2023 ABOS Award Program (July 28)
The Association of Bookmobile and Outreach Services (ABOS) is an inclusive organization that celebrates all forms of library outreach. ABOS is accepting nominations for the 2023 ABOS Award Program. Libraries are encouraged to submit a nomination for such awards as the Pattie Johnston Outreach Award for support staff, the Innovation in Outreach Programming Award, and many others. Of particular interest to youth services workers is the Preschool Outreach and School Services Inspirations Award, presented annually to a library, department, or an individual who has provided exemplary library outreach services to children and students in their community, from age infant to college. Anyone can make a nomination, and most ABOS awards do not require that the nominee be an ABOS member (the John Philip Excellence in Outreach Award is an exception). See https://abos-outreach.com/awards/ for details and nomination forms.
Child Opportunity Index
Children need quality schools, parks and playgrounds, clean air, access to nutritious food, health care, and safe housing to grow up healthy and become productive adults. Many children in the U.S. live in “high opportunity” neighborhoods that provide access to these and other resources. But many live in “low opportunity” neighborhoods with few or none of these resources. BIPOC children are especially likely to live in very low-opportunity neighborhoods.
The Child Opportunity Index is a tool that describes and quantifies the neighborhood conditions U.S. children experience today. It includes data about education, socioeconomic status, and health and environmental conditions. It covers every neighborhood (census tract) in the United States. The Index reveals vast inequities in how neighborhood opportunity is distributed across the U.S. You can use the information in the Index to understand what neighborhood opportunity patterns look like in your area. Explore the index for neighborhoods in your library’s service district (or anywhere) using the Child Opportunity Index Map.
The Child Opportunity Index is a project of diversitydatakids.org at Brandeis University in collaboration with the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity at Ohio State University.
Emotional Wellness Playbook
The Genius of Play, a project of The Toy Association, has published a free, downloadable Emotional Wellness Playbook (PDF) with a dozen play-based activities that support emotional wellness. The activities are directed toward families and are best-suited to a family setting, so libraries might share the playbook with families through a newsletter, social media, or printouts. Several of the activities may also be adapted for library programs, including passive/take-home programs, and would be good add-ons for the “All Together Now” theme. Thanks to the Idaho Commission for Libraries for sharing this resource!
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