Besides the Reading Merit Badge, scouts can select from more than 135 merit badges—thirteen of which are required for Eagle advancement, the highest rank advancement in the BSA program. High-interest topics include fishing, camping, and wilderness survival to kayaking, entrepreneurship, and family life. How does the Reading Merit Badge compare in popularity to the other merit badges? Its overall lifetime rank is 29^th with 1,490,797 scouts earning the badge from 1911-2016. However, completion of the reading merit badge has decreased by 60 percent in the last five years (2012: 5,676; 2013: 5,216; 2014: 4,712; 2015: 4,179; 2016: 3,574)². Librarians are in a unique position to encourage more readers by working alongside scout leaders or becoming counselors themselves.

What does it take to complete the reading merit badge? Scouts must read six books in four different genres. At least one title must be an award winner. They learn how to find books in the catalog and on the shelves. For each book, they will keep a log which includes the title, pages read, date completed and their comments about what they read. They will discuss their books with the counselor using the log as a reference and explain why they chose each book and what it meant to them. Next, they will read about the news using two sources and discuss what they learned. The service portion of the merit badge includes four hours of reading to a sick, blind or homebound person, performing volunteer work at the library, or reading stories to younger children. Librarians will find that requirements of the merit badge dovetail nicely with summer reading programs.

Librarians can reach out to their local troop to make a connection with that troop’s reading merit badge counselor and work with them. If the troop does not have a designated reading merit badge counselor librarians might find a great outreach opportunity awaiting them! Can you imagine if every public library offered a reading merit badge workshop? In an earlier post, Man Up: Attracting the Male Patron, I explored creating programming for boys and young men based on BSA’s merit badge topics. Partnering with local troops offers librarians another avenue to reaching boys and their parents.

Library staff at the Naperville (IL) Public Library has offered the Reading Merit Badge for several years. “The first couple of times that I conducted the merit badge it was solely for the troop that my sons belonged to which is Troop 889.” states Donna Pistolis, adult services librarian. Once she worked out the kinks, she reamed up with teen librarian, Allison Colman Gegenheimer. “We offer the merit badge on a group basis, Pistolis writes, “We ask for a minimum of 6 boys and no more than 10-12.  I’ve been a RMBC for 7 years.  We have had just under 50 scouts go through the merit badge session,” she said.³

You might find that scouts and their parents are astounded by the resources they can locate at the library or remotely through the library web site. “Scouts (and their parents) leave amazed with all that the library has to offer.  When we talk about looking up news articles, the boys were amazed that they could look at newspapers online from home,” Pistolis states then adds, “Boys couldn’t believe that they could download or stream popular music from the library.”⁴

If you want to reach more boys in your community and inspire the next generation of readers, don’t hesitate to inquire with your local troop. Additional merit badge topics librarians may want to consider include citizenship in the community, nation and world, genealogy and scholarship.

For more information:

• Reading Merit Badge Requirements and Resources
• Volunteer with Scouting
• BSA’s Merit Badge Program

References

1. 2016 Boy Scouts of America Annual Report. Irving: BSA, 2016.Http://www.scouting.org/filestore/annualreport/2016/2016_AnnualReport.pdf. Boys Scouts of America. Web. 15 May 2017.
2. Wendell, Bryan. “2016 Merit Badge Rankings: The Most- and Least-popular Merit Badges.”Bryan on Scouting. Boys Scouts of America, 23 Mar. 2017. Web. 15 May 2017.
3. Pistolis, Donna. “RE: BSA Reading Merit Badge Counselor – Q & A.” Message to Paula Wilson. 22 May 2017. E-mail.
4. Ibid.

The post Become a Reading Merit Badge Counselor first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

Irlen describes these visual problems as Scotopic Sensitivity Syndrome (SSS) and includes such problems as dyslexia. From my reading of Superlearning (1979) and Superlearning 2000 (1995) by Sheila Ostrander and others, I had become aware of many techniques to learning as well as those learned in education courses for teachers but using colors for reading was new to me.

The correctional library programs, for which I was director, had developed a reading lab which houses special reading materials and uses peer tutors to help inmates and school students with their reading difficulties. I spoke with Laws, who was also a Certified Special Education Teacher and we began to discuss what we might do at the state prison. She was hired as a consultant through a Department of Education grant for “Innovative uses of Technology in Education.” This program would allow us to develop a program based on the use of visual testing and use of colors in reading training. An acquired color machine allowed printed text and graphics to be focused onto a TV monitor with selected colored backgrounds or letters. These would be switched until an optimum combination was found for each student. With the machine we could also alter the size of the letters. By coordinating information from school TABE tests, our library brought together twenty-eight men who volunteered to be part of this program and Laws began meeting one-on-one with the inmates.

She would test the men for their current reading ability and their ability to see through various color overlays or color backgrounds with enlarged type on the color machine. Laws would also test for right and left brain coordination. After doing this for each inmate, she would write a “prescriptive” program for each. Exercises, including eye, breathing and relaxing, reading lists, color overlays, and sometime relaxing music, were all part of the prescription. Twenty-six of the twenty-eight students, we found, could read or see words better with the color overlay, one or two with larger print. Gary, (pseudonym ) on the other hand was found to have no sense of “visualization.” He couldn’t remember what he learned from one day to the next. He hardly could talk, as words did not come to him because of brain damage.

Laws started helping Gary by asking what he was interested in – Cars. He had been a mechanic and knew a great deal about cars. Laws drew a picture of a car and had Gary tell her what the parts of the car were – the hood, the trunk, the bumper, wheels. After about eight items, she wrote the names of the parts with arrows to the drawing of the car. Then she had him make up a large drawing for a book. Each time he and the tutors met, he would learn more words that went with the parts of the car he knew. About two months after this all started, I was present when Gary was able to put together about ten words into a sentence. Not only could he retain the words, but he was beginning to relearn how visualization could help him learn. It was the beginning of retraining the wounded brain. By the time the program ended, Gary had a vocabulary of about 30-50 words.

Many of the other students made remarkable progress as well. At the start of the program, one other inmate was adamant, no one could help him to read. He not only became a model student (less disruptive) at the prison school, but became an advocate of the lab and started helping other students increase their reading ability. Within two months, twenty-six men were reading at least 2-3 grades, if not more, above the ABE tested level when they started working with Laws.

There has been much research on visual and brain cognition, and software from many agencies has helped. Not all the software out there allows for color background or varying text color. Many computer programs in the assistive technology arena are for reading comprehension, not for help with vision. One program which includes adaptive facility for vision and colors, Easy Reader, is now available via Dolphin.

Libraries that aren’t yet involved need to get on board with assistive software for reading. With the visual and brain training techniques we now know of, I believe crime and disruptive behavior in schools and cities could decrease. Having worked ten years with inmates, I believe the frustrations, lack of achievement and concurrent disruptive or unacceptable behavior in adults are more likely to be directly related to the lack of reading ability than any other outside event or condition.¹ Even though reading may not solve all behavioral problems, we can strengthen the whole country through a focus on correcting reading problems through the newest technologies and machinery we already have available.

References

1. Are Reading and Behavior Problems Risk Factors for Each Other? Paul L. Morgan, George Farkas, Paula A. Tufis, and Rayne A. Sperling.

The post Reading With Colors first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

Tell Powerful Stories

Regardless of who they are, people love stories. Think of it in the way a business does: How do they connect with customers? Marketing is just a series of stories. They tell inspiring stories about their company, its founders, and how they have made their passion their business. Then a business shares reviews and customer experiences, which are essentially stories about how customers have interacted with them. Twitter contains 140-character stories, Facebook contains short stories of what is happening or has happened, and a blog is filled with stories of a product’s relevance to readers.

What can libraries learn from this? The lesson taken from the marketing world can be broken into three simple parts:

1. Tell the story of the library itself and the people who work there. Much like being a teacher, a librarian pursued passion rather than money. Your community created a library for many reasons: preservation, public education, and establishing a community center. Share the “why” stories of your staff and organization.
2. Tell the stories of patrons. How have their lives been changed? Who found their love of reading through checking out books? What have they been inspired to do?
3. Tell the story of “now.” What is happening at your library? What are you doing that should excite patrons and make them want to be a part of it? This doesn’t just mean traditional news outlets, but also using social media to accomplish your communication goals.

It is not just the stories that reside in the books on the shelves, or the e-books digitally borrowed by patrons, but the real-world stories that will inspire your community.

Create New Stories

While some libraries struggle, New York Public Libraries are experiencing a resurgence of visitors.^[3] What are they doing differently?

“Nationally, public libraries are redefining their mission at a time when access to technology, and the ability to use it, is said to deepen class stratification, leaving many poor and disadvantaged communities behind,” says Winnie Hu of the New York Times. “Sari Feldman, president of the American Library Association, said library workers have shown people how to file online for welfare benefits and taught classes in science, technology, engineering, and math to children who could not afford to go to summer camps.” ^[4]

“All libraries are having a renaissance,” Feldman said. “We’re seeing that libraries have really stepped up to take on roles that are needed in a community.”^[5]

Successful libraries enable patrons to create their own stories with makerspaces, classes, job counseling, and community events. Various clubs allow them to share their stories with others and create new friendships. Libraries have become community centers, gathering places, and learning centers. They provide access to technology and information like no other institution can.

Most of all, though, libraries are still all about stories. Our stories, the stories our patrons have created, and the stories they will create with our help. As long as libraries do not lose sight of that fact, as long as they do not focus on the number of books borrowed or patrons they can attract, but instead on the power of words—whether they be printed, pixels of e-ink, spoken, or 3-D printed—they will continue to be a vital asset to our communities.

Resources

“Storytelling and Business: Finding Your Power Stories,” Intuit Quick Books

Webinar: Using Social Media to Accomplish Your Communications Goals, George Washington University: Master’s in Strategic Public Relations Online

References

[1] Michael Loh Toon Seng, “Focus on boosting reading, not book borrowing,” Straight Times (Singapore), July 1, 2016.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Winnie Hu, “Adding Classes and Content, Resurgent Libraries Turn a Whisper Into a Roar,” New York Times, July 4, 2016.

[4] Ibid.

[5] Sari Feldman, ibid.

The post Beyond Book Borrows: What’s Your Story? first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

BPL branches have sought to accommodate the demand in a variety of ways. Some, like us, have increased the number of storytimes they offer. In our case, this has done little to quell the demand; at four sessions per week (two for babies and two for toddlers), we are still over capacity. Additional measures include a ticketing system, which, while imperfect, seems to work for us and some other branches. Other branches manage their numbers by letting in as many people as their storytime space can reasonably accommodate and once they reach capacity, they simply close their doors.

In spite of these efforts, logistical issues remain.

We still turn people away.

While we have toyed with the idea of offering additional storytimes, we are unable to so do without increasing staff and cutting down on use of our storytime space for other popular programs.

There is no stroller valet.

Like most Brooklyn libraries, we have a designated stroller parking area. However, our parking area rapidly reaches capacity and the overflow quickly spills into the aisles of our juvenile non-fiction and even adult fiction. Patrons are forced to maneuver around the strollers to browse the shelves. And caregivers – in seeking a space for strollers – inevitably end up parking them in areas that pose problems, such as directly in front of the book return or in front of an office door or fire exit.

Just be sure to bring your ear plugs.

Storytime is known as “crazy time” in many BPL branches. It is not easy for staff to manage stroller-parking issues and all the noise that accompanies storytime whilst also providing quality service to other patrons.

Good things come to those who wait.

Waiting in line for an event that doesn’t start for another hour is not easy for caregivers and children. Children of this age have not yet learned the art of patience and sometimes get cranky. Bodily needs compete with the caregiver’s ability to wait in a long line; unexpected naps, hunger, and diaper changes all raise the stakes.

The good news

In spite of the challenges it poses, the surging popularity of storytime is a very good problem to have. As public librarians who must vigorously defend our budget on a yearly basis, having a line of more than fifty people vying for entry to our storytimes each week speaks volumes. The message is loud and clear: New York City libraries are vital and relevant to the communities they serve. If you doubt it, just ask one of those people standing in line.

Do you have long lines for storytime or other programs at your library? If so, how does your library manage the numbers?

Sources:

Hu, Winnie. “Long Line at the Library? It’s Storytime Again.” The New York Times, November 1, 2015. Web.

The post Is it a Carnival? Is it a Circus? No, it’s Storytime! first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

Previous years’ selections included Maybe a Bear Ate It! by Robie Harris (2012), Duck on a Bike by David Shannon (2013), and Grumpy Bird by Jeremy Tankard (2014). The selections are based on the book being a great selection for the age group, its availability in English and Spanish, and the capability of the publisher to provide enough copies of the book with special information on the program, the website information for literacy tips, and sponsor logos printed in the book. Once a list of possibilities is created, librarians and educators vote to narrow it down. Then, the public votes for the winner.[2]

The One Book 4 Colorado website also provides childhood literacy tips for parents. Covering the important early literacy aspects of read, write, sing, talk, and play, they also give specific tips for parents based on their child’s age from birth to eight. One of the really neat things is that in most of the age groups, a video demonstrating one of the suggested parent-child activities is embedded.[3]

During the 2014 giveaway, the Library Research Service surveyed participants to delve into the impact of the program. Sixty-four percent of caregivers said they “spent more time reading with their child after receiving the book” and that “their child was more interested in books and reading.” Sixty-two percent said “their child talked more about books and reading.”[4]

As the manager for the children’s department of Pikes Peak Library District (PPLD), Colorado Springs, Colo., Nancy Maday had this to say about the program: “One Book 4 Colorado is a great way for the children of our state to have a book of their very own.  It also publicizes the value of reading to our children.  In Colorado Springs, the largest school district was inspired by One Book 4 Colorado to provide a book for the preschool children who are not 4, so that everyone at school gets a book.  Distributing the books through the public libraries and Reach Out and Read clinics makes the books accessible for all children and allows us to promote our library programs at the same time.”[5]

As an employee of PPLD, I’ve had the opportunity to give some of these books to children coming into the library. Having children visit and collect books they are excited to check out is always a fun experience to see. Being able to hand them another book that they get to take home and keep forever just adds to the joy of the job!

References

[1] Colorado State Library. One Book 4 Colorado Project History. n.d.

http://www.onebook4colorado.org/about/project-history/ (accessed April 15, 2015).

[2] —. One Book 4 Colorado FAQs. n.d. http://www.onebook4colorado.org/about/one-book-4-

colorado-faqs/ (accessed April 15, 2015).

[3] —. One Book 4 Colorado Make a Difference: Read to a Child. n.d. http://www.onebook4colorado.org/make-a-

difference-read-to-a-child/ (accessed April 15, 2015).

[4] Library Research Service. “Library Research Service.” More than 75,000 Books Given Away During One Book 4 Colorado in 2014. February 11, 2015. http://www.lrs.org/2015/02/11/75000-books-given-away-one-book-4-colorado-2013/ (accessed May 8, 2015).

[5] Maday, Nancy, interview by Becca Cruz. Manager of Children’s Services (April 15, 2015).

The post One Book 4 Colorado: Free Books for Early Literacy first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

“The BookMatch program launched quietly about two weeks ago. [This quote is from August 2014 – Ed.] It’s completely free: just fill out the online form telling the nice librarians what you like to read, and they’ll come back to you in about a week with a list of five or six recommendations. You can even specify what type of format you prefer (book, ebook, audiobook, or large print)” (Merlan, Village Voice 2014). In addition to filling the requests, the lists are also anonymously posted on the library’s website, allowing other patrons to browse at their own convenience. Among the topics that already exist are:

• Drama/Suspense
• Historical romance
• Great Gatsby read-alikes
• Father and sons
• All kinds of books/no mushy stuff
• SciFi-Fantasy with strong females and diversity

Since the beginning of this program, the 35 librarians who maintain the website have been inundated with patron requests. This has been a successful launch of a new program, and it may actually prove to be too much for just the 35 librarians to complete each list in under a week if it keeps growing in popularity. This watershed moment of customer service shall work as a tableau for public libraries at large.

I began to think of how this may grow while researching this topic. Many public libraries have more items than books. I’m thinking about music, movies, and even periodicals. This program could increase its scope and therefore its ability to accommodate more patrons. It’s an amazing idea that truly comes from the basics of librarianship and adapting to the current times. Haven’t all librarians at one time or another given recommendations based on one book or movie? This is just taking that customer service to a new and more convenient level for patrons who may be living a hectic lifestyle and don’t have the time to browse the stacks.

This is definitely a program that can work in public libraries all over the world. Thanks, New York; you managed to inspire us once again with your indefatigable efforts at cultural programming!

Works Cited

Merlan, Anna. “A Brooklyn Librarian Will Now Make You a Personalized Reading List, and You Don’t Even Have to Put on Pants.” Village Voice. August 26, 2014.  (accessed September 20, 2014)

The post I’ll Tell You What to Read: Online BookMatch Program Connects Readers to New Books first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

One source of inspiration is the work of Rebecca Howard and Laura Raphael. In 2013, they offered Rethinking Readers’ Advisory: An Interactive Approach as an ALA online workshop. The presentation highlighted Your Next Great Read at the Tulsa County Library. TCL uses SurveyMonkey as a patron intake form. They then use the information gleaned from the form to develop personal reading recommendations. The patron receives detailed information about recommended titles, authors, and related library events. Patrons also receive the resources used to compile the recommendations.

Another option for enhancing your library’s services is by turning to social media. This spring, Your Next Book is on Facebook: Using Social Media in Readers’ Advisory, was offered as a PLA Virtual Conference session. The presenters described how they have enhanced reader services through social media like Facebook, Pinterest, and Tumblr.

In the session, Andrea Gough described how the Seattle Public Library has successfully coordinated social media campaigns to enhance reader services. Posting conversations on Facebook about books allows the library to “crowd-source” suggestions and create lists for others to use. They have hosted weekly chats to generate discussion and highlight areas of the collection. You can see examples on their Facebook page.

Stephanie Anderson of the Darien Library in Connecticut described her library’s use of Pinterest boards to create book lists. One example is their Real-Time Book Recommendations board. Darien Library manages this board as part of the service desk workflow. They allow staff to add titles as they interact with patrons. They have found using Pinterest appeals to an audience that does not typically use the catalog. Darien Library also creates links to their catalog from Pinterest.

Other social media examples highlighted in the PLA Virtual Conference Session include:

• Tonganoxie Public Library Facebook
• Darien Reads on Tumblr
• Darien Library Vimeo
• Denver Public Library Teen Twitter

Even simple ideas can enhance the library user experience. Last fall, the library where I work, Great River Regional Library, launched an Educator Request Form. Through the webform, teachers and homeschoolers can request materials on a specific topic. We developed the form after hearing that this type of virtual service would be useful to educators. It allows our library to offer targeted services to this audience.

Regardless of which idea appeals to you and your users, virtual readers’ advisory is a new and growing area of public library services. Explore these examples to see what might be useful to your patrons.

The post Moving Readers’ Advisory Online first appeared on Public Libraries Online.