TALES Kits

August is Get Ready for Kindergarten Month!

I’m guessing if I told you that August is “Get Ready for Kindergarten Month” you’d tell me that it’s already on your calendar.  In red.  Circled. No? Well if you’re as surprised as me, and if you have a soon-to-be kindergartner in your life, the library is here for you! Bring your kids to the …

10 Reasons to Sign Up For Summer Reading in July

Just because the Library District’s annual summer reading challenge started in June, doesn’t mean it’s too late to sign up now. Maybe you’ve been in summer classes, maybe you forgot it was happening, maybe you’ve been visiting grandma, or maybe you were abroad (like me!). It doesn’t really matter why you haven’t signed up yet. What …

#WeNeedDiverseBooks – Middle Grade Reader Edition

If you missed the earlier post on diverse picture books, start there for the full background on the #WeNeedDiverseBooks campaign.  The short(er) version is this: the majority of books published, reviewed, and talked about are books about the majority view: that is, Caucasian, able-bodied, heterosexual, average weight, of a two-parent family, and with no discernable …

#WeNeedDiverseBooks – Picture Book Edition

If you’re a parent of little ones, or even little ones big enough to resent the term “little ones,” you may have noticed a problem with the books available for children.  Or maybe you haven’t.  It took me awhile to catch on because the books available largely reflect my own experience.  The problem is this: …