All-ages pop-up story time (Sebastopol, Sonoma County)

A pop-up story time is like a traditional in-library story time, but held in at a local business instead of the library reading room. Pop-up story times are for all ages (family story time) and are held at 10:00 am on the first Tuesday of the month, every other month. Dates and locations are listed below, and apply to the City of Sebastopol in the Sonoma County Library System.
Pop-up story times would be pre-arranged with the individual business by the Children’s Librarian. An assistant would execute the story time with books and limited props (those that were easily portable). Advertisement would take place throughout the children’s section at the library as well as in the individual businesses with fliers and website updates. Twitter blast to be sent out the day before. Pictures of past events would go up on the library’s Facebook page, with a post or two the week before to advertise the next one.
Themes in pop-up story times are listed in more detail on the story time page.

• January
  Patricia Webb, DDS (dentist’s office)
  7221 Healdsburg Ave. Sebastopol, CA 95472
  http://www.patriciawebbdds.com
  Theme: Your Body
• March
  People’s Music
  122 North Main St.   Sebastopol, CA 95472
  http://www.peoplesmusicontheweb.com
  Theme: Jazz Music
• May
  Artisana Functional Art
  146 N Main St, Sebastopol, CA 95472
  http://www.artisanafunctionalart.com/about.html
  Theme: Feelings and Emotions
• July
  Whole Foods Market
  6910 Mckinley Ave, Sebastopol, CA 95472
  Theme: Bugs
• September
  Mom’s Apple Pie Restaurant
  4550 Gravenstein Hwy. North, Sebastopol, CA 95472
  http://www.momsapplepieusa.com
  Theme: Cooking and Baking
• November
  Frizelle Enos Feed Store
  265 Petaluma Avenue, Sebastopol, CA 95472
  http://frizelleenos.com
  Theme: Farm Animals

 

 

Book Clubs
There are two book clubs for middle school students—one for girls and one for boys—and an elementary age book club for kids and their parent or caregiver. Book clubs meet four times a year on the second Thursday of that month—February, May, August and November. Sign-up for each month’s meeting is required and participants are free to come and go depending on their schedules, though continuous involvement is encouraged.

The idea behind these book clubs is to give kids a place to share their favorite books, read something new and discuss the book and different themes with a group of peers and parental figures.

For the middle school group, book selection will focus on the interests and social needs of members, choosing topics that might relate best to their current lives and help them explore certain situations through literature.

For the elementary group, parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles or adult siblings are all welcome. The idea is to create a multi-generational group so that many different points of view and experiences can be shared.

Book selection will be by general consensus, guided by books suggested through the library’s semi-annual book-talks. Group members are welcome to nominate one of their favorite books, and depending on the number of people who have already read it, and the appropriateness of the topic and reading level, members can take turns sharing a favorite story with their peers and adults.

 

Parent/Caregiver Early Literacy Workshops
Early Literacy Workshops are offered quarterly—January, April, July, October—on the second Monday night of the month at 7pm and second Saturday morning at 9am and last for 1 ½ hours.

The Children’s Librarian will give workshops to parents and caregivers. These workshops are designed to introduce parents to library and community resources as well as teach them the basics of early literacy and child development.

These workshops are for adults only, but caregivers are strongly encouraged to bring their child to one of the library’s story times to observe and practice the skills and activities learned in the workshops. The Children’s Librarian will discuss the six Early Literacy Skills in detail—print motivation, print awareness, narrative skills, letter knowledge, phonological awareness, and vocabulary—and discuss how they apply to different ages and stages of development.

Components of dialogic reading will also be discussed as it applies to specific books. Handouts will be given out, including a list of online resources with the libraries’ Twitter feed and Facebook page listed, a few pages of songs and rhymes to use at home (for 2 different age groups—babies and toddlers, and preschoolers) and a page of tips and ideas for reading to children.

A sign-in sheet for email addresses and phone numbers for texts to notify parents of upcoming events will be on-hand. At the end of each session, parents or those caregivers who reside with their child, will be given the opportunity to apply for a library card if they do not already have one. A survey and an evaluation about the workshop will be passed out to the participants at the end of the session, and they will be asked to turn it in to the front desk. They are not required to put their name on the survey or evaluation.

Early Literacy Workshops will be conducted by the Children’s Librarian, with set-up and planning details executed by the librarian and a staff assistant. Advertising and fliers will be posted through local agencies that work with parents and children, such as local doctor’s offices, social services offices, businesses that cater to families and the library’s website. The fliers/announcements should list the required documents necessary to obtain a library card as well as other pertinent information. The workshops will also be mentioned at library story times the week prior to the each class.

Book Talks
The library offers book talks—quick descriptions of new and classic books that will help peak the interest of a variety of readers—on an afternoon in December and May. Two book talk events are given for two different age groups, one for 2-4th graders and one for 5-8th graders. The Children’s Librarian and a local bookseller will talk about their top ten books for the season. Listening to a book talk is a great way to ‘stock up’ on reading ideas for holiday and summer breaks. No sign-up is required, but make sure you have your library card with you. If you don’t have a library card, bring an adult and the proper proof of residency so you can get one.