A new class on “Placemaking: Making it Happen”

Excited by this project and want to learn more about this topic? The Project for Public Spaces invites you to learn everything you need to know to implement and manage your very own placemaking project, including facilitating community engagement, translating a vision into a plan, and implementing Light, Quicker, Cheaper transformations.

This October they’re gathering public space advocates from around the world for a four-week online training on placemaking tools and principles.

A new article on how “True Play and Literacy Connect at the Library”

Last Summer, we wrote a series of articles for the US Play Coalition on how play and librarianship come together. This Summer, we are thrilled to pass the baton to Liz McChesney, who served as the Chicago Public Library Director of Children’s Services and Family Engagement, where she earned numerous national awards, including the American Library Service to Children Distinguished Services Recipient.

Liz’s first article focuses on how “True Play and Literacy Connect at the Library,” and features amazing examples of this work from Madison, Wisconsin, and Kitsap, Washingon.

The photo on the left is from the article: It documents a Wild Rumpus program offered by Madison Public Library in collaboration with Anji Play.

Greg Mickells, CEO of Madison Public Library, may say it best: “True Play contains many elements fundamental to learning, including critical thinking, risk, and curiosity; but what I have witnessed with Anji Play is how important joy is to literacy. Having an opportunity that brings joy to learning should be an experience for all children.”

Learn more about how and why to incorporate True Play into your library’s programming in Liz’s article!

An inspiring story of a library that encourages Reading Beyond the Beaten Path through a nature scavenger hunt in a park

We want to thank Paula Dugan, Head of Children’s Services at Needham Free Public Library, in Massachusetts for sharing this inspiring story with us! We’re always seeking stories like this one. Consider sharing yours!

“As part of this year’s outdoors focused Summer Reading Program for children, called ‘Read Beyond the Beaten Path’ the Needham Free Public Library in Needham, Massachusetts is inviting families to do a nature scavenger hunt at the Redwing Bay Park.  Families pick up a Nature Scavenger Hunt page at the Children’s Desk or print it out form the library web page. They visit the park independently and walk the trails to look for the plants, flowers, insects and other natural items pictured on the scavenger hunt page. They mark off the ones they find and return the sheet to the Children’s Desk to claim a prize.  The back of the scavenger hunt page includes information on each item families may encounter on their search – such as how many species there are of a plant or insect, different names for a plant, if a species is native or invasive, and facts about an animal habitat.

“The activity gets families enjoying summer fun together outside, gets them walking the trails,  and provides a hands-on-learning experience about the natural environment in their own hometown.   Children are receiving information from the library, in this case about nature, in an active, fun and engaging way. It ties the library to its surroundings in the community and demonstrates to families how information from the library can be applied to their lives.”