New Session of Bilingual Storytime at Your Biblioteca!

Hi all!  Sorry for the self-promotion but many folks were interested in but unable to participate in the last session of Bilingual Storytime at Your Biblioteca and asked to be notified when it was being offered again. Well, that time is now!  A new session is being offered by Library Juice Academy during November.  The class won't get into full swing until November 4, so there is still plenty of time to register.  All the relevant details are below.  Please send a message or leave a comment if you have any questions.  You can also check out what past students have had to say about the class on the feedback page.

Bilingual Storytime at Your Biblioteca

Instructor: Katie Scherrer
Dates: November 1-28, 2013
Credits: 1.5 CEUs
Price: $175

Description: This 4-week, online course teaches participants how to present bilingual storytimes (English/Spanish) for various ages, regardless of their own language skills. Video demonstrations, articles, online resources and course discussions direct students as they learn how to successfully deliver the various elements of bilingual storytimes, either on their own or with a bilingual community partner. Participants will discover new books, rhymes, songs, plans and resources that they can immediately put to use in their bilingual storytime programs.

Learning Objectives:

• Students will learn how to select and use the following components in bilingual storytime: books, songs, rhymes, fingerplays, and stories for telling aloud.
• Students will experiment with incorporating bilingual materials into their existing storytime programs.
• Students will select books and other materials they can use to increase inclusion of Latino culture and the Spanish language in their English storytime programs.
• Students will develop strategies for working with bilingual community partners to present and market bilingual storytime.
• Students will gain an increased understanding of the early literacy and school readiness needs of Latino children.
• Students will articulate how bilingual storytime supports the early literacy and school readiness needs of Latino children, and identify online resources for sharing early literacy and school readiness information with Spanish-speaking parents.
• Students will each develop two bilingual storytime plans.

Katie Scherrer is a library consultant and training specialist whose work focuses on improving library services to Latino and Spanish-speaking children and families. She previously worked as the first Spanish Program Specialist for the Columbus Metropolitan Library and as a Children’s Librarian at the uniquely bilingual Village Branch of the Lexington Public Library. Katie has presented many workshops on bilingual storytime and library services to Latino families for librarians across the country, including at the 2010 Virginia Hamilton Conference on Multicultural Literature for Youth, and the 2013 ALA Annual Conference. For more information, check out this Interview with Katie.

Course structure:  This is an online class that is taught asynchronously, meaning that participants do the work on their own time as their schedules allow. The class does not meet together at any particular times, although the instructor may set up optional sychronous chat sessions. Instruction includes readings and assignments in one-week segments. Class participation is in an online forum environment.

Bilingual Storytime at Your Biblioteca - Register Today!

Hello readers of ¡Es Divertido Hablar Dos Idiomas!  Have you ever wanted to learn more about how to present your own bilingual storytimes, or how to make your English storytimes more inclusive of Latino culture and the Spanish language?  If so, please consider enrolling in my new online course, Bilingual Storytime at Your Biblioteca, being offered through the Library of Virginia!  I am beyond excited to be offering this course, which I have been working on creating for the last several months.  I share pre-made bilingual storytime plans, recommended books and music, great online resources, and even video demonstrations of flannelboard storytelling, bilingual songs, and fingerplays, created specifically for this course.  It is designed to help bilingual storytime presenters enhance their programs, and to provide non-Spanish speaking libraries with tools and tips for how they can make their English programs more inclusive and useful for Spanish-speaking families.  More information about the course is below - I hope to see many of you in the class!

Bilingual Storytime at Your Biblioteca - Course Description:

This 4-week, online course teaches participants how to present bilingual storytimes (English/Spanish) for various ages. Numerous techniques for successfully delivering the various elements of bilingual storytimes (bilingual books, storytelling, rhymes, and songs) will be shared in print and demonstrated via video. Participants in this course will gain practical ideas and increased confidence that will aid them as they work to include Latino culture and the Spanish language in their storytime programs, regardless of their language skills. Modifications for storytime presenters who do not speak Spanish but want their programs to be more inclusive of Latinos and Spanish-speakers will be shared.  Each participant will develop two storytime plans as the final project for the course.

Bilingual Storytime at Your Biblioteca - Registration:

Registration is now open for the next session of this course, which will be offered online through the Library of Virginia, January 14, 2013 - February 10, 2013.  The registration fee is $25 for library staff in Virginia and $50 for those outside of Virginia.  The fee includes your own copy of the book Read Me a Rhyme in English and Spanish / Léame una rima en español e inglés by Rose Treviño.  To register please contact Enid Costley at the Library of Virginia - enid.costley@lva.virginia.gov.  The prerequisite for this course is "Connecting with the Spanish-Speaking Community."  However, the instructor will consider accepting students who already have experience working with and providing outreach to Latinos and Spanish-speakers who have not taken this prerequesite.  If this is your situation, please email Katie Cunningham directly to discuss this further - katie@connectedcommunitiesconsulting.com.   

"Connecting with the Spanish-Speaking Community": A Professional Development Opportunity for Library Staff

The Latino community is the fastest growing demographic in the United States.  This growth is particularly noticeable in some areas, such as the South.  Libraries and librarians who are noticing growth in their Latino and Spanish-speaking communities may face a number of challenges in their work to provide quality outreach and services, particularly if they have limited or no bilingual/bicultural staff.  I have designed a 4-week, online course offered by the Library of Virginia that addresses such challenges and helps library staff learn how to overcome them.  The next session of the course begins October 1, and all of the information for registration is provided below.  I hope you will consider participating!  State agencies and other organizations interested in offering this course to their staff can contact me directly.

Connecting with Spanish-Speaking Communities

Taught by: Katie Cunningham

Cost: $25.00 for people in Virginia and $70.00 for people outside of Virginia

Offered: October 1 - 26, 2012

Course Overview: Through this 4 week online course, participants will increase their knowledge of the general library needs of Spanish-speaking communities and will develop strategies, resources and confidence they can use to reach out to this community and connect them with library services. Small groups will work together to develop an Outreach Plan for a library. The required reading, Serving Latino Communities, by Camila Alire and Jacqueline Ayala will be provided.

Prerequisite: The free online course Introduction to Moodle, which will be offered beginning September 10, 2012 and must be completed by September 26, 2012. When you sign up for this course you will automatically be signed up for Introduction to Moodle.

Instructor: Katie Cunningham has been serving Latinos and Spanish-speakers since she began working in libraries in 2005. Katie was a participant in the Webjunction Spanish Language Outreach (SLO) training program in 2007, and her work serving Spanish-speakers was recognized by Webjunction as the best outreach project by an SLO participant in 2008. She has designed numerous presentations to aid librarians and teachers serving Latinos and Spanish-speaking families. Katie is an active member of Reforma – The National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and Spanish-Speakers – serving on the Children and Young Adult Services Committee and as the 2012-13 President of the Southeast Chapter.  Katie is also an ALSC appointee to the 2013 Pura Belpré committee.  Katie now works as an independent training specialist and library consultant.  She regularly shares bilingual programming ideas, suggested books and storytelling resources on her blog " Es divertido hablar dos idiomas" available online at http://bilingualchildrensprogramming.blogspot.com/. 

Registration for this course is open.  We do require payment at the time of registration. We accept Visa and MasterCard.

For more information and a link to register for this course please contact: Enid Costleyenid.costley@lva.virginia.gov or 804.692.3765 or go to http://host5.evanced.info/lva/evanced/eventcalendar.asp and change the month to October and click on the course.

Looking for help from my library amigos!

Hello all!  If you are a reader of this blog, I am asking for your help.  I have two projects in the works that are designed to help librarians learn how to offer bilingual storytime programs, even if they don't speak Spanish.  One is a book chapter for a professional development title that Reforma's Children and Young Adult Services Committee is writing together, and the other is a four-week online course that will be offered this fall through the Library of Virginia.  In each of these I plan to include a Spanish word and phrase guide that can be used to help children's librarians communicate with Spanish-speaking families.  This is where I need your help.  I'd love it if some folks could send me ideas of things they'd like to be able to say to storytime families in Spanish, either in conversation, in the program or through signage/handouts.  If you have any suggestions, please leave them as a comment or send me an email.  Also, if there are any other questions that you have or specific resources/techniques that you'd like to know more about in terms of offering bilingual programs, send that to me also.  This could help shape what I include in the chapter or course, or be used as a future blog topic.  I definitely want these resources to be practical!

Thank you for your ideas!  ¡Gracias por las ideas!