Administrators, librarians, parents, teachers, and teacher educators need to be familiar with quality multicultural children's literature as a means of helping children develop an understanding of others as well as affirming their own diverse backgrounds. In this study, 31 fictional picture books identified as containing representations of ethnic…

Youth are natural scientists at birth, discovering and exploring their world and trying to make sense of it (Bers, 2008). A child's education is not limited to just the time they spend in the classroom. Children learn at home with their families, in public libraries, or through out-of-school-time (OST) experiences provided at community centers and…

The 29th Annual Pacific Islands Association of Libraries, Archives, and Museums (PIALA) Conference was held November 21 through November 26, 2019 and the primary venue was the Robert F. Kennedy (RFK) Memorial Library, University of Guam in Mangilao, U.S. Territory of Guam. This volume includes a listing of 2018-2019 PIALA Officers and Board…

Veterans are a unique population that can be found in libraries across the United States. Libraries of all types are developing new approaches to the veterans in their patron populations in the wake of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. This study identifies several common strategies that libraries, especially public and academic libraries, are…

This report discusses the benefits of canine-assisted reading through the "Tail Waggin' Tutors" program at the Glen Burnie Regional Library in Anne Arundel County, Maryland. Presented are the two different types of therapy dog interactions, Animal-Assisted Therapy (AAT) and Animal-Assisted Activities (AAA). The first canine-assisted…

In today's society, individuals and households without reliable Internet connections are increasingly at risk of facing significant disadvantages. This article describes an Extension-led pilot project in Oklahoma centered on addressing this issue through the establishment of a hotspot lending program in four rural libraries. Through the program,…

In March 2014, the Center for an Urban Future documented an array of challenges and vulnerabilities resulting from the New York City's aging infrastructure in their "Caution Ahead" report (see ED555648). And it identified a minimum investment of $47.3 billion over the next five years to bring the city's core infrastructure to a state of…

We present a micro-analysis of youth interactions with large complex, socioeconomic datasets and data visualization tools. Middle and high school youth used georeferenced data and data visualization tools to assemble models that present their family migration histories in relation to larger socioeconomic trends in a summer program. Using…

Young children are full citizens. They have full rights to use their "hundred languages," hands, and thoughts to contribute to the field of science. The founder of the Reggio Emilia approach, Loris Malaguzzi, emphasizes in his famous poem that every child has a hundred ways of discovering the world and a hundred worlds to invent. Today's…

At a time when neo-liberal policy agenda are resulting in many public services being taken away from families with young children, this paper draws on Basil Bernstein's concepts of visible and invisible pedagogies to reveal how professionals offer 'support' to parents of young (under five years old) children in a small town in the East Midlands…

In today's public libraries, children's librarians are challenged to provide inclusive programming that welcomes all individuals, including deaf and hard-of-hearing children at risk for delayed reading and literacy development. This study, using quantitative survey data and qualitative interview methods, investigated the programs and…

As the nature of public library services expands and transforms, continuing education (CE) for both degreed and non-degreed library staff is critical. An ongoing challenge for the LIS community is to identify the key areas in which to increase professional knowledge and skills. The purpose of this study was to identify what working library staff…

Computational thinking (CT) is believed to be a critical factor to facilitate STEM learning, and a vital learning objective itself. Therefore, researchers are continuing to explore effective ways to improve and assess it. Makerspaces feature various hands-on activities, which can attract students with diverse interests from different backgrounds.…

Purpose: Public libraries play a pivotal role in supporting education and literacy. They provide numerous services, activities, collections and resources for education and leisure. Bibliotheca Alexandrina (BA) is an international renowned public library that provides numerous services for different users worldwide. E-learning is an emergent and…

At a time when government funding cuts mean that public libraries face an uncertain future and need to make sure they stay relevant to young users and their families, this paper explores what counts as literacy for young children in a public library in a town in the East Midlands, UK. It is based on a study which adopted an ethnographic approach,…