New Year New Ways

Hello NH Librarians. There is not a single one of us operating in the same way we were at the beginning of this year. I am so proud to be part of a profession that despite all its difficulties, has quickly risen to the challenge and been very creative in continuing to meet their communities needs. Just because it is Not business as usual,we can still continue to train and deliver research based programs to our families. 

I am happy to announce the sign-up to join one of the Reimagining School Readiness cohorts starting next spring. In 2021 NH joins 12 other states in Year 2 of the The Bay Area Discovery Museum (BADM), in collaboration with the Pacific Library Partnership (PLP) and the California State Library (CSL), in a train-the-trainer program to equip librarians with the resources to help families and children ages 0-8 prepare for success in school and inlife. 
The Reimagining School Readiness Toolkit is a set of free, online research-backed school readiness activities and resources designed to provide librarians with strategies and downloadable content for caregivers to prepare children for school.

This research based program aligns with NH’s play-based model of learning for Kindergarten adopted in 2018. Our goal in offering this program to NH Librarians is to:
•provide training in current school readiness research and
strategies to modify programming to align with research
• Supply free research-backed activities and tools online that
can be adapted by any community
• Provide ongoing professional development opportunities for
library staff

Our first cohort of NH Librarians will begin around March/April 2021. We are being granted some funds to help us provide participating libraries with some resources and would like an estimate of interested libraries to enable us to order enough supplies. The training for NH Librarians is estimated to be a half-day training (offered virtually) and actual participation will be required. May more than one person participate in the training from one library? Absolutely! We also anticipate offering a second cohort in May/June. Sign up HERE

Don’t forget to sign up for the special Youth Services Tuesday Together Talk with Cellissa Hoyt, State Director, State Early Learning Alliance of New Hampshire & State Director, Vroom and Mind in the Making on January 12, 2021@ 10 am. Fill out this Registration Form and shortly before the event you will be sent the zoom log in. Sign up HERE


I have enjoyed our Together Talks this past year but next year starting in March I will be holding an every other month YACHT (Young Adult/Children Hot Topics) club. The idea comes from my counterpart in Iowa and is being now used in Washington with great success. Participants will read/listen to/watch the resources, then we’ll get together to discuss them and how they can apply to our work as Children & Youth Librarians in New Hampshire. On the opposite month will be a similar group for Adult & Senior Librarians. I do not have a catchy name for this group yet–suggestions appreciated.