STEAMed Up At The Library

STEAMed Up At The Library: Using STEAM programs in the public library.

STEM or STEAM is not a trend, but a to way remember that children's education is important. When we teach children we don't focus on one way of learning but incorporate several methods. If you look up child development you will find that the theorists cannot agree on one singular method. Wait, what is STEM/STEAM you ask?

Science
Technology
Engineering
(Art)
Math

So, why is the Department of Education and others having our schools focus on STEM/STEAM?

As a nation we are failing to engage our children to become excited in mathematics and other areas, which will lead to a decline in college/university degrees, meaning that we will not be able to support ourselves as a nation. Further information about this can be found on the Department of Education's website, "Science, Technology, Engineering and Math: Education for Global Leadership."

What is the plan for STEM?

"The Committee on STEM Education (CoSTEM), comprised of 13 partner agencies—including all of the mission science agencies and the Department of Education—will facilitate a cohesive national strategy, with new and repurposed funds, to reorganize STEM education programs and increase the impact of federal investments in five areas: P-12 STEM instruction; increasing and sustaining public and youth engagement with STEM; improving the STEM experience of undergraduate students; better serving groups historically underrepresented in STEM fields; and designing graduate education for tomorrow's STEM workforce."

Why are librarians conducting STEM/STEAM programs?

First of all, it's fun! Hands on, up close learning, is a great way to learn and retain information. As librarians we have been making story time fun for decades with chants, dances, songs, and more. So why should we focus on incorporating science, technology, engineering, art, and math? I believe we should reach out to our community and promote learning. Learning is more than simply reading a book.

Yes, many teachers are using these subjects in school but libraries are not limited to school age children (or those who attend school). What about families who choose to home-school their children? Why not give one more reason for people to come into our libraries? And why not allow teens a chance to learn about the technology and media resources that are a part of their every day lives.

Why did I get all "STEAM"ed up? I watched a wonderful webinar entitled "STEAM in the Public Library: Programs & Services for Children" by Amy Koester and thought I would share. If you have an account with WebJunction you can watch it here or if you want the original (May 7, 2014) you can find it from Infopeople here. Although this webinar is a year old, I highly recommend it to librarians, teachers, or parents. A good webinar focusing on Teen STEM programs can be found on this link from Tech Soup, "Teens & Tech: Creating Successful STEM Programs in Libraries."

What if I have none to little money for programing?

Anyone who has helped with children and teen programs knows that recyclables can enhance a program. Don't feel that your program will make or break if you have the proper funding. If you do need funding reach out to the Friends of the Library, local companies, local organizations, or apply for grants (see links below).

There's too much pressure, I can't think of a program!

You wouldn't be the first to think this, but one of the great things about being a librarian- we share our knowledge. Search Pinterest (e.g. keywords "STEM" or "Engineering") or click on one of the links below. I have also shared links that were included in Amy Koester's webinar and a few I found myself.

Even if you don't choose to create a STEM or STEAM program, you can always enhance your current story times:

• Add a Non-Fiction Book
• Create a handout for Apps or learning websites
• Share new vocabulary words
• Show new tools that relate to your theme
• Ask questions! It doesn't cost anything but we can create engaged thinkers.

In the end the real goal is to inspire children and teens to think and create. If we are able to get them away from TV for a few hours, Epic Win!

Funding

Friends of the Library- check the one connected to your library or district.

Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) grants- http://www.imls.gov/applicants/available_grants.aspx (for all grants)

• http://www.imls.gov/about/stem.aspx- Includes current STEM newsfeed, publication, and talking points.

STEM Grants.com- "STEMgrants.com provides info concerning: new STEM grant opportunities from federal agencies, state governments, foundations, and corporations.  It also identifies recent STEM grant winners, features news related to STEM funding trends,  provides updates on STEM initiatives and events, and offers insights on developing proposals in response to funding opportunities. STEMgrants.com also offers a free guide to those that sign up for its email list."

Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) by ALA- http://www.ala.org/yalsa/awardsandgrants/yalsaawardsgrants. Not STEM specific, but if you are a member to YALSA this is worth a look.

More Links

Code.org- "Our vision is that every student in every school should have the opportunity to learn computer science. We believe computer science and computer programming should be part of the core curriculum in education, alongside other science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) courses, such as biology, physics, chemistry and algebra."

National STEM Video Game Challenge- "Inspired by the Educate to Innovate Campaign, President Obama’s initiative to promote a renewed focus on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) education, the National STEM Video Game Challenge is a multi-year competition whose goal is to motivate interest in STEM learning among America’s youth by tapping into students’ natural passion for playing and making video games."

Robot Test Kitchen- "A group of Youth Services and Teen librarians. We believe that when imaginations play, learning happens. We aim to use simple robotics as a means to expand our learning experience for other new technologies. Our goal is to provide an entry point of simple robotics in a way Youth and Teen Librarians can understand."

Scratch- "With Scratch, you can program your own interactive stories, games, and animations — and share your creations with others in the online community. Scratch helps young people learn to think creatively, reason systematically, and work collaboratively — essential skills for life in the 21st century. Scratch is a project of the Lifelong Kindergarten Group at the MIT Media Lab. It is provided free of charge. 

The Show Me Librarian-  Amy Koester's blog: "This blog is dedicated to exploring programs, services, and other topics in youth librarianship. I get lots of inspiration and ideas from fellow librarians out in the blogosphere, and my goal is to share details of my successes and learning moments in the hopes of adding to the vast pool of collective librarian knowledge. I'm a firm believer in the power of collaboration in this profession. We're a community of sharers, and I am thrilled to contribute."

STEM Collaborative- An idea list of programs and resources by grade. The STEM Collaborative was formed when four public television stations with a steadfast commitment to classroom and community education were awarded a Local Service Initiative grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to create innovative digital content in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) subject areas.

Tinker Group- "Tinker is a networking group for library staff who work–or want to work–with children, teens, and technology. We are interested in sharing programming ideas and providing an opportunity to work hands-on with technology."

Publish or Perish- Not Just For Academics

No, I didn't forget that I have a blog. Yes, I will update some of the most looked at pages to make sure I have good links and stay up-to-date. But first, an update of what I've been up to.

Since I created the new layout for the Children's Area at Rapid City Public Libraries I decided to share what I learned. I thought it might make a good webinar but when I reached out to WebJunction they thought it would make a wonderful article. And they were right! My first article "iFought the iPads (and iWon)" was published online and then put in the Crossroads Newsletter.  Since I didn't feel I covered everything I learned I wrote another article, "You Shall Not Pass! Passcode Problems and Other Insights." What surprised me was when I received an e-mail from Strategic Library asking if they could reprint it in their newsletter that reaches 5,000 people. Of course I said yes, and as time got away from me I realized how many times I was published this year- 6 times. Not including the Rapid City Journal articles about Databases and one coming up this Sunday about using Pinterest for Holiday ideas. Plus, I have two book reviews.

The Programing Coordinator that I work with at RCPL has been working for the library for over 28 years. In that time she has sent numerous articles to the local newspaper. Her understanding is that sometimes the best way to market is by sharing the information yourself. Looking back on this last year, I understand what she means. Yes, we should use social media to reach out to our patrons as they wish to be contacted, however, sometimes the old ways are still good ways- newspapers, radio, TV, and also in person. Media might reach more people, but networking and building relationships is something that benefits the library for years to come. 

I'm not afraid of a quick article for the newspaper or something longer, I look forward to it! And I have a feeling I will be writing more in the future.

BOOK REVIEW: 'Dragon' a great fantasy tale- Rapid City Journal (April 6, 2014).

AT THE LIBRARY: Surprises abound at public library- Rapid City Journal (July 20, 2014).

August 2014 Board Meeting- " Staff member Sally-Adrina Taylor is digitizing library scrapbooks and photos, and has uploaded 100+ new items to the digital archive. Digitized materials include newspaper clippings, photographs, and promotional materials." 

Strategic Library- Reprint of iFought the iPads (and iWon), August 15, 2014; Issue 8.

'Some Girls Bite' a transformative novel- Rapid City Journal (October 5, 2014).

Pinterest makes holiday planning easier, fun- Rapid City Journal (November 23, 2014).

The challenges of having a superhero for a dad- Rapid City Journal (December 14, 2014).

 LIBRARY REVIEW: The stories of war- Rapid City Journal (March 22, 2015).

iFought the iPads

I fully intended to write a blog to follow up my Kiddie Cafe, but I ended up writing an article for OCLC's WebJunction website. You can read it here: http://webjunction.org/news/webjunction/ifought-the-ipads-and-iwon.html or watch for it in their April newsletter the Crossroads. I will work on a follow up article that will share more personal tales of working with the children and parents as well as deciding apps.

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog. If I even help one person from the frustration I felt when trying to set up an iPad on display from out of the box, it was well worth it.

The Unemployed Librarian

Like many graduates in today’s economy I was unemployed by the time I graduated with my MLIS from Louisiana State University in May 2009. A month later I found out I was going to become a mother. Though I continued to apply to library jobs, I stopped after a few months. I did not think it would be wise for me or fair to my future employer to begin my training only to turn around and ask for maternity leave. After my birth of my baby, with a part-time job to support myself, I continued to apply to further positions. It wasn’t until this spring that I had the chance to focus all my energy into finding a job that will allow me to begin my career as a librarian.

The experience of  searching for jobs gave me the idea for a method to optimize my searches and cut down the time spent on finding jobs to apply to. I believe it would be good to share with others, as sharing knowledge is important to librarians. At the very least it allows job seekers to find job posts 1 to 3 days faster than those provided by individual university libraries with MLS/MLIS programs (e.g www.ischool.utexas.edu). But before I share the links to find positions I have one suggestion that should be considered: start an RSS feed. There are several out there, websites like google.com/reader [update, no longer available] or you can even use a program located on your computer such as Microsoft Outlook. For the information mentioned below, I refer to Google’s Reader for my personal experience.

With an RSS feed, I was able to receive posts from about 20 websites (most daily, some less frequently), organized by a folder for each website used, and able to quickly scan with my eyes a brief description of location and job title. Since I already limited the results to entry-level librarian positions that were full-time, most of the results were relevant. To gain further information I would open a post to see if I was interested in the position or instantly mark it as read and move onto more important posts. Although this method does provide some duplication (which occurs from several websites listing the same job announcement- usually a day or more apart from my personal observation) it is still worth the time to create one location where anyone can look over 50+ employment opportunities a day.

If this sounds like a good idea to you then I will give you some more tips before I list the major national links for job announcements for librarian positions. The first suggestion is to stop and think locally. Does your county/parish have a listserv that you can join? A listserv is one of the fastest ways (other than networking) to get information because it is usually individuals that work in the organization/company that posts the listing. 

The second suggestion is to ask the school that you graduated from or search online using special keywords. Each state should have a website that lists pages for library opportunities (try the website Library Job Postings on the Internet, this offers individual states, type of position, or even those in other countries like Canada or the UK). The best keywords I have found are: library, librarian, job, employment, and location of a state or city. Remember that you can use Google to find results but you may find more results if you try a series of combinations. Or you could use the links posted below that I find the most helpful. For those of you in Michigan, this should be a great help. Otherwise, don't forget local universities or colleges, library associations, and talking to your local librarian.

Last but not least, remember you are not alone. In my graduating class it took most 4 to 12 months to find a position, whether that be by networking, a stellar cover letter and/or resume, qualifications, or just good timing.

*Just a reminder- when applying to positions remember to go to the company's/library's website to check to see when the application is due. Twice I have found postings where the due date was incorrect. And when you're ready check out my interviewing post.(Updated post 01/17/13).

Update 05/20/15- A more competitive alternative to ALA or the Job Posting list I linked above, check out the I Need A Library Job website, choose by state or Country!

Michigan Websites

Michigan Works! Talent Connect 

Though it might not be the first place librarians think to post, it is worth the effort for the daily “Job Scout” that you can personalize for yourself.

MLive

Nothing is more local than a newspaper, for the state of Michigan. * (from now on any link with a “*” symbol will mean that it has RSS capabilities)

Michigan Library Association (MLA)

Not updated daily, but can be followed by Twitter and contains posts that may not be found elsewhere.

The Library Network (TLN)

May have the same postings as MLA but provides job-posting information in pdf format and lists deadlines (contains libraries from southeast Michigan, the links at the bottom do not work for other job listing links).

National Websites

INALJ.com
I Need A Library Job is a great resource, organized by a librarians/information professionals "Information professionals working to help find & share jobs & job hunting advice!" Don't let this be your only resource, but maybe it could be your first resource.

Indeed.com

The reason I list this first is because Indeed takes job postings from newspapers, journals, organizations, and job posting boards all at the same time. It may be easier to limit search after your first attempt, until you become familiar with the website.* And e-mail.

SimplyHired.com 

Works the same as Indeed.com but slightly different. It's just a matter of opinion which is better.

USAJobs.gov

Federal Librarian positions. You must sign up and create an account, but it is worth the effort. Once you have an account, it's pretty simple to apply to further postings. It may require you to also create an account through Army Civilian Service website for some positions.* And Twitter, Facebook, and e-mail.

GovernmentJobs.com 

Search by: national, state, or city location; job category, keywords, specific salary amounts, or when the ads were posted. Great for finding public jobs that operate by city or county government. Not to be overlooked. Share this link and USAJobs.gov with others.

“A pioneer in the online recruiting space with over 5,000 users nationwide, GovernmentJobs.com began developing their applications in 1998. Headquartered in El Segundo, CA., GovernmentJobs.com is the only government sector job board created from the world’s foremost fully integrated recruitment, selection and applicant tracking system called NEOGOV Insight designed specifically for public sector employers. (www.neogov.com).”

American Library Association (ALA)

Click on the link above for recently added positions or click “View all Job Listings” for more.*

American Association of Law Librarians (AALL)

Librarian positions mostly for firms. Be careful to narrow search if you only have an MLS/MLIS as several positions require a J.D. as well. Able to create an account and post Resume.* And Twitter and e-mail.

Bay Area Library & Information Network

For those in the San Francisco Bay area or those who would like to move there.* And Twitter and e-mail.

HealthcareJobsite.com

For those hard to find Healthcare or medical librarian jobs. Do not forget to put librarian as a requirement or you will receive irrelevant posts. Can create an account and post resume, does help when applying to some positions.*

HigherEdJobs.com

Search for College or University level positions, not just for library positions. If you sign up and create an account, you can have e-mails sent to you with “My Job Agent”.

LibGig.com

Allows you to easily narrow your search to only what you want and most provide a button to click to “Apply to This Job”.* Also has e-mail and Twitter.

Library Journal

Helpful if you do not have a subscription or don’t get the chance to read through the entire journal.*

Medical Library Association (MLA) (added 01/17/13)
"This section of MLANET is available to individuals seeking employment and to institutions seeking qualified individuals to fill vacant positions. For information about placing an ad with MLA, see our "Submitting a Job Ad" page for rates, deadlines, and so on." (wording directly from website as of 01/17/13).

Oregon State Library Jobline (added 01/17/13)
Weekly job source from Oregon State Library

Pacific Northwest Library Association (PNLA) (added 01/17/13)
"PNLA draws its membership primarily from Alaska, Alberta, British Columbia, Idaho, Montana, and Washington". However, Oregon, California, New York, and others states may appear on this listing.

Special Library Association

Very limited posting, but you can post a resume for review.*

And if this is not enough: 
Find another regional chapter of ALA: (added 01/17/13)

| Mountain Plains | Pacific Northwest | New England | Southeastern |

| Guam | Virgin Islands |

Here is another source that suggests, 10 Uncommon Job Hunt Tactics that Work by Terrance Williams on New Grad Life blog. (Updated on 11/03/2011).

*any link with a “*” symbol will mean that it has RSS capabilities.