Public Library Buildings

Public Library Buildings: The Librarian's Go-To Guide for Construction, Expansion, and Renovation Projects by Lisa Charbonnet. Libraries Unlimited, 2015. 978-1-4408-3858-3.

Publisher's Description
This go-to guide covers the entire process of building or renovating a public library—from initial planning, to maintaining the completed space, to measuring success.

In light of current social and technological shifts, libraries are reinventing themselves. Meeting place, makerspace, community center, cultural hub, multimedia lender—today's public library is all of these and more. Whether your library is undertaking a simple renovation or redesign or looking at a full-blown building project, the voice of the librarian is important to the project, and you need to understand both the processes involved and the questions to ask.

Beginning with the development of a pre-construction vision, the book guides you through the entire process. It covers everything from making a case for the project to the authorities and the community through fundraising, budgeting, and site and team selection. You'll read about space programming, the design phase, pre-construction preparation, staff management, and moving the library, as well as about post-construction management and maintenance. Measures of success are included, as are helpful forms and an invaluable glossary of relevant construction terms. With this guide in hand, you and your team can plan efficiently, avoid common pitfalls, and create a library you and your community will love for many years to come.

Features

• Provides you with an informal, easy-to-read, practical guide that addresses the specific needs of public librarians looking to reimagine their library space
• Takes a holistic approach that covers every step from initial vision to evaluating success
• Offers practical, nuts-and-bolts advice from an experienced veteran of the process
• Helps you to claim a seat at the table—and shows you why the input of librarians is so important

See the publisher's website for Table of Contents, author information, and a look inside the book.

Engaging Young Engineers

Engaging Young Engineers: Teaching Problem-Solving Skills Through STEM by Angi Stone-MacDonald, Kristen Wendell, Anned Douglass, and Mary LuLove. (2015).Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co. 978-1-59857-653-5.

Help young children develop problem-solving skills, and you'll boost their kindergarten readiness and set them up for long-term success in STEM subjects. In this timely and practical book, you'll discover how to support the problem-solving skills of all young children by teaching them basic practices of engineering and five types of critical thinking skills (Curiosity, Persistence, Flexibility, Reflection, and Collaboration)— AND discover how to sharpen all these skills as a teacher! Using a clear instructional framework and fun activities tailored for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers, you'll help children birth to 5 explore big ideas and develop new ways of thinking through engaging and challenging learning experiences.

THE BOOK YOU NEED TO

• Support school readiness. The problem-solving framework in this book helps children work toward kindergarten Common Core State Standards, Next Generation Science Standards, and the Head Start Child Development and Early Learning Outcomes Framework.
• Demystify key engineering practices. Prepare kids for success in all STEM areas by teaching four essential engineering principles: think about it, try it, fix it, and share it.
• Boost problem-solving skills with proven activities. All the suggested activities have been piloted and tested in classrooms and incorporate teacher feedback.
• Encourage language and literacy development. Get suggestions for weaving reading into problem-solving experiences, and discover how your use of language can prompt children's thinking skills.
• Promote other skills needed for school success. With the framework and activities in this book, you'll also support development of social-emotional skills, self-regulation, and executive functioning.

PRACTICAL MATERIALS: Classroom activities that incorporate children's books, self-reflection checklists, practical strategies and modifications, Early Childhood UDL Planning Sheets, and blank Experience Planning Templates for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers.

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Teaching STEM in the Early Years

Teaching STEM in the Early Years: Activities for Integrating Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics by Sally Moomaw. (2013). St. Paul, MN: Redleaf Press. 978-1-60554-121-1.


Stimulate and engage children's thinking as you integrate STEM experiences throughout your classroom. These engaging, developmentally appropriate activities maximize children's learning in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Each experience combines at least two STEM disciplines and incorporates materials and situations that are interesting and meaningful to children. Use this book to discover the many possibilities for teaching STEM to young children, including ideas for

• Learning centers
• Cooking, art, music, block play, and sensory table activities
• Outdoor time
• A project-centered curriculum
• Quick activities that require minimal preparation
• Field trips

With the growing focus on early childhood mathematics and science, this book is a much-needed resource for every early childhood classroom. It will encourage you to think differently about STEM education, and you will see how easy it is to accommodate curriculum goals and learning standards in math and science activities. 

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Mathematizing: An Emergent Math Curriculum

Mathematizing: An Emergent Math Curriculum Approach for Young Children by Allen C. Rosales. (2015). St. Paul, MN: Redleaf Press. 978-1-60554-395-6.

Based on years of research with early childhood teachers, author Allen Rosales provides an approach to create an emergent math curriculum that integrates children's interests with math concepts. The mathematizing approach is different from traditional math curriculums, as it immerses children in a process that is designed to develop their understanding of math concepts in real life contexts. This approach has helped hundreds of teachers engage children in meaningful and purposeful interactions that have led to increased math, language, and inquiry skills. Mathematizing makes learning math seem like child's play. . . . and it is! 

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Tap, Click, Read

Tap, Click, Read: Growing Readers in a World of Screens by Lisa Guernsey and Michael H. Levine. (2015). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, A Wiley Imprint. 978-1-119-09189-9.

In Tap, Click, Read authors Lisa Guernsey and Michael H. Levine envision a future that is human-centered first and tech-assisted second. They document how educators and parents can lead a new path to a place they call 'Readialand'—a literacy-rich world that marries reading and digital media to bring knowledge, skills, and critical thinking to all of our children. This approach is driven by the urgent need for low-income children and parents to have access to the same 21st-century literacy opportunities already at the fingertips of today's affluent families.With stories from homes, classrooms and cutting edge tech labs, plus accessible translation of new research and compelling videos, Guernsey and Levine help educators, parents, and America's leaders tackle the questions that arise as digital media plays a larger and larger role in children's lives, starting in their very first years of life.

Tap, Click, Read includes an analysis of the exploding app marketplace and provides useful information on new review sites and valuable curation tools. It shows what to avoid and what to demand in today's apps and e-books—as well as what to seek in community preschools, elementary schools and libraries. Peppered with the latest research from fields as diverse as neuroscience and behavioral economics and richly documented examples of best practices from schools and early childhood programs around the country, Tap, Click, Read will show you how to:

• Promote the adult-child interactions that help kids grow into strong readers
• Learn how to use digital media to build a foundation for reading and success
• Discover new tools that open up avenues for creativity, critical thinking, and knowledge-building that today's children need

The book's accompanying website, TapClickRead.org, keeps you updated on new research and provides vital resources to help parents, schools and community organizations.

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