I attended the MLA Annual Conference on Oct. 11-12 that included many great sessions. “Little Coders: Infectious (The Good Kind) Activities for Preschoolers offered great background information on why coding is so important for preschoolers in today’s world. The presenters shared many different ideas and programs that could be used with this age group using very little if any budget. One recommended resource was “Coding as a Playground” by Marina Umaschi Bers. Everybody Supercharge: Supercharged Storytimes for All Training discussed the 6-week online course being offered now through the MN Dept of Ed. Anyone is able to attend the free webinars or access the archives. The course provides training in how to intentionally apply research-based practices to boost early literacy in young children attending library storytime. Some of the other beneficial sessions I attended were: Programming Outside the Lines — Robot Petting Zoo — 12 DIY Adult Programs — Out of the Box Book Clubs — and Building Buy-in Marketing at Your Library. In addition to the great ideas I took from these sessions, it is always uplifting to spend time with peers sharing even more ideas of ways to improve our service. Thank you for the opportunity!
