About the Project
The need for services and collections that support the development of digital literacy fits squarely within the purview of library services for children and their families.
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The children and families that libraries serve are increasingly using digital media to access learning materials. At the same time, many of the parents we serve lack the guidance and support they need to utilize digital media in ways that are effective and productive to their child's education. In March of 2015, the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) Board of Directors adopted the white paper
"Media Mentorship in Libraries Serving Youth" to address this issue. This report calls upon librarians who serve youth to act as Media Mentors, and provide parents with guidance to increase their digital literacy. In order to be effective Media Mentors, professional librarians need to acquire new technology strategies that have a positive impact on early learning. Through our train-the-trainer teaching model, any librarian serving youth in Ohio will have the opportunity to learn these strategies and teach them to other librarians who serve youth. By September 30, 2016, each pair of trainees who complete the April 4 & 5, 2016, training session will be asked to take on the role of trainer and transfer what they have learned to 24 librarians in their library system. By December 31, 2016, each participating library system will hold a regional training open to other Ohio library system employees. This project was made possible by the State Library of Ohio with federal funds from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. |
About Us |
Cuyahoga County Public Library was awarded a Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) grant from the State Library of Ohio to implement this training plan. We partner with Cleveland Public Library, Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County, Stark County District Library, Toledo Lucas County Public Library, and Worthington Libraries to offer regional training sessions through out the state in 2016. Upcoming training opportunities are listed on the registration page. Please register early, space is limited.
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Updates |
Cuyahoga County Public Library hosted the initial Media Mentors training session on April 4 & 5, 2016. Representatives of each partner library received training from Carissa Christner and Claudia Haines on such topics as: current research on digital media and very young children, app evaluation, and utilizing apps in programs for very young children.
Carissa Christner works as a Youth Services Librarian in Madison, Wisconsin. For the past few years, Carissa has been exploring the use of apps in library programming and has led multiple training workshops helping other librarians learn how to become media mentors themselves. Claudia Haines is the Youth Services Librarian at the Homer Public Library in Alaska and co-author of the ALSC position paper on Media Mentorship. She provides training for other librarians using new media with young children and recently contributed to the Little eLit book Young Children, New Media, and Libraries: A Guide for Incorporating New Media into Library Collections, Services, and Programs for Families and Children Ages 0-5. |