account.  Each child will have their own sub-account to track their own individual hours.  When children want to login, they will use their own username and password.  Their parent does not have to login first.

Teens will only be able to track reading hours this summer.  We will look for ways to track activities for next summer.

Anyone who has logged hours the traditional way (purple/orange logs) and later registers online can have those earlier hours added to their online account.   As we don’t have any hours logged yet, this is not an issue but folks need to know this is possible should they choose to register online later on.  The details of how this will be accomplished are in development.

Let the fun begin!

- Melissa

children's at east gets a treasure

Thanks to Charlene (South) for sharing her artistic talents,
and to Dennis (HQ) for helping frame and hang the mural.