Congratulations to Providence Community Library - us!

Washington Park Library, home of some of the best library users on the planet, is celebrating our first formal year as part of Providence Community Library. Our organization just filed our first annual report, and in the lovely Aldermen's Chamber at City Hall - which is worth a visit just to see Bob Dodge's immaculate restoration work.
Washington Park Library used to be a branch of Providence Public Library, but when PPL was about to close 5 branches, concerned citizens stopped it, and several of those citizens went on to become our current board members. To find out more about Providence Community Library, visit our website, or read the Providence Journal articles about our growth as an organization.
So Washington Park Library would like to thank the people who fought to keep us and all of our neighborhood libraries open:
Ellen Schwartz and Patricia Raub, Karen MacAninch, Marcus Mitchell and Linda Kushner, Mark McKenney, Mayor Ciccilline, and every staff member, and many many other people - but no one wants to read a really long list. So most of all, thank you to everyone who uses our libraries, and to all of our neighbors and community partner organizations.

Back To School with Spongebob!

Kids, parents and television:

Parents rightly have varying attitudes towards kids and television. When I was a kid, TV was either family time, or a last resort. 

The fact is that your kid is constantly exposed to television advertising and merchandising at school, even if s/he isn't that interested. And even in elementary school, this can define popularity aka coolness.

Fight back!

Your kid can still watch less TV, but be tuned in. Here's a partial list of TV shows that come from good books, or have good associated books:

The Max and Ruby series- Rosemary Wells. Wells' Max and Ruby books are usually very good for preK and K-1- but she also has the Edward the Unready series, the Felix series, the Yoko series, and more titles. If your kid talks about Max and Ruby, this is a great chance to introduce other, more advanced picture books Wells has written and illustrated.

Spongebob- a universal icon of ridiculous fun: introducing Spongebob easy readers and early chapter books can get elementary school boys who "don't like reading" to get interested. With kids who don't like reading, if reading is a family time, they might be more motivated. Get out the popcorn and get out the books, for everyone, adults and kids. For truly reluctant readers, try the Spongebob graphic novels for elementary school kids.

Olivia- Ian Falconer.

Curious George- HA Rey.

With both Falconer and Rey, the original work is much better illustration, and a parent might notice that. But as long as your kids are reading with enthusiasm, remember that kids are less visually acute than adults. Just introduce them to the originals, and let them know that you like the original author / illustrator's work best, and why. And that's a great start on a great visual education.

Dora y Diego

Providence has a huge Hispanic population, and the demand for books about Dora and Diego is so high they're hard to keep on the shelves. Both TV shows focus on the environment and animal life, which is a great opportunity to check out the non-fiction areas at your library. If your kid wants to know more about animals, environments / biomes, and natural history, your neighborhood library has got those books!

Happy reading!

Homework- who, where, why, when ... what?

courtesy: FOUND Magazine

Homework: kids, you know you have to!
The US Department of Education has a great downloadable PDF called "Helping Your Child With Homework." This is a 23 page booklet, that walks parents through everything they can do to give their kids the right space, tools, and encouragement to do homework without pressure and with less confusion. This is also a great tool for parents who want to talk to their kids about why homework matters, because it uses really reasonable, logical language to talk about how doing homework helps kids do better in school and enjoy school more.
For homework help on a walk-in basis, call any of the 9 neighborhood libraries that are Providence Community Library during any of our open hours. We'll tell you when we have tutors on site, and we can also answer some questions right over the phone, or send you an e-mail link. And ask our librarians if there are any neighborhood resources- there usually are!
In Rhode Island, we've got Homework Help through AskRI.org. Our librarians will usually recommend this for high school kids and some middle school kids, because it's online, but if you work with a younger kid to use the encyclopedia and kid-friendly databases, it's a great learning opportunity.
Parents should also check out VIPS, Volunteers in Public Schools- they're changing their name to Inspiring Minds, and still offering free after-school and Saturday tutoring. VIPS also can connecting parents with resources for their kids both in and out of school. Parents can call 401274.3240.
The Learning Coach is a newer name, offering free after-school tutoring and free transportation. Interested parents should call 401 272. 2037.
Stay tuned!