Children’s Librarians = Media Mentors

Do you support the literacy needs of your community’s families?
Do you evaluate, curate, recommend and provide access to materials in a variety of formats?
Are you well-versed in the technology and tools that families are using so you can help them navigate the newest media?
Do you incorporate the right media for the right job in library programs, including storytime?
Do you ask “which tool is best to help kids grow as readers and become lifelong learners?”
Do you include new media in library programs to not only provide access to digital media but  also provide the know-how families need to use the media positively?

Congratulations! You’re a media mentor! Check out these resources which support your work as a children’s librarian and media mentor. Feel free to search this blog for related topics using the term media mentorship.

Young Children, New Media and Libraries Survey Results (Source: http://www.alsc.ala.org/blog)

Books, Articles, Reports and Videos (alphabetical)

• Becoming a Media Mentor: A Guide for Working with Children and Families  (2016) Claudia Haines, Cen Campbell and ALSC with a foreword by Chip Donohue
• Born Reading: Bringing up Bookworms in a Digital Age- From Picture Books to eBooks and Everything in Between (2014) by Jason Boog
• Designing for Diverse Families (2015) Joan Ganz Cooney Center
• Digital Storytime: Kids, Apps, and Libraries (2016) Wisconsin Department of Education with Carissa Christner
• Diversity Programming for Digital Youth: Promoting Cultural Competence in the Children’s Library (2014) by Jamie Campbell Naidoo
• Early Connections: A Parent Education Toolkit for Early Childhood Providers Common Sense Media
• Early Learning and Educational Technology Policy Brief (2016) Department of Education
• Everything in Moderation: Moderate Use of Screens Unassociated with Child Behavior Problems (2017) by Christopher Ferguson
• Family Engagement in the Digital Age: Early Childhood Educators as Media Mentors (2016) Chip Donohue, editor
• Family Time with Apps (2014) Joan Ganz Cooney Center (iBooks or noninteractive pdf) also available in Spanish
• Giving Our Children A Fighting Chance: Poverty, Literacy and the Development of Information Capital (2012) by Susan B. Neman and Donna C. Celano
• How the iPad affects young children, and what we can do about it: Lisa Guernsey at TEDxMidAtlantic (13:14) Lisa Guernsey (video)
• Interactive Media Use at Younger Than the Age of 2 Years: Time to Rethink the American Academy of Pediatrics Guideline? (2014) Dr. Dimitri Christakis
• It’s Complicated by Danah Boyd (2014), a valuable insight into the relationship between digital media and teens.
• Judging a book by more than its cover: Exploring features of traditional and e-book reading experiences that support children’s learning (2017) Tamara Spiewak Toub, Ph.D.
• Media and Young Minds Policy Statement (2016) American Academy of Pediatrics (see also Children, Adolescents and the Media the policy statement from 2012 and the proceedings from the 2015 Growing Up Digital: Media Research Symposium which features 2015 key messages for pediatricians and families)
• Media Mentorship: An Introduction (17:09) Amy Koester (video)
• Media Mentorship in Libraries Serving Youth (2015) by Cen Campbell, Claudia Haines, Amy Koester and Dorothy Stoltz (ALSC White Paper)
• Putting education in educational apps: Lesson for the science of learning (2015) by Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, et al. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 16,1, 3-34.
• Results from the Young Children, New Media and Libraries Survey (2015) by J. Elizabeth Mills, Emily Romeijin-Stout, Cen Campbell and Amy Koester
• Screen Sense: Setting the Record Straight (2014) Zero to Three
• Screen Time: How Electronic Media – From Baby Videos to Educational Software – Affects Your Young Child (2012) by Lisa Guernsey
• Tap, Click, Read (2015) by Lisa Gunersey and Michael Levine
• Technology and Digital Media in the Early Years: Tools for Teaching and Learning (2014) edited by Chip Donohue
• Technology and Interactive Media as Tools in Early Childhood Programs Serving Children from Birth through Age 8 (2012) NAEYC and Fred Rogers Center (full position statement)
• Technology and Young Children in the Digital Age Survey (2016) TEC Center at Erikson Institute
• The Common Sense Census: Media Use by Tweens and Teens by Common Sense Media
• The New Coviewing: Designing for Learning through Joint Media Engagement by Joan Ganz Cooney Center and the LIFE Center
• Welcome to the Digital Neighborhood Example of slides from Media Mentorship Training for Librarians (with Fred Rogers Center)
• Young Children and New Media in Libraries: Preliminary survey results make case for more research (American Libraries Magazine, 2015)
• 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: (2015) Little eLit and multiple authors
• Zero to Eight: Children’s Media Use in America 2013 Common Sense Media

Review Sources

Children’s Technology Review An excellent review site for apps and all kinds of digital tools for children and teens. Paid subscription also includes regular digital newsletters with valuable content.
Madison Public Library’s App Finder A collection of apps for kids reviewed by librarian Carissa Christner.
Common Sense Media Kid App Reviews Free review site featuring media of all sorts.
School Library Journal App Reviews Traditional review site, that includes a variety of media for children and teens, well-known to librarians.
Horn Book App Review of the Week Another traditional review site with specific app reviews in addition to their respected book reviews.
Little eLit Digital media field tested by librarians working with young children. (archived)
Digital Storytime Story (or book) app reviews by Carisa Kluver.

Evaluating Digital Media

Evaluating Apps and New Media for Young Children: A Rubric This is my rubric for reviewing apps, devices and other new media, particularly for use with young children.

KIDMAP DIG Diversity and Inclusion Checklist This is a checklist I developed with KIDMAP for evaluating digital media for kids. It emphasizes diversity and inclusion, but also includes other elements of high quality media.

Sites To Check Out

• Association for Library Service to Children http://www.ala.org/alsc/digital-media-resources
• Ask the Mediatrician® http://cmch.tv/parents/askthemediatrician/
• Common Sense Media https://www.commonsensemedia.org
• Fred Rogers Center http://www.fredrogerscenter.org
• Healthy Children- Family Media Plan https://www.healthychildren.org
• Hour of Code http://code.org
• Joan Ganz Cooney Center http://www.joanganzcooneycenter.org
• KIDMAP (Kids’ Inclusive & Diverse Media Action Project) www.joinkidmap.org
• Little eLit http://littleelit.com (archived)
• NAEYC (National Association for the Education of Young Children) http://www.naeyc.org
• NAMLE (National Association for Media Literacy Education) https://namle.net
• TEC (Technology in Early Childhood) Center at Erikson Institute http://teccenter.erikson.edu