I attended MLA in St. Cloud, MN on Oct. 11-12, 2018. There were a couple of sessions that really stood out to me and will be implemented into my libraries. Little Coders: Infectious (The Good Kind) had some ideas for preschoolers and why coding is important for them in today’s world. I already do fun songs and dance parties, but this session showed that you can modify what you are already doing and make it into coding for the littles; like having colored shapes mean different dance moves and then sequencing those shapes/moves into a dance party. Genius!
Another session that I enjoyed was Under the Radar: The Other Youth Book Awards Worth Watching. It is always great to go to a session that will give you list of books and why you should consider adding those gems to your collection.
But my favorite session was the Out-of-the-Box Book Clubs. This session was the first one that I took something away from every speaker. They shared not only how they ran the program but also gave tips for your success by sharing what didn’t work for them. I cannot wait to start my Read Aloud Book Club with my school age kids!
MLA is a great way to socialize and network with other librarians, to discuss and share what works and what doesn’t. Thank you Prairielands for the opportunity!