The Indiana Young Readers Center is proud to announce new kits coming in 2025 for check-out to Indiana’s teachers and librarians. Indiana Escape Rooms (in a box!) focus on Indiana history, build on primary resources from the Library of Congress, and were developed with the help of a Teaching with Primary Sources grant. Join this one hour webinar to learn all about the kits and the TPS Grant.
Tabletop role-playing games (TTRPGs) – Dungeons & Dragons being the most popular example – can positively impact the multiple facets of students’ lives: academics, durable skills, social-emotional learning. In Part One of our two part series, let’s quest together as we encounter how research supports using TTRPGs in education, explore stories of teachers using TTRPGs in their classrooms, and discover ideas and ways that librarians and the library can play a critical role in making such transformative game-based learning a success.
Before the webinar begins, please complete Slides 3-5 of the “Character Sheet Reflection Tool” (i.e. “Before the Quest”). We will complete the second half (“At the End of the Quest”) of the Reflection Tool at the end of the webinar.
ADAM WATSON (@watsonedtech) has been a Kentucky educator since 2005, starting out as a high school English teacher and became National Board Certified in 2013. In 2014, he was hired at Shelby County Public Schools to be its district Digital Learning Coordinator, where he was a leader in several initiatives, including a 1:1 Chromebook implementation and the launch of Shelby’s Profile of a Graduate. In his role at Shelby, Adam also was the lead liaison for the district’s librarians. In 2022, he joined the Ohio Valley Educational Cooperative (OVEC) as a Deeper Learning Design Specialist. Adam is a frequent presenter, PD facilitator, and published writer on innovative education, particularly on the topics of edtech and game-based learning. In 2019, KySTE (the state chapter of the International Society for Technology in Education) named him the Outstanding Leader of the Year. For more on Adam’s educational journey, please visit adamwatson.org.
Date Recorded: 5/8/2024
Format: Archived YouTube Video
Presenter: Adam Watson, Digital Learning Coordinator / Shelby County Public Schools
Girls Who Code wants to give you the tools and resources you need to develop inclusive computer science programming – no coding experience required. Join us to learn about our free Clubs program for 3rd-12th grade coders. We’ll introduce you to our three essential components for quality programming: (1) activities that teach coding and social-emotional development, (2) a culture of bravery where participants join a supportive community of peers and role models in tech, and (3) real-world application of coding for positive impact. Leave with step-by-step guidance for bringing new STEM initiatives to young people in your community!
Presenter: Kibret Yebetit is a Senior Manager of Community Partnerships & Outreach at Girls Who Code. She works with educators, libraries, and nonprofits to bring free computer science education to their students.
Date Recorded: 5/9/2024
Format: Archived YouTube Video
Presenter: Kibret Yebetit / Senior Manager of Community Partnerships & Outreach at Girls Who Code
Receive insights, reports, and confidence around the titles you choose for displays, storytimes, and even faceout displays. Book resumes provide you with the book’s bona fides: awards, reviews, genres, reading levels, and more. Collection analysis reports give you insights into diversity, recency, fiction/non-fiction, and more – while also helping you identify titles for possible augmentation. Both tools provide immediate documentation and consistent information about the titles in your library. The goal of this session is to return to your library equipped with support and increasing confidence in your collections.
Join Indiana Children and Nature Network (ICAN) to explore nature play possibilities at your library! Learn what ICAN Nature Play Days are, who can host one (YOUR LIBRARY!), how to organize and plan a nature play day, nature play activity and book ideas, tips on connecting with partners and sponsors, and practical experiences from nature play day hosts. ICAN Nature Play Days are June 1st-9th in 2024.
Presenter: Dr. Carla Gull volunteers as the state coordinator of Indiana Children and Nature Network and is on her local library board. She is the coordinator of and associate professor in the master of arts in environmental education at Merry Lea Environmental Learning Center of Goshen College. She is coauthor of the book, Loose Parts Learning in K-3 Classrooms, and hosts the podcast, Loose Parts Nature Play.
Date Recorded: 3/13/2024
Format: Archived YouTube Video
Presenter: Dr. Carla Gull / State Coordinator of Indiana Children and Nature Network & Professor at Goshen College
Learn about free and low cost programming for youth in this webinar, led by a library programmer! We will talk about things you can do on the fly and programs you can plan for next to nothing out of your library budget. We will cover all ages from birth to 18.
Date Recorded: 2/29/2024
Format: Archived YouTube Video
Presenter: Bambi Pea / Indianapolis Public Library
Build excitement about summer reading! Join us for a look at summer reading lists and programming ideas. Inspire independent reading with TeachingBooks resources that let the books and their authors speak for themselves. TeachingBooks is provided to all Indiana schools, public libraries, universities and residents through INSPIRE, a service of the Indiana State Library.
Strong school-library partnerships are vital for students in our communities. In 2022, the St. Joe County Public Library designed the SB READy program, which provided 16 schools, 57 classes, and more than 950 Kindergarteners with library cards, field trips and outreach storytimes. In this session, learn how to build comprehensive school partnership plans, pitch ideas to school and library administrators, gain teacher and library staff buy-in, and make the magic happen!
Emily Lovell is the Early Literacy Librarian at the St. Joe County Public Library. With a background in Elementary Education, she has worked with children in school and library settings over the past five years. She holds an MLIS from Wayne State University and a BS in Elementary Education from Central Michigan University. She is passionate about providing young patrons and their caregivers with programs, resources, and services that foster a love of reading from an early age.
Date Recorded: 1/25/2024
Format: Archived YouTube Video
Presenter: Emily Lovell, Early Literacy Librarian / Saint Joseph County Public Library
Stephanie Haines, from the Indiana Arts Commission, talks about the Lifelong Arts Indiana a program that teaches the benefits and practices of “Creative Aging.” Creative Aging is the purposeful development of creative experiences to benefit older adults, often in partnership with a local artist. Libraries have a meaningful connection with older adults in their community and the Indiana Arts Commission would like to provide library staff with the tools and funding needed to implement meaningful Creative Aging programs. Check out this great example of a strong creative aging program at a library from our friends at the Delaware Arts Commission https://youtu.be/N-WXvIaKyFw?feature=shared Indiana Arts Commission is offering up to 35 libraries across the state a Lifelong Arts Early Action Grant which will fund a sequential arts-learning experience for a group of older adults in their community. Grants will be for up to $5,000 and will be led by a qualified artist.
Date Recorded: 1/10/2024
Format: Archived YouTube Video
Presenter: Stephanie Haines, Arts Education and Accessibility Program Manager, Indiana Arts Commission
Get started planning your 2024 Summer Library Program by this VIRTUAL Collaborative Summer Library Program training! Join Beth Yates of the Indiana State Library for this training where you will receive updates about and resources for the 2024 CSLP Summer Reading Program “Adventure Begins at Your Library.”
Date Recorded: 1/9/2024
Format: Archived YouTube Video
Presenter: Beth Yates, Chidren’s Consultant / Indiana State Library