Lincoln Story League, January, 2014

I attended the first meeting of 2014 held at the Mount Prospect Public Library.  Libraries in attendance included Poplar Creek, Gail Borden, Crystal Lake, McHenry, Park Ridge, Evanston, St. Charles, Schaumburg, and Bartlett.   Many of the ideas presented were winter and snow themed and included several flannel stories, music, and crafts.  Other highlights included:

• Mustache storytime using props and flannel board.
• Gail Borden shared their startup information for a community garden.
• Two librarians shared nice draw-and-tell and cut-and-tell stories in which the story is told while it is drawn on a white board or cut out on a piece of paper.
• Mr. Brian from the Evanston PL completes a Best Books List each year and this was passed out to everyone.

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Lincoln Story League, December, 2013

This meeting was held at the Evanston Public Library.  Libraries in attendance included Poplar Creek, Warren-Newport, McHenry, Palatine, Crystal Lake, Glenview, Arlington Heights, Mount Prospect, Rolling Meadows, Evanston, Park Ridge and Gail Borden.  Many ideas were winter and holiday themed.   Really cute crafts and flannels were shown.  Some of the more popular ideas introduced new songs or games such as “The Alligator in the Elevator” and “Icky, Sticky, Bubblegum.” Bigger events that were highlighted included an American Girl Tea Event from Arlington Heights and  a Preschool Teacher Open House Event from Gail Borden.

Lincoln Story League, October, 2013

This meeting was held at the Arlington Heights library.  There was a great mix of librarians and libraries there representing Palatine, Bartlett, Warren-Newport, Park Ridge, Rolling Meadows, Glenview, Crystal Lake, Gail Borden and Evanston.  Many of the story and programming ideas were flannel board based or prop based.  The best ideas I found helpful were:

• A flannel board story using the book Windblown by Édouard Manceau.
• A football themed flannel with a Bear getting dressed in his uniform for the football game.
• Flannel and prop of the story, “There was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly,” where the storyteller puts items inside the old lady’s mouth or tummy.
• The Lovely Ladybug rhyme and prop story was made using cellophane and large posterboard.  As the colors changed in the rhyme, the ladybug changed color.
• Pajama Math using the Bedtime Math program.  Librarians can sign up for free and have the kit sent.

Lincoln Story League, May, 2013

I attended the May 2013 Lincoln Story League meeting held at Gail Borden Public Library in Elgin.  This was the end of the year meeting before breaking for the summer months.  I also received a tour of their SuperCrocs exhibit going on all summer which coincides with their Summer Reading program.  SuperCrocs is Super Cool!   You must check out the pictures.  Having previously been an intern and library associate here, I was so happy to see old friends and colleagues!  Making connections and collaboration is such a great part of being a librarian!   Gail Borden is a wonderful library.

About 20 different programming, craft and story ideas were shared.  Four ideas that I liked included:

The Algonquin Public Library hosts a picture book discussion group once a month for kids in K-2 called “Bookaneers”.  An art project typically accompanies the discussion.  The example used was Chris Raschka’s Mysterious Thelonious.  Kids learned about jazz music and how their art can be a visual representation of music.

Amelia Bedelia 50th birthday celebration program included a cute feather duster craft of feathers on a craft stick.  Kids made bonnets and played whiffle ball.  It was a big hit with patrons.

Dust Bunnies finger puppet craft that coincides with the book Rhyming Dust Bunnies by Jan Thomas.  Small microfiber dust cloths from Target were transformed with wiggly eyes and a felt nose. They were an adorable touch to a fun book.

Gail Borden Public Library shared  an early literacy prop song to help kids identify  colors and animals.  Five bins of different colors accompany the song, “I live in a red barn…” or “I live in a blue house…” Kids put the appropriate animal in the correct color bin.

Lincoln Story League, April, 2013

The April 2013 meeting of Lincoln Story League met at Glenview Public Library in Glenview.  Following the meeting, I went on a tour of the library, which recently underwent massive improvements.  Wow! What a beautiful library!

Story sharing included shadow box puppets, impressive flannel board creations, crafts and programming ideas. There are two ideas that were very unique that I liked:

The Arlington Heights Memorial Library held a Toy Story Interactive Movie (in the Rocky Horror Picture Show style).  Librarians wore Mr. Potato Head costumes.  Families came to the show and were handed a bag of props.  A handout told them what to do at certain points in the movie such as, “When You’ve Got a Friend in Me plays, play along with your kazoo” which was found in the prop bag.  It was a big hit with patrons and the library had great success.

Another successful program was from Gail Borden Public Library in Elgin.  First, the librarian read, I Have a Brother Who Swallowed a Fly by J. Holub.  Then, they held an obstacle course game to teach kids about the digestive system and biology using kids as the “food” and props such as tents and hula hoops.  It helped kids learn what the digestive system does and looks like, while incorporating common core elements for science and non-fiction.