Firefly season – Voting, summer reading challenges, nominating and more!

Children’s librarians across the state of Indiana know May as Firefly voting season. For the past five years, May has been the month that libraries have showcased the five nominated picture books through programs, displays and outreach, leading up to inviting their youngest patrons, ages 0-5 to vote on their favorite book to win the Indiana Early Literacy Firefly Award. Like most things in 2020, this year the voting season for the Firefly Award will be different.

Voting for the Indiana Early Literacy Firefly Award has been extended until July 31
Libraries now have the opportunity to offer the Firefly program virtually and as a part of their summer reading programs. Libraries are welcome to showcase the Firefly program in whatever way they choose using the following resources:

Virtual Viewing: Patrons can view all five books through recorded videos available on the Indiana State Library’s Firefly website. The videos will be available until July 31, at which time they will be taken down.

Virtual Voting: After patrons have viewed the books, either in person, or through the recorded videos, they are welcome to use the online voting form to record the votes of any members of their household ages 0-5. An effort should be made to limit votes to one vote per child.

Program Guide: Every year the award committee collects craft ideas, activities, songs and rhymes to support each book. These are perfect for patrons to do while at home or for children’s librarians to use in virtual storytimes. The 2020 Program Guide is available for download here.

Libraries and childcare providers may collect votes in any manner of ways. They can encourage their customers to use the online form or they can collect votes themselves and email their tallies to Suzanne Walker at the Indiana State Library. Tallies will be accepted until July 31. If libraries choose to collect votes themselves they might do this through hands raised during a virtual storytime, phone calls, email or even snail mail.

In addition, libraries are encouraged to offer Firefly voting directly through their summer reading programs, either as a challenge in their online reading platform like Beanstack or READsquared, or as simply a task that patrons can complete for a prize or incentive. This is the first year that the Firefly deadline has been extended to coincide with summer reading. It is a great opportunity to engage the public in these quality picture books while at the same time providing virtual content for summer reading.

How to add the Firefly Award to your Beanstack Summer Reading Program
The Indiana State Library recognizes that Beanstack is just one option for tracking summer reading participation online. We offer these directions as a guide and perhaps as inspiration for any library who is using Beanstack or any other online summer reading platform. These directions are being included as a courtesy and should not be considered to be an endorsement of Beanstack or any other summer reading tool.

Creating a Beanstack Learning Track to feature the Firefly Award is a great way to get your young readers connected to this fantastic program! You’ll need a title, a description which you can copy from the Firefly Award website, badge details, patron details – where you can set age limitations for our 0-5 year old customers – and then you’ll add the activities. Each book can be a separate activity with a link URL to the video. The sixth activity of your learning track will be the link to the voting site. Beanstack has some helpful tools for learning how to build your program. Learning tracks are covered here.

For a step-by-step guide to adding the Firefly Award to your Beanstack Summer Reading Program download the Firefly Beanstack Activity Badge put together by the North Manchester Public Library. Alternatively, you could offer the Firefly as its own program. Directions for that are here.

New Facebook Group
The Firefly Award Committee has started a new Facebook group for any librarian or childcare provider who works with the Firefly Award. The purpose of the group is to share ideas and inspirations and to generally support each other and the book award. You can find the group by searching for “Indiana Early Literacy Firefly Award.” Once you have located the group, click Join Group to request to join.

Nominating Titles for 2021
This summer, not only do we want you to keep the votes coming, we are also starting to collect nominations for the 2021 Firefly season. Nominations will be accepted from June 1-Oct. 1, 2020. We recognize that it may be difficult for libraries to access new picture books this year due to budget constraints. We encourage librarians who can to go ahead and nominate several titles.

If you work with youth in a library, either in a school or in a public library, you are eligible to nominate as many titles as you wish. Nominating is easy. Just send an email to Suzanne Walker. Include in your email: title, author, illustrator and publication date.

Criteria for book nominations are as follows:

  • Must be published by July 1 of the current year, or any time in the previous year and still be in print. Currently, this ranges from Jan. 1, 2019 to July 1, 2020.
  • Possess strong child appeal.
  • Demonstrate three or more of the five practices of Every Child Ready to Read®: talking, singing, reading, writing and playing.
  • Have artistic quality with text that supports the illustrations or a compelling narrative provided by illustrations.
  • Diversity and inclusion are encouraged.

The nomination pool will be narrowed down to five titles by the Indiana Early Literacy Firefly Committee by January 2021. More information on ballots and how to vote will be available in early 2021.

Watch for Fireflies
Finally, we are entering the outdoor evening firefly season in Indiana. According to the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, the Say’s firefly is one of the earliest emerging fireflies in Indiana and may be seen from early May through mid-July. What better tie in for the Firefly Award program than actual fireflies?

This blog post was submitted by Indiana Young Readers Center Librarian Suzanne Walker.

‘Winter Wonderland Story Hour’

By the time the middle of December rolls around, kids are ready for a snowy morning. Regardless of whether or not it’s snowing on Saturday, Dec. 14, 2019, the Indiana State Library invites children to join in on some winter-themed fun from 10:30-11:30 a.m. inside of the library. The Talking Book and Braille Library and the Indiana Young Readers Center have put together “Winter Wonderland Story Hour,” a story time that will be filled with books, activities and a winter-y snack. While the program has been designed for readers who are blind or vision impaired, all children are encouraged to attend. Stories, read by ISL staff and Talking Book Library patrons, will be interactive. Children will follow along as “An Old Lady Swallows Some Snow” and help an assortment of stuffed animals take shelter in a lost mitten. Snacks will be provided in the Great Hall, which will be decked out in its holiday best.

Sledding in Broad Ripple Park, circa 1900. Courtesy of Rare Books and Manuscripts Division, Indiana State Library.

Parents or guardians should plan on being present for the duration of the event. Older siblings, grandparents and other adults are welcome to come along. There are 20 spaces available for children and registration is required. This event will be most appropriate for children in third grade and under.

For more event details and to register click here.

This blog post was written by Kate McGinn, reader advisor and outreach consultant for the Indiana Talking Book and Braille Library, Indiana State Library.

Free summer programs for children at the ISL

The Indiana State Library is thrilled to announce that the Indiana Young Readers Center will provide free youth programming this summer. June is going to be packed with fun storytimes for younger kids and engaging workshops for older kids. Read below for more information and on how to register for our programs. All programs will take place at the Indiana State Library, located at 315 W. Ohio Street in Indianapolis.

Summer Storytime
Children, ages 3-7

All About Clifford!
When: Saturday, June 10, 2017,10:30 a.m. – 11:15 a.m.
Where: Indiana State Library, Indiana Young Readers Center

What: Children will gather in the state library’s Young Readers Center to hear stories all about Clifford the Big Red Dog! Clifford’s author and creator, Norman Bridwell, was a Hoosier native born in Kokomo, Indiana. Kids will enjoy Clifford activities and crafts during this free program. Families are welcome to stay and explore Clifford’s doghouse and the rest of the Young Readers Center afterward.

All About Indiana!
When: Saturday, June 24, 2017, 10:30 a.m. – 11:15 a.m.
Where: Indiana State Library, Indiana Young Readers Center

What: Children will gather in the State Library’s Young Readers Center to take a road trip through Indiana and learn cool facts about our great state! Kids will enjoy Indiana-themed activities and crafts during this free program. Families are welcome to stay and explore the Young Readers Center after the program.

Registration: You can register for All About Clifford! and All About Indiana! online or by emailing or calling Christy Franzman, (317) 232-3700. Make sure to include the following information: Name of each child attending, age, name of parent/guardian and contact number. Space is limited. We will accept up to 30 children to be registered for this program.

During Summer Storytime, parents are expected to stay and enjoy the stories and activities.

Learn IN: Workshops for Kids
Children, grades 3-6

These workshops feature Arts for Learning Indiana artists.

Recipe for an Emcee
When: Saturday, June 17, 2017, 1:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Where: Indiana State Library, Indiana Authors Room

What: Local spoken word poet, Tony Styxx, will visit and help everyone write some of their own poetry lines. Kids will learn about using interesting adjectives, adverbs and similes to enhance their writing. Before Tony Styxx arrives, children will hear the work of other Indiana poets and learn more about different kinds of poetry.

Gifts from the Earth: Native American Effigy Pottery
When: Wednesday, June 21, 2017, 1:30 p.m – 3:00 p.m.
Where: Indiana State Library, Indiana Authors Room

What: Kids will hear about the part Native Americans have played in the history of Indiana. Then artist, Robin McBride Scott, will tell about the history and culture of the Mississippi Native Peoples and the clay techniques they used. Everyone will create a piece of North American Mississippi-style pottery called an effigy vessel, which is in the form of a human or animal.

Jazz on the Fly
When: Saturday, June 24, 2017, 1:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Where: Indiana State Library, Indiana Authors Room

What: Kids will hear about the history of Indiana Avenue, where the Jazz scene flourished in downtown Indianapolis, and they will see the difference between primary and secondary sources. Local writer, Bonnie Maurer, will lead everyone in reading jazz poetry, listening to jazz music and composing poems.

Tell Your Story
When: Wednesday, June 28, 2017, 1:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Where: Indiana State Library, Indiana Authors Room

What: Kids will learn about genealogy, where to find more information about their family and begin outlining their family tree. Local storyteller, Bob Sander, will teach the elements of story and everyone will practice telling their personal and family stories to new friends.

Registration: Please register for Recipe for an Emcee, Gifts from the Earth, Jazz on the Fly and Tell your Story online or by emailing or calling Caitlyn Stypa, (317) 232-3700. Make sure to include the following information: Name of each child attending, grade the child will be in next year, name of parent/guardian and contact number. Space is limited. We will accept up to 30 children to be registered for this program.

During Learn IN workshops, parents are welcome to enjoy the rest of the library or drop off their child for the duration of the program.

Indiana State Library media release policy
By registering for these programs, I hereby grant the Indiana State Library (ISL) permission to use my or my minor child or children’s photograph publically to promote the library. I understand that the images may be used worldwide for any lawful purpose, including educational and advertisement purposes and in any medium, including print and electronic. I further waive any claim for compensation of any kind for ISL’s use or publication of the images and/or those of my minor children, if applicable.

All programs being made possible by funds from the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services administered by the Indiana State Library.

This blog post was written by Caitlyn Stypa, Indiana Young Readers Center assistant, Indiana State Library.