Diversity

Writing a picture book about diversity was an interesting experience and from this I now have a lot more respect for the published authors and illustrators in the children’s picture book market. Not only is there a lot of competition in this area but it takes a lot of time and effort both in writing and drawing to reach a finished product. This activity also made me more aware that the choice of stories used in a public library pre-school Storytime sessions is important and can be used for educational purposes.

For our assignment I chose to write a picture book about diversity. When most people think of diversity they think of cultural and ethnical diversity. However, diversity can also mean “the state or quality of being different or varied” (Collins, 2014). My story is aimed at pre-school aged children and I chose to write about a boy who is different to the rest of his kindergarten friends because he has hearing loss and needs hearing aids. I chose this subject because I know that a lot of children find out they need hearing aids at this age as this is often when groups like Lions Clubs (2014) do free hearing checks.

Another reason why I chose to write for pre-schoolers on this topic is because this is the age where early relationships with peers effects individual self-esteem and future ability to form social relationships (DeLuzio & Giolametto, 2011). Pre-schoolers with hearing loss can have difficulty forming relationships with their peer because they may have trouble interacting and may be seen as different. By writing a picture book that can be read in classrooms and libraries, I hope that an understanding and acceptance of difference can be promoted. Through promoting diversity at a young age there is not only an increase in knowledge but also an increase in awareness of themselves and of others (Goodman, 2011). By accepting differences at an early age, this hopefully reduces prejudices these children may form in the future.

As I had never written a children’s picture book before, I decided to do some research on how to write a popular picture book. One of the main themes I found was that a picture book isn’t a picture book without pictures. Considering I am lacking in artistic skills, I invited my eleven year old daughter to draw the pictures for my book. This process made me realise the importance of employing an illustrator when developing a picture book as the targeted readers understand so much of the story through the illustrations.

Part of my research included interviewing a mother of a child diagnosed with hearing loss as a pre-schooler and the steps taken to test his hearing and then fit for hearing aids. I also researched other picture book authors and the methods and tips used when writing for this age groups. Mayr (1999) makes some salient points about writing a picture book:

1. Read plenty of other picture books to better understand what is expected

2. Be brief. Ensure the picture book has 800 words or less and uses few descriptions

3. Tell a good story and include a beginning, middle and end

4. Understand the pre-school psyche and make sure the situations are familiar and the twist believable

5. Use obvious humour

6. Pictures are essential

7. Make sure the children understand the language you use

In writing my picture book, “Super Sam and His Hearing Aids”, I took care to follow Mayr’s recommendations. Unfortunately I had trouble deciding what digital platform to post my picture book on. As you can see, Issuu posted my book on the side. I apologise for your sore neck!

I hope that you enjoy the following story and I look forward to hearing your feedback. My picture book can be found on this link:

http://issuu.com/autismspectrumdisorderpathfinder/docs/super_sam_and_his_hearing_aids.docx 

Image Attributes:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/37075003@N02/4027770613


References

Collins. (2014). Collins English Dictionary. Retrieved from http://www.collinsdictionary.com/

DeLuzio, J., & Girolametto, L. (2011). Peer interactions of preschool children with and without hearing loss. Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing Research. 54.4.

Goodman, D. J. (2011). Promoting diversity and social justice: Education people from privileged groups. (2nd. Ed.). Hoboken: Taylor & Francis.

Lions Australia. (2014). Lions Australia: We Serve. Retrieved from http://lionsclubs.org.au/

Mayr, D. (1999). Ten tips on writing picture books. The Writer, 112.6, p.14.

Children’s Book Council of Australia ‘Book of the Year Award 2014’

Symons (2010) states that the ‘Children’s Book Council of Australia’s Book of the Year Award’ is probably one of the most prestigious awards for children’s literature in Australia. I read six books from this year’s Early Childhood and Picture Book of the Year shortlist nominees but ‘Granny Grommet and Me’ stood out the most (The Children's Book Council of Australia, 2014). This book appealed to me because of its attractive, bright illustrations but also its relevance to children who may be scared of the sea and the “strange things under the waves” (Wolfer & Blair, 2013, p.8).

Written by Dianne Wolfer and illustrated by Karen Blair ‘Granny Grommet and Me’ is a touching tale of a boy out for the day with his grommet grandmother and her grommet friends. I found out that a grommet in surfing language is “an inexperienced but enthusiastic young surfer” (Negus, 2004, p.1). At first, the boy watches the Grommets boogie boarding and surfing but when he is invited in he confesses that he is too scared. The grandmother slowly tries to entice him in with a skim board and a paddle in knee deep water but when he gets scared by something strange brushing against his leg, the Grommets take him to their favourite rock pool to soak in the warm water. After his grandmother explains that the sea is like “a great big rock pool”, the boy has the courage to brave snorkelling (Wolfer & Blair, 2013, p. 15). The book finishes with a captivating illustration of the Grommets surrounding the boy in the water to make him feel safe and the boy’s realisation that there are wonderfully strange things under the sea.

Upon researching this book, I found that it is based on a group of elderly women aged between 52 and 73 who meet every Friday morning at Albany’s Middleton Beach in Western Australia (Negus, 2004). They call themselves the Granny Grommets and meet in all types of weather. The author was inspired by these women who have surfed together religiously for the past 15 years (Collins & Kennedy, 2012).

Part of the appeal of this book is the strong female characters and the unusual but warm relationship between the grandmother and her grandson. Water safety is an important part of the story with the Grommets being very safety conscious with their sun sense, their wearing of wetsuits to keep themselves warm, and the checking of rips in the tide. ‘Granny Grommet and Me’ would be a fantastic book for library staff to read at a Children’s Storytime, especially if the theme was the Beach. The pertinent ‘Granny Grommet Beach Tips’ at the end of the book would be a useful introduction to water safety. 

Image Attributions:
https://au.news.yahoo.com/a/16167850/granny-grommets-inspire-kids-book/


References

Negus. G. (2004). Granny Grommets: Episode 158. Retrieved from www.abc.net.au

Symons. (2010). Book of the Year 2014. Retrieved from http://symonsed.com.au/

The Children’s Book Council of Australia. (2014). Book of the Year Awards Short List 2014. Retrieved from http://cbca.org.au/ShortList-2014.htm.

Wolfer, D., & Blair, K. (2013). Granny Grommet and Me. Newtown: Walker Books.

State Library of Victoria’s Children’s Book Festival 2014

The OECD states that 43.7% of Australians between the ages of 15 and 74 have low level literacy skills that may make reading texts for everyday information a challenge (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2013). With such low literacy rates, it is important that we give children and young adults as much exposure to reading and books as we possibly can. Involving them in other forms of literature is also important. Attending author talks, listening to audio books, reading to them and visiting the local library may also help foster a love of reading and learning. With this in mind I took my three primary school aged children to the Children’s Book Festival on Sunday 23^rd March 2014. This free event run by the State Library of Victoria and The Wheeler Centre was a memorable event (The Wheeler Centre, n.d.).

This annual event is devoted entirely to children’s books and literature and the best part is that everything is free. We started the day at the Polyglot Sticky Maze. A huge maze made out of masking tape allowing you to stick bits of newspaper on the sticky walls. We listened to Ron Murray, a Wamba Wamba elder from the Swan Hill area, telling an aboriginal Dreamtime story about a snake who tries to eat a bird but doesn’t succeed. We chatted to one of the most popular children’s authors, Andy Griffiths, while he lounged in a beanbag watching the competition for the best dressed character from a children’s book.

Inside the State Library of Victoria we helped write The Biggest Book Ever, created Lego poetry, and wrote stories using pictures taken from historical newspapers. My five year old loved watching the children’s theatre performances while my nine and eleven year olds preferred making their own books on old-fashioned typewriters. The highlight of the day was listening to Ursula Dubosarsky talk about her popular The Word Spy series (Ursula Dubosarsky, n.d.). She intrigued us with her play on words and we learned her secret language, Gibberish, and wrote postcards in morse code and rebus.

The best part about the day was that more than 13,000 readers attended the event this year (State Library of Victoria, 2014). The children attending were exposed to new ideas and I hope they were inspired to go home and write more. There was something for everyone and I would definitely recommend people go, even if they don’t have children. 

Image Attributes:
Polyglot Sticky Maze
https://www.flickr.com/photos/suavehouse113/6693414745/


References

Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2013). 4228.0 - Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies, Australia, 2011-12. Retrieved from http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/4228.0Main+Features202011-12

The Wheeler Centre. (n.d.). Children’s Book Festival 2014. Retrieved from http://wheelercentre.com/events/event/children-s-book-festival-2014/

State Library of Victoria. (2014). State Library of Victoria. Retrieved from http://www.slv.vic.gov.au/ 

Ursula Dubosarsky. (n.d.). Ursula Dubosarsky: Writer for children and young adults. Retrieved from http://ursuladubosarsky.com/

Maker Spaces and Emerging Technologies in a Public Library

I am currently undertaking my three week Master of Information Studies student placement at a public library. Part of my placement has involved helping set up a Maker Space for the community. This has been an interesting and educational experience, particularly as I haven’t had much experience with many of the technologies involved.

Maker Spaces are “community oriented spaces where people gather to create, make and learn using a variety of tools” (Kelly, 2013). As the public may increasingly be looking elsewhere for answers to their information needs and people are spending more time on technological gadgets, Maker Spaces are places that promote community engagement (Editors, 2013). They also support community knowledge creation and sharing of knowledge (Lankes, 2011; Hamilton in Kelly, 2013). Kelly (2013, p.1) states that “this information sharing helps create and promote new culture”. Maker Spaces also support libraries’ missions to enable lifelong learning across multiple literacies (Colegrove, 2013). For the children and young adults involved they promote learning through play and encourage them to learn more about maths, technology and engineering (Britton, 2012).

Part of my placement has involved visiting Thinglab (2013), a 3D printer and 3D scanner shop. As I will be involved in writing a program outline for school visits to the Maker Space, I was most interested in how 3D printers could be used by primary and high school children. To be able to print from a 3D printer, a lay person would either use preloaded designs on the USB stick provided with the 3D printer, or find patterns on websites like Makerbot Thingiverse (2014). However, I am more interested in how school children could create their own designs. I have found an app called 123D Creature that can be used on iPads that would make it easy for children and young adults to get creative. Once designed, their creature would be run through a free program called Netfabb (n.d.) which ensures there are no holes in each individual design. Holes in designs would create spaghetti rather than the desired shape. Once completed, the finished designed would be sent to the 3D printer for publishing and voila! For more creative students, or for students who are learning design at school, the SketchUp program could be used to create a design from scratch (Trimble, 2013). This is quite complicated and would require much more liaising with classroom teachers.

We expect that the 3D printer will become a popular tool in the library. It is hoped that it will not only be available for school programs but also for the general public to use during library opening hours. Running costs are very low, a small bracelet made of corn cellulose fibre would cost about 5 cents each. The main cost would of course be the 3D printer and the electricity charges. Small change when we think of the overall benefit to the library and the community as a whole!

I look forward to creating new designs and using the 3D printer to find out more. I am sure that the more I play the more I will learn.

 

Image Attribution:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/63991153@N00/9135194264

References

Britton, L. (2013). The makings of Maker Spaces, part 1: Space for creation, not just consumption. Library Journal. Retrieved from http://www.thedigitalshift.com/2012/10/public-services/the-makings-of-maker-spaces-part-1-space-for-creation-not-just-consumption/

Colegrove, P. (2013). Editorial board thoughts: Libraries as Maker Spaces? Information Technology and Libraries, 32.1,2.

Editors. (2013). Manufacturing maker spaces. American Libraries. Retrieved from http://www.americanlibrariesmagazine.org/article/manufacturing-makerspaces

Kelly, A. (2013). Why do we need one of those? The role of the public library in creating and promoting Makerspaces. ALIA National Library and Information Technicians Symposium 2013: Waves of Change. Retrieved from http://www.alia.org.au/sites/default/files/Kelly%20-%20final.pdf

Lankes, R. D. (2011). The Atlas of New Librarianship. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press.

Makerbot Thingiverse. (2014). Makerbot Thingiverse. Retrieved from http://www.thingiverse.com/

Netfabb. (n.d.). Netfabb: Software for 3D Printing. Retrieved from http://www.netfabb.com/

Thinglab. (2013). Thinglab. Retrieved from http://www.thinglab.com.au/

Trimble. (2013). Sketchup is for everyone. Retrieved from http://www.sketchup.com/

Censorship in the Public Library

Censorship is the “banning of a work or deletion of aspects of a work that are considered undesirable” (ALIA, 2006, p.1). ALIA believes in the principle that all people should have free access to all information (Moody, 2005). However, CILIP (in Taylor, 2013) states that access should only be restricted if it contravenes the law. In Australia, libraries aren’t legally allowed to censor their collection but they are required to follow the law. The Classification Act 1995 classifies computer images as film (ACT Parliamentary Counsel, 2013). Libraries must therefore limit public access to certain images online or be held liable (ALIA). This protects minors and other vulnerable customers from exposure to harmful material.

 Censorship in libraries may happen unconsciously in the selection and weeding of materials for the collection (Moody, 2005). Library staff must be aware of their personal bias and how this influences the collection. Censorship may also happen in the labelling of books. Many public libraries label their collection to help customers find books for their specific reading level. However, this may lead these readers to select or refuse material by their label instead of their content (Hunt, 2012). Publishers also label children’s books according to their intended age range. This ‘age banding’ may also be considered a form of censorship (Warren, 2012).

My interview with a Youth Services Librarian found that Hume Libraries do not ban any books. She believes that banning books wouldn’t prevent children accessing this material but may in fact encourage them to look for it instead. Hume Libraries believe so strongly in the principal of unrestricted access to information that in the past they have had a ‘Banned Books’ display of books that have previously been banned in Australia. Staff were intrigued by customers’ responses to certain books that had been banned.

Hume Libraries label their collection by age groups. The youth fiction classifications are Picture Books, Junior Fiction and Teen Fiction. Teen fiction is recommended for ages 13 and above. However, staff have had difficulty in selecting where to place certain series of novels. Their usual policy is to position novels using the age of the main character in the novel as their guide. With series where the character grows older in each novel they have had difficulty deciding where to place the whole series.

Until recently, Hume Libraries have labelled their fiction collection by genres. ‘Genrefication’ involved placing pictures of specific genres on the spines of novels. Gay, Lesbian, Bi, Transgender and Queer (GLBTQ) genres were acknowledged with a rainbow spine label. Their reasoning was that teens may be reluctant to express their need for this material and would be able to access it independently. Rauch (2011) states that GLBTQ teens have a higher depression and suicide rate and this may be due to unfulfilled information needs. Novels can help teens in their identity forming and make them feel less alienated from society (Rauch). However, there has been concern at Hume Libraries that these spine labels may be too obvious and could be used against these teens if recognised by homophobic people. Hume Libraries has decided to discontinue usage of spine labels and are thinking of introducing GLBTQ booklists instead.

Image Attribution:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/67499195@N00/3343954254

References

ACT Parliamentary Counsel. (2013). Classification (Publications, Films and Computer Games)         (Enforcement) Act 1995. Retrieved from http://www.legislation.act.gov.au/a/1995-47/current/pdf/1995- 47.pdf 

ALIA. (2006). Censorship and Libraries. Quill, 106(4).

Hunt, L., & Wachsmann, M. (2012). Does labelling children’s books constitute censorship? Reference and User Services Quarterly, 52(2), 90+.

Moody, K. E. (2005) Covert censorship in libraries: a discussion paper. Australian Library Journal, 54(2), pp. 138-147.

Rauch, E. W. (2011). GLBTQ collections are for every library serving teens! Teacher Librarian, 39(1), 13.

Taylor, K. (2013). Censorship challenges to books in Scottish public libraries. Journal of Librarianship and Information Science. 45(2), 153-167.

Warren, C. (2012). Age banding and its impact on children and their reading. Journal of Librarianship and Information Science, 44(2), 129-136.

The Life of a Librarian

Have you ever wondered what a Librarian does in their day-to-day job?

 

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